With the rapid spread of Christian Science among the Jewish people, it is not surprising that frequent questions are asked of those interested, regarding the Christian Science standpoint as to the divinity of Jesus or the divinity of Christ. Other questions of similar purport are frequently asked, and it is better not to argue, or try to explain, as such explanation must necessarily be theoretical, and Christian Science does not deal with theories so much as with vital facts. Christian Scientists frequently answer such inquiries from their own theological view-point in various ways. It would appear, however, that the best way is to advise questioners to study carefully the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, where they will find intelligent answers to all their questions.
Jewish people, before becoming interested in Christian Science, have an intense prejudice against the word Christian, owing to the many generations of persecution conducted in the name of so-called Christian sects. When they first become interested in Christian Science, and begin to read its text-book, they do so, as a rule, under the influence of this prejudice; hence they are unable at first to gain a correct understanding or knowledge of its teaching, and it frequently takes some time before their prejudice is overcome and the simple truth dawns upon them.
Recently a Jewish rabbi, evidently aroused by the fact that a large number of his congregation had become interested in Christian Science, wrote an editorial on the subject in a secular journal controlled by him. The purport of his article was that Jews should have nothing to do with Christian Science, because its foundation was (as he stated) the divinity of Jesus. When it is known that the aforesaid rabbi wrote his article after he had read Science and Health, it must be concluded that his intense prejudice had blinded him to the actual facts, and that he preferred to construe the language to suit his own views. Any intelligent person, free from prejudice, would have noted, on reading the book, that Mrs. Eddy makes it perfectly clear that the fundamental teaching of Christian Science is the allness of God, while she particularly explains the difference between the personality of the man Jesus and the impersonality of the divine Christ,—that the physical Jesus was human, but that Christ is divine.
One of the Christian Science tenets is this: "We solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure" (Science and Health, p. 497). Jesus is recognized as the great Exemplar or Wayshower, whose life and teachings are worthy of the emulation of all good people. If the teachings of the great Nazarene prophet were followed everywhere, the world would speedily be redeemed. Science and Health explains that Christian Science is founded, as is also Judaism, on the basis of the first commandment, viz., "one God," and as Mrs. Eddy says, "Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of God. This declaration of Jesus, understood, conflicts not at all with another of his sayings: 'I and my Father are one,'—that is, one in quality, not in quantity. As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, so God and man, Father and son, are one in being" (Science and Health, p. 361). This plain statement, to unprejudiced minds, must clear up all doubts as to Mrs. Eddy's meaning on this subject, so frequently alluded to by Jews and Gentiles.
Christian Science carries out logically the proclamation made by Moses on Sinai, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord,"—one God, who is divine Principle—and All. In keeping with this, Christian Scientists understand that they must honor the commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Jesus, born a Jew, was the world's greatest spiritual teacher, and came to rebuke material belief, because the Jews, under the teachings of their priests, had departed from the fundamental Principle of their religion. He preached in the synagogues as a Jew, and endeavored to show the people their errors and to bring them to a higher concept of their duty to God and man. In this he incurred the active enmity of the priesthood, who were dominating the people by and through their doubts and fears; hence came the opposition to his teachings that resulted in his sacrifice, which has left to the civilized world a lesson that must be learned in order that humanity in general may benefit by it. Jesus labored to bring the people from the darkness of ignorance, bigotry, and superstition, to the freedom of enlightenment and spiritual life.
When Jesus said that he called no man on earth his father, but One who was in heaven, he taught us that God, divine Principle, is the only source of being, the creator of all. On page 263 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "There can be but one creator, who has created all." Science and Health, as well as the Scriptures, must be read from the spiritual standpoint, and not the material, and then we begin to understand that Christ Jesus was the Son of God in the sense that God, the Father, was the creator of all, and that spiritually we are all the sons of God. As Christian Science teaches that there is only one God, and that God is all, we must place our entire reliance on the Father, divine Principle, so that the doubts and fears which are manifestly the cause of the ills that surround us may be eradicated. The Jew, therefore, who surmises, before understanding the subject, that Christian Science is founded on the "divinity of Jesus," realizes, as soon as he has acquired some knowledge of the subject, that its basic teaching is the oneness and allness of God, and he then becomes vitally interested in it. One of the most convincing proofs of the practical value of Christian Science is the fact that such a large number of Jews are becoming interested in it.
We frequently hear that different denominational Christian ministers make the statement that they are opposed to Christian Science "because it is not Christian." Recently a Christian minister opposed Christian Science because, as he said, "it is not an evangelical Christian sect." On being asked what he meant, he said, "Christian Scientists deny the divinity of Christ." He admitted, however, that he knew nothing about the subject, but that he had heard the statement made by others and agreed with it because so many Jews were becoming interested in Christian Science. Of course, had he looked into the subject with an unprejudiced mind, he must have admitted that Christian Scientists do believe in the divinity of Christ as the manifestation of the one God,— infinite Life, Truth, and Love. As to his statement regarding Christian Science not being an evangelical religion, he had yet to learn that it is the more Christian because it is based entirely on the allness of God, divine Principle, and because it brings the teachings of Jesus into practical and effective touch with human need, thus helping men in their every-day life; so that to-day unnumbered thousands are testifying to the manifold benefits they have received, and giving thanks to God, and to Mrs. Eddy, that they have been led out of the darkness of ignorance to the light of Truth.
In the "Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge" "evangelists" are said to be those who are "publishers of the glad tidings," and "evangelical churches" are those that "proclaim the glad tidings." Christian Science is proclaiming the glad tidings to those who have not known them, by practical works and results, and by this means more Jews now become interested in Christian Science in one year than have been won to Christ by other Christian efforts during the past century. This result is being accomplished without any special effort or the expenditure of a single dollar, thus proving that an understanding of Christian Science is overcoming the prejudices of centuries and that Jewish people are recognizing results from the common-sense application of the truths involved. They are being benefited mentally, morally, and physically, and they are ready to acknowledge their gratitude to Christian Science, and to Mrs. Eddy, for the knowledge of the truth that makes them free.
