IN reading the "Testimonies from the Field" published in each issue of this magazine, we find many instances where the writers have been healed of diseases which had been pronounced incurable by the physicians in attendance, and the present number is no exception in this regard. In these testimonies, as in all those which are given in our publications, the facts must be vouched for by some one knowing to the conditions of the healing, and preferably by a member of The Mother Church. It occasionally happens, however, that in addition to this required voucher, some one who has become interested from the medical standpoint in a particular instance of healing, is willing to put himself on record not only respecting the diseased condition, but also respecting the efficacy of Christian Science as a remedial agency. We are always glad to publish these proofs of a fair and even liberal judgment whenever we are permitted so to do, and it is in this connection that we would call special attention to the case of Miss Prior, a professional nurse in a hospital in London, England, who was healed by reading Science and Health.
In this case, at least, it is reasonable to suppose that, in addition to the verdict of the doctors, the patient was herself able to form some opinion about the nature of the disease with which she was afflicted, and the alleged seriousness of its character. A fellow-nurse who had known her for about fifteen years while she was at work in St. Mary's Hospital, also corroborates her statement that she was compelled to give up nursing on account of the state of her health; that her condition improved while she was reading Science and Health, and that she is now entirely well. And if this be not enough, we have the statement of a physician that Miss Prior "is perfectly well since her instantaneous healing through reading Science and Health, two years ago."
This case alone would seem sufficient to dispose of one of the stock criticisms made by opponents of Christian Science, namely, that the persons who testify to their healing through Christian Science base their testimony upon a self-made, unprofessional, and wholly imaginary diagnosis. Not only Miss Prior but almost every person whose testimony appears in our columns had been attended by one or more physicians before resorting to Christian Science, and if in any instance the given diagnosis be incorrect, the responsibility therefor rests with the physician.
