Christian Science and the Bible
By W. C. THOMPSON
Denies God, the Body, and Sin—Many Ways in Which It Shows Itself Out of Harmony with the Bible
By W. C. THOMPSON HISTORY reveals nothing that has played a more important role in subverting the truth and leading the unwary into soul-destroying error than has the supernatural. Miracles have been employed as decoys by the adversary of truth, and cited by his mercenary priests for their authority. Miracles are no evidence of divine authority. The doctrine is the only true criterion of moral worth and divine sanction. This truth the words of Christ attest in the following language: "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Matt 7:21-23. The doctrine is to be the test of the miracle, and not the miracle the evidence for the doctrine. This being the case, it is a waste of time to examine into the multitudinous miracles vouched by the ardent votaries of any cult. If their doctrine is not authoritative, their miracles are proved to be either imposture or worse, the direct work and art of the master deceiver. In this examination of Christian Science, we inquire not whether disease is really healed by it, but of its doctrine. It professes to be Christian. Do its teachings harmonize with the Bible? If they are opposed, its advocates are guilty of taking the name of Christ for the furtherance of unholy ambitions. The following comparisons should enable us to decide whether Christian Science is in agreement with the Bible or not: Affirms the personality of God. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him." Gen. 1:27. Affirms the reality of matter. "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. Affirms body, soul, and spirit. "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. 5:23. Affirms the existence of sin. "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. Affirms sickness and death. "And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases." Mark 1:34. "For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God . . . hath abounded unto many." Rom. 5:15. Denies the personality of God. "God, principle, life, mind."—"Science and Health," page 115. Denies the reality of matter. "Matter and death are mortal illusions." "All must be mind or else all must be matter."—Id., pages 289, 551. Denies the body. "All is mind." "God, spirit, being all, nothing is matter."—Id., page 113. Denies the existence of sin. "In reality there is no evil. Sin exists so long as mortal illusion of mind remains."—Id., page 311. Denies sickness and death. "Life, God, omnipotent good, deny death, evil, sin, disease."—Id., page 113. The Bible everywhere speaks of sin and disease as realities. Christ on no occasion tried to disabuse the mind of the reality of pain, disease, and death. He employed no deception in His method of healing disease. The idea that all evidences of the curse of sin are only illusions of mortal mind is entirely foreign to the literature of the Bible. Death, sin, and disease are stern and awful realities. To deny them does not dispose of them. Neither are the experiences of those who deny them unlike those of the people who admit their reality. To affirm otherwise is simply to close all the avenues of the senses, and brand as false one's very existence. In the word of inspiration, it is written, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8. Those who deceive themselves will also succeed in deceiving others like themselves, but the denial of such self-evident truth will not deceive those who do not wish to be in conflict with God's word and with the evidences of reality. It is evident, from the facts here adduced, that there is irreconcilable conflict between the teaching of the Bible and Christian Science. We have found that the Bible recognizes matter, sin, disease, and death, and that Christian Science denies the reality of all these. In the face of these facts, we can not escape the conclusion that Christian Science is one of the false isms of the last days. It certainly furnishes a most striking fulfilment of the following prophecy: "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. 4:3, 4. That we be not deceived by this false hope is a serious matter. To deny sin, is to deny the need of the Saviour. To deny the Saviour, puts one beyond the pale of salvation; for it is written, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. That we may escape the ruin of deception, it is well to heed the admonition of Paul, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Col. 2:8.