Jackson Patriot

Page 52

             [Jackson Patriot, Jackson, Mich., January 20, 1895]

9      [Extract]

         CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

         The erection of a massive temple in Boston by Christian

12    Scientists, at a cost of over two hundred thousand dollars,

         love-offerings of the disciples of Mary Baker Eddy, reviver

         of the ancient faith and author of the textbook from which,

15    with the New Testament at the foundation, believers

         receive light, health, and strength, is evidence of the rapid

         growth of the new movement. We call it new. It is not.

18    The name Christian Science alone is new. At the begin-

         ning of Christianity it was taught and practised by Jesus

         and his disciples. The Master was the great healer. But

21    the wave of materialism and bigotry that swept over the

         world for fifteen centuries, covering it with the blackness

         of the Dark Ages, nearly obliterated all vital belief in his

24    teachings. The Bible was a sealed book. Recently a

         revived belief in what he taught is manifest, and Christian

         Science is one result. No new doctrine is proclaimed, but

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1      here is the fresh development of a Principle that was put

         into practice by the Founder of Christianity nineteen hun-

3      dred years ago, though practised in other countries at an

         earlier date. “The thing that hath been, it is that which

         shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be

6      done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

         The condition which Jesus of Nazareth, on various

         occasions during the three years of his ministry on earth,

9      declared to be essential, in the mind of both healer and

         patient, is contained in the one word — faith. Can drugs

         suddenly cure leprosy? When the ten lepers were cleansed

12    and one returned to give thanks in Oriental phrase, Jesus

         said to him: “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee

         whole.” That was Christian Science. In his “Law of

15    Psychic Phenomena” Hudson says: “That word, more

         than any other, expresses the whole law of human felicity

         and power in this world, and of salvation in the world to

18    come. It is that attribute of mind which elevates man

         above the level of the brute, and gives dominion over the

         physical world. It is the essential element of success in

21    every field of human endeavor. It constitutes the power

         of the human soul. When Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed

         its potency from the hilltops of Palestine, he gave to man-

24    kind the key to health and heaven, and earned the title

         of Saviour of the World.” Whittier, grandest of mystic

         poets, saw the truth: —

27    That healing gift he lends to them

         Who use it in his name;

         The power that filled his garment’s hem

30    Is evermore the same.

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1      Again, in a poem entitled “The Master,” he wrote: —

         The healing of his seamless dress

3      Is by our beds of pain;

         We touch him in life’s throng and press,

         And we are whole again.(1)

6      That Jesus operated in perfect harmony with natural

         law, not in defiance, suppression, or violation of it, we can-

         not doubt. The perfectly natural is the perfectly spiritual.

9      Jesus enunciated and exemplified the Principle; and,

         obviously, the conditions requisite in psychic healing

         to-day are the same as were necessary in apostolic times.

12    We accept the statement of Hudson: “There was no law

         of nature violated or transcended. On the contrary, the

         whole transaction was in perfect obedience to the laws of

15    nature. He understood the law perfectly, as no one before

         him understood it; and in the plenitude of his power he

         applied it where the greatest good could be accomplished.”

18    A careful reading of the accounts of his healings, in the

         light of modern science, shows that he observed, in his

         practice of mental therapeutics, the conditions of environ-

21    ment and harmonious influence that are essential to success.

         In the case of Jairus’ daughter they are fully set forth.

         He kept the unbelievers away, “put them all out,” and

24    permitting only the father and mother, with his closest

         friends and followers, Peter, James, and John, in the

         chamber with him, and having thus the most perfect

27    obtainable environment, he raised the daughter to life.

         (1) NOTE: — About 1868, the author of Science and Health healed

         Mr. Whittier with one visit, at his home in Amesbury, of incipient

30    pulmonary consumption. — M. B. EDDY

Page 55 1 “Not in blind caprice of will,

             Not in cunning sleight of skill.

3          Not for show of power, was wrought

             Nature’s marvel in thy thought.”

         In a previous article we have referred to cyclic changes

6      that came during the last quarter of preceding centuries.

         Of our remarkable nineteenth century not the least event-

         ful circumstance is the advent of Christian Science.

9      That it should be the work of a woman is the natural out-

         come of a period notable for her emancipation from many

         of the thraldoms, prejudices, and oppressions of the past.

12    We do not, therefore, regard it as a mere coincidence that

         the first edition of Mrs. Eddy’s Science and Health should

         have been published in 1875. Since then she has revised

15    it many times, and the ninety-first edition is announced.

         Her discovery was first called, “The Science of Divine

         Metaphysical Healing.” Afterward she selected the name

18    Christian Science. It is based upon what is held to be

         scientific certainty, namely, — that all causation is of

         Mind, every effect has its origin in desire and thought.

21    The theology — if we may use the word — of Christian

         Science is contained in the volume entitled “Science and

         Health with Key to the Scriptures.”

24    The present Boston congregation was organized

         April 12, 1879, and has now over four thousand members.

         It is regarded as the parent organization, all others being

27    branches, though each is entirely independent in the

         management of its own affairs. Truth is the sole recognized

         authority. Of actual members of different congregations

30    there are between one hundred thousand and two hundred

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1      thousand. One or more organized societies have sprung

         up in New York, Chicago, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincin-

3      nati, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toledo, Milwaukee, Madison,

         Scranton, Peoria, Atlanta, Toronto, and nearly every other

         centre of population, besides a large and growing number

6      of receivers of the faith among the members of all the

         churches and non-church-going people. In some churches

         a majority of the members are Christian Scientists, and, as

9      a rule, are the most intelligent.

         Space does not admit of an elaborate presentation on the

         occasion of the erection of the temple, in Boston, the

12    dedication taking place on the 6th of January, of one of

         the most remarkable, helpful, and powerful movements

         of the last quarter of the century. Christian Science

15    has brought hope and comfort to many weary souls. It

         makes people better and happier. Welding Christianity

         and Science, hitherto divorced because dogma and truth

18    could not unite, was a happy inspiration.

             “And still we love the evil cause,

             And of the just effect complain;

21        We tread upon life’s broken laws,

             And mourn our self-inflicted pain.”