FAlTfi-HND HEALTH CHARLES REYNOLDS BROWN ana Faith and Health BY CHARLES REYNOLDS BROWN AUTHOR OF "THB TOUNO HAN'S AFFAIRS," "THE SOCIAL SIESSAGK or THE MODERN PULPIT," "THE MAIN POINTS," AND " THE STRANGE WATS OF GOD " NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY PUBLISHERS STACK ANNEX '( COPYRIGHT, 1910 BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY Published January, 1910 THIRD PRINTING Cities of Chapters I. THE HEALING MIRACLES or CHKIST Page 1 II. MODERN FAITH CURES 27 III. THE PROS AND CONS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 53 IV. THE HEALING POWER OF SUGGESTION 103 V. THE EMMANUEL MOVEMENT 139 VI. THE GOSPEL OF GOOD HEALTH 169 VII. THE CHURCH AND DISEASE 205 preface HE wise man, were he alive to-day, could slightly amend his original statement and feel quite sure of winning general assent " Of the making of health books there is no end." We find issuing from the press a steady stream of volumes written, some in support of and some in opposition to "Christian Science," " The New Thought," " The Emmanuel Move- ment," " The Power of Suggestion," and all the other forms in which a widespread popular interest is manifesting itself. The endeavor in these pages has been to bring together in a single volume and in simple language some of the main arguments which may be properly advanced "in this general con- tention, and to indicate in briefer compass the line along which, in the judgment of the author, genuine progress may be expected in seeking increased physical efficiency through the aid of mental and spiritual forces, [v] preface The larger part of the material in the sixth chapter was formerly used in a little booklet entitled " The Gospel of Good Health," pub- lished by The Pilgrim Press, Boston, in its "Envelope Series," and it is republished here by their kind permission. It has been freely retouched. Dealing Jttfracleg of f ealing jftftacleg of T is highly suggestive that in the Greek New Testament the word translated in cer- tain passages "to save" is translated in other passages "to heal" or "to make whole." This would seem to indicate that the ultimate purpose of both these restorative processes is the same. Salvation is wholeness, soundness, complete- ness of life. And conversely, for a man to be truly "in good health" means not only that his digestion, circulation and other bodily functions are all working properly, but that he is also upright, aspiring and useful. The one word applied to both processes also points back to the common source of heal- ing energy. The psalmist of old sang praises to his Lord who had forgiven all his iniquities and healed all his diseases. He was sound in his philosophy, for in the last analysis it is [3] and one and the same divine energy which operates upon the body and upon the soul. It is one divine energy which operates, now utilizing thoughts and desires, impulses and confi- dences; now utilizing fresh air and pure water, wholesome food and chemical sub- stances, useful exercise and congenial employ- ment. In either case we have the same divine energy at work restoring, up-building and completing the life according to a purpose eternally beneficent. It is natural, therefore, it is inevitable, that the relations between religion and medicine should be close. It is altogether fitting that the pastor who ministers to the moral life, which in turn reacts upon physical health, and the physician who ministers to the body, which in turn reacts upon the formation of character, should be on sympathetic and cor- dial terms, each one doing his own work, and each one doing it better if he attempts only that for which he is adapted and trained. In these chapters I hope to indicate clearly how these two arms of a common service to human [4] Dealing jHfracleg of CIjtfet well-being may best be maintained in those forms and relations which shall be most ad- vantageous to the people who are to profit by such a combined ministry The Saviour of the soul is known also as the Great Physician. It is not inappropriate, therefore, in considering the relation of re- ligion to health to speak first of those acts in His life which are known as His healing miracles. It is inaccurate and unfair to define a miracle as " a violation of law," or as a piece of magic introduced, no one knows how, for the amazement of the people. A miracle is a result wrought by divine power according to laws which at present lie outside the field of ordinary experience. In what we call the operation of natural law we find when we look closely "a divine purpose moving steadily across the ages, keeping its appointments with foreseen human needs" and ministering to them with differences of administration, but in the same abiding spirit of intelligent help- fulness. And in those events called miracu- lous, we find this same divine energy mani- [5] and festing itself according to methods which lie at present outside the field of ordinary experience. Now, close-knit with the whole narrative of Christ's life is the record of the fact that those who saw Him, knew Him, companied with Him, believed beyond a peradventure that He wrought miracles of healing upon the sick folk of that day. He called them His "works" being what He was, these were the natural expressions of His incomparable energy. He called them 'signs" they pointed to something beyond and more significant than themselves. He used them somewhat freely at the opening of His ministry, but more and more sparingly as time went on. He used them to draw the attention of the people to His message, for no teacher can teach effec- tively without attention. He used them as symbols of the entire work of recovery which He came to perform on behalf of the life of the race. We are not surprised to find this record of unusual occurrences in the narrative of the [6] Dealing jftfracleg of life of Christ. Jesus himself was an unusual occurrence. His teachings in their insight and comprehensiveness, in their poise and balance, rank so far above the teachings of all other great religious leaders; His life itself was so unique in its quality and in its abun- dance, that we are prepared in advance to believe that the natural order may have had some response to make to Him which it does not make to other individuals. And when we find these occurrences described in the serious, sober statements of such trustworthy men as those who furnish us the material contained in the four Gospels, some of them actual eye- witnesses of the events described, we are ready to give most serious consideration to these claims put forward as to the healing min- istry of Christ. More than that, it was a time of moral crisis in the history of the world. Judaism, the best there was in the religious life of that day, was weak through the Pharisaical and Rabbinical perversions which had fastened upon it. The pagan cults of Greece and Rome ana were openly scorned by the more