The St. Joseph observer. [volume] (St. Joseph, Mo.) 1906-1932, 1921-01-22
The First Great Cause

ing.
The First Great Cause
! The eternality OF God, the first
great Cause, is therefore universal
admitted. No religionist will deny
nor think OF doing so. and no scientist1
can, although his nomenclature may
differ from that of the religionist.
Now eternallty declares certain char
acteristics which we can here con-
slider and be greatly instructed. In
this connection let me speak of the
fact that Christian Science has been
criticised, and that Christian Scientists
have been the object of attempted
ridicule. because of their conviction
that God can not possibly be the
author of disease or sin. and that
consequently disease and sin. which
have no divine origin, are devoid of
true existence. Nevertheless this con-
tention OF ours rests upon logic that
is irrefutable. for II God be eternal.
as all people admit, then God is not
the author Of any destructive thing.
neither does he include within Him
self the possibility or knowledge Of
any destructive or self-destructive ele-
ment To think otherwise is not only
illogical and unscientific. but irreiig-
ious. and in the last analysis even
sacrilegious. '.N"iff:
have asked you to follow along in
this course OF reasoning for a certain
purpose, and that purpose l believe
now begins to appear. 1t is that you
may learn the naturalness Of health
and life and the unnaturalness of dis
ease. and death. Perceiving. as be-
lieve you must have done, as we have
gone on here thinking this out to-
gother, thar God does not and cannot
include or conceive of a single de-
structive element or quality. you can
God will mean more of the presence
OF God, and will tend TO remove de-
structive elements and incidents from
our lives. Thereby health and life
will not only be more general, but
more permanent. We have taken a
step in the Science of Life within
these few minutes, and | wish TO call
your attention to the fact that II has
been a pleasant step. and none of us
has suffered in taking it. 1 have not
urged you to believe in Christian
Science. and promise you that win
not urge you to believe anything. The
most that 1 ask of you, anywhere, at
any time, in considering this subject,
is to think. 1t goes without saying
that thinking requires logic, for with
out consistency. without Principle or
basis for thinking, and conclusions
drawn by reason. there is no real
thinking going on. Just here. how
ever, some who have turned their
faces toward the light of Christian
Science find themselves assailed by
questions as to the reason for the
existence, or seeming existence, of
disease and sin and the rest of the
train of destructive and affective,
human experiences. They accept-ti
inevitable logic of Christian Scienee
which 1 have briefly and altogether
inadequately touched upon here, but
they naturally wonder about human
experiences that, according to Chris
tian Science, could not be either God
ordained or God sustained. 1t is not
strange that they should do so. but let
1t be said that Christian Science il
like other sciences in at least one
respect: II II is to be demonstrated
its rules must be followed Its Prin-
ciple must bo perceived and main
tanned under all circumstances. Even
in the study OF art and music. we find
that progress depends upon allegiance
to certain ideals which have sprung
from standards established by kAs
most cultured men and women OF the
world. The mistakes that we make
in the study of art do not, or should
not, engage our attention any longer
than is required to correct them. Let
us then take that same attitude to-
ward the afflictive experiences Of
human existence. They are not OF
God, consequently they are not seien-
tific. and not true in the highest
sonse. They are only true to cur
limited powers of observation and boz
cause of our inadequate education.