15A 6945 K5 UC-NRLF lill $B E'^7 fiD3 CO O CO CD Answers to Questions Concerning Christian Science Edwaid A. iGmbaO, CJ5.D. WORKS ON CHRISTIAN SCIENCE Written by MARY BAK£B EDDY lENCB f3 18 4 (M) 5 Oi' r, do i ^^' 6 00 3 r.u 3 50 isiCIENCM AND HKAXTII WITH KEY TO THE SCKIP- T I it lis. Jr. cue volume, 700 pp. The Obiginal, S'jAv ' '!• .-, only text-book on Chbistian So: Mi .! ; ; .;. Cloth. Trice, siugle book . I :'.i: Kt.;i nr (samp papor as Cloth bindiug Morocco (Oxford Imiiu Bible Paper) Levant (lleiivy Oxford India Bible Paper) MISCEL,LANEOi:8 WKITINOS. 471 pp. Cloth Morocco fOxford India Bible Paper) Levant (Oxford India Bible Paper) COMPLETE CONCORDANCE TO SCIENCE AND HEALTH. 607 pp., 10x7. Cloth, marbled edges CHURCH MANC.VL. Containing the By-laws of The Mother CLurch CHRIST AND CHRISTMAS. An illustrated Poem CNITY OF GOOD AND OTHER WRITINGS. Morocco (Heavy Oxford India Bible Paper) .... CHRISTIAN HEALING AND OTHER WRITINGS Morocco. (Heavy Oxford India Bible Paper) MESSAGES TO THE MOTHER CHURCH. 94 pj brary edition , CHRISTIAN SCIENCE vs. PANTHEISM. 15 pp. 1 bitd cloth cover MESSAGE TO THE MOTHER CHURCH, 1900. 15 ] ; OUR LEADER'S MESS.AGE, 1901. 3."> pp. . • • COMMUNION MESSAGE, 1903. 20 pp TWO SERMONS. 36 pP- Library edition. Cloth . '"0 CHRISTIAN HEALING. 20 pp -1 THE PEOPLE'S IDEA OF GOD. 14 pp -^ RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPECTION. A DJ. fc'raphical .sketch of the author. 95 pp. Librar:, edition. Cloth UNITY or GOOD. 64 pp. Library edition. n:A\i • ,■ Leather covers (pocicet) ... , • '>• PULPIT AND PRESS. 90 pp, Cloth . '" RCDIMENTAL DIVINE SCtBNCK. !7 • ;,. I/;.-m-; edition Pebbled cloth cover ... NO AND TrTES. 4(! pp. Llbr.ary editioi;. '' !■ '-\ Pebbled cloth cover ... :': rf,r,T> ISIY SHEEP ^'^ <■; • s. This volume of 70 patres includes all of Mrs. Eddy's ■ - n-is 'tlso her r-arlip'- poemH which appeared in various ,;i:l,",,."-',.- .- ,■,(,;■ r.-^rtv to sixty years ago. Price, Blngh> <.oi. , ■ : . foples, $1.25 each. ,,■...--• <\)C for sinple copff^j prepaid. y. ], 1 < .. above workH, and i ' i , -yable to ALLISON V, STEWART, Publisher, JMlrr.oTith and St. Paul Sth., Boston, Mass., XI S. A. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE ALSO CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL BY EDWARD A. KIMBALL, C.S.D. THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TUBLISHING SOCIETY FALMOUTH AND ST. PAUL STREETS BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS U. S. A. Copyright, igog, by Thk Christian Science Publishing Socibty. '^ ^6^^ii M-t-U ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE A synopsis of answers to questions upon the subject of Christian Science, propounded to Edward A. Kimball of Chicago, before the Bloomington (111.) Chautauqua. Pub- lished originally in the Bloomington Daily Bulletin, and now republished, as revised, from The Christian Science Journal. MR. KIMBALL said: A number of ques- tions in reference to this subject have been handed in for me to answer. I would Hke to say that I shall not stand here under pretense of being an oracle. The best that I can do will be to reply to the different questions that are brought out here in the light of my understanding of Christian Science, aided by what little family iarity I may have with the other side of the subject. These questions concerning Christian Science are of frequent occurrence, and whenever they are made in good faith every Christian Sci- entist is only too willing to do what he can to elucidate this subject. The first question in this list is: "What are the fundamental points of difference between Christian Scientists and other Christians?" If these other Christians were as a unit in a com- ^1 4 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS mon understanding of God ; if they had a specific and universal understanding of Jesus Christ — his words and works ; if they agreed precisely and ex- actly concerning the origin and destiny of man; concerning the future, — in relation to heaven and hell, in relation to punishment and all the vital and special things that go to make up religious thought and belief; if there was a unit here with which to compare the unit of Christian Science, it would be a simple thing to answer this question. But, to use more exact phraseology, "the beliefs of other Christians" have been as numerous as the sands upon the seashore. I venture to make the state- ment, which any one can verify in part, that if you were to go to a million people and ask them to give you a full and definite statement of their be- liefs concerning all the fundamentals of religion, you would not get two precisely alike. In the first place you will very seldom find a man who knows what he believes concerning these questions. Some years ago a minister was tried for heresy in the city of Chicago. It was claimed that he had incorporated in his preaching the doctrines of Unitarianism. In his defense several of his parishioners and elders were cited as witnesses, and every one of them testified that they consid- ered his preaching — all the substance of his ser- mons — entirely orthodox or evangelical. To test their qualifications as witnesses, the prosecutor read to each one certain extracts from his pastor's CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 5 sermons and from sermons written by a noted Unitarian divine, promulgating the doctrines of Unitarianism. Supposing them all to be sermons of the accused, all the witnesses said they approved of the substance as being evangelical. Only a short time ago I was talking with a man who belonged to the Congregational church. He desired to know about Christian Science treat- ment. In the course of the conversation he told me he did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. He went to work to prove to me why it was utterly impossible for Jesus to rise from the dead after being dead for three days. Now I ask you what sense of Congregationalism was it that eliminated from his belief the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus? What becomes of Christianity with the resurrection left out of it? That man supposed he was a Christian and a true disciple, but still he denied the resurrection of Jesus. Again, you cannot always tell what a man be- lieves by what he says. It is not enough to say, I am this or that. Suppose a man says to you, "I believe that God is infinite." And you, perhaps reaching out beyond the limitation of the testi- mony of the senses, allowing your thoughts to rest on those things that are not within the reach of the eyes, nose, and mouth, lay hold somewhat upon the meaning of this word "infinite." You know that that which is infinite must be self- existent and all-inclusive; it must contain all the 6 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS elements of continuance or immortality; it must be unlimited; there can be nothing unlike itself or that is not included in itself. And as you begin to take on the wonderful signification of the word, you turn to him and say, **So do I." And all the- time you are thinking of infinite intelligence, of the all-inclusive God, infinite wisdom. Then he says, "I believe in the omnipotence of God." And as you realize that there is no power without in- telligence, and that which is omni-intelligence or omni-science must also include all power; when you realize that infinite cannot be anything less than infinite, and that it is the omnipotence of the omnipotent that you are thinking about, you again say to him, "So do I." Then he says to you, "I believe in the power of evil. I believe that there is an entity called Satan, possessing all the characteristics of immortality, possessing power akin to the divine power and the ability to hold mankind in eternal punishment, power to drag man down from the image and likeness of God to perdition." And when you see that this man who is trying to believe in the om- nipotence of God lays a great deal more stress on the power of evil ; when you find that he believes in an eternal entity and intelligence opposed to the infinite God, then you see and know that the man does not believe in the first two propositions at all. It makes no difference how a man tries to per- suade himself that he believes in an infinite om- CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 7 nipotent God, if at the same time he is trying to ' believe in a devil or power opposed to this infinite. \ All the sophistry he can bring to bear upon the f subject cannot outweigh the utter falsity and \ futility of the effort and of that conclusion. -^ It is said that there are about one hundred and forty different Christian sects ; nevertheless, 'it would perhaps be indelicate for me to stand up here and say what other people's beliefs are con- cerning God and