intelligent people and were distrusted by the masses. The morals of the world were becoming hideous. The gladiatorial games and other forms of amusement current were such as to indicate that the race might be almost on the verge of moral insanity. Civilization itself seemed to be trembling on the brink of ruin. It was of the highest importance that when the rude barbarians of the north should come down and conquer Rome, they should find there in the once mighty empire a virile and helpful form of religion, whose inherent vitality would be able to conquer their rugged natures. To gain the attention of the world, and to establish Christianity in the popular confidence, this unusual manifestation of the divine energy seemed to be demanded. The day has gone when the healing miracles of Christ can be dismissed with a smile of pity or with a look of scorn. Certain people used to say jauntily that they were "impossi- ble," but we have been surprised so many times in the last few decades by the discovery [8] Dealing jftiracleg of of unsuspected potencies in this world of ours, that thoughtful people have become very guarded now in asserting what is or what is not "impossible." We have been told, with an air of finality, that the healing miracles of Christ were " contrary to the laws of nature." But what are "the laws of nature"? Let any one name them, and when he lets his voice fall, ask him if he has named them all ! If he is a man of sense, he will reply, "No, I have only named those which are known to me at this time." Well and good ! No wise man to-day would undertake to say that he had named or that he could name all the laws of nature. Here in the first century was One who knew more about certain laws and about certain mysterious forces than we seem to know at this time, and He was able to exer- cise an unwonted potency. When He spoke, His word was with power; and when He worked He accomplished results of healing according to laws which lie outside the field of ordinary experience. In every case it is a question of evidence, and until we have [9] iff at'ti& and some better evidence upon which to deny these narratives of healing than the mere dogmatic assertion of those who choose to reject them because of the marvelous element in them, we are warranted in retaining our faith. " Jesus healed many that were sick of divers diseases," this is the hard fact which criti- cism has been unable to explain away. How did He do it ? We may not be able to bring in a final and exhaustive answer to this question, but let us go as far as we can along that road. You will find in almost every case He added to that impulse toward recovery, which causes the cut finger to heal, the broken bone to knit, the system overloaded with some foreign or useless substance to cast it off He added to that universal impulse toward recovery, which we recognize as one of the resident forces in the world of life, the power of His own wise and loving personality. He went further than that He aimed to secure the co-operation of the expectant hope and con- fident trust of the patient himself. He worked [10] Dealing jfttraclcg of His signs in an atmosphere of trust and upon the subjects of an heroic and resolute faith. When He found himself in an atmosphere of unbelief and confronted with those who had no faith, "He could do there no mighty work." How prominent the Gospel narratives make this element of faith ! The centurion said, "Speak the word and my servant will be healed!" Jesus replied, "I have not found such faith in Israel"; and the servant was healed in that hour. Two blind men followed him saying, "Thou Son of David, have mercy upon us." He said, " Believe ye that I am able to do this?" They replied, "Yea, Lord." And He touched their eyes, saying, " According to your faith be it unto you," and their eyes were opened. He said to the palsied man, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk," and when the sufferer showed his faith by trying to obey this summons, by that faith he was healed. Jesus rubbed clay upon the eyes of a blind man and said to him, "Go to the pool of [11] iff ait^ ana Siloam, and wash." The man showed his faith by feeling his way along the difficult streets toward the pool, and when he washed his eyes, he received sight. Ten lepers came to Him for healing, and Jesus said, " Go show yourselves to the priests." They showed their faith by starting immediately to secure a clean bill of health from those officials, "and as they went they were healed." One of them returned to thank Christ for his new- found health, and Jesus said to him, "Thy faith has made thee whole." Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, "Stretch forth thy hand"; and the sufferer, hearing those accents of authority, of love, and of confidence, showed his faith by making the brave attempt; and in that act of faith his hand was restored. When Jesus went to the home of Jairus, where the little girl was sick unto death, He put the people, who were weeping and wailing in the sick room, all out. He said to the father, " Be not afraid, only be- lieve; thy daughter is not dead, but sleepeth." He took with Him into the sick room Peter, [12] Dealing jftiracleg of James and John, His three choicest disciples; and there in that atmosphere of faith and hope and love, He healed the child. These are well known samples of His general metHbd. The fact that in some instances faith on the part of the sufferer is not men- tioned is not conclusive evidence that no faith was aroused or utilized. The argument from silence touching some detail in the narra- tive means little in the face of the fact that in so many cases of healing it is made promi- nent. The narratives are all brief they had to be brief in order to bring the story of Christ's life within that small compass, where it can be read entire in a few hours. And the indi- cations of His habit of securing the co-operation of expectant faith on the part of the sufferer with the mighty energy of His own wise and loving personality are so numerous as to give us reliable and most valuable insight into His prevailing method. It is also important to observe that many, perhaps the larger part, of the maladies He healed were plainly nervous or mental in their [13] anD origin and character. You will find these sufferers referred to in the Gospels as per- sons "possessed of devils," or as "demoniacs." It was not a time when the world knew much about scientific diagnosis. When the simple hearted people of that day saw a human per- sonality apparently overborne by some hostile influence, they decided that it must be the work of the Evil One. "He has a devil," they said. It seemed to them a case where an evil personality had taken up his abode in the mind and heart of the sufferer. When we come to examine carefully the symptoms recorded we would to-day bring in quite a different diagnosis. There are several of these cases which