In our examination of Christian Science we shall find it inextricably bound up with the life of the late Mrs. Eddy, who claimed to be "The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science." Its authoritative text-book written by her is entitled, "Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures."
The apostle Paul wrote, "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience" (2 Tim. 11: 10).
The great apostle put "Doctrine" first, then "manner of life" as corresponding with his doctrine. In this pamphlet we shall follow this order, considering
1.—Mrs. Eddy's "Doctrine."
2.—Mrs. Eddy's "Manner of Life."
In order to save space we have restricted in the main our quotations from the Scriptures to one passage under each head; very much more testimony might be adduced, but bearing in mind the need of brevity so as to keep this pamphlet within bounds as to size, we have considered it best to follow this course.
We have also left out much matter we would fain have incorporated, but lack of space forbad. We have, however, given sufficient to present a clear outline of the main doctrines of Christian Science, and a full enough sketch of Mrs. Eddy's life to convey an adequate idea of her strange personality.
Recently the London (England) publisher of this pamphlet and the Author have received long letters from the Office of the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Somerset, complaining of unfair treatment in handling this subject. One sentence, extracted from this letter says, "Unfortunately you give quotations, which broken away from their context do not exhibit a fair and just explanation of the author's meaning, and you thus read into passages from her [Mrs. Eddy's] works, meanings which were never there."
Our answer to this accusation is to ask the reader to examine the extracts taken from Mrs. Eddy's works, and they will see that they have been faithfully reproduced with very great care not to misrepresent Mrs. Eddy's teachings, or do violence to the context.
The second charge was that in quoting incidents from Mrs. Eddy's life as given in the Georgine Milmine book, we were quoting from an unreliable work, which had been thoroughly discredited. It was further stated that the McClure firm, who published the Milmine book, had sold its book publishing business outright to Messrs. Doubleday Page & Co., and that "this latter publisher soon became ashamed of the Milmine book, stopped advertising it, stopped selling it, and finally sold its plates as junk."
We thereupon, got into communication with Messrs. Doubleday Page & Co., and received the following reply, addressed to Messrs. Loizeaux Brothers, 1 East 13th St., New York City, who made inquiries at the request of our English publishers, The Central Bible Truth Depot, London. "The facts in regard to The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science' are that, as in the case of many other books, the demand after a few years ceased and the plates were about to be melted when we received an offer for them which was higher than the price of old metal and accepted it. We understand that the purchasers had no plan for republishing the book but wished to use the illustrations. There is no foundation for the statement in the letter of Nov. 18th from the Central Bible Truth Depot.
"Very truly yours,
(signed) Doubleday Page & Co.
L. A. C."
Thus the above letter states that there is no foundation for the statement that they were ashamed of the Milmine Book, stopped advertising it and stopped selling it.
Now let us take up the charge that the incidents given in connection with Mrs. Eddy's life are extracted from a book that was thoroughly unreliable and false. The writer wrote to Mr. Will Irwin of New York, a journalist of the highest reputation, who was Editor of McClure's Magazine in which the Milmine papers originally appeared.
He replied very fully in a long painstaking letter. Mr. Irwin begins his reply:- "The extract from a Christian Science document which you enclose with your letter both interests and amuses me. Let me say in the beginning, in case it may help to allay any apprehension on your part, that it is an ingenious fabric of falsehood based here and there on a little truth."
Mrs. Georgine Milmine spent three years making a thorough investigation of Mrs. Eddy's life, members of the Editorial Staff of McClure's Magazine did considerable work in going over the ground to prove the facts, the Editor himself chose typical parts and made a thorough investigation. He writes, "No magazine series with which I have had experience in twenty-five years of that kind of journalism was ever more carefully or meticulously winnowed."
The McClure firm did not publish the Milmine papers as propaganda against Christian Science. Mr. Irwin writes, "The whole Christian Science crowd refused to give so much as a single fact either in confirmation or rebuttal of anything we had learned about Mrs. Eddy's life. Let me emphasize that we were not trying to attack Mrs. Eddy or Christian Science. We were simply trying to get a biography of a most astonishingly able woman-the good along with the bad."
That the bad predominated was not the fault of the McClure Magazine-it was a question of facts.
Suffice it to say that the result of the charges leveled against this pamphlet by the Christian Science Committee on Publication only led to a complete refutation of these charges. The reader may rely on every extract from Mrs. Eddy's writings as correctly representing her doctrines, and every incident recorded in her life as extracted from the Milmine papers to be absolutely true to fact.
The result of our careful inquiries was of course forwarded to the Secretary of the Christian Science Committee on Publication, who did not even take the trouble to acknowledge the same. Comment on such behavior is needless.
A more barefaced attempt at bluff the writer has never known, and it has only recoiled on the head of those who made it.
-A. J. Pollock.