The Literary Digest of July 20, 1901, was good enough to republish from the Christian Science Sentinel the following extract from the able and admirable sermon of the Rev. DeWitt T. Van Doren. We, in turn, herewith republish in The Journal the extract from The Literary Digest:—
The recent attack on Christian Science by ministers of various New York churches appeared to indicate that Protestant ministers were unanimously opposed to the teachings of this new religious body. One clergyman, however, the Rev. DeWitt T. Van Doren, referred to by the Christian Science Sentinel as a New York minister, has come to the defence of Christian Scientists. From his recent address on this subject we quote from a reprint in the Christian Science Sentinel. He says in part:—
"The criticisms of New York clergymen of different denominational views concerning Christian Science as a religion are not nearly so damaging to that cult as to the Christian churches, if it be true that these criticisms represent the spirit of evangelical Christianity. I am not in any sense a follower of Mrs. Eddy; yet there is much of her teaching that must command the respect and admiration of every candid and unprejudiced mind. These criticisms may be well meant. Nevertheless they are unwise, as they must inevitably react upon the churches represented by these critics. 'They that take the sword shall perish with the sword.' 'For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.' 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall lie also reap.' There is no escape from this law. 'Be not deceived: God is not mocked.' These criticisms are untimely, since they disclose a temper inimical to the spirit and teaching of Jesus Christ, whose servants all ministers are supposed to be, and whose spirit they are supposed to imitate. They reveal a sensitiveness, amounting to almost irritability. toward an institution which seems to them to threaten the 'traditions of the elders.'
"On the other hand, the spirit manifested by the Christian Science advocates is in strange and happy contrast to the spirit of these they logical archers. Being defamed, they still entreat their critics to deal kindly and candidly with them, since they desire naught but the furtherance of the truth. The world at large will not be slow to discern the Spirit of Christ in the attitude of this church.
"Why should clergymen think it a wrong thing, and contrary to the preaching of Christ, that a church should believe in and practice bodily healing? Certainly in the teaching of Christ, as in the atonement of Christ, there is a foundation laid for faith in the healing of disease. Christ was the sickness-bearer as well as the sin-bearer of his people. 'Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.' Sanctification of the spirit, redemption of the body, this is the atonement of Christ. Sanctification is a progressive, continuous work, from the cross to the crown, so also is the redemption of the body. Christ never divorced these: 'Thy sins be forgiven thee,' and 'Be whole of thy plague.' The ministry of the Apostles, under the leadership of the Spirit, is the exact model of the Master's. Nor did this commission end with the death of the apostles, for Mark says: 'These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,' in any and every age of the Christian church. And these signs shall follow them that believe—not the immediate apostles of Christ only, but all believers, in every generation of the church's history. This guarantee of miraculous signs is given to the church in its corporate capacity. Not all, as individuals, have gifts of healing; but this gift was to the church as a whole—included in it as an organic function of faith, and for all time. This promise is all the more significant when you consider that it was given just previous to the ascension of Christ. 'Greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.' What other interpretation can be given to the statement of St. James, recorded in his Epistle, than that he refers to an established and perpetual usage in the church?
"If the practice of healing the sick is the basis of suspicion against the Christian Science Church, it can well afford to rest under the suspicion, since it has the sanction of Jesus Christ, and also of the Christian church of all ages, for there never has been a period in the history of the church when there were not found these signs and wonders in response to faith.
"The only class of people for whom Christ had words of biting sarcasm and censure were the Pharisees, who could not see any good in anything outside of Judaism. Are we not in danger of falling into the spirit of Pharisaism and of the Pharisee when we grow intolerant of the methods and beliefs of those who conscientiously differ from us, and who still are putting forth noblest efforts for the physical and moral salvation of humanity?
"I have not the pleasure of Mrs. Eddy's acquaintance, but from all the evidence at hand I am obliged to think of her as a woman of remarkable ability and spotless character. I am not in sympathy with her views of Christian doctrine: but, as a minister of Christ and a Christian. I am bound to concede and respect her virtues of character, her intellectual ability, her right to worship God according to the dictates of her conscience and to build up a great church if she can—and evidently she can. I have met and known personally quite a number of Mrs. Eddy's followers, and in every way they compared favorably with the highest type of Christians found in my own churches. How shall we judge the merits of a church if not by the type of Christians it turns out?"