man, and their relation to each other ; concerning the question of the Messiahship, of future punishment, man's duty, and so on. It is not for me to say what you and others believe, nor is it worth while for me to* discuss the beliefs of the different denominations, but we will take up what I suppose to be the intent of this inquiry, and put it a little differently from the way in which it has been stated. "In what respect is Christian Science, viewed as a religious belief, different from all other Chris- tian beliefs?" or rather, "In what respects are the fundamentals of Christian Science different from all other beliefs?" I can perhaps with profit speak of two special differences. One is this : Christian Scientists do believe that God is infinite ; that God is infinite good, infinite Truth, infinite Life, in- finite Love, infinite wisdom, infinite intelligence, and that "there is none beside him." That being the case, we have to account for evil in some other way than by calling it a power opposed to God, or 8 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS an evidence of the manifestation of intelligence and wisdom. Christian Scientists believe emphat- ically and thoroughly that if God is good at all, He must be infinitely good; if God is Truth at all, He must be infinite Truth, and all truth must be good; if God is inteUigence at all. He must be infinite intelligence, and, therefore, all intelli- gence must be good; and that which calls itself evil intelligence and evil power is not of God, is not included in the infinite, is not permitted by the infinite, is not made use of by the infinite, but is entirely apart and separate from it. It is utterly impossible to conceive of God as infinite good and then incorporate within that an entity called Satan or spirit of evil. — =^How do Christian Scientists account for evil? We find it to be this: That the only Satan there is, is the false concept of being, or what has been termed the carnal mind. Just as soon as men abso- lutely stop sinning, there will be no witness of sin, there will be no witness of a devil ; there will be no sin known ; and in order to get rid of sin, the only way to do it is to stop sinning. Mortal man has contemplated this thing we call evil so long, and sin itself has seemed to exercise such a bondage over him, that he has seemed to be obliged to ac- count for it in some way. He has looked upon it as something supernatural ; something from which he could not escape ; and that horrible sense of the power of evil has hung upon him and mildewed CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 9 him; its chains have deprived him of the domin- ion he has over the claim of evil power. What is there more paralyzing to a man's endeavors than to suppose that there is opposed to him a mysterious power — a supernatural agency with which he is unable to cope; which in spite of his every effort may drag him down to infinite pun- ishment for the finite sin he has committed. The question arises: "What is the Christian Scientist trying to do to resist Satan?" He is trying to cast evil out of his own thought, from his own life, from his own experience; the only way he knows of whereby to resist evil is to do that, and he does it rationally, with the under- standing that when he has accomplished that he has overcome the devil in himself. What has been the scene of his strife? Is it not that of his own experience, of his own thought, of his own tendency? When he sees that he has overcome Satan, if we ask what has been the theater of action, and he answers truly, he will say that it has been his own consciousness. I shall ignore all the contradictions of religious beliefs and presume that as Christians we all agree as to the saving mission of Jesus; the di- vinity of Christ; the efficacy of the atonement, and the necessity for following Christ as the way of salvation. Let us say that we all agree con- cerning the desirability of manifesting good and resisting evil; that the Ten Commandments and lo ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS the Sermon on the Mount were intended for tis, and that we beHeve in the teachings of Jesus and that he said, "Go ye into all the world," 'Treach the gospel," "Heal the sick," etc. Having agreed up to this point, the Christian Scientist diverges from the generally accepted con- ceptions of Christians. So far as I know, there is no other well-known and acknowledged Christian denomination that accepts and believes that part of Jesus' Christianity — the healing of the sick — as the natural and indispensable phenomenon of reHgion. I know of no other such Christians who believe that the command to heal the sick was in- tended for them or that they can comply. Chris- tian Scientists, on the other hand, understand that this command was intended for all Christians, and for all time, and that they can and must obey its mandatory instruction in order to manifest the Christianity of Jesus, who said, "I am the way," "Follow thou me," "Go, and do thou likewise." This is perhaps the most conspicuous difference between Christian Scientists and other Christians. The next question coming on in this same line is this : "Is it not blasphemous to claim to heal as Jesus did, thus making yourselves equal to Jesus, or making gods of yourselves?" The latter part of the question, "Thus making yourselves equal to Jesus, or gods of yourselves," is gratuitous. There is no Christian Scientist who supposes that he is equal to Jesus ; he knows why he is not. There is CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE ii no Christian Scientist trying to make a god of himself; he understands that God is infinite, and that he cannot possibly change himself so as to include the infinite. Let us take the first, which is a legitimate question. "Is it not blasphemous to claim to heal as Jesus did?" If it is blasphemous as a follower of Jesus to follow his commands, then the answer is, Yes. If it is blasphemous for us to obey the commands of Jesus, then it is blas- phemous to preach the gospel; it is blasphemous to be pure in heart ; it is blasphemous to be meek ; it is blasphemous to love your neighbor; it is blasphemous to keep the Ten Commandments ; it is blasphemous to obey God. If it is thought to be blasphemous to respond to this instruction of Jesus, then I would like to have you ask yourself what authority there is for dissecting the com- mands of Jesus and saying this one is valid and that one is not. Where can you find any author- ity for annulling any of the commands of Jesus, if you have any respect for them at all? "Is it not blasphemous to claim to heal as Jesus healed?" Do you know how Jesus healed ? Who is there here that knows how Jesus healed ? Does the one who makes this inquiry know how Jesus healed? I once read a synopsis of an infidel lecture in which the writer was trying to impeach the Bibli- cal account of the miracles, those of the Old Tes- tament and those performed by Jesus. It went 12 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS on something like this : He said, "Now take these Christian people at their own word. They begin by saying that their God is infinite ; He is infinite power, wisdom, truth, and intelligence. If that is the case, everything is in accord with the infinite, and it must be scientific. God cannot be a miracu- lous God if He is infinite; it is only to the sense of the beholder that anything can be miraculous ; God cannot be supernatural or unnatural to Himself. If Jesus did the will of God he did it in accordance with the nature of God, which would be scientific. If miracles had been performed, they would have been performed in accordance with science, and if so they could be done again. That they have never been performed again is evidence that the Biblical account of the miracles is spurious." He made out of it that because it was claimed that the works of Jesus were miraculous, that claim stul- tified the other claim that God is infinite. When we come to know the Science of Jesus' words and works, we learn that when he taught his disciples what they were to do in order to manifest Christianity, he taught them the operation of divinely natural law — the law of God, which he came to fulfil. He taught every one of them that the healing of the sick was the legitimate phenomenon of his own understanding of God, and in his teaching he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." He was not talking to eleven or twelve men. He was not speaking to a CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 13 mere speck upon the great wave of humanity; he was teaching of Principle ; he was giving out some- thing for eternal years. What did he say? He said, practically, Go into all the world and preach the gospel, and these signs