Reply
to a Critic
SAMUEL
GREENWOOD, CSB
"An
Old-Time Religionist," whose communication appears in your
recent issue, evidently misses the viewpoint of Christian
Science. In their efforts to accomplish the redemption of
humanity, Christian Scientists stand on the same platform
with other religionists, but they do not wish to imply that
there is no difference between their views and the doctrines
of other denominations. Mrs. Eddy did not attempt to conform
her statement of the teachings of Christian Science to the
popular theology of her day, nor did she seek to evade any
honest criticism of her position. In the matter of Bible
quotations, it is common practice for those who base their
beliefs upon its teachings to make most frequent use of the
passages which are, to them, most inspiring and
illuminating. Christian Scientists are not exceptional in
this regard. Your correspondent, notwithstanding her
critical attitude, quite naturally does the same thing.
Indeed the nature of one's religious views may often be
determined by his favorite Scriptural passages. In her
attitude towards the sacrificial blood of Jesus, this writer
ignores the evident symbolic use of this word throughout the
Scriptures. In John, the apostle quotes Jesus as saying,
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you." This passage places your
correspondent in a dilemma. Because it is not possible for
her to drink the material blood of Jesus, she must either
acknowledge herself to be without life, or admit that he
used the word in a symbolic or metaphysical sense. The
latter admission would, to that extent, place her on the
same platform with Christian Science, and on the way, if she
would follow it, to the recognition that mortals' salvation
is to be worked out mentally, since matter has not the
intelligence to sin or to reform, and can constitute no
factor in human salvation.
Your
correspondent refers to the well-known statement of Jesus,
that mortals must be born again in order to enter into the
kingdom of God; and here again she comes on to the platform
of Christian Science. As Nicodemus pointed out, it is not
possible for a man to be born again materially; therefore
the second birth must be a wholly spiritual process. Sin had
no place in the pure consciousness of Jesus, and he well
knew it had no place in the consciousness of the Father;
hence he had the authority to say, "I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Jesus cast out devils and instructed his disciples to do
likewise, because he knew God did not put these evils there;
and he did the Father's will, not by contending that evils
were real, but by destroying them, that is, by taking away
the victim's sense of their reality. Good alone destroys
evil, or, to put it differently, makes the falsity of the
latter apparent; and it does this on the ground that God is
All-in-all, as the highest revelation of the Bible declares.
Christian Science teaches that the way of salvation was
opened for mankind by the life of Christ Jesus, and by his
proof of man's immortality and oneness with the Father.
Christian Scientists desire to honor God as our Saviour
honored Him, not as creating and governing the universe in
partnership with evil, but as including in Himself and in
His creation all that is true. They do not read into the
Bible any interpretation that would dishonor Him in whom "is
no darkness at all."
Samuel Greenwood,
Committee on Publication for the Province of British
Columbia,
Canada, in the Vancouver Sun quoted in "Selected
Articles"
Christian Science Sentinel, May 22,
1926
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