Christian Science in the Light of Reason and Revelation
By R. A. Underwood
V. The Lord's Prayer; the Ego.
THE advocates of the doctrine of Christian Science "wrest" the "Scriptures." 2 Peter 3 :16. Christian Scientists read the Scriptures in their public services, but in all cases they read what they call the true or spiritual application of the same from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Christ, the prophets and apostles, did not give, according to their interpretation, the clear light as to the being of man, matter, sin, disease, and death. But it has been left to Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy to discover the science of being, as she has given it to the world in her book. She says her book gave to the world "the first rules for demonstrating this science, and registered the revealed truth uncontaminated by human hypotheses." Page 456. If this is true, it follows as a logical result that Mrs. Eddy's book should be taken in preference to the Scriptures as authority. When the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's book conflict in their statements, of course Mrs. Eddy's statements must be given the preference. In fact, whenever the Bible is read in public or elsewhere by Christian Scientists, Mrs. Eddy's interpretation of the scripture is read, and always taken as authority. This is much like the manner of the Jews in reading the Bible in the days of the first advent of Christ. They had a method of explaining away the statements of God's word by their traditions. Christ said of them: "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15 :6-9. The following is an illustration of the method of Christian Science in wrestling the Scriptures, altho the case cited is modest compared with some other interpretations. On pages 16 and 17 of "Science and Health," edition 1905, we have the Lord's Prayer quoted by Mrs. Eddy, with the interpretation, as follows: "Here let me give what I understand to be the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer: "'Our Father which art in Heaven.'
"'Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious.'
"'Hallowed be Thy name.'
"'Adorable One.'
"'Thy kingdom come.' "'Thy kingdom is within us, Thou art ever-present.'
"'Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.'
"'Enable us to know,—as in heaven, so on earth,—God is supreme.'
"'Give us this day our daily bread.'
"'Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections.'
"'And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.'
"'And infinite Love is reflected in love.'
"'And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'
"'And Love leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.'
"'For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.'
"'For God is now and forever all Life, Truth, and Love.'" This is perversion and contradiction of the sentiment of the Lord's Prayer. According to this interpretation, Christ utterly failed to give a model form of prayer, to say nothing of the failure to instruct us that our "Mother" is to be implored in prayer. Whenever the Lord's Prayer is repeated by this people, this spiritual meaning is always rehearsed as above cited. The claims Mrs. Eddy makes of healing, and the adoration given her by those who accept this doctrine, are one of the strongest evidences of the source of darkness from which this whole movement emanates. Christ said, "I am come in My Father's name, and ye received Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." John 5 :43. A few citations of Mrs. Eddy's assumptions of power to heal, as printed in "Science and Health," will illustrate her claims: "I have healed infidels whose only objection to this method was that I, as a Christian Scientist, Believed in the Holy Spirit, while they, the patients, did not." Page 359. "In her belief, the woman had chronic liver complaint, and was then suffering from the complications of symptoms connected with this belief. I cured her in a few minutes." Page 389. "Mortal existence is a dream, it has no real entity, but saith, 'It is I.' Spirit is the EGO which never dreams, but understands all things. Man is the likeness of this ego." Page 250. A significant paragraph is found on the fly-leaf of her book, credited "anonymous," but evidently endorsed as the epitome of the whole character of Christian Science to exalt man as his own saviour. It reads: "'I, I, I, I itself, I,
The inside and the outside, the what and the why,
The when and the where, the low and the high,
All I, I, I, I itself, I.'" This is much like the statements above quoted, where Mrs. Eddy says, "I have healed," "I cured her," etc. We read of a character brought to view in Isaiah 14, where the ego stands out in a similar manner. The statements are as follows: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." Isa. 14 :13, 14. There seem to be five declarations in which "I," in this case, stands most prominent. The personage brought to view does not at present have the best reputation. He once was a covering cherub. He once was the being designated as light-bearer; but this spirit of ego, which developed into such self-importance and self-exaltation, proved to be the ruin of this bright and shining character, and the exclamation is made: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" We tremble as we see any human being following the example of this being, whose final doom and utter destruction are as certain as his self-exaltation was manifest. How different is the spirit of Christ, shown in His followers. I will cite only one instance to illustrate this: "Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as tho by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. . . . And His name thru faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know; yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." Acts 3 :12-16. In the closing part of Mrs. Eddy's book, "Science and Health," there are one hundred pages occupied by testimonials of individuals who claim to have been healed. These testimonials are given under the caption, "Fruitage." I have read these testimonials carefully, which were given by sixty-eight different persons. The name of Christ or Jesus is used less than a dozen times in these testimonials, and in no instance is the work of healing attributed to Christ. "I owe it all to Christian Science," or similar expressions, are often used. These persons speak in terms of praise and adoration of "our mother," "leader," "founder of Christian Science," "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." A few quotations will show the hypnotic power of this movement over the minds of those who claim to be healed by it. "'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,' by Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, . . . will do more for the reader thereof, physically and spiritually, than all the books he has ever read or can read, not excepting the Bible.—T. C. D., Toronto, Canada." Page 608. "'Science and Health' is the greatest book that has ever been published in modern times. It is the key to the Bible and all the hidden principles of life.—J. W. R., San Francisco, Cal." Page 614. "'The blessed science never seemed hard to5understand, because from the first I loved it, and loved her who gave it to a starving world. My prayer now is that I may become worthy to call her 'mother.'—C. D., DeFuniak Springs, Fla.'" Page 642. "'Words can not express our gratitude to dear Mrs. Eddy for her book, 'Science and Health,' which is our daily strength for daily needs. I would like to tell her all it has done for us.—H. L. S., Chicago, Ill.'" Page 689. "'I can not express my gratitude to our dear Mother for the light of Christian Science.—A. J. A., Salem, Ore.'" Page 638. How different are the expressions and sentiments of the soul set free from sin by the power of God thru Jesus Christ. Instead of expressions of adoration and praise being poured out upon a mortal being, who seeks the flattery and even the worship of her followers, the saved soul gives all glory and thanks unto Him that hath sought us and bought us with His own blood upon Calvary. Be not deceived by cunningly devised fables.