Medicine and the Church: Being a series of studies on the relationship between the practice of medicine and the church's ministry to the sick
Religion
Medicine and the Church: Being a series of studies on the relationship between the practice of medicine and the church's ministry to the sick
Medicine -- Religious aspects; Pastoral medicine
‘Christian Science seems to present one fundamental point of difference
from all other forms of spiritual healing. This is, that whereas the
cures said to be wrought at Lourdes and other shrines are attributed
to the direct action of Christ, exercised at the intercession of His
Virgin Mother or His Saints, Mrs. Eddy and her disciples claim, as far
as we understand the teaching--which is not only obscure in itself, but
often inconsistent--to cure disease by the same power of healing that
was given to Christ. In the sacred book of the sect we read:
‘Our Master healed the sick, practised Christian healing, and taught
the generalities of its divine Principle to His students; but He
left no definite rule for demonstrating His Principle of healing and
preventing disease. This remained to be discovered through Christian
Science. A pure affection takes form in goodness, but Science alone
reveals its Principle and demonstrates its rules.’[2]
[2] _Science and Health._ By Mary Baker G. Eddy. Boston. 1908. P. 41.
She tells us that ‘when God called her to proclaim His Gospel to this
age, there came also the charge to plant and water His vineyard.’
What she calls her ‘sacred discovery’ was made in 1866, and since
then it has become widespread in America and in this country. It does
not commend itself to the Latin mind, which is nothing if not lucid
and logical. Its methods and results are fully discussed by some
representatives of the most advanced medical thought in the present
issue of the _Journal_, and we have nothing to add to what they say.
To anyone who wishes to see the whole case against Christian Science
put most clearly and convincingly from the medical point of view, we
cordially recommend Mr. Stephen Paget’s book on the subject.[3] It is
attractively written, well ‘documented,’ and informed with the true
scientific spirit.
[3] _The Faith and Works of Christian Science._ Macmillan and Co.
1909. The book is now in a second edition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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