What Is Christian Science?Mangasarian, M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch)
Religion
What Is Christian Science?
Mangasarian, M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch)
Christian Science
Let me give another illustration. Wishing to prove that the material
world is an illusion of the senses, Mrs. Eddy tells us that on a wet
day, when there is a downpour of rain, and when mist and fog shroud land
and sea, we can easily assure ourselves that our senses are not
telling us the truth, that the weather is really fine, by consulting a
barometer, which in the midst of cloud and rain points to clear weather.
What shall we think of the mentality of a woman who appeals to a
barometer to prove that matter does not exist? If Mrs. Eddy had not
suddenly stopped thinking, she would have seen that if our senses betray
us when they report wet weather, neither would we have any assurance
that what they say about the barometer is dependable. Does she think
that our senses are not trustworthy except when they refer us to the
barometer?
Inconsistent thinking is often also responsible for inconsistency in
conduct. The Christian Scientist, for example, objects to the physician,
but patronizes the dentist. Yet dental surgery is not different from
medicine, but is one of its many branches. It is by the science of
medicine that the trouble in the body is located, diagnosed, and
remedied by the knife, if it cannot be by medication. Besides, the wound
or incision is treated medicinally, which requires medical knowledge
on the part of the surgeon, just as it does on the part of the regular
physician. Can a dentist practise surgery without a knowledge of the
human anatomy--that is to say, of how many bones and muscles there are
in the body, where the nerves are located, to what sort of treatment
they will respond, and to what laws of growth and decay they are
subject? Does he not treat an abscess or receding gums with medicine?
And does this not require a knowledge of medicine which to Christian
Scientists is nothing but "error"? Why do not these people invite a
novice or their cooks or barbers to work on their teeth if a knowledge
of anatomy, physiology, and medicine is not necessary to make a man a
good dentist? The mere fact that Christian Scientists will not allow any
one but a man with a diploma from a dental college to attend to their
teeth proves conclusively that they regard a knowledge of medicine
just as necessary as we do--only we admit it frankly, and they deny it
foolishly. If the Christian Scientists have not progressed sufficiently
to demonstrate against surgery, they should at least be grateful to us
for taking care of their needs in the meantime, and help support the
physical sciences until they are able to dispense with them.
In her _Science and Health_ Mrs. Eddy ridicules those who think that
vegetation or flowers can cause sickness, or that there can be such a
thing as a "rose cold."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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