Accession: A10161
Editorial Title: Christian Science
Author: Mary Baker Eddy 
Scribe: Calvin A. Frye 
Date: May 1885 - Archivist date estimate
Manuscript Description: This document was handwritten by Calvin Frye with edits in pencil by Mary Baker Eddy.
Editorial Note: Mary Baker Eddy wrote this article for Mind in Nature magazine in response to articles that it published that were critical to Christian Science.
Related Topic: To read Mary Baker Eddy's sermon referenced in this article, see A10400Click link to view A10400 document in new window.
Final Edits
Original Document
Click image to magnify
Full
Back
Close
View Document
View Image
A10161
-
Reproduced from the archive of The Mary Baker Eddy Library
X

Copied document link to clipboard.

Christian Science.

By

Rev. Mary B. G. Eddy.

I have waited for Bishop FallowsEditorial Note: Samuel Fallows (1835-1922). Fallows became a Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1876. He was well known for his work in prison reform, public education, and in temperance. to resign his task of misstatingAs Written:mistating my views in each of your issuesEditorial Note: This response by Eddy to Fallows was published in the June 1885 issue of Mind in Nature. Mind in Nature had run articles by Fallows that were critical of Christian Science. He viewed it as essentially unchristian and believed that Christian Science healing was done through telepathy instead of the power of God. . If his design was to call out my fire I can assure him I hold no masked battery to open upon my enemies and shall offer no plea or apology for doing good.

Is the above gentleman quite sure that my statement of "God, man, Soul, mortal mind, Materia Medica, science, metaphysics, the Holy Scriptures, etc. has not the slightest connection with the recovery of the sick"? Also that hitting upon a novel plan to cause a concentration of one mind upon another for the well-being of the body is all of metaphysics"? Then he has gained this knowledge through his ignorance of Christian Science. He tried to support his lame logic by this -- that "numbers have read my books and gone into the healing business," and some who are healing by Mind-Cure repudiate the science. Here we ask -- does simply "going into the business" prove or disprove one's fitness to heal? And if one becomes a successfulAs Written:succesful healer merely from reading my books does it not prove that my statement of Christian Science has "connection with the recovery of the sick." and out of the mouth of babes thou hast perfected praiseMatt 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? .

The exorcists of old healed in the name of Christ and their method might have accorded with Bishop Fallows views, but not mine. The chief priests of that period said

of Jesus' method of healing, that Christian Science would represent, "he casteth out devils by Beelzebub"Mark 3:22 ¶And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath
Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. . If my religious system (as he is pleased to term it) exemplifies the teachings and demonstration of our Lord it should be known by its fruits; and that system, or its adherent, that designates this system unchristian is at fault. Neither by his writings nor by healing has the aforesaid gentleman furnished the first evidence on the basis of my scientific statement that he understands my works, principle or practiceAs Written:practise. It is a widely acknowledged fact that if he had a correct knowledge of my text-book he could prove my statements true.

I challenge Bishop Fallows to this fair play and christian consistency, namely; to demonstrate his knowledge of my system by healing the sick, or failing to do this, and exposing his ignorance of the system that he condemns before understanding, he should relinquish his vanity as a critic and prove his claim to a gentleman. As the founder, at this period, of Christian Science, I attest that he utterly fails to comprehend my statement of it. His explanation of one mind transferringAs Written:transfering its thoughts to another mind thereby affecting the body, the human givesg aid to the divine in its method of healing, is no more correct than to say a man assists the fall of an apple under the law of gravitation. It is virtually a denial of divine power to attribute all healing to mortals, implying it is done either by mortal mind, or by a drug clad with more power than Deity.

His mental muddle confounding Christian Science with hypnotism, would make it the transference of mortal thought, or the grander secret of concentration! When, to comprehend this science in the slightest sense, one must see beyond the rubbish of mortal thought, and be there to demonstrate the science

To understand my use of the term "God," he must exchange his evidence gained from the material senses, for the spiritual evidence that he seems not to have gained, namely, a true sense of divine power, the OMNIS POTENSEditorial Note: Synonym for omnipotence. of Spirit. Then might he gather somewhat the scientific sense in which I employ the term and should find no fault with it begirt with additional power .

Would he learn my meaning of the term "man," he must exchange his sense of man as sinning, sick and dying -- that mortal sense "conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity" -- for the spiritual sense of man born not of the flesh but of Spirit, made after the image and likeness of God. Then would he improve more rapidly the race transferringAs Written:transfering God's mind-pictures to mortals, which correct their poor models, and learn in part my definition of man, chose according to Christian Science, reason and revelationAs Written:revalation, the divine model and bring out the true likeness.

Did he understand my use of the term "Soul," he would discern the meaning of this scripture -- "the soul that sinneth shall dieEzek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. , -- and would see that Soul must be sinless to be immortal, the synonymAs Written:synonyme of Spirit and mean God. Also that man but reflects God, and it no more follows that God, Soul, is in him, than that our earth contains the sun because it reflects his light.

