Christian Science in the Light of Reason and Revelation
By R. A. Underwood
II. Christian Science and Pantheism.
The basis of the doctrine which Christian Science is promulgating as the Gospel rests upon the assumption that matter has no existence, and further, that nothing exists but mind. Mrs. Eddy defines mind as God. Man is said to be mind, and man is also said to be God. Mind—that is, God—can not sin; hence there is no sin. God can not die nor suffer. Hence there is no sickness, pain, decay, or death. This is all an illusion of mortal mind. Mortal mind is defined to be simply the illusion or deception that sin, pain, sickness, death, and matter have a reality. This mortal mind, or the deception about the reality of material things, must give way to mind. Then all that will be left of man will be a beautiful thought. This is the theory Christian Science presents to do away with all the evils of a sin-cursed earth. This is accepted by the followers of Mrs. Eddy as a new revelation to man, first announced by the author of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," as she claims in her book. But this is not a new doctrine discovered by Mrs. Eddy. She is not its founder or author, as she claims to be. The fact is that Mrs. Eddy has only revived the old spiritualistic and pantheistic doctrine of ages past, with slight modifications or additions under the false name of "Christian Science." The reader will readily recognize that Christian Science is practically the same doctrine as pantheism, revived under a more taking name than the old doctrine of the Hindu, as the following definitions and statements of pantheism clearly show: The Doctrine of Pantheism Defined.
"Pantheism is absolute monism, maintaining that the entire phenomenal universe is the ever-changing existence—form of the one single universal substance, which is God. Thus God is all, and all is God."—"Hodges' Outlines of Theology," quoted in "Standard Dictionary." The New International Encyclopedia says in part: "Pantheism, the name given, usually by its opponents, . . . to any system of speculation which identifies the universe with God, or God with the universe, . . . The Hindu thinker regards man as born into a world of illusions and entanglements, from which his great aim should be to deliver himself." And further, the hope is entertained that man is finally to become "emancipated from the deceptive influence of phenomena and fit to apprehend that he and they are alike but evanescent modes of existence assumed by that infinite, eternal, and unchangeable being who is all in all." Chambers' Encyclopedia says in part: "Pantheism, the name given to that system of speculation which in its spiritual form identifies the universe with God, or God with the universe, . . . a profound and mystic religiosity. The antiquity of pantheism is undoubtedly great, for it is prevalent in the oldest known civilization in the world, the Hindu. . . . The Hindu thinker regards man as born into a world of illusions and entanglements, from which his great aim should be to deliver himself. Neither sense nor reason, however, is capable of helping him. . . . He becomes emancipated from the deceptive influence of phenomena, and fit to apprehend that he and they are alike but evanescent modes of existence assumed by that infinite, eternal, and unchangeable spirit who is all in all. . . . Denying the possibility of creation, he argues that there exists only an eternal, infinite one or all, of which individual objects and existences are merely illusory modes of representation. . . . To see God everywhere, to realize that He alone is, and that all else is but a perishable phenomenon or passing illusion." To substantiate further this view of Christian Science, I quote an extract as reported by Rev. A. C. Dixon, D.D., of a statement made by Pandita Ramabai, a native of India, who says: "On my arrival in New York, I was told that a new philosophy was being taught in the United States, and that it had won many disciples. The philosophy was called Christian Science, and when I asked what its teaching was, I recognized it as being the same philosophy that has been taught among my people four thousand years. It has wrecked millions of lives, caused immeasurable suffering and sorrow in my land, for it is based on selfishness, and knows no sympathy or compassion. It means just this, the philosophy of nothingness. You are to view the whole universe as nothing but falsehood. You are to think it does not exist. You do not exist. I do not exist. The birds and the beasts that you see do not exist. When you realize that you have no personality whatever, then you will have attained the highest perfection of what is called 'Yoga,' and that gives you liberation, and you are liberated from your body, and you become like him, without any personality." As I shall continue to compare statements in Mrs. Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," edition 1905, the reader must judge as to the correctness of the statement that this cult is the revival of pantheism under a more taking name. 7. The Gospel of Christ affirms the material man. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Gen. 2:7. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3:19. "He [Christ] was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." John 1:10. "What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.5 7. Christian Science denies the existence of matter. "Matter and death are mortal illusions." Page 289. "Spirit and matter can not coexist or cooperate." Page 279. "Matter is unknown in the infinitude of mind." Page 280. "Spirit and matter no more commingle than light and darkness. . . . The mind supposed to exist in matter, or beneath a skull-bone is a myth, a misconceived sense, a false conception of man and mind." Page 281. "All must be mind, or else all must be matter." Page 551. "Question.—What is the scientific statement of being? Answer.—There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is all in all." Page 468. 8. The Gospel of Christ recognizes the fact of sickness and suffering. "And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him." Mark 1:34. "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Phil. 1:29. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." James 5:15. 8. Christian Science denies the existence of sickness or suffering. "Man is never sick, for mind is not sick, and matter can not be." Page 393. "The only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human belief until God strips off their disguise. They are not true." Page 472. "Decrepitude is not according to law, nor is it a necessity of nature, but an illusion which may be avoided." Page 245. 9. The Gospel of Christ acknowledges that men are born and that they grow old. "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." Job 14:1, 2. "Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not." Ps. 71:18. "The days of our years are threescore and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Ps. 90:10. "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord." Lev. 19:32. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." Prov. 16:31. 9. Christian Science denies birth or old age. "Man in science is neither young nor old. He has neither birth nor death." Page 244. "Decrepitude is not according to law, nor is it a necessity of nature, but an illusion which may be avoided." Page 245. (Notwithstanding the above statement, Mrs. Eddy, Aug. 17, 1907, when she was before the Federal court, and questioned by the Hon. J. E. Aldridge, made this acknowledgment, as reported in the daily papers: "I beg pardon, my only difficulty is a slight deafness. I can see to read common pica, but I can't hear distinctly without some difficulty." This was injected into her testimony after saying, "What did you say?" several times. Possibly Mrs. Eddy's old "belief" is troubling her.) 10. The Gospel of Christ presents man as mortal, in contrast with God as the one who only has immortality. "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker?" Job 4:17. "Man is like to vanity; his days are as a shadow that passeth away." Ps. 144:4. "Which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting." 1 Tim. 6:15, 16. 10. Christian Science presents the astounding claim that man is God. "Continuing our definition of man, let us remember that the harmonious and immortal man has existed forever. . . . This statement is based on fact, not fable. The science of being reveals man as perfect, even as the Father is perfect, because the soul, or mind, of man is God." Page 302. 11. The Gospel of Christ is authority for a future judgment. "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb. 9:27. "Because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Acts 17:31. 11. Christian Science denies the future judgment. "No final judgment awaits mortals." Page 291. The above statements in Mrs. Eddy's book are so contrary to human experience, revelation, and all the facts of science, that it is astonishing that any person of sane mind could be led to accept such views as true. Christian Science disposes of sin by denying its existence. It makes void the Bible doctrine of repentance and conversion. It removes all responsibility from the individual, and makes him responsible to no tribunal or judgment. It relieves man of all moral responsibility, and makes him amenable to no being higher than himself. It seeks to destroy in the mind of man any conviction of sin or wrong-doing by denying its verity. It repudiates the record of creation and the fall of man. But, saddest of all, Christian Science is a religion without a Saviour. It takes away our Lord, and presents etherealized nothing in His place. The fact that all this is offered under the name "Christian Science" ought to open the eyes of the people to the falsity of its claims, and lead them to see that it is only the old doctrine of pantheism under a new garb more pleasing to modern society.