are made especially promi- nent in the four Gospels. There was the man in the synagogue at Capernaum who cried out during the service saying, "What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ! Let us alone ! " We would call such a man to-day mentally unbalanced or insane. There was the man of Gadara who believed that a legion of devils infested his personality. [14] f ealfng ^tttacle^ of When Jesus asked him his name, he replied in wild, incoherent fashion, "Legion." He believed that a whole Roman legion of devils had taken up their abode in his troubled mind. He showed an unnatural and an un- governable strength, "breaking the fetters and chains" with which men had bound him. He ran wild in the mountains and among the tombs, cutting himself upon the stones. At times "he was exceedingly fierce so that no man could pass that way," and would cast aside all his clothing. When Jesus found him he was naked. We find him later, after he was restored, "clothed and in his right mind." We would call such a man to-day insane, but the people of that early time said that he was possessed of devils. There was the demoniac boy at the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration. When he was suffering from his malady, he fell to the earth and foamed at the mouth. He writhed as if some devil was "tearing him." His trouble was intermittent it would " take him and then leave him," the father of the [15] f ait^ anD boy stated. We should call such an affliction to-day epilepsy. There was also in other cases the paralysis of a single organ or function the woman, who had "the spirit of infirmity for eighteen years," could not lift herself up. There was a man with "a dumb spirit," as we should say to-day a man rendered mute by the para- lyzed condition of the vocal organs. In other cases there was the inability to perform some certain function, and this was attributed to a particular kind of devil. Now in the face of these mysterious afflic- tions of a mental or nervous nature, afflictions which still puzzle the wisest physicians even to this day, we are not surprised that in this earlier time, unused to anything like scien- tific diagnosis, the people should hastily con- clude that these insane persons, or epileptics, or those who suffered the paralysis of some particular function, had been overcome by some hostile personality which they called a demon or a devil. And Christ himself, what- ever He may have thought of the diagnosis [16] Dealing grades of Cljrtet of that day, whether He shared in the scientific limitations of that period as He shared in so many of the limitations of the common life when He took upon himself the form of a servant, or whether He deemed it best to ap- proach these sufferers sympathetically by using the forms of speech with which they were familiar in dealing with those mental disorders, Christ himself habitually used the same expressions. Whatever view Jesus may have held, He healed many of these nervous and mental sufferers by the wholesome influence of His own personality as He brought it to bear upon their need. It should also be noted that He openly recognized the fact that some diseases have their roots in the moral nature that they have been induced by wrongdoing. A new mode of life would be demanded for a per- manent cure, and a new spirit and purpose would be needed if He were to undertake the recovery of such a sufferer with any hope of success. When the palsied man borne by four was brought to Christ, the first word [17] f aitft anD spoken was not addressed to his physical condition or bodily interests it went much deeper: "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Afterward the man was enabled by the healing power of Chirst to take up his bed and walk. When Jesus had healed the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, He said to him, " Behold, thou art made whole ! Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon thee." Where the source of the trouble lay in some moral delinquency, and where the healing was with- held by an unwillingness on the part of the sufferer to "about face" in his fundamental purpose, then the One who came to forgive our iniquities and to heal our diseases dealt frankly with that moral lack. It is also to be noted that Jesus never worked His cures for pay. He was in no sense a pro- fessional physician engaged in a lucrative practice. He would not confuse the issue by undertaking to combine the profitable prac- tice of medicine with His high office of spiritual leadership. He would not use His marvelous power to change stones into bread, which in [18] f ealt'ng Jttiracleg of a stony country like Palestine would have been a most rewarding line of effort. He was quite unlike some of the modern professional healers who undertake in the disregard they show for the higher interests at stake to live by bread alone. He brought into the field uniformly a pure, unselfish personality as He went about preaching the Gospel of the King- dom and healing many that were sick of divers diseases. Jesus furthermore avoided all display. The One who refused to cast Himself down un- hurt from the pinnacle of the temple, as possibly He might have done, would not parade His acts of healing upon the street corners or sound a trumpet before Him to advertise His success. He said on many oc- casions, when some sufferer had been healed, "See that thou tell no man." He did not de- sire that His fame as a healer should be widely heralded. He was unwilling to be regarded mainly as a great wonder worker; He had more serious interests at heart. He knew also that it would be inadvisable for the suf- [19] anD ferer who had been healed to be continually calling the attention of others to his wonderful recovery. Thus Jesus worked unselfishly and quietly, seeking ever to maintain the most wholesome conditions for the patients who were being treated. Now it seems to me, as we study carefully the records of these cures, we will find that Jesus has here suggested and formulated for us the best conditions for healing the sick by psychic methods in those functional disorders of nervous or mental origin, where such treat- ment has peculiar value. He took pains to awaken and encourage an expectant faith on the part of the patient. " Have faith in God." "All things are possible to him that believeth." "Fear not; only believe." These are the words He used frequently in addressing those who came to Him for relief. Faith is that attitude of mind, of heart and of will, which gives substance to the thing hoped for, which stands ready to accept as absolute verity some valuable and wholesome sugges- tion. This was the mood on the part of the [20] Dealing Jftt'tmleg of patient in which His signs were commonly wrought. He also endeavored to secure a sympathetic and helpful atmosphere around the patient. He put out the wailers and the weepers where He found Himself unable to silence