ONE of the most significant facts favorable to the rapid growth of Christian Science is that many Jewish people are accepting it for physical, moral, and spiritual healing. The fact is that Christian Science seems to be the focal point to which thinking people of all religious creeds are turning. There must be more than a common reason for this, especially since Christian Science offers nothing in the way of worldly conceits upon which fashion, fad, or fancy can be said to have an influence. Quite the contrary is true, for this Science proves the shallowness and insignificance of such worldly things. The true reason for its marvelous growth lies in the relief it affords from the many sources of human suffering. Christian Science does indeed give relief to poor, suffering humanity, whether the cause of such suffering is from the effects of sin, bodily affliction, or pecuniary difficulty; all these find a remedy in it.

On account of the varying and shifting of creed affiliations, it may not seem so strange that large numbers from other Christian denominations are coming into Christian Science, but that it should offer a religion acceptable to the Jew, presents, to say the least, an argument which thoughtful men will not pass by without consideration. I may be called upon to render proof of my claim that many Jews are embracing the Science. I am not prepared at this time to give any accurate statement of the number, but can say that I have made the acquaintance of nearly one hundred in the last eighteen months; nine of these live in our little town of four thousand inhabitants. Along with a large family, I was brought up in the Jewish faith, and was a proud disciple of it until the very last proof of the Truth of Christian Science had been given to me. It was always my firm impression that the breach between Judaism and Christianity could never be compromised. And when we consider the centuries of the past, with all its history of intolerance, persecution, and destruction, and then see the little band still clinging to the old faith, is it to be wondered that it was thought such a seeming chasm could never be closed, and that there could not be a blending of the two? Indeed, it is quite clear to me how strongly interwoven are the ties and attachments binding the Jewish people together, and because I am of the same web and woof, my words should reach the Jewish heart and arouse, if nothing more, the desire for investigation of the Science which has already won so many of the faith.

Reason and truth have taken the scales from my eyes, and I can see the dawning of the "new day" when the Brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God will be understood and realized. As the proof of anything calling itself Christian must be conclusive to convince the Jew of its truth, I will endeavor to point out a few reasons why Christian Science may be acceptable to him. In the first place, this Science does not require either the Jew or Gentile to repudiate or renounce anything that is good or practical in other religions. Instead of taking away any of these it adds to their very essence, and instead of converting the Jew to something that has always been his enemy, it blends him with his fellow-man in a union of purified hearts, and brings a refining and regeneration which all must undergo, Christians as well as Jews. Jesus denounced ritualism, hypocrisy, idolatry, sin, sickness, and death, and proved that Love was the Christ and saving power.

Christian Science brings to our understanding the fact that the works of Jesus in healing the sick and overcoming false human laws, are as practical now as they ever were. He distinctly said, "The works that I do shall he do also; and greater works." But these teachings were originally misunderstood and resisted by both Jews and Gentiles, and have remained a mystery ever since. Christian Science is bringing them to light and uncovering the Principle whereby Jesus did his works. He proved that the mortality, which is subject to sickness, sin, and death, is illusive and false, and that the real man is of Divine creation and indestructible.

Christian Science teaches that man must put off these false conceptions in order to know himself as the image and likeness of God. It maintains that God is infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite presence. None of these terms suggest a destructible, corporeal existence. Now if the divine Mind is endless power, endless wisdom, and endless presence, and man is God's image and likeness, does it not follow that the real man reflects wisdom, power, and presence?

The material senses conclude that man is material; but the very opposite is true. The understanding of this gives man control over that which seems to be matter, in other words, it makes reality the master of unreality. Counterfeit money will pass from hand to hand by those who labor under the illusion that it is real, and it will seem real to them until the truth about it is discovered, then the value of the counterfeit is reduced to nothing. Just so with the mortal or counterfeit mind, its conclusions seem very real while we do not know the truth about it, but as soon as man's spiritual existence is comprehended, material beliefs pass into nothingness.

