Christian Science in the Light of Reason and Revelation
By R. A. Underwood
Creation, Sin, Atonement.
IN the investigation of Christian Science, every person should be fair-minded enough to bring its claims to the same test that the noble Bereans did when the apostles brought to them new light and truth. Acts 17:11. We are admonished, however, by the inspired word not to believe every message that may come without putting it to the test of the Bible. In 1 John 4:1-3, we are exhorted, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” By what means, then, shall we test the teachings of Christian Science? Answer—“To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20. Not all that claims to be Christian is found to bear the genuine stamp of Christianity. Nor is all that is claimed to be science worthy of the name, for we read of a “science falsely so-called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” 1 Tim. 6:20, 21. In view of the fact that many are being led to accept the faith of Christian Science without a knowledge of what its teaching involves, I beg to present to the reader some of the plain statements of Mrs. Eddy’s book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” as compared with the teaching of the Bible. If the claims of Christian Science are founded upon the doctrines of Christianity and the facts of science, then every lover of Christianity and science should hail the teaching of Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy with delight, and accept the claims of Christian Science. If it is not founded upon the word of truth, it should be rejected and exposed. We should test the doctrines of Christian Science by the word of Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega of Christianity, and the Author of all laws by which true science is discovered and maintained. John 1:3; Heb. 1:2, 3. To be entitled to bear the name “Christian,” one must believe in the religion of Christ, and conform to the system of doctrines and precepts taught by Him. We shall test the claim of this teaching to the name “Christian” by this simple rule. True science is a revelation of what is truth. Christ, the Author and Source of life, light, and knowledge, is the One “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Col. 2:3. Christ, being the Author of Christianity, has set forth in His word the true doctrines of Christianity, and by this word we are able to judge every doctrine brought forward in the name of truth. I will quote from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” showing how the book must be used and absolutely followed by patient, healer, and believer. This book is the standard book used in all the churches of Christian Scientists each week at all their services. It is higher authority than the Bible to Christian Scientists, and the Scriptures are understood only as interpreted by this book. As to its origin and its claims, the following statements from the book will show. We read from the edition of 1905 as follows: “In the author’s work of retrospection and introspection may be found a biographical sketch narrating experiences which led her in the year 1866 to the discovery of the system which she denominated ‘Christian Science.’” Page VIII, Preface. “A Christian Scientist requires my work, ‘Science and Health,’ for his text-book, and so do all his students and patients. Why?—First, because it is the VOICE OF TRUTH TO THIS AGE, and contains the whole of Christian Science, or the science of healing thru mind. Second, because it was the first published book containing a statement of Christian Science; because it gave the first rules for demonstrating this science, and registered the revealed truth uncontaminated by human hypotheses. Other works, which have borrowed from this book without giving it credit have adulterated the science. Third, because this book has done more for teacher and student, for healer and patient, than has been accomplished by other books.” Pages 456, 457. “Expose and denounce the claims of evil or disease in all their forms, but acknowledge no reality in them.” Page 447. “Whoever would demonstrate the healing of Christian Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every statement, and advance from the rudiments laid down.” Page 463. That the reader may see clearly the fact that whosoever accepts the doctrine of Christian Science must abandon the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, I will place side by side some of the fundamental doctrines of Christ compared with the teaching of Christian Science. The reader can judge whether Christian Science is of God or from another source. The Gospel of Christ as taught in the Bible. 1. The creation of man and the universe taught as fundamental truth in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Gen. 1:1, 27. “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. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” Ex. 20:11. 2. The Gospel of Christ affirms sin to be. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Tim. 1:15. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8. “And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.” 1 John 3:5. 3. The Gospel of Christ is based on the atonement. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” Heb. 9:28. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21. 4. The Gospel of Christ affirms Christ’s death. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15:3. “I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore.” Rev. 1:17, 18. 5. The Gospel of Christ offers pardon. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isa. 55:7. 6. The Gospel of Christ is itself a miracle and affirms miracles. “What do we? for this Man doeth many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him.” John 11:47, 48. “Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.” Acts 15:12. 5
Christian Science, as found in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” edition 1905. 1. Christian Science denies the material creation of man and the universe. “Man is deathless, spiritual. He is above mortal frailty. He does not cross the barriers of time into the vast forever of life, but co-exists with God and the universe. Man and the universe co-exist with God.” Pages 266, 267. “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. After quoting this text, the book says: “Is this addition to His creation real or unreal? Is it the truth, or is it a lie concerning man and God?—it must be the latter.” Page 524. 2. Christian Science denies the existence of sin. “Question.—Is there no sin? . . . 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. . . . Error is illusion possessing neither reality nor identity, the seeming to be real and identical with truth. The science of mind disposes of all evil.” Pages 472, 473. “Sin, sickness, and death must be deemed as devoid of reality, as they are of truth.” Page 525. “You conquer error by denying its verity.” Page 339. “In reality there is no evil. . . . Sin exists only so long as the material illusion of mind in matter remains.” Page 311. 3. Christian Science denies the atonement for sin thru Christ. “One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires constant self-immolation on the sinner’s part. That God’s wrath should be vented upon His beloved Son is divinely unnatural. Such a theory is man-made.” Page 23. “The eternal Christ, His spiritual selfhood, never suffered.” Page 38. 4. Christian Science denies the death of Christ. 6
“Jesus’ students, not sufficiently advanced to that fully understand their Master’s triumph, did not perform many wonderful works until they saw Him after His crucifixion, and learned that He had not died.” Pages 45, 46. 5. Christian Science denies the forgiveness of sin. “Divine mercy destroys error, but never pardons it.” Page 329. 6. Christian Science denies miracles. “Miracles are impossible in science, and here it takes issue with popular religions.” Page 83. The denial of the creation, of the existence of sin, of the forgiveness of sin, of the death of Christ, and of the atonement of Christ, is a repudiation of all the fundamental truths underlying the Gospel of the Son of God. If the claims made by the “discoverer and founder of Christian Science” are true, then the claims of Christ and the apostles and prophets, as well as the experiences of man, are false. In fact, if Mrs. Eddy’s doctrine is true, Christ and His whole believing church have been chasing a delusion for nearly six thousand years. There can be no half-way ground to stand upon in this question. Yet teachers and writers advocating Christian Science claim to build the doctrine of Christian Science upon the religion of the Bible. They claim that Christ and the apostles teach the healing of the body, and so they do. But Christian Science claims that sin, sickness, and death are all illusions of the mind, and that there is no reality in them. Therefore when this doctrine is compared with the teaching of Christ and the apostles on the subject of healing, as well as upon other points, there is as wide a difference between the doctrines of Christian Science and the Gospel of Christ as between light and darkness, reality and unreality, truth and falsehood. This doctrine of Christian Science is a Christless, human effort to save men from their present entanglements of sin, disease, and death by teaching them that there is no reality in sin, disease, and death; that all this is a delusion; and that the only way of freedom from this delusion is to deny their reality. This is the light shed upon the gloom of death and the grave by Christian Science. It is the hope offered to man for the future. The text-book called “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” is the standard by which the utterances of the Bible are measured and interpreted. Hence the claim that without this key to the Scriptures no one is able to unlock the mysteries of the truth in the Bible. This exalts the work of Mrs. Eddy above that of Christ, His apostles, and prophets. It makes their teaching, as set forth in the Bible, an error; for Christian Science denies the existence of every evil from which Christ promises to deliver man thru the Gospel. Reader, by which of these guides do you want to leave this world to enter the realities of the future?