MUCH of the criticism of Christian Science which finds its way into the public press these days is in reality a criticism of the critic's own belief of what Christian Science is; and this is nowhere more apparent, to those who are familiar with Science and Health and Mrs. Eddy's other writings, than when the would-be critic fails to distinguish between Christian Science in its reliance upon divine Mind and the mental suggestion which depends upon the willpower of fallible mortal mind, or when he confuses Christian Science with faith-cure.
Back of every theory about God, man, and the universe, there must be some premise which has to do with the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, and if this premise is that God is the only creator, the reality or unreality of evil is at once involved. If God is the only creator, and evil is real, then He must be its creator. Christian Science is squarely planted on the premise that God is the only creator, and that He is wholly good, and from this premise there can be but one logical conclusion: the creation of a creator who is wholly good must be, as He himself pronounced it, "good" and "very good;" therefore evil, which certainly is not good, must be and is unreal.
On the other hand, there is in both mental suggestion and faith-cure the fundamental belief that the sickness and discord which are to be healed are real. On this basis the healing is to be done in the one case by suggesting to the patient something which is not true, and in the other case it is to be accomplished by believing that God will, upon being asked to do so, make unreal that which it is believed is real and of God's own creation and bestowal, namely, the sickness or sin of the individual. Under these circumstances, it is certainly somewhat peculiar that these critics should fail to recognize the inconsistency of a position which holds Christian Science up to ridicule because of its insistence that evil is unreal, while declaring in the same breath that Christian Science is suggestion or faith-cure, both of which are based upon a belief in the reality of evil.