shall follow you, be- cause you are my students — my disciples. They shall follow them that understand you. It has been the general understanding that the power to heal which was bestowed upon these dis- ciples was a special interposition — a miraculous or unnatural enactment of God in behalf of these disciples. We repudiate that view of it. Do you not remember that there was a time when the disciples came to Jesus and said there was a case they could not heal, and he said to them, "O faith- less and perverse generation"? Jesus' work was poorly done if he had set out to bestow on these few men, out of all that ever lived, this- great power, and it had failed, so that they could not do that which was brought to them. This sen- tence of Jesus shows that the effort was a failure in that they did not have a full understanding of what he had taught them. What do you think Jesus came upoh the earth for? Was it not for the saving of the race by the manifestation of the highest good that had ever been known ? If healing the sick was one of those manifestations of good, why should the imparta- tion of infinite good have limited its operation to eleven men? I am going to introduce another of 14 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS these questions right here. "Why do Christian Scientists presume to heal when that time is past ?" What time is past? If you read history, do you not know that one of the invariable accompani- ments of early Christian experience was the heal- ing of the sick? Do you not know that so long as Christianity maintained its purity and kept within the confines of meekness, honesty, and self-abnegation, the healing was one of the phe- nomena of Christian work? We have been ac- customed to applaud the Emperor Constantine because he espoused Christianity. What a glori- ous day it was supposed to be when he fixed his gaze upon Christianity, laid his hand on it, and said, "You are mine." Unhappy hour for the world! What did he do? What did the world do ? It took the simple Christianity of the Naza- rene, the simple Christianity of the fishermen, put it on a throne and clothed it in purple and fine linen, and made it a political agency. No wonder that faith in God disappeared ! If God is infinite, He works through infinite laws. If God is infinite, He must be impartial; His laws, therefore, are impartial. It is just as impos- sible for God to create and set in motion a law that has no further application than that which extends itself over twelve, seventy, or three hundred men, as it is for God to become less than infinite. It is an impossibility. Whatever is being done accord- ing to God is being done according to His univer- CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 15 sal impartiality. If it were ever right for a sick man to be healed in accordance with the universal law of God, it is right now. There was no good created by God for the year 1, if you please, or again for the Christian era, that is not good for Him now, or that is too good for Him now. When God healed the sick through Jesus, did He do a good thing, or an evil thing? Did Jesus, in healing the sick, thereby destroy the works of God, or the "works of the devil"? "How does it happen, if this is of God, that our good and learned people, preachers, etc., do not believe it?" Before I answer the question I^ would like to say that some of our good and learned people do believe in it; and that we are not, as some suppose, a lot of pagans. "How does it happen, if this is of God, that our good and learned people, preachers, etc., do not believe in it ?" How did it happen, if Jesus was of God, that the representatives of the most venerable theology in the world, the most highly cultured, philosophical, and learned people of the world, — those who were supposed to represent the wisdom of this world, — did not believe in him ? You who are Christians now, looking back upon the scene of Jerusalem, the scene of Athens, — that home of literature and philosophy, — what do you think of the goodness and learning which rejected Jesus simply because they were the representatives of the dominant religion of that time? Does that i6 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS indicate that they were right in rejecting Jesus, and that Jesus was wrong because those people did not accept him? Why is it, if the CathoHc rehgion is of God, that our good and learned people do not accept that? Why is it, if Method- ism is of God, that the Catholics do not accept that? I think I am not saying too much when I venture the statement that if you should get a consensus of opinion, each sect would think the other lost because of its belief. Now let us change the question a little, and ask it in this way: *'Why is it, if this is of God, that all religious people do not recognize it as such and accept it ?" There is one reason that really covers C~the whole ground. It is because they do not be- ) lieve in it ; that is the reason they do not accept it, I — they do not believe that it is true. Let us see why. Let us get away from personality and see that every religious denomination is simply the embodi- ment of some kind of religious belief, and that it is this belief and doctrine which we are to consider and not the individual. It is a well-known state- ment of many writers and theologians that there is nothing so tenacious as a religious belief, and as every one of these denominations is the expression of some particular religious belief, how can it be possible for one who is absorbed in allegiance to one belief to turn around and believe another one that is so different? The reason people do not accept Catholicism as the universal religion is that CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 17 they do not believe in it; the reason they do not accept Unitarianism is because they do not beHeve in it. You might go on until you had covered ten thousand phases of belief. **Ho\v can intelligent people be duped with it?" That is another question, and the effort to incor- porate a sting has created an anomaly. The ques- tion is absurd on its face. Before we take the question up from a Christian Science standpoint, we will see just what it amounts to. What does it mean to be duped by anything? Let us suggest that it means to be misled, deceived, or imposed upon; and reading the question in this way, it would be, How can intelligent people be imposed upon, or deceived, or defrauded by Christian Sci- ence? We ask how can an intelligent person be duped ? What is an intelligent person ? An intel- ligent person is one who manifests intelligence. Now I would like to ask you how intelligence can be duped by non-intelligence? If a man is intelli- gent he cannot be duped. If an intelligent man accepts anything, then it is evidence that he is not being duped, but that that which he accepts is genuine; that it appeals to his sense of intelli- gence and order; and on the other hand, if he can be duped he is not intelligent. Let us see why intelligent people accept Christian Science, or believe in Christian Science. That is an honest question. I remember the first time I went to Boston to study Christian Science. A literary i8 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS lady of Boston came into the class one day. She had been healed of disease, and came to the class because she was interested. She and I were stop- ping at the same hotel, and the next morning, meeting at the breakfast-table, we engaged in conversation. She said, "I was surprised at the personnel of that class. They were all adults — serious people of intelligent appearance, all indi- cating by their actions deep interest and insight. Where did they all come from ? Do they all belong here in Boston?" I was about to say they came from all over the world; but remembering, as I did at that moment, that I had just escaped from years of sickness myself ; remembering that right behind me there sat a man who had, while lying in prison during the war, contracted a disease that had prostrated him for twenty years, and that he had been healed ; remembering that at my side there sat a woman whose mother had died in the insane asylum, and who, herself, had been taken to the asylum, but was cured by Christian Science; re- membering that at my other side there was a woman who for six years had been trying in vain to be healed of asthma, but had also just been healed ; remembering these, and a great many other similar cases among the students there assembled, I said to her, "Most of us came from our graves." "How can intelligent people be duped with it ?" Stand and look into an open grave for months, as I have done ; all the little fleeting joys of earth seem CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 19 as nothing compared