them. He encouraged the members of the family to be- lieve that a recovery was possible. When the father of the epileptic boy said, " If thou canst do anything," Jesus replied, "If thou canst believe; all things are possible to him that believeth." He took with Him the fact is mentioned in a number of instances, and the same thing occurred no doubt in many others His three most trustworthy and experienced disciples, Peter and James and John. They had seen Him heal the sick, and they firmly believed that entire success could be achieved in any case He undertook. And then, most significant of all, Jesus added to the faith of the person, and to the faith of his friends, and to that healing im- pulse toward recovery resident in human nature and constantly at work on our behalf f ait^ anfc until overborne by the weight of a disease it cannot throw off He added the reinforce- ment of His own pure, wise, unselfish and lov- ing personality. His purpose, His desire, His will was to make men whole. The full strength of that mighty tide of redemptive love flowed around and in upon those who brought their ills to Him in expectant faith. When you see Him and hear His words, when you taste the quality of His life and witness the character there revealed, you find it not hard to believe that He thus wrought on behalf of suffering humanity. I am aware that there are those who think these narra- tives of healing belong only in the stained glass windows of some medieval cathedral, or in the mystic lines of some lovely poem, that they have no place in the sober prose of actual history. I cannot hold with them. I not only accept them as veritable history, but I regard them as abiding symbols of that great tide of divine helpfulness which is flowing yet, and is to flow on forever for human relief. "Violations of natural law"? Nay, rather [22] Dealing jftfracleg of the glorious addition of another force which changed the possibilities in the situation as men sensed it before His coming. It is possi- ble for any intelligent man to approach some bit of sandy desert, where by the operation of natural law nothing of value has ever grown, and by skillful irrigation, and by the scattering of a few seeds of life, to cause it to blossom like the rose. The course of nature had never produced anything there but sagebrush. It might seem to a resident prairie dog that a miracle had been wrought, but the result was attained according to law by the introduction of a new measure of energy and intelligence. Now, if an ordinary man can thus change "the course of nature" in that particular barren field, and cause nature to do what she would not have done but for his approach, what shall we say in the field of human bet- terment, physical and moral, when such an one as Jesus of Nazareth makes His august approach ! In these chapters I hope to bring out, if I may, the perennial significance of all this as [23] f zify and it bears upon our modern needs. I would strive to help each one to release in his mind and experience the universal and eternal Christ from the narrower limitations which in our thought belong to Jesus of Nazareth. The significance of His life then seemed merely local and temporary, but the same Spirit that was in Him, the Spirit of the eternal Christ, now sustains universal and cosmic relations. Would that each one might know in some more vital way that the help of the ever-present Christ who thus healed men of old is still available for health, for guidance, and for moral recovery. Make your alliance with the Unseen and Eternal an immediate and an available alliance ! Strive, if you will, to make it an alliance helpful on the physical as well as on the moral levels of your personal life. It may be that as a result of this larger and bolder venture of faith, you, too, will say of some high hour of privilege, " We never saw it in this fashion." In those days when the cable roads were in use in certain hilly cities, one would often see [24] Dealing jHitacleg of a boy on his bicycle holding on at the rear of a street car and thus being towed up the steep- est hill by the mightier force. The boy still had one of his hands on the handle bars and his feet upon the pedals to guide his wheel and to maintain his poise, but now his puny strength was vastly reinforced by the fact that he had laid hold upon the strength of the powerful engines away yonder in the power house which were moving the cables and thus moving the cars all over the city and incidentally helping the small boy in his prog- ress up the hill. It is possible for any one, if he will only have it so, to realize that in the deep places of his own soul, where he has not been accus- tomed to go, in those sections of his inner life which he has rarely visited, there is a mighty energy constantly available for his individual needs. It is the same energy which of old caused the morning stars to sing together, and the sons of God to shout for joy. It is the same energy which moves the planets in their courses, and has within its holy keeping [25] and all these cosmic interests even to this hour. It is the same energy which spoke and wrought, healed and loved in Jesus Christ. And that same energy of the living and loving Christ, beneficent and redemptive ever, is still opera- tive and available to the reach of expectant faith. [26] Cure?i II Cures N the preceding chapter the healing miracles of Christ were discussed. We seemed to find there an adequate occasion for some unusual manifestation of the divine energy in the most significant moral movement in history, the introduction of Christianity. We found a great personality upon the scene, Jesus of Nazareth; and His speech and His character, His expanding and abiding influence, were such that we were led to feel that the natural order might not inappropriately have a re- sponse to make to Him which it does not make to other individuals. We found that these won- ders of healing were wrought in the spirit of holy love, without display and with no thought of compensation. We found the record of them contained in narratives composed by men honest and trustworthy, narratives which give [29] ana abundant evidence of being sober and accu- rate. We found that these wonders were utilized as symbols of the recovery and re- newal of the moral life of the race, and thus became a significant part of this whole mighty movement. And we seemed to find good rea- sons for attributing to Jesus Christ a power altogether unique in ministering to human ills. In the very last address He made to His disciples, we find these extraordinary words, " He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these." This statement seems to open the door for an indefinite extension of these wonders. It has been so accepted by thousands of earnest men and women. We find down through the cen- turies of Christian history, in varying measure, the claim that this miraculous healing power