Some Statements and Corrections Regarding Christian Science
By Editor
In the latter part of 1911 we published a series of articles by Mr. Walter Clair Thompson on Christian Science. In the issue of November 14 a quotation was made, to which Mr. Olcott Haskell, Christian Science publicist of San Francisco, took exception in a letter dated November 14, which was forwarded to Mr. Thompson. Mr. Haskell's letter was as follows: "In printing the contribution by Walter Clair Thompson in your paper of the 14th, Mrs. Eddy's name is placed in a way which would indicate that it was the intention to credit her with being the author of the sentence quoted at the head of the article, while farther on this same quotation is followed by the words 'Christian Science Journal,' 1885, and there is a bracketed statement showing that Mr. Thompson took the prophecy to refer to Mrs. Eddy. The 'Christian Science Journal' from which this sentence was taken, shows however, that this 'prophecy' appeared in the 'Lily of Israel' and there is nothing to indicate that its author had ever heard of Mrs. Eddy or of Christian Science. "On the same page of the 'Christian Science Journal' with this quotation from the 'Lily of Israel' is one from 'Ram Chandra Bose,' in which it is stated that the sacred books of the Hindus profess to teach science as well as religion and that 'no science could be more obviously, more egregiously false than that embodied in its sacred books.' This is held to prove 'the glaring absurdity of Hinduism.' "It is not strange that a woman of foreign birth reared among Hindu surroundings, should fail to understand the teachings of Christian Science. Would our critic give much weight to such casual assertions as might be made by this noted Hindu lecturer concerning his own religion? "Those who are acquainted with the history of Christian Science know that the Bible was Mrs. Eddy's only text-book during those years of search which led to her discovery of the spiritual facts upon which Jesus' teaching and practise were founded." This letter was forwarded to Mr. Thompson, who replied in part as follows: "In regard to Mr. Haskell's criticism, will say that the placing of Mrs. Eddy's name to the quotation to which he refers, was not intended, but was an error which came about in transcribing the manuscript. The original manuscript which I have here credits the quotation to the 'Christian Science Journal.' I noticed that this mistake had been made, as soon as the number of the 'Signs' containing the article reached me, and I can not understand why I did not discover the mistake in the manuscript I sent to the Press. However, in regard to the application of the quotation, it applies with equal force to the Christian Science of the West as to the philosophy of the East, and as it was sent out with the endorsement of the official organ of the Christian Scientists, it is a little late in the day for them to repudiate it. I endeavored to make the common identity plain in the first and second articles, and the force of the argument has evidently not escaped them. "I am fully aware that Christian Scientists loudly protest that there is no relationship between Christian Science and the India philosophy, but the fact of their common identity remains nevertheless. . . . I notice also that Mr. Haskell calls attention to an article on the same page as that from which my quotation is taken, that denounces the sacred book of the Hindus. That is quite characteristic of the 'Christian Science Journal.' Its columns, while uncompromisingly closed to historic Christian religion, are always open to occultism, and as they smack so strongly of the East, its editors frequently ingeniously insert in an adjoining column something to allay the fears of the initiated. "I am sorry, of course, for the error of attaching Mrs. Eddy's name to the quotation, which is unintentional; but as the 'Lily of Israel' quotation was taken from an article that had their full endorsement, I feel that my application of it is both just and correct. In preparing my articles on Christian Science, I endeavored to use the utmost care in making quotations, and am confident that investigation will prove them so. However, if I do make any mistakes, I am glad to rectify them. "Sincerely, W. C. Thompson, "508 E. Everett St., Portland, Oregon." In a letter of January 2, Mr. Haskell declares that the series "contained many statements concerning Christian Science which are absolutely untrue, nor is their untruthfulness lessened where in some instances the writer has given disconnected quotations from Mrs. Eddy's writings, which when taken from their context and quoted with a misapprehension of their purport have been construed into meaning the very opposite of what was their writer's intent." Mr. Haskell then cites the following: "As used in Christian Science, the phrase 'self-immolation' means self-sacrifice, and suggests nothing in connection with the Hindu philosophy 'nirvana.' Mrs. Eddy writes, 'Man is not absorbed in Deity, and man can not lose his individuality.' 'Science and Health,' page 259." This must suffice, regarding a series of articles so far in the past that most of our readers have forgotten the points at issue. We correct, and are willing to correct, statements of fact, and we greatly regret that through pressure of work and oversight, the above correction was not sooner made, but we can not open the columns of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES for a debate over the teachings of Christian Science. It would be endless. We, with many others, believe that its teachings are contrary to the Bible and to Christianity. Christian Scientists contend that they are in harmony with the Bible, and with Christianity rightly understood, which must be after Mrs. Eddy's explanation. It is very unfortunate, to say the least, that Mrs. Eddy's utterances lend themselves so readily to double meanings, that she says so many things that can not be taken to mean what the language used would ordinarily mean. If we had a blanket-sheet newspaper, we would print all that Mr. Haskell, a very pleasant and capable gentleman, sends us; but as before remarked, the discussion of the interpretation, or misinterpretation, of the teaching of Mrs. Eddy, we have not space to publish. Take, for instance, the last paragraph in Mr. Haskell's letter above. There are those who very strongly dispute it, that the Bible was Mrs. Eddy's only text-book, and they seem to give very strong proofs to the contrary; but we have no space for the discussion of this in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES at the present.