with it ; you begin to be seri- ous; you begin to stare eternity in the face; and then, whether you are intelHgent or ignorant, if you can turn to that agency which restores you to health, happiness, and usefulness, if you have the wisdom of an infant, you will want to know what it is that has wrought this stupendous transfor- mation. Most of the people who come into Chris- tian Science come because they have been lifted out of a hell of misery. "Why do you maintain a separate denomination ? If Christian Science is so good, why not keep it in the other churches?" Every denomination is the expression of a belief. When Paul became a Chris- tian the first thing he did was to preach to the Jews. He made an effort to present Christianity to them in such a way that they would espouse it, but they rejected it, and he turned to the Gentiles. Christian Science as a demonstrable statement of Christian- ity, with proofs following in demonstration of that belief, has been preached to the churches and re- jected. The reason why they do not keep it in the old church is that the old church will not have it there. "Why do Christian Scientists maintain a denom- ination of their own?" Christian Science is a re- ligion that is being manifested, among other things by the healing of the sick. There is a vast differ^ ence between the consciousness that knows it cani heal the sick, and that which knows it cannot. There [ is a much wider difference between these beliefs ' 20 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS than others that have caused separation. You can go down into town and you will find churches on each of four corners. Why do they have separate churches? If what they believe is so good, why not stay in the old church ? Why do they hire four ministers, four choirs, and go to the expense of keeping up four establishments ? I am not here to criticize the fact that there are four churches on any four corners, but I am bringing it within the range of the discussion of the argument that we /nare narrow. Christian Scientists are separate by ( reason of the situation ; they cannot coalesce with \ other denominations, because their doctrine is dif- j f erent from any other. Is not that reason enough ? ^ You may say that it is "no good," but that is not the point, for it is the reason why Christian Scien- tists are a denomination by themselves. They do not segregate because they want to monopolize good ; that would not be in accord with Christian Science at all. Another question is : "If this is true, why did not God send it sooner ?" Why did not He send Moses and the Ten Commandments sooner? Why wait four thousand years for Jesus to come ? Why has not every scientific fact come sooner ? This ques- tion comes from the conception that God has a lot of truth stored up, and doles it out through differ- ent eras of history. He is supposed to wait a few thousand years and then sends Moses to tell people they must do so and so, and then in a few thousand CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 21 more years He sends Jesus. This question comes from a minimized conception of God which in- cludes no understanding of His operations at all. Let us go back and review human history. What were the conditions at the time of Moses? They were as black as ink so far as the mentality was concerned. The people had been in Egypt many years, and were filled full of every form of the black art and occultism. They were as opaque as it was possible to be — hardly one ray of spirituality there. Moses discerned somewhat of God; that was a condition of consciousness where God could be seen, felt, and appreciated. Moses discerned what was the law of God — the nature of God, and what man must do in order to manifest God, and formulated that conception in the declaration, 'Thou shalt not." Then we find that human thought trudges on; here are the prophets, Isaiah, Daniel, Elijah, teach- ing and admonishing the people, and finally there is just enough attenuation in the condition of hu- man consciousness so that Jesus appears at the proper time and preaches a new dispensation, the law of love, which fulfils all law. Was Jesus in advance of his time, or, on the other hand, was he too late? Of all the people that then existed, how many were ready for him? If you will examine the history of the action of the human mind, you will see that this sublimation had been going on all the time; it is the only reason why this mind 22 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS has been able to accept his higher metaphysical statement of science or God. This being the truth, you see it could not have come much sooner and created any impression. Notwithstanding that it is today accompanied by the most indisputable phenomena, the ignorance of the human mind yields slowly to the "glad tidings." **Why do Christian Scientists use a vocabulary of words that differ from ordinary English ?" They do not ; positively they do not. If you will look in the dictionary you will find as many as ten different meanings for some words; some of them give the very lowest signification, and then they ascend to higher and more comprehensive definitions. Take the word "infinite." How many can define it — how many really understand it ? Some men would say, "This is an infinitely cooler day than yester- day." What kind of use is that to make of the word "infinite"? However, you find that most people have a more comprehensive sense of the word than that. Most words have from one to a dozen mean- ings, and men use them according to their under- standing of these definitions. It is a fact that there is not a word in the vocabulary of Christian Science that is not warranted by the dictionary, rrhe trouble is that ordinary English is not com- \ prehensive enough to convey the meaning of meta- ; physics ; the difficulty in making Christian Science "j understood is that ordinary language is insufficient (in its scope, and that which is partially adequate CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 23 is not understood. In order to comprehend Chris-) tian Science, one must work up to the higher signification of these terms. . J **If medicine is wrong, why do we have herbs with medicinal quahties?" I am going to tell you what Dr. Mason Good, a learned professor of London, says: "The effects of medicine on the human system are in the highest degree uncer- tain ; except, indeed, that it has already destroyed more lives than war, pestilence, and famine all combined." That is the testimony concerning the effect of medicine by a learned doctor of medicine. This question is a very common one. A recent eminent divine is reported to have said that he would be inclined to espouse the doctrines of Christian Science if it were not for the medicine that is growing all around us ; that God had cre- ated that medicine because He expected people to be sick; and that that is what it is for. The fact of the matter is, that everything in the vegetable, mineral, and animal kingdoms has been doled out to man as medicine for sickness, and he has swallowed it all. If it be admitted that the fact that men have taken all these things as medi- cine is evidence that God created them for this purpose, we are forced to the irresistible conclu- sion that God created man to be sick after having created the earth as medicine for him. I do not think there is much force in this premise, but let us go on and examine the question from a 24 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS different standpoint. Christian Scientists do not go around saying, "You must not take medicine." What they do say is this : that you do not need to take medicine in order to be healed ; that there is a better way to heal man than by giving him medi- ^cine. They realize that the true way of healing 1 the sick is the mental process. They are trying to \ prove to the invalid that that is the better way. Just \ so soon as he comes to see and depend on this : method rather than on medicine, just so soon as he sees that it is something valuable, he will find that it is a better way ; he will find that he is not , only being healed, but he stays well longer — he ; does not get sick so often ; he gets rid of sickness /"Sooner when he is sick, and so on. We are not here to quarrel with medicine, and especially with people who do not understand these things. People are all depending too much on medicine — a thing \ which most of them know so little about. "~^~^*'Why do you make charges? Jesus did not charge." In the tenth chapter of Luke you will find some instructions that Jesus gave his disciples. He said, _Go ; take no money — no purse ; preach the gospel, heal the sick', eat what is set before you, and the laborer is worthy of his hire. Taking these two in connection, is