It is not my purpose to discuss the Principle of Christian Science, as the text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker G. Eddy, explains this, and any wishing to understand this Science must study it diligently and with patience; and though the understanding may be cloudy at first, it will surely become clear to those who seek it for a good purpose.

The question will be asked what proof I have to offer that Christian Scientists will not persecute the Jews and eventually be as intolerant of them as all other religious organizations have been. The answer is, this Science proves that all viciousness, intolerance, prejudice, bigotry, envy, hate, sensualism, licentiousness, lasciviousness, and every other evil constitute the mortal or counterfeit man and must be put off, abandoned and destroyed. Christian Scientists know that evil thoughts blacken the soul and exclude the glorious rays of the Divine Light. If our windows are blackened and smeared with dirt and paint and pitch they will prevent the sunshine from entering our rooms; in like manner is the light and power excluded from us if our thought is stained with hate, prejudice, envy, etc.

The first lesson we must learn as Christian Scientists is to expel all evil from our consciousness and let the opposite, such as love and charity, take their place. If we exclude evil from our consciousness, good will take its place. This is the "Emanuel," or God with us. And so with Good or God with us, we have dominion over the earth, as was originally intended. Let my Jewish brothers say if there is anything in this which they could not accept.

If, therefore, Christian Scientists eliminate from their thought all manner of evil and substitute love and charity, what possibility is there of persecution? It is not a beautiful dream that I am telling of here, though it may seem so to those knowing nothing about the Science or Scientists, and especially to those who have never been used to anything except the snub and sneer of their fellow-man. I know it to be a fact that every true Scientist is warring with himself to-day and every day, yes, every hour, to overcome and dethrone, for all time, any and all thoughts contrary to good. The reward for this lies not in the plaudits of the world nor in the possibilities of material gain, but in spiritual power, which is the pearl of great price.

My first investigations of Christian Science were like many others, fraught with much scepticism and doubt, more especially, perhaps, because the word Christian seemed irrelevant to Science. One of my Jewish friends recently said, "It would be all right if it were only called Jewish Science." Such prejudices are misleading, but will cease when men of all creeds shall awaken to the understanding that Christian Science is no more for one or the other faction or creed than mathematics or music. In the progress of my early investigations I felt some assurance from the personnel of its followers, as I saw men among Christian Scientists who stood foremost in the ranks of social and professional circles; and this satisfied me that it could not be altogether ridiculous and erroneous. My good wife and I had been under the care of numerous physicians representing all the pathies known, and though years were spent in treatment, relief seemed farther away than the first day, and so at last we concluded to put aside specialists and specifics and try Christian Science. The result was not only gratifying but amazing. My wife was cured of spinal disorder, dyspepsia, hay fever, etc., and I was relieved of a compound inguinal hernia for which I had worn a truss eleven years; and after wearing glasses for sixteen years I was able to lay them aside and do all my work, which was absolutely impossible before. These proofs were followed by others in our family until every member was thoroughly "renovated." In the face of these proofs what other conclusion could we come to than that Christian Scientists knew more about curing the sick than the medical profession? To convince myself still further, however, that it was indeed a Science which did the work, I took up the study with all possible vigor and devoted from three to five hours to it every day. I can truthfully say that each day brought greater revelations. After studying about six months we took class instruction. Since then (a little over a year) many demonstrations of remarkable healing have resulted; and we stand to-day as advocates of the Truth without the least doubt as to its ultimate spread to all peoples and nations throughout the world.

It is sure to change the conditions of mankind and eventually bring health for sickness, love for hate, righteousness for evil, life for death, and deliver man over from his unreal to his real dominion. How much of love and reverence the world owes to our beloved Leader Mrs. Eddy can never be told or estimated. It is gratifying to know that she has revealed a truth which must stand for all time to come, and that she has opened the way for the realization of a united Brotherhood. May God grant its rapid advance.

In conclusion let me commend Christian Science to all my friends, relatives, and the world generally, but most of all to my co-worshipers of the Jewish faith. May God be pleased to lead them into the glory of the everlasting light as taught in Christian Science.

Back