is still operating. It is in regard to these more modern faith cures that I wish to speak in this chapter. We discover in the stories of the medieval saints a great mass of this material. When [30] the Roman Catholic Church used to discuss the question of canonizing some candidate for the sainthood, inquiry was made not only as to the character and the record of usefulness of the individual, but also as to whether or not he worked wonders during his lifetime, and whether or not his bones, his garments, or other relics, after he was gone, had been credited with miracles. It was a wonder-loving period in the world's history. It was a time when the habit of accu- rate discrimination between poetry and prose, between sentiment and sense, was not promi- nent. "The readiness to assent to every slightest indication of anything supernatural within the hallowed precincts of the Roman Catholic Church was universally reckoned a virtue." And the coming into the church at that time of great numbers of pagans, with their keen interest in the magical rather than in the moral aspects of religion, created an un- usual demand for wonders to be wrought in the name of religion. And here as every- where, demand had a tendency to create sup- [31] tf aitft and ply, and so the wonders, or at least the stories of wonders innumerable, were forthcoming. When one reads the lives of the medieval saints, he finds this element most prominent. And to a much less degree, we find the same phenomena in certain quarters in our own day. Some of the most notable have been witnessed at a little town called Lourdes in the south of France. It is an insignificant village, but in the grotto there, it is said, the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant girl in the year 1858. A church has been built above the grotto, and thousands of people have made their pilgrim- ages to the place to pray for healing and to drink of the waters. Hundreds of them have been healed. You will find there an inter- esting collection of canes and crutches thrown aside by those who had been so restored as to have no further use for them. On this side of the water also we find phe- nomena akin to those witnessed at Lourdes. In the Church of St. Anne de Beaupre, not far from Quebec, there is a similar shrine and a similar collection of canes and crutches left [32] Cures by cripples who have been miraculously healed by prayer and faith. And many are the stories of various forms of disease which have been cured by faith exercised there by certain sufferers. In our own country Dr. Cullis of Boston, a man whose church and hospital I have visited repeatedly, and whose meetings I have at- tended, came to have a wide reputation as a faith healer. He used to hold on Beacon Hill, in the very center of Boston culture, and within gunshot of the full strength of the ration- alism of Harvard University, each year, a mid- winter convention where the speaking and the praying bore mainly upon the entire sanctifica- tion of the spiritual life and the healing of dis- ease through faith. Dr. A. B. Simpson of Brooklyn, formerly of the Presbyterian minis- try, now at the head of what is known as the Christian Alliance, has been working along the same lines. His followers call themselves " Fourfolders," they believe in Christ as Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King, for they look for the speedy and visible return [33] anb of Christ to earth. In the same class we find Dr. Dowie, recently deceased, of the Zion movement, who by his public addresses and by his little paper, "Leaves of Healing," cir- culated by thousands of copies, has spoken to a wide circle of people in all parts of Christen- dom on the subject of healing through faith. I have been present in meetings led by Dr. Cullis, by Dr. Simpson, and by Dr. Dowie, where each one of these men called up certain people from the audience to testify as to their having been healed from certain diseases through their faith in God. Now what shall intelligent, discriminating people say to all this ? We cannot sweep it all aside with a wave of the hand and a curl of the lip, calling it mere ignorant superstition, or deception and fraud. Take into considera- tion, as you must, all the failures and they form a pathetic array when you inquire closely. The crutches, brought by suffering cripples to Lourdes and to St. Anne de Beaupre, to Cullis, to Simpson, and to Dowie, and carried away again because they were still needed, are [34] jfattfr Cures naturally not in evidence, although there are enough of them in the world to load a ship. No public testimony meetings are ever held where the people who have tried to be cured by faith and have failed are invited to speak. If there were, these sufferers would be reluc- tant to confess their failure, although they would outnumber the others a hundred to one if they should all appear. But taking all these failures into consideration, there still remains a nucleus of success to be considered. It is also necessary to take into consideration this fact: any honest, rational person is com- petent to testify as to whether he feels sick or feels well ; he may not be competent to testify as to whether he was at a certain time suffering from Bright's disease or cancer, from tubercu- losis of the lungs or the necrosis of certain joints. Here the question is one of diagnosis, and only those who have been trained in the science of diagnosis are competent to speak. And the patient may not be competent to testify that he has been cured by faith, or by Christian Science, or by medicine, or otherwise, [35] anD from such diseases that also is a question of diagnosis. A wealthy gentleman in the East, himself a chronic invalid, undertook several years ago, in the interests of suffering human- ity, to follow up one hundred of these cases where it was claimed that serious maladies had been cured by faith. He found that over two-thirds of the patients died in less than two years from the very diseases which physicians had pronounced incurable, but from which they professed to have been triumphantly cured by faith. The patients were honest, no doubt, but they were not competent in diagnosis. They went to the healers, and under the stim- ulus and excitement of the meetings, under the influence of the anointing and the earnest prayers, they felt better. Their exaltation of spirit was such that they publicly testified to the cures, and for a time their general health seemed to be improved. And then in less than two years, more than two-thirds of them were laid away in death as a result of those very diseases from which they had professedly been cured. [36] Cures But still, admitting the great preponderance of failures which wait upon the outskirts of this movement, unwilling to speak because they believe that their continued suffering is an indi- cation of their lack of faith, and admitting also the temporary character