it not fair to think that he told them to eat what was before them, not as beggars and mendicants, but because they were entitled to the provision? This is a figure of speech which he CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 25 used in order to reach their understanding, and this is the natural, easy, and proper interpretation of it. Jesus sent them out with the instruction that the laborer is worthy of his hire. He recognized the principle of compensation. In those days the social system was very different from what it is now. They did not pay people salaries. It is only a short time since the school-teacher had to get his board one week at one place and the next week at an- other. They set something before him, and he ac- cepted it because it was sufficient for what he did. In those days they did not receive pay according to the money standard of today, but they did receive reasonable compensation for what they did. My dear friends, there is a reverse side to this question that is of great importance. Why do you object to paying for services performed in your be- half ? Why are you unwilling to pay the minister who labors for you, and considers it proper to make charges for "preaching the gospel" ? Why, to my sense the true minister occupies the most exalted position that man can occupy ; in order to do his work faithfully he must exhibit great self- abnegation, being criticized on all sides. Why do you object to paying him for trying to save you? Why is it that the physician doing the best he knows how to do to relieve humanity ; ready to go on all occasions, both day and night ; coming in contact with the most fretful, irritable beings on earth — sick people — why is it that you object to paying 26 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS him ? We find that when we get hold of a person who can pay and does not want to, he is one of the hardest people to heal. The fact is it is a sin — the sin of selfishness, of greed ; unwillingness to give credit where credit is due. This willingness to get something for nothing is a sin, and Christian Scientists would be helping to perpetuate that sin if they went to people and healed them for noth- ing. It would be evil to perpetuate this propensity. If, however, patients cannot pay for treatment, Scientists are perfectly willing to serve them with- out any compensation whatever. "Even if some get well under the treatment, might they not get well anyway ?" Yes, decidedly ; they might get well under any other treatment. I will go further, and say that a physician of under- standing, if he will be candid, will say that seventy- five or eighty per cent of all the cases of sickness that occur, would recover spontaneously if they were left alone, — if they had no treatment, no doc- tor, no change of air, no electricity, or anything else. Seventy-five or eighty per cent of the differ- ent ailments, if left alone, would disappear if nothing were done. The ability of any curative system to cope with incorrigible sickness attests its real value, and the healing of hundreds of thou- sands of cases of hopeless disease constitutes the proof of Christian Science Mind-healing. "Do Christian Scientists believe in the Bible and in prayer?" The first of the tenets of the Chris- CONCERNING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 27 tian Science church declares that '*As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life." We not only believe in the Bible, but find that in the light of Science its mysteries are effaced and all seem- ing contradictions are reconciled. We believe in prayer without ceasing. We believe in the su- preme infinite individuality or spiritual personality of God, who is all Life, Truth, and Love, all- power, all-presence, and all-Science. We also be- lieve in the divinity of Christ and in the resurrec- tion and ascension, and we hold that "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL [Reprinted from The Christian Science Journal.] Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. — Jesus. THE compassionate appeal of Christian Sci- ence to the world meets with response most frequently from people who are in trouble ; from them that cry, them that are acquainted with an- guish of mind and body, or that have been bruised by man's inhumanity to man. Why is this so ? It is because of the incomparable promise of Chris- tian Science and of its fulfilment. You may search every system of religious and scientific belief, ex- plore the vast network of philosophy and human reasoning, and you will find that no one of them, nor all combined, promises so much to the man who is in hell on earth, as does Christian Science. Nothing oflfers such assurance for his hope. I f you will collect the testimony of every school or phase of religious, philosophic, or scientific endeavor, concerning the definite benefits thereof to mankind, and compare such testimony with the testimony of the beneficiaries of Christian Science, you will 28 ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 29 learn that not one of the former effects, or even claims to effect, such a comprehensive list of mani- fold benefits as are palpable in the indestructible facts of Christian Science practice. Such statements as these may appear to be aggressive and monopolistic, because of their un- bending positiveness of assertion. I will not stop now to justify this incisive quality, which is al- ways incidental to scientific utterance and which Burr so aptly named "the effrontery of truth," but will beg the reader to remembel* that Christiaii) Science does not ask any one to believe anything ( that he cannot prove to be true ; to remember, al^o, that it is a demonstrable Science; a knowledge of which is manifested in conclusive proof. Would you ask for more than this? Will anything less than demonstrable truth ever serve to extricate humanity from its dire distress ? Jesus said, ** Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The ranks of Christian Science include thou- sands who have been delivered from desperate, unbearable conditions. Although many a league still lies between them and manifested perfection^ they know that they are actors in the most stu- pendous business to which this race will ever give attention ; namely, the extinction or obliteration of sin, disease, every kind of evil that infests human- ity. The indisputable facts of Christian Science healing are attracting the multitude, and, in geo- 30 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: metrical ratio, its numerical strength is being rap- idly augmented by those who come to inquire and to learn. The man or woman who, wandering along the border-land of Christian Science, finally decides to cross the frontier and seek abode within its comforting shelter, is entitled to the loving hospitality of every one who has himself been re- deemed from a dark or painful experience. With- out disposition to force the attention of any one to this subject, or to be overofficious in the way of importunity and advice, these words are written in the hope of making easier the pathway of those whose footsteps have been among thorns. In delivering a lecture at one time, I dwelt some- what on the subject of hell, and learned that a lady who was in the audience, afterward said, "Well! I think that the lecturer spoke very disrespectfully concerning hell." The lady was right, I have no respect whatever for hell. I have been in it and through it, and know it to be an abomination and a fraud, entitled only to the execration of mankind. It is an individual state of wretched conscious- ness, utterly unlike God, or His nature, or the con- ceded essentials of His being. It is an illegitimate monstrosity which has no verity, no immortality, nor right to exist. After "the pangs of hell" had seized me and impinged upon me their torments, I was rescued through the operative efficacy of Christian Science. Then the tears began to dry, the tension of fear to relax, the gloom was dis- ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 31 pelled, despair lost its hold, the pain decreased and at last vanished. I ''would not overstate my woe," for, be that as it may, I know that a mighty, satisfying impulsion extricated me from as out- rageous a hell as any one need know, and ushered me into the vestibule of heaven by means of a transformation of consciousness whereby exist- ence seemed more fair and the obduracy of dis- tress gave way to a certain measure of peace to which man is lawfully entitled. Having come upon the scene of Christian Sci- ence by traversing nearly all the way from a waiting grave, I have learned something of the besetments that would hinder, and sometimes do hinder, the sufferer who seeks escape from his direful fate and who needs to