Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/154

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
146
The Origin of Christian Science.

ascend into a cloud, in a body that they recognized, they learn that he has no body at all. One who can really so reason must have a legion of dull demons dancing in his “dome.” If that be understanding or true knowledge then pray let ignorance be our portion forever.

The writer hopes that one can understand Christian Science without becoming a fool; but he is convinced that one cannot both understand it and believe it without losing the ability to think consistently. Christian Science paralyzes the power of reason. It is a microbe that feeds upon the logical faculty.

Some playful boys, it is said, took the sign of a cabinet maker, “All kinds of twisting and turning done here,” and put it over the office door of an attorney. Not for fun but for truth's sake, I hang the same sign over the firm of Spinoza & Eddy, Specialists in Adapting Pagan Theology to the Modern Mind. And I remind the reader that the point of interest is not mainly that they both are proficient in the art of “twisting and turning” but that the female member of the firm does exactly the same kind of “twisting and turning” that was done by the male member, and that she has been much more lucky, than he was, in hitting upon a good market for her wares. He was frank and discovered plainly his goat's hair. She is foxy and hides in a great show of sheep's wool.

It is somewhat comforting to orthodox people to discover that the claim of a type of scholarship, that miracles are best understood as