Did he perceive the spiritual side and meaning of nature he would understand my "metaphysics;" and as Paul expressed metaphysics --, "absent from the body and present with the Lord,"II Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. -- wherein we learn the nothingness of matter, of its sensualisms, sickness, sin and death, and the great somethingness, of

Spirit through the discipline, purification and sanctification whereby the facts of Spirit are discerned, and the pure in heart see God. Proportionately as the realities of Spirit appear do the so-called pleasures and pains of the body disappear; to admit the

unreality of matter supports the great facts of Spirit, eternal Life, Truth and Love.

Would he interpret to human thought the divine order of healing and salvation -- must he not discard the paganism of drugs, all idolatries, and false gods, since drugging originated in the loss of spiritual power and the mythology of pagan priests. Must he not adopt as I have done the "Materia Medica" and theology of the son of the Blessed, they being one and the same? For when the devil was cast out the dumb spake. To master the errors of the flesh with the divine truths of Spirit is the grand verity of Christian healing.

Did he understand my definition of "mortal mind," he would know it meant a will opposed to the divine Mind; all sin, sickness and death; also transferenceAs Written:the transferaence of

mortal erring thought from one mind to another, by which man is led to doubt the proof Jesus gave healing the sick, that it was the will of the Father to save man from sickness as well as sin. Christian Science is not scanned at a glance, summed up a lucky hit at concentration!

One human mind bringing its own supposed forces to concentrate upon another for the accomplishment of any object, is a mistaken kindness, the antipodes of science or christianity; animal magnetism is nothing more or less than diabolism. The true method of Mind is so to concentrate with the lens of divine science the rays of immortal truth upon mortal error as to destroy it. On March 15. during my sermonEditorial Note: On March 15, 1885, Mary Baker Eddy preached a sermon at Hawthorne Hall on the subject "Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church." a sick man was healed. This man had been assisted into the church by two men, a crutch and cane but he walked out of my church erect and strong with cane and crutch under his arm. I was not acquainted with the gentleman, was not even aware of his presence, he having been helped to a seat before I entered. Other chronic cases of disease of which I was ignorant were healed while I was preaching. Was that the effect of concentrating my mind upon the sick? Let us obey the divine command "render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"Luke 20:25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be C
æsar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

A10161
-
Reproduced from the archive of The Mary Baker Eddy Library
X

Copied document link to clipboard.

Christian Science.

By

Rev. Mary B. G. Eddy.

I have waited for Bishop FallowsEditorial Note: Samuel Fallows (1835-1922). Fallows became a Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1876. He was well known for his work in prison reform, public education, and in temperance. to resign his task of mistatingCorrected:misstating my views in each of your issuesEditorial Note: This response by Eddy to Fallows was published in the June 1885 issue of Mind in Nature. Mind in Nature had run articles by Fallows that were critical of Christian Science. He viewed it as essentially unchristian and believed that Christian Science healing was done through telepathy instead of the power of God. . If his design was to call out my fire I can assure him I hold no masked battery to open upon my enemies and shall offer no plea or apology for doing good.

Is the above gentleman quite sure that my statement of "God, man, Soul, mortal mind, Materia Medica, science, metaphysics, the Holy Scriptures, etc. has not the slightest connection with the recovery of the sick"? Also that hitting upon a novel plan to cause a concentration of one mind upon another for the well-being of the body is my all of metaphysics"? Then he has gained this knowledge through his ignorance of Christian Science. He tried to support his lame logic by this -- facts that "numbers have read my books and gone into the healing business," and some who are healing by Mind-Cure repudiate the science. Here we ask -- does simply "going into the business" prove or disprove one's fitness to heal? And if one becomes a succesfulCorrected:successful healer merely from reading my books does it not prove that my statement of Christian Science has "connection with the recovery of the sick." and out of the mouth of babes thou hast perfected praiseMatt 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? .

The exorcists of old healed in the name of Christ and their method might have accorded with Bishop Fallows views, but not mine. The chief priests of that period said

of Jesus' method of healing, that Christian Science would represent, "he casteth out devils by Beelzebub"Mark 3:22 ¶And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath
Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. . If my religious system (as he is pleased to term it) exemplifies the teachings and demonstration of our Lord in healing it should be known by its fruits; and that system, or its adherent, that designates this system unchristian is at fault. Neither by his writings nor by healing has the aforesaid gentleman furnished the first evidence on the basis of my scientific statement that he understands my works, in principle or practiseCorrected:practice. It is a widely acknowledged fact that if he had a correct knowledge of my text-book he could prove my statements true.