of many of the re- puted cures, there still remains, as I believe, a nucleus of fact. When we find these stories of healing, therefore, in the Middle Ages or in our own day, we do not accept them in the mass. We do not reject them in the mass. We deal with them individually, and undertake, as far as possible, to reach the solid and verifiable truth in any given case. Now suppose we find, as we shall, certain people cured, actually and permanently cured, through their faith in God. Shall we say that this is real Christianity; that this is what Christ meant when He said, "Greater works than these shall ye do"? Shall we conclude that if the great mass of modern Christianity were not spurious and lacking in real faith, all the suffering people might be healed in the same way? [37] ana It seems to me that this also would be an erroneous view. "Greater works than these shall ye do"; the words were addressed to the whole Christian movement, to the entire Chris- tian civilization which would result from the influence of Jesus. "Greater works," not necessarily in the sudden, amazing character of the results wrought by men who believed in Christ, greater rather in their extent, in their regularity, in the permanent value of those moral achievements which these original works foreshadowed and symbolized. It was here that the men Christ trained Him- self placed the weight of their emphasis. When He sent forth the twelve apostles, He said to them, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. Freely ye have received, freely give." And when they went out, we find them giving, as a matter of fact, only a slight and subordinate attention to the work of physical recovery, but devoting their main strength to changing the minds, the [38] Cures hearts, and the wills of men in the interest of new character. And when Jesus sent forth the other seventy, He said, "Into whatsoever city or village ye enter, heal the sick that are therein and say, 'The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.'" And when they returned they reported that the devils were subject to them, that those mental and nervous diseases which were discussed in the last chapter had been cured by them in many instances. And Jesus said, "I saw the forces of evil falling before you like lightning, but in this rejoice not! Rejoice rather because your names are written in heaven"; rejoice rather in the enrollment of new types of character in yourselves and in those to whom you have ministered. In the gradual extension of Christian influ- ence; in the permeation of our literature by Christian truth; in the leavening of our civili- zation by Christian ideals and principles; in the establishment to the ends of the earth of such institutions as churches and schools, hospitals and homes, in the name of Christ and by the gifts of his followers; in the carry- [39] ana ing of a certain high quality of life by Christian men and women into all the dark places of the globe; in the magnificent results achieved by all these, we are to see, according to my un- derstanding of the promise, the " greater works" predicted by Christ for those who should be- lieve on Him, rather than in some local wonder, which to some minds might seem for an hour to outshine all these mighty works. Now if we take this view of it, then what place ought the claims of faith cure to have in the ordinary life of to-day ? In the first place, the volume and the significance of it will vary according to the intelligence and the temper- ament of the patients, and according to the mood of the people. When Charles II was King of England, he touched one hundred thousand people who hoped by his royal touch to be cured of scrofula or "King's evil," as it was called. King James is said to have touched eight hundred people in one day in Chester Cathedral for the same purpose. Whenever the sovereign appeared the people thronged him, hoping to touch his foot or his hand as he [40] Cures rode through the streets. But when King Edward appears to-day in London, riding through the streets, a better king in ability and in character than either Charles II or James, not a soul in the vast multitude gathered to see him thinks for a moment of trying to touch him to be healed of disease. The whole mood and expectation of the English people in that par- ticular matter has changed. And you will find that the expectation re- garding cures by faith is to-day most alive out on the frontiers of discriminating intelligence, in the foreign missionary work among people just in process of entering upon higher modes of thought, and among the less fortunate people in the cities where the Salvation Army officers and the rescue missions are at work. In these several quarters we find a keener expectation in regard to faith cure than we would find in a college town or in a city church made up from those who had received more thorough intellectual training. There are various degrees in faith. There is the cautious assent of that mind which is [41] ana accustomed to weigh, to discriminate and to accurately measure all the elements which enter into any situation. This is the most characteristic form of faith among those who have been carefully trained on the intellectual side. It is a form of faith which is not apt to move mountains or to work other wonders. There is also the expectant interest in a cer- tain direction coupled with a quiet and some- what passive confidence and hope. There is, in the third place, a feeling of strong reliance and trust which constantly bestows new energy upon its happy possessor. And then there is that eager assurance and feeling of certainty which leads its possessors to put into the effort for recovery all the energies of mind, of heart and of will, enabling them at times to apparently clear all obstacles at a bound in the attainment of their desires. The utility of this principle of faith healing will therefore vary ac- cording to the intelligence and the temperament of the patient, and according to the prevailing mood of the people by whom he is surrounded. In the second place, the measure of atten- Cureg tion which may profitably be given to faith as a therapeutic agent will vary according to the nature of the disease. Any physician will tell you that there are subjective mental states which do produce the symptoms of disease or of cure. And when there is concentrated attention, where there is strong credulity touching certain unseen remedial agencies, and where there is a joyous expectation spring- ing out of personal confidence in the divine power believed to be at work on behalf of the sufferer, then the chances of recovery are greatly increased, and the process of recovery may be greatly hastened. In diseases of ac- cumulation, like dropsy, or tumors, by the quickened action of those functions which eliminate, morbid growths are thus some- times rapidly removed. In functional troubles, like