Christian Science in the Light of Reason and Revelation
By R. A. Underwood
III. Spirits, the Holy Spirit, Heaven.
As already seen, the Christian Science gospel is a repudiation of the Gospel of Christ in all the essential facts of revelation and human experience. It builds its foundation for faith upon a denial of great fundamental truths of the word of God. Such a foundation, built of hay, wood, and stubble, will quickly perish in the day when every man's work shall be tried by fire. Christian Science, as it is falsely named, will prove to be like a rope of sand in the day of trial to every one who has trusted in this delusion. Christ, the Rock of Ages, is the only Foundation that will prove to be safe in the coming storm. We continue the contrast, as in previous articles, between the claims of Christian Science and the teaching of the Bible, quoting, as before, from the 1905 edition of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." 12. The Gospel of Christ recognizes evil spirits. "And in that same hour He cured many of their infirmities and of plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind He gave sight." Luke 7:21. 13. The Gospel of Christ presents the benefits of prayer. "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him." Matt. 7:11. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:13, 14. 14. The Gospel of Christ is given to save men from death. "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb. 9:27. "I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Rev. 14:13. "Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes." John 11:14, 44. 15. The Gospel of Christ brings the Holy Spirit to the believer. "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Acts 1:5. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:38, 39. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26. 16. The Gospel of Christ offers a definite and literal place for the eternal home of the redeemed. "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2, 3. 17. The Gospel of Christ is to save the soul from eternal loss. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matt. 16:26. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18:20. 18. The Gospel of Christ appeals to man's senses. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." Rev. 1:3. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2:7. "O taste and see that the Lord is good." Ps. 34:8. 12. Christian Science denies the existence of evil spirits. "The supposition that corporeal beings are spirits and that there are good and evil spirits, is a mistake." Page 70. 13. Christian Science belittles prayer, and makes it a hindrance to spiritual growth. "The habit of pleading with the divine mind as one pleads with a human being perpetuates the belief in God as human, circumscribed, an error which impedes spiritual growth." Page 2. "Audible prayer is impressive, it gives momentary solemnity and elevation to thought, but does it produce any lasting benefit? Looking deeply into these things, we find that a zeal not according to knowledge gives occasion for reaction unfavorable to spiritual growth." Page 7. 14. Christian Science denies the existence of death. "Death, an illusion, the lie of life in matter, the unreal and untrue. . . . Any material evidence of death is false, for it contradicts the spiritual facts of being." Page 584. "To the real man and the real universe there is no death process. . . . Matter and death are but mortal illusions." Page 289. 15. Christian Science arrogates to itself the fulfilment of the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. "In the words of St. John, 'He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.' This Comforter I understand to be divine science." Page 55. 16. Christian Science denies that heaven is a locality. "Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of mind." Page 291. 17. Christian Science denies that the soul can be lost. "It is the sense of sin, and not a sinful soul, which must be lost." Page 311. 18. Christian Science denies the evidence of the five senses. "Christian Science teaches that matter is the falsity, not the fact, of existence, that nerve, brain, stomach, lungs, etc., have, as matter, no intelligence, life, or sensation." Page 127. "The five corporeal senses afford no evidence to the grand facts of being." Page 471. "To the five corporeal senses man appears to be matter and mind united, but Christian Science reveals him as the idea of God, and declares the corporeal senses to be mortal and erring illusions." Page 477. Satan would be pleased to have men believe that there are no such things as the five senses, for it is by means of the senses of hearing, seeing, tasting, and feeling that Satan appeals to man in momentary pleasure and captures him. Of the tree of good and evil, the Lord said to man, "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. . . . And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Gen. 3:3-6. It is thru these corporeal senses that the Spirit of God also appeals to man's power of choice in accepting the good and rejecting the evil. Christian Science seeks to destroy in man all consciousness of sin. It would not have man recognize the still, small voice of the Spirit of God, who comes as the representative of Christ to reprove and also to comfort. In the place of the Holy Spirit we are asked to accept Christian Science as the Comforter. If there is no such thing as matter, and the only thing that exists is mind, which is affirmed over and over again by Mrs. Eddy's book, and if the five senses are "erring illusions," or all myths without any reality of being except as they exist in our imaginations, then we need make no distinction in the taste of food or drink. In fact, we need neither food, drink, nor clothing to wear. If man is only mind, a beautiful thought, when any one calls for material substance to5satisfy hunger, or to keep him warm, all that is necessary to do is to simply say, "You are warm, you are fed, mind needs no food nor raiment. Your wants are unreal." Methinks the answer to such a response would be, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" James 2:15, 16. 19. The Gospel of Christ presents the most complete system of sanitary laws in the world. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. 7:1. "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." Dan. 1:8. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31. 19. Christian Science repudiates all sanitary and hygienic measures to remove and prevent disease. "When there are fewer prescriptions, and less thought is given to sanitary subjects, will there be better constitutions, and less disease." Then she quotes with approval the proverb, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." Page 175. "Treatises on anatomy, physiology, and health, sustained by what is termed material law, are the promoters of sickness and disease." Page 179. "A Christian Scientist's medicine is mind, the divine truth that makes man free. He never recommends hygiene." Page 453. Christian Science counts as naught all the scientific and successful measures of recent years adopted by medical boards and societies all over the world to prevent the ravages of plagues by means of sanitary measures in removing the cause of disease, as well as treating the same. These sanitary methods and rational means of treating disease have nearly removed the plague-spot from Europe, and greatly lessened it in the Orient. But all this successful movement is denounced as folly by this science (?) of Mrs. Eddy's. This doctrine, put into practise, would dry up every particle of the milk of human sympathy, kindness, and effort to help suffering humanity. When the needy, suffering, or dying appeal for help, the only logical, consistent response the man or woman who believes the doctrine can give is to say, "You are laboring under an illusion or deception. You need no food, no clothing. You are not sick or in distress." This kind of blind faith is strikingly pictured by the pen of Inspiration in Rev. 3:16, 17, as follows: "I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."