Evening star., 1925-09-25
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
AIM NOT MERE EASE
Healing the Sick Secondary
; to Healing of Sin, Church
| Lecturer Says.

"A lecture was delivered last eve.
Ifng in First Church of Christ. Scien-
ttst,-by Frank Bell, c. S. B., of Phila-
delphia, on christian Science: The
Science of Perfection" Mr.. Bell was
introduced by Elmer I. Baldwin. first
reader of First Church of this city,
under whose auspices the lecture was
given. Mr.. Bell is a member of the
board of lectureship of the Mother
Church, the First Church of Christ.
Scientist, in Boston, Mass. The lee
turer said. in part:
S"Christian Science has been ac-
cused of unduly emphasizing the heal
ing of disease, whereas the prime
purpose of religion is to save from sin.
A sufficient answer, to Christian.
should be the gospel record of Jesus,
who, by both His example and His
specific command to his followers,
identified the healing of the sick with
the religion of Christianity.
Physical Ease Not Aim.
:'Promotion of mere physical ease
would not of itself be worthy of re-
ligion. What the critic possibly has
failed to see is that true Christian
healing is identical with the destruc-
ton of sin. They cannot be separated.
what is sin? In the first place 1t
is mental. Back of sinful act always
is sinful thought. Mere restraint OF
sinful deed leaves sin untouched. Jesus
has said that thinking adultery is
committing adultery. Therefore the
sin of adultery remains until every
adulterouS thought is destroyed.
I'm the second place. sin is not only
a matter of thinking, but of imperfect
thinking If st. PaulS statement TO
Timothy is correct, that the inspira,
ton of all Scripture is to the end
that the man of God may De per
feet then whatever would stano IN
the way of realization of perfection Is
sin. If it is true, as according TO 81.
John, that now are we the sons OF
God even though that fact doth not
vet appear then everything that
would prevent that appearing is sin.
rIn one of the very helpful hymns
in the Christian Science Hymnal are
these lines:
Whatever dims thy sense OF TRUTH
Or stains thy purity,
Though light as breath of summer ar
Count it as sin to thee.
Denial Sinful.
r'Sin includes every thought or con-
cept that helps to make up the sum
total of a physical sense of existence
III WHICH lInpeI1eCllOll lViSIlS. iAS
truth about man is that he now lives,
moves, and has his being in God, as
the Bible declares. Therefore, man
now lives, moves, and has his being
in Spirit, not in matter. If one says,
My whole sense of things denies that,
then the answer is that the more COM
pletely a sense Of things denies the
realty of being, the more completely
sinful is such sense of things.
i'St. John writes in the second chap
ter of his first epistle:
my little children. these things
write 1 unto you, that We sin not.
Love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world.
For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust Of
the eyes, is not of the Father,
but is OF the world And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof;
but he that doeth the will Of God
abideth forever.
THE coming of Him who was de-
scribed as without sim was prophet
ically heralded thus: He shall not
judge after the sight of His eyes.
neither reprove after the hearing Of
HIS ears; :. He shall Smite
the earth with the rod of His mouth