headache, indigestion, mental and ner- vous depression, any one can readily see how a strong, warm, live faith in God, as not only competent but ready to forgive all our ini- quities and heal all our diseases, may come to have great value. [43] ana But some earnest nature is saying, perhaps, "Why limit it to particular forms of disease? Cannot God do one thing as well as another?" Undoubtedly, but it is not so much a question of what God can do as of what God does do, of what God has been doing. If a man were lying on the railroad track, and his head had been cut off by a passing engine, it would lie within the power of Omnipotence to put the man's head back on his body and send him away alive; all this were as easy for Om- nipotence as the curing of a headache. But as a matter of fact, does Omnipotence ever restore men's heads when once they have been cut off? Did Christ or the twelve apostles or the other seventy ever attempt to work such wonders? Did the medieval saints who are reported to have wrought cures, or Cullis, or Simpson, or Dowie ever accomplish such re- sults? No one has ever heard of any such case. If I should be run over by a street car and have my leg cut off, it would not occur to any one of my Christian friends to pray that a new leg might grow in its place. Medical [44] Cwtg science and Christian sympathy alike would center their interest upon the saving of life, and then upon providing me with such an artificial leg as might enable me to still possess some measure of usefulness. In all this atti- tude we indicate that we do know something about the way Omnipotence works, and we vary our appeal and shape our expectations according to the nature of the trouble we face. Some of our ills can be overcome by calling upon the latent forces of the body to act, by a new exercise of the will under the stimulus of religious appeal, by the sense of that rein- forcement which comes from a feeling of alliance with the Unseen and the Eternal through faith. And some other ills, as we have seen, are not to be cured in that way. When Christ himself was here, His mighty will, His intelligent sympathy, His great soul, His expectant faith in the capacity of those to whom He ministered, wrought wonders. But He by no means healed all the sickness and disease in Palestine nor did He correct all the [45] ana physical deformity brought to His notice. And in certain places He found the people so caught in the power of unbelief that He was there unable to do any mighty work. In the third place, where faith has healing value, it need not and ought not to displace, it should supplement, those other agencies which experience indicates as having value for recovery. "Shall we trust our camels to Allah to-night?" his servant said to Mo- hammed, when they were pitching their camp at an oasis in the desert. "Yes," replied the prophet, " but tie them first." Do all that com- mon sense and experience would suggest in any situation, thus adding to your prayer of faith and your trust in a mightier power the efforts of intelligence. " Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, And back of the flour the mill; And back of the mill, the wheat and the shower, And the sun and the Father's will." It is all there to meet the needs of the people. But the shower and the sun and the Father's [46] Cureg will would never have brought us our loaf of bread but for the co-operation of that human energy which sowed the wheat and reaped it and ground it in the mill and baked it into a loaf. In like manner, back of all those meas- ures, sanitary, surgical, or medical, measures declared by experience to have an ascertained value, lies the Father's will. There is a healing impulse toward recovery which causes the cut finger to heal and the broken bone to knit, but we can best utilize that heal- ing impulse when we do not neglect those parts of the process which lie within our own power. When we arise in the morning we pray with one accord, " Give us this day our daily bread." We utter those words, I hope, not as an empty form, but in the spirit of a sweet and confident trust. But having uttered them, the farmer goes to his field, and the merchant to his store, and the mechanic to his shop. Each man uses the means which experience suggests in the gaining of his daily bread. The Om- nipotent One could drop down manna, or for [47] and that matter, beefsteak and bread, sufficient for all our needs, but Omnipotence works out its beneficent purposes as men intelligently, faith- fully, and trustfully co-operate with it, by using those means which are placed here within our power to be used. I should be almost afraid to declare in this public way how much I personally believe the Unseen One can do and does do for our relief and for our health when we learn to go to Him aright. I should be almost afraid to speak it out lest I should be regarded as fanatical. But the very strength of that faith on my part inclines me to also reverently and gratefully utilize the best aids which the intelligence of my fellowmen, working each one along the line of his own specialty, as I am working at mine, places within my reach. Four great epoch-making advances have been achieved by medical science; the in- troduction of anesthetics, making possible surgical operations which were formerly out of the question; the better means of control- ling epidemics so that Europe is not now at [48] Cures the mercy of the black plague or cholera or smallpox as formerly; and our own Gulf cities are not scourged annually by yellow fever; the adoption of antiseptic methods in surgery, reducing the percentage of fatality in a way that brings the doxology to our lips; and the use of scientific methods in diagnosis by the employment of chemical reactions, the Roentgen rays, blood analysis and all the rest. We see beyond a peradventure that the spirit of truth, which John said was the Holy Spirit, has been here leading the minds of men into these truths vitally important for human well-being. We thank God for all this, and we look ahead to still other valued discoveries to be made by those men who are choosing that form of service. And thus I add to my own strong faith in those unseen aids which may be utilized in times of physical crisis, my con- fidence in the demonstrated efficiency of medical science. In the fourth place, it is well to remember that while God is omnipotent and faith can work wonders, physical health is not the only [49] and nor the supreme good to be sought. There was a man once who had faith in God, faith before which even that of Dr. Cullis or Dr. Simpson or Dr. Dowie would pale. He suf- fered from a physical malady which he called his "thorn in the flesh." He besought the Lord for its removal, steadily, insistently and devoutly, but it was not removed. And by his very disappointment he learned that there are forms of strength which are "made per- fect through weakness." Thus he