find the divine equip- ment by which to gain a mastery over that fate and its woe. It is therefore fitting that I refer to some of the questions and mistakes which some- times puzzle and distract the newcomer. One of these takes form in the objection to the use of the term Christian Science, on the plea that it involves a misuse of the word ''science." This phase of criticism is always the result of unfamiliarity with the technical definition and legitimate import of the word. As a matter of fact there are no other words in the English language which would more correctly or adequately serve the purpose for which the words Christian Science are employed. This term is used legitimately to indicate that Christian 32 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: Science is a definite, systematic, and demonstrable statement of the truth about the Christianity of Christ ; the truth about God, man, and the universe. It will hardly be denied that there is such a thing as the truth about God, man, and the universe, and it ought not to be denied that the truth of or about Christianity is the Science of Christianity; hence it is amazing that a person having access to a dictionary should contend that the conjoined words Christian Science constitute a misnomer. Christian Science and Christian knowledge are synonymous terms, and their use is justified ac- cording to the same rule and propriety which justify the use of the word omniscience. It is sometimes said, *1 think Christian Science is a beautiful religion, but I am not ready to espouse it, because I fear that it will require me to give up so much." One reason why Christian Science is a beautiful religion is that it does not require one to give up anything that is good or that will result in good for him. It calls for the abandonment of nothing but misery and that which causes misery. It sanctions everything that makes for the happi- ness, health, welfare, andlife of man and interdicts only that which inevitably makes for the desola- tion, the bankruptcy, the collapse of human exist- ence. It shows that it is evil alone which lures mortals from their own prosperity by the fatuous pretense that sin can confer any semblance of joy that does not contain the sting of suffering. ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 33 It is frequently said, '*I would like to know about Christian Science, but it seems to be so hard to understand." Now, on the contrary. Christian' Science is simplicity itself, and the difficulty is else- where than in the intrinsic substance and presen- tation of the subject. In her work, "Science and ' Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy writes of a person who at an early age was con- fined in a darkened dungeon, wherein he lived for j years. Later on, when liberated and taken into ' the light he was greatly distressed by what was, to him, an unnatural experience, and he begged to be returned to his accustomed habitat, and to what, to him, seemed to be a normal estate. His contact with the light, and the sounds that he heard, excited him painfully and were most trying. He had become so accustomed to the abnormal that proper condi- tions were intolerable and incomprehensible to him. An explanation somewhat parallel with this nar- rative may be offered at this point. There are mil- lions of people who will say they believe that God is good, that God is Life, that God is perfect and changes not, and that He is infinite. These same people will also say they believe that God procures or has instituted sickness and death, and that He gives permission to evil and its activity. Persons who commonly subscribe to these two propositions suppose that they understand them and that it is easy to understand them. But these two statements of the deific nature are directly opposed to each 34 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: Other, hence both of them cannot be true, nor can they possibly be amalgamated. No one who gives assent to them can ever understand w^hat they really mean. I know of nothing in the range of thought that ought more properly to elicit the protest that it is hard to understand, than the attempt to com- bine these two postulates of religious belief; viz., that infinite good can permit evil ; that infinite Life, which changes not, can change itself and induce sickness and death, and that perfection can be the author of disaster. All these contradictions are logically unthinkable and ought to become void. No bridge spans the gulf between such antipodes, and logic and reason can do nothing but utterly repudiate these fanciful conclusions. Christian Science declares that God is good, and is infinite ; that God is Life, Truth, Love ; that God is Spirit, is perfection, and is supreme. It declares that He is the cause and origin of all real existence ; that He is the sole lawmaker, is all-power, and hath done all things well. There is scarcely a Christian on earth who would deny any of these postulates. Wherefore, then, is the objection that Christian Science is hard to understand ? Is it because every incidental or amplified belief included in the the- ology of Christian Science is in consistent accord and harmony in every particular with these funda- mental statements ? Is it because Christian Science insistently presents a complete structure of reli- gious belief which is without illogical antithesis? ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 35 No. It is because Christian Science teaches that" good is natural and normal and that evil is illegiti- mate and abnormal. It is because the world has regarded evil as an indestructible entity, whereas Christian Science discloses it to be a disorderly negation which can be abolished. It is because of the newness, the novelty, the strangeness of this modern analysis of what has been called a baffling mystery, that the old-time thinker designates it dif- ficult to understand. Its pure logic and reasoning solve mysteries. They are the correlatives of an immaculate science; and they shine with a pure and simple light which dazzles and thus perhaps confuses the mind accustomed to other things. Many people have held aloof from Christian Science because of some person or persons in the neighborhood who were known as Christian Scien- tists, and who were illiterate, or lacking in culture and good manners, or possibly who did not appear to have ascended to a high moral plane of daily living. It so happens that the influence of Chris- tian Science, which is no respecter of persons, touches the need and thought of all sorts of human beings. Much of its glory lies in the fact that it illumines the way of universal salvation for the entire race. Christian Scientists do not pose as a kind of exalte, nor do they pretend to be saints or to be perfect. Their modest boast would be, if boast at all, that whereas they once manifested very many of the frailties of human life, the di- 36 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: vine purifier has made them at least better than they were. Let us not Hnger too long, dear friends, to murmur because this splendid blessedness has been bestowed on the rich and poor alike; upon the educated and the lowly ; let us remember that there are no mortals on this earth who do not need at times to weep hot tears because they so poorly do the will of God. Infinite Science cannot be hindered nor restrained by persons. What does it matter to you who need to be saved, if some one else needs it more, or if he heeds not the touch of God and the opportunity for reform? You may look in vain for perfect people, but you need not vainly look for that which promises to redeem, even though their sins be as scarlet. No one can progress in Christian Science with- out first being reconciled to the text-book, Science and Health, and whosoever finds himself in a state of umbrage toward the book or its author would do well to stop and give his sole attention to a recon- ciliation therewith. There is no more specious nor mischievous argument than that the book is defec- tive, insufficient, and difficult to understand, and that some other statement is more easily compre- hended.