I challenge Bishop Fallows to this fair play and christian consistency, namely; to demonstrate his knowledge of my system by healing the sick, the only basis of its proof; and or failing to do this, and exposing his ignorance of the system that he condemns before understanding, it he should relinquish his vanity as a critic and prove his claim to a gentleman. As the founder, at this period, of Christian Science, I attest that he utterly fails to comprehend my statement of it. His explanation that it is of one mind transferingCorrected:transferring its thoughts to another mind thereby affecting the body, or that the human givesg aid to the divine in its method of healing, is no more correct than to say a man assists the fall of an apple under the law of gravitation. It is virtually a denial of divine power to attribute all the possibilities of healing to mortals, implying it is and done either by mortal mind, or a by a drug clad with more power than Deity.

His mental muddle confoundsing Christian Science with hypnotism, would make it the transference of mortal thought, or the grander secret of concentration! When, to comprehend this science in the slightest sense, one must see beyond the rubbish of mortal thought, and be there to demonstrate the science

To understand my use of the term "God," he must exchange his evidence gained from the material senses, for the spiritual evidence that he seems not to have gained, namely, a true sense of divine power, the OMNIS POTENSEditorial Note: Synonym for omnipotence. of Spirit. Then Then might he gather somewhat the scientific sense in which I employ the term and should find no fault with it when begirt with additional more power than his own.

Would he learn my meaning of the term "man," he must exchange his sense of man as sinning, sick sick and dying -- that mortal sense "conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity" -- for the spiritual sense of which is man born not of the flesh but of the Spirit, and made after the image and likeness of God. Then would he improve more rapidly the race by the transferingCorrected:transferring God's mind-pictures of man to mortals, which correct their poor models, of man and learn in part my definition of man, chose according to Christian Science, reason and revalationCorrected:revelation, the divine model and bring out the true likeness.

Did he understand my use of the term "Soul," he would discern the meaning of this scripture -- "the soul that sinneth shall dieEzek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. , -- and would see that Soul must be sinless to be immortal, that Soul is the synonymeCorrected:synonym of Spirit and both mean God. Also that man but reflects this Spirit God, and it no more follows that it God, Soul, is in him, than that our earth contains the sun because it reflects his light.

Did he perceive the spiritual side and meaning of nature he would understand my "metaphysics;" would and as Paul expressed metaphysics --, "absent from the body and present with the Lord,"II Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. -- wherein we learn the nothingness of matter, as of its sensualisms, sickness, sin and death, and the great somethingness, even of

Spirit through the discipline, purification and sanctification whereby the facts of Spirit are discerned, and the pure in heart see God. Proportionately as the realities of Spirit appear appear do the so-called pleasures and pains of the body disappear; to admit the

unreality of matter supports the great facts of Spirit, eternal Life, Truth and Love.

Would he interpret to human thought the divine order of healing and salvation -- must he not discard the paganism of drugs, all idolatries, and false gods, since drugging originated in the loss of spiritual power and the mythology of pagan priests. He mMust he not adopt as I have done the "Materia Medica" and theology of the son of the Blessed, for they being one and the same? For when the devil was cast out the dumb spake. To master the errors of the flesh with the divine truths of Spirit is the grand verity of Christian healing.

Did he understand my definition of "mortal mind," he would know it meant a will opposed to the divine Mind; all sin, sickness and death; also the transferaenceCorrected:transference of

mortal erring thought from one mind to another, by which man is led to doubt the proof that Jesus gave by healing the sick, that it was the will of the Father to save man from sickness as well as sin. Christian Science is not scanned at a glance, summed up a lucky hit at concentration!

One human mind bringing its own supposed forces to concentrate upon another for the accomplishment of any object, is a mistaken kindness, the antipodes of science or christianity; for animal magnetism is nothing more or less than diabolism. The true method of Mind is so to concentrate with the lens of divine science the rays of immortal truth upon mortal error so as to destroy it. On March 15. during my sermonEditorial Note: On March 15, 1885, Mary Baker Eddy preached a sermon at Hawthorne Hall on the subject "Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church." a sick man was healed. This man had been assisted into the church by two men, a crutch and a cane but he walked out of my church erect and strong with cane and crutch under his arm. I was not acquainted with the gentleman, was not even aware of his presence, he having been helped to a seat before I entered. Other chronic cases of disease of which I was ignorant were healed while I was preaching. Was that the effect of concentrating my mind upon the sick? Let us all obey the divine command "render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"Luke 20:25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be C
æsar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

 
View Image
 

Back Text

Shown for development purposes only
Samuel Fallows (1835-1922). Fallows became a Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1876. He was well known for his work in prison reform, public education, and in temperance. This response by Eddy to Fallows was published in the June 1885 issue of Mind in Nature. Mind in Nature had run articles by Fallows that were critical of Christian Science. He viewed it as essentially unchristian and believed that Christian Science healing was done through telepathy instead of the power of God. Synonym for omnipotence. On March 15, 1885, Mary Baker Eddy preached a sermon at Hawthorne Hall on the subject "Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church."