learned to bravely and patiently bear his thorn in the flesh and, as a matter of fact, he bore it to his grave. His name was Paul, and you will find his name written in the annals of Christian history above every name, save only the name of the One whom he served. It may be that you have looked in tender- ness and sympathy upon your loved ones when they were ill. You were doing all that faith and hope and love could suggest. But your loving desire for them finally went down in apparent defeat. It was a crushing blow; you wondered at first if the failure of all your [50] Cures efforts for their recovery was due to your lack of faith. But no, you found your comfort in believing that another wiser and vaster pur- pose than our own underlies, overarches and enfolds all these precious interests of our hearts. Then you moved up from one form of strength to another and a finer form of strength. It may be that you have your own thorn in the flesh ; you have besought the Lord thrice, and more than thrice, to have it removed but it still remains. It may be that there are un- used sources of help which would bring you victory. But even if you should fail, know that there are many fine forms of strength which are still made perfect through weakness. Make up your mind to be well, if it is a possible thing ! Utilize, every day in the year, all those physical, mental and spiritual forces which intelligence indicates as having value ! Lay hold upon these unseen aids which are like the arm of the Almighty, and employ that help steadily for the same high end ! But however it may all come out, know that either in mag- [51] ana nificent health or with the sense of failing physical powers, you can still be able to say, touching those more valued and enduring in- terests, "The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid." [52] anD Cong of Cristian Science Ill ana Cong of Cristian Science HE great apostle was a man of discrimination. He did not believe in swallowing things whole merely because they tasted good on the out- side. He always analyzed their contents first. He did not lose his head and go pellmell into some new scheme of life or some strange philosophy merely because certain good points were apparent in it. He carefully sifted it out. He weighed its component parts, estimated their value, studied their general tendency and direction. Then having analyzed them, tested them, tried them out, he retained that which was good. "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." I believe that this indicates the right course in regard to the movement known as Christian Science. I would not undertake in this chapter [55] ana to condemn it in the mass ; I know too much about it for that. And I am not here to praise it indiscriminately; I know a great deal too much about it to do that. I wish to sift out the wheat from the chaff and' indicate, if I may, those lines of thought and effort whereby we can hold fast all that is good in the move- ment. And I believe I may say without im- modesty that I have earned my right to do this. When one objects to some of the claims of Christian Science as being irrational and absurd the common reply is, " Oh, but you do not understand. It seems so to mortal mind, but when you have studied the subject and have read 'Science and Health' those objec- tions will disappear." Now I have studied the subject. I did not get up my knowledge of Christian Science over night or cram up on it hastily in a week for some Sunday evening sermon. I began the study of Christian Science twenty-three years ago, in the month of February, 1887, in the city of Boston. I went to the fountain head for my instruction. At that time Mrs. Eddy herself was lecturing [56] C^rfettan in Boston and it was my great privilege to attend her lectures. In addition to that I had as my personal instructors two men who were officers in the Mother Church at Boston, one of them the strongest and the clearest expo- nent of Christian Science I have ever heard speak, and the other the man to whom Mrs. Eddy intrusted the treatment of her grand- child when that child was sick unto death. I spent something over three hundred dollars for my instruction, for however strong the faith of the teacher or the healer in this strange cult may be in the value of "absent treat- ment," when money is changing hands he is always present in person attending strictly to business. His illusions as to the unreality of things in general do not extend to financial transactions; there his mind and the ordi- nary "mortal mind" operate in much the same way in that he insists upon the coin of the realm and, quoting the words of the founder herself, "tuition strictly in advance." I have in my home, signed, sealed and de- livered by a regularly chartered school, a [57] ant) diploma, certifying that I have completed the prescribed courses of study and am entitled to practice as a Christian Science healer. If I chose to hang out my sign as a healer at my home in Oakland, California, to-morrow morn- ing no one could say me nay. In addition to that I have read books and pamphlets on this subject by the armful. I have had my own copy of "Science and Health" for these twenty-three years. My personal copy is one of the early ones it is a third edition, while the book has now reached something over two hundred and fifty editions. This early edition has become so rare that copies sell now at a premium. It is also regarded by the leaders of the movement as valuable because it contains certain state- ments which Mrs. Eddy would be glad to call in and cancel, for they do not appear in the later editions. I have attended Christian Science meetings, Sundays and week nights, in Oakland, in Boston, in London, and in other places. I have spent hours and hours listening to the instruction and the testimonies of their [58] teachers, their healers and their believers. I have followed up carefully many of their so- called cures. I do not, therefore, base what I have to say in this chapter on hearsay or on newspaper report; I come to you not as an outsider, but with a diploma in my hand cer- tifying that I have been instructed in the science and the art of metaphysical healing. I wish to consider both the pros and cons of Christian Science. Let us see first what can be said in favor of the movement. It has un- doubtedly spoken in tones of authority to a large number of nervous, complaining, self- pitying people who never had anything much the matter with them, and has stopped their wail by putting a new set of phrases upon their lips. "Stop talking about your ills," it said. "Stop thinking about them; stop believing that you have any ills, for such ills as yours are all due to a morbid state of mind. Rise up out of your ailments into the health God meant you to enjoy." And by saying this with those accents of infallible authority which her fol- lowers attribute to Mrs. Eddy's statements, [59]