* The fact is that all other Christian Sci- entists combined are not so competent to state this Science and the modus of its application as is Mrs. Eddy. None knows so well what to say and how to say it, in order to meet the specific and universal need of the world. There is no teacher of Chris- ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 37 tian Science, no lecturer, no writer for its periodi- cals who ever uttered anything of value concerning this Science and its practice, who did not, in so doing, cross and recross the same ground which iMrs. Eddy covered, in a better way, years before. She has not committed the great fault of omitting to say in her books whatever is necessary in order to enable the learner to make his way. Science and Health has been the text-book and instructor of the practitioners who have accomplished the cure of millions of cases of disease. It is entirely satisfac- tory to those who best know what it means and best know what is required of such a book. In) ^ order to do the best that can be done, we should be vigilant to imbibe our sense of Science from . this book in preference to any other literature. J Christian Science does not promise that by mere acquiescence in its teachings one can at once sweep away the asserted activity and impress of all evil. Progress will be realized after the manner which the Scriptures indicate, — line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. It is also important to know that one may and must begin at once to put into practice what he learns. No one need delay because of the suggestion that he must have a great understanding of it before he can reap its benefits. That which we accomplish for ourselves is of vastly more value to us than if the same result were achieved for us by some one else. Jesus said, "It must needs be that offenses ^/. »^ 38 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: come." We shall have occasion to cross swords with evil, but we should remember that we now have something with which to win ; and that such errors appear only to disappear before the might of Truth; therefore, let us ''be not afraid." The average person who decides to turn to Chris- tian Science for the cure of disease has many a misgiving. There is no remedy or modus in sight. There is nothing that he can see, no plan that he understands which offers tangible assurance that something is being employed to aid him. For him to decide to trust the issue to that which he does not comprehend and cannot behold seems like jumping off the earth into empty space. He might feel even more adrift and rudderless if he knew that we were not depending on a petition to God, whereby to persuade Him to heal the man in con- sideration of the prayer. O thou battered and storm-tossed victim of ill fortune, in this hour when decision is poised be- tween the exigencies of your need and that which seems as though it might be a final plunge into the unknown and non-discernible, take heart, for at last there is opportunity for you to know that your Redeemer liveth, and that you may, with much avail, trust in the good God. Let us inquire as to this reliance, and try to con- clude whether you are committing your hope to something or nothing. If you were to congregate all the people on earth and discuss with them their ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 39 ills and their desire for relief, and if it were with- in your privilege to let them designate that which they might choose to invoke in their own behalf, upon what would they decide? If they knew enough they would say, "We invoke the supreme power of the universe, whatever that may be. We ask for the supremacy of power, of action, and of law. If supreme power be available for us, then nothing can hinder or withstand or continue to oppose it, because it necessarily follows, that if supreme power makes for the manifestation of good it will abolish every semblance of power that makes for the manifestation of evil." Would you who may read these words ask for more than the privilege of invoking infinite supremacy? Can the sick man possibly utter a more adequate appeal? Is there anything illogical or fanciful in the desire of a man that needs help, that the help shall be supreme ? No ! Then, having taken a reasonable step, the question to consider is this, — Is there such a thing as supreme power? If there be, then is it available to a sick man? By way of answer to these questions let us ob- serve that certain things are undeniably true. It is undeniable that there is such a thing as existence, as the universe, including man. All the objects of creation are effects of phenomena. All these effects or phenomena are the effects of some cause. When the subject is carried to its final analysis, it is un- deniable that all phenomena proceed from or mani- 40 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: fest one noumenon or cause. In other words, all the objects of the universe have one cause or crea- tive energy. The same origin or cause w^hich pro- duces things or effects, also maintains them ; hence the inevitable conclusion that there is some supreme cause v^hich induces and includes all the things and activities of the universe and to w^hich all are sub- ordinate. Further, it w^ill not be denied that man manifests intelligence, and as man is a phenomenon or effect, then it f ollow^s by w^ay of conclusion that his intelligence can only exist because his creator is an intelligent cause. Inasmuch, then, as active intelligence means active consciousness, it follow^s that the Intelligent First Cause is conscious intel- ligence or conscious being. No possible line of logical reasoning can by any means demolish the conclusion that a consciously intelligent primary or First Cause is supreme as power, and has been properly designated omnip- otence. English-speaking people have agreed among themselves that, in so far as a name can indicate that which is infinite, they will use the word God whereby to designate Deity. The final conclusion is that God is supreme as power, ac- tion, and law, and in view of the fact that by general consensus of belief God is identical with *'good," it may also appear that the supremacy of power, action, and law is good. Then there comes the question, Is the law and power of our supreme God available for a sick ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 41 man ? The only convincing answer to this question must be in the form of proofs. Jesus declared that God's power is lawfully available, and he vindicated his statement by means of proof. Chris- tian Science declares the same thing, and unnum- bered instances of healing through its practice constitute the same proof. If it were not so, we would be obliged to conclude that He created man, "the noblest work of God," as an outcast or outlaw and thrust him into existence without any recourse to divine law and power; subject only to the spurious law of sin and death. Would infinite good do that ? The Christian Science patient, then, instead of appealing to nothing, is relying on the supreme power of the universe. God has created no origin or cause of disease and no law for the procurement of a sick man or his discomfiture. On the contrary, the natural, primal law of God is to all intents and purposes the law of reconstruction, recuperation, restoration, and recovery for the sick. As soon as mortals discern and prove this scientific verity they will enter the door of heaven. I remember that soon after reading Sjfcence and Health I found myself mourning because "I had lost my God," and since then I have had occasion to comfort other mourners who had come to the same strange conclusion. Alas, dear friend, what kind of a God was it that could be so easily lost? Please do not think me harsh if I say that if you have a god that can be lost, the quicker you lose it 42 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: the better. The god I then had was indeed a trav- esty, a thing of human conception. It was simply an impossible god. Nevertheless, while I had it, it frightened me and filled me with dread and dismay. I greatly rejoice now, that it was lost, and that Christian Science dethrones all other gods that can be lost. Instead of depriving any one of God, Chris- tian Science reveals the true God and abundantly satisfies him whose joy it is to know God aright. For ages mortals have been trained to have a good opinion of what they have been pleased to call their minds. Self-admiration, pride of intellect, and tenacity of opinion, — these have been associ- ated with that mental combativeness which usually seeks to dominate and to prevail. The seeming necessity for existing by the rule of the survival of the fittest has driven every man into an attitude of contention for self-advantage. This spirit of bar- ter often influences him as he approaches the very throne of grace, and frequently do we hear the man who says, *Tf Christian Science will heal me, I will believe in it," or, *Tf they will heal me it will be a good thing for Christian Science in our town," or, "If it does not cure me, I shall know there is nothing in it." To these it is to be said, In such an attitude of thought, it will scarcely avail you to approach the subject at all, God cannot enter into convention with a human being and negotiate for blessedness on terms proposed by a sick man or a sinner. The Science of being