CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20096, 27 November 1930, Page 16

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.

TO T Jli ED-fTOB OF Till! I'GBSS Sir. —I am sorry that in Mr Booth's letter in yesterday's Piikss your printers have been unkind to liitn because the type lias got "off its logs'' in omj or two important places. So Mr liooth will t'orgivo in« if 1 sun w roily; in hupposinj; that bis letter challenges i|iy accuracy in ''Science and Health."

1 can only retort by C|iiutin;4 the passages to nhich 1 refer from my copy of "Science and 1 lesi 1 Lli'' (I'JIH edition, (p. -17, lines yG-30), "The disciples' desertion of their Master in His last earthly .struggle was punished each ouo came to a violent death except St. ,loliii, of whoso death we ha\o no record,''--and bv asking what record had Mrs Kddv of the violent death of any of the others except St. James, and possibly St.. Peter, ami whoro docs the Serijituro teach or imply that these violent, deaths were a >,nnishinent for their desertion of Christ, and if Mrs Eddy did not, include the "eleven" in the "seventy" Ivor words (p. '27) are very ambiguous. ".Icmis sent forth seventy students at onn time, but only eleven left a desirable historic record."

Mr Booth points out the cures wrought b,v .Mrs Eddy's preaching as evidence thai lior claim to direct inspiration is correct, and uses tho "argiiinoiuiun ad hominem" by challenging me to quote similar results from my own preaching (can Mr Booth do tho s;um'?) or from tho acceptance of the interpretation I accept, of tlie liiblc. Well, as f;i r as my own preaching is concerned, 1 can sav "No,' But 1 know authenticated casc.s of cures by members of my o\\ 11 Church, and, if Mr Booth likes, I can ask permission from those who were cured to give particulars. Spiritual and mental cures liavo been made without ihe aid of medical science. But what is claimed hv Mr Booth for Mrs Kddv has also been rlnimod on l>ehnlf of the shrine at Lotirdes - and also of Cone's methods. But it docs not therefore follow that •medical science is ruled out of court as a healing agent. To maintain this would be an act of the basest ingratitude to God, Who through all tho centuries has inspired men with a noble curiosity to find out, His ways an'l works in the world of matter', and to apply them to the relief of human suffering, and the prolonging of our earthly life, which, being God's gift, is not to be despised, and Mrs Eddy's list of cures is as nothing compared with tee euros wrought by God through medical science. \c. ii's i'ddv (pi). 150-ion says "Tho hosts of /Esculapius are flooding tho- world with diseases, because they are ignorant that, the human mind and body are myths" and (p. 143) : "It is plain that God does not employ drugs or hygiene, nor provide them for human use." And (p. 161): "Tho ordinary practitioner, examining lx>dilv symptoms, telling the patient that ho is sick, and treating the case according to his -hysical diagnosis, would naturally induce tho very disease he is trying to cure." Vet I am sure in spite of this that if the doctors in th.'s one City of Christchurch wero to imitate the procedure of Mrs Eddy, of tho vendors of patent medicines, and publish a list of cures, it would open Mr Booth' s eyes. Mrs Kddv certainly claims that her interpretation of the Scriptures is duo to a Divine .'Revelation. But, this interpretation is so different from all the accepted explanations that it leads me to infer that God concealed the true meaning of the Scriptures from all men until Mrs Ed<lv received the revelation ; and that all Christians and all scientists till then were in darkness and indeed nro still in darkness til! they accept Mrs Kddv's revelations.

I stibjoiii two specimens of these one Scriptural and the other medical. After discussing on page 338 tho derivation of "Adam'' from "Ad.nnnh." she says: "Divide the name Adam into two syllables :ind it'reads 'a dam,' or obstruction." This suggests the thought Oi something fluid of mortal mind >n solution. It further suggests the thought of that "darkness upon the face of the deep, whoro matter or dust was deemed tho agent of Deitv in creating man—when matter, as that which is accursed, stood opposed to spirit. Here 'a dam' is not a mere play upo-i words " The other is her cure for n boil (p. 1 "You say a boil is painful; but that is impossible, lor matter without mind is not painful. The boil simply inanirests through inflammation and •swHlmc. ~ ; n Un ;„ nnrl belief is called a boil. Now administer mentally to your patient a high attenuation of truth, and it will soon cure the !>oil."

"Attenuation of truth'"' is good. Why not the full-bodied truth, instead of the attenuated vnrictv ?—Yours, etc., TREMAYNE M. CURNOW. The Vicarage, New Brighton. November 26th, 1930. TO TUB EDITOR 01> TUB PnESS _ Sir, I was glad to read .in your issue of to-day's Press (November 26th) Mr Cuthbert Booth's reply to all the arguments in the papers concerning Christian Science. 1' am not qualified to write. at length on tho subject, but this I do know, if people stopped discussing sickness and disease whenever they • meet together there would hot be so much need for operations in the world to-day. For example, I was taking supper at a small tea-shop last week, and was entertained for nearly half an hour by a man and woman discussing tho various illnesses of their relations with all the lurid details. Is it any wonder that Christian Science does not do tho work its critics, expect it to do? The minds of the people are permeated with thoughts of sickness instead of health and happiness'.—Yours etc., A BELIEVER IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. Temuka, .November 26th, 1930.