THE KING’S BUSINESS
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replied, “He was begotten by the Holy Spirit, so the Bible says.” And he asked me, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” I answered, “The third person in the Trinity.” “Oh,” he said, “that is a theological question, and we cannot discuss that. Jesus was the offspring of Mary’s very exalted spiritual meditation.” In discussing evil and sin, etc., I said to him, “You say that God created everything that exists, don’t you?” And he said he did. “Well,” I asked, “if that be true, who cre ated this awful ‘mortal mind’ which you say is the cause of all our troubles?” He drew a deep breath and said, “Well, that is unan swerable, isn’t it?” About the last thing we discussed was Mrs. Eddy’s statement that “No final judg ment awaits mortals.” He said, “That’s true; the judgment day of wisdom comes hourly and continually.” “But,” I said, “the Bible says, ‘It is appointed unto men once to die, and after thast the judgment.’ ” “Well,” he answered, “I think Job wrote that and he got better ideas after awhile.” I replied, “That is not in the book of Job. It is found in the book of Hebrews.” And thus, by this honest and intelligent Christian Scientist, who knows what they believe, and was willing to admit it, the Word of God and the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ—the alone ground of sal vation—were freely discarded. -------------- The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, going to preach in •another church, was being escorted thither by a son of one of the deacons. “Do you love my Master?” the good man asked the lad. Before answering, the youth stop ped in the street, and looking up into the minister’s face, said, “Mr. Spurgeon, I have walked down to this chapel with ministers for several years and not one of them ever asked me that question before.” As the man of God pressed his young friend to come to Christ, he yielded and was saved. “I have been in and out of this Church for forty-five years, and no one ever invited me to Christ before,” said an old man as a young woman took his hand and urged him to accept salvation.
Then I asked him if he really thought people did not sin. He answered, “The ‘mortal man’ sins, but the ‘real man,’ the ‘absolute,’ does not sin.” “Oh,” I said, “Then we have two men in us,” and he replied, “Yes,” I asked him if he thought people really were sick and suffered pain. And he said he did. I might have offered to prick him with a pin, if he had said “No.” I said, “Do you believe that the scourge of typhus now raging in Servia could be stayed by Christian Science, without the aid of disinfectants and doctors?” He said, “No, I do not. They have not reached that plane yet where they can dispense with these things.” I asked if he believed in death. He said, “Well, the more I think of life the more I live.” 1 said, “Yes, that’s true that you get more out of life, but the time is coming when you will die. Mrs. Eddy died, didn’t she?” He replied, “Well, she disappeared.” “But,” I added, “they buried her, didn’t they ?” And he said, “Yes.” Then I asked if he believed people need to be saved and he said he did. “Well,” I asked, “If a man asked you what he must do to be saved, what yould you tell him?” “Why,” he answered, “I’d tell him he must know God, and that would require a thor ough study of the Bible.” “But,” I asked, "supposing he was about to die and didn’t have time to study the Bible?” He replied, “Well,-that is what I’d have to tell him.” I asked him if he believed that Christ died for our sins. He replied, “Well, we believe he died as a manifestation of divine love.” “But,” said I, “The Bible says, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities.’ ” “Oh,” he answered, “we don’t believe in a vicarious atonement.” I said, “Wasn’t Jesus the pro pitiation for our sins?” And he said, “No.” I asked him what he thought of Mrs. Eddy’s statement that “Mary conceived an idea and gave to her ideal the name Jesus.” I said, “Was Jesus an idea? I thought he was a person.” “Well,” he answered, “we are all manifestations of God.” “But,” I
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