cannot ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 43 argue or debate with you on the facts of infinite purpose, law, and animus. It is folly to expend oneself in complaint against Christian Science because it does not make things less rough for you, according to your own requirements. It is foolish to fight at it with argument and rebellious discussion, because it will not fight back nor heed your fight ; it will simply continue to be itself. Now if you would have the way less rough, then know this: that in the presence of demonstrable Science there is no place or opportunity for argu- ment and no occasion even for patronizing conces- sions. In such presence a man may well uncover his head, remember that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God," and then, after the fashion of him who becomes as a little child, sim- ply ask to know, to be taught, to learn the way. Divine Love, surpassing immeasurably the love of tenderest mother, does indeed love "his own," and will protect and continue it in perfection; but, dear friend, pride, and the arrogance of worldly wisdom, and the tumult of the human will,-;-these are not "his own." There is no need of a new rule whereby to lead wounded humanity from the serpent's trail and to heal it of the serpent's sting. The rule is this, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." The healing work through Christian Science occurs, partly because some one is observing this rule and is thinking, knowing, and 44 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: living rightly. The healing is an effect, a sign, following a cause, and the only cause of healing is a certain indispensable degree of rightness. Try not to be ashamed because you appeal for treatment or turn your face timidly toward this haven which you have not explored, The frown of society may urge you to be perturbed, but try not to be ashamed. You may not know it, but you are invoking the power, law, and action of infinity. Your appeal is really to our majestic God and according to His invitation. Compared with His boundless wisdom, perfection, and might, what is society? If it were His business to be ashamed of anything. He might be justified for being ashamed of us, but from the standpoint of Truth it is to be said that of all things visible nothing seems more pitiable than the man who is ashamed of God and of his hope of salvation. No evil suggestion has sought more industri- ously or senselessly to restrain the inquirer than the one that Christian Science has been introduced to the world by a woman, and for that reason does not deserve acceptance at the hands of an intelli- gent people. Please pardon me, dear reader, if with unconventional familiarity I ask you to imagine yourself in an old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone hell. We will assume that you have been in it a long time and have endured the interminable fire of its wretchedness, and have had enough of it. Now let us suppose that it is made known to you ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 45 that there is a rope hanging over the brink of hell and that if you can find the rope it will in some way pull you out: What would you do? Why, you would spend days and nights looking for that rope. No invitation to remain longer to enjoy the pleasures of hell would turn you from your im- perative purpose. In the course of time, it would occur to you that you were not bestowing any favor or advantage on the rope by looking for it. You would dismiss the thought that because of your social position or the unusual importance of your personality, the rope ought to look you up and insist on your allowing it to bestow some great service upon you. In the course of a proper search for the rope, humility, reverence, simplicity, and purity of motive would mark the progress of your pilgrimage like mile-stones, and your heart's deep petition would be that you might see the way and walk therein. Let us suppose that you have found the rope, and that as you approach it you see a large con- course of people, all of them in the throes of more or less damnation and all in supreme need of de- liverance. Among those people there is much dis- cussion and debate. You wait long enough to observe that many persons are clinging to the rope and are being reclaimed and lifted out of the pit. Finally some one comes to you at the moment when hope should be high and your pitiful appeal be nigh unto its answer, and tells you that he has 46 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: decided not to try the rope because its color or tex- ture is not according to his judgment and fancy, and because it has been suspended over hell's awful abyss by a woman! What would you do? Would you, for such a reason turn back and cast yourself again into the havoc which is so utterly without promise of its extinction that people have for ages called h eternal? Again, let us assume that you are stirred by the thought that perchance the rope is well enough per se, and it would be entitled to your respect and devotion if it had been introduced into the scene of human turmoil by a man, or by some one of our great men : What is to be said concerning this ? The rope and its undeniable achievements consti- tute a fixed, determined, accomplished fact. Since the day when Christ Jesus prophesied that "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," there have been billions of men on earth, all intent on getting out of trouble. Not one of them ever found the rope, — the scientific rule of practice whereby evil is exterminated. It is, per- haps, no wonder that you repine because no great man has done this thing, but is there any rational- ity in the demurrer against the great woman who verily hath accomplished the fact? You are not asked to worship the rope. You are not asked to worship the woman, indeed there is no place for an apotheosis in Christian Science practice. You are simply to learn that the Mind ITS COMPASSIONATE APPEAL 47 *'which was also in Christ Jesus" is the master of every conceivable evil and hath abolished "the law of sin and death" in accordance with the will and law of our supreme God. Some day it may be yours to understand this great transaction and to discern the superb fitness of all its parts, and when you do so understand you will be satisfied, and you will be glad that it came through a woman. Moreover, you will learn, some day, that the woman who discovered the rope and uncoiled it in the sight of the world and over the brink of human misfortune, has been obliged ceaselessly to continue her watch whereby to keep it there. You will also learn that while doing this she has been subjected to every conceivable assault of evil, and yet has endured and labored, and won for humanity ; and when you know all about the unspeakable travail of this ministry, you will wonder if you have ever heard of a man, since the day of primitive Chris- tianity, who was equal to such a task. Edward A. Kimball. PERIODICALS published by THE CHRIS^ TIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY Falmouth and St. Paui* Streets, Boston, Mass., XT. S. A. THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE JOURNAL Fnblished Monthly I'onnded April. 1883, by 3£iRi' Baker Eduy, Discoverer and ' , i 1, r ,f Cl.i^tiAu Science, and author of the Christian '. ! ,; . -, -SCIB.SCB AND HEALXH WI'CU KK¥ TO TIUBl j'lis Luouthiv magazine Is the official organ of The First C'ln-a of Christ, Sclentisf, in Boston, Mass., and correctly rfM.r-^.nt8 the Christian Science movement. Tern)H of Subscription: Payable in advance, postage free, to any part of the United States, Canada, Mexico, aud Cuba, $2 00 per annum; $1.20 for six months; single copies, 20 cents. Foreign subscription, $2.-10 per annum; $1.40 for six mouths. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SENTINEL A weekly newspaper for the home, published every Saturday, .^.Hitainlnjr news items of general interest, and contrilmted nn<] s(lect«-d articles, testimonies of healing, and timely cd>t'.ri:i!^ ill roHijortion wi(h the Christian Hcience movement. ^^uh^rriprion J'rice: $2.00 a year. On sale at 5 cents a copy, po.sTi'aid. For*;igu subacrlptlon, y*~'.5<> a year; 6 cents a copy, postpaid. ;, . DER HEROLD DER CHRISTIAN SCIENCE A monthly magazine printed hi German. It contains orlgmal and translated articles bearhig upon Christian Sc once, testi- ni,„l .!' •.. iw ' also tho Lesson-Sermons which are road ,,; t'l . - i '!.-o8 m all the Chrl.stfan Science churches, ^lib.. i-,! ,K. ('■ i..>: For the United States. Cnnada, Mexico. and Cuba, $l.tX) iu advance; a ll other countries $1.25. THE CHRT^TTAN SCIENCE MONITOR \ ' illHhpd everv afiernoon, except Hurul.iy,, <•:' V - .' • 'itaining current neWvS. ural partlculaily ,l..