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The Spirit of God has spoken, and with no uncertain sound, through his Word, and for this part of the subject I am now more than ready to rest the case, closing with the solemn words of our Lord:

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shal! add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

FRUITAGE.

The famous saying of our Lord, "By their fruits ye shall know them," has been worked to a wearisome finish by Mrs. Eddy and her followers. Under its supposedly friendly shelter she has brought together in Science and Health more than a hundred pages of most marvelous and, if authentic, miraculous cures, the vast majority of which, on their very face, are manifestly apocryphal, and has labeled it “Fruitage," a name used in such connection, being a cross between a product of an almanac and the Bible. The word is a perfectly good one, and is appropriated herewith, feloniously, if need be, to stand on guard at the head of the last chapter of this little book.

Under this suggestive caption Mrs. Eddy has been most partial in her work. A great many things that ought to have gone into that closing chapter of her book have been left out. Let this chapter, therefore, serve as a postscript to that of hers, atoning in some measure for its partiality and incompleteness. Granting that all the cures reported in this wonderful chapter of hers on Fruitage have been properly authenticated, although no proof is offered to support the claims of any one of them, no names are given as references, no means whatsoever provided by which these wonderful things may be verified, but waiving all this and granting them all to be genuine, still there are many other things that must be reckoned with, as a part of the fruitage of this religion which burns strange fires upon Jehovah's altars. It is the purpose of this chapter to call attention to some of these things.

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The claims of Christian Science are unreasonable and contradictory. In one breath the existence of matter is denied, and in the next matter is charged with being the cause of all error. In the unfolding of its beautiful "harmony" the existence of error is denied, and then, forthwith, truth is error's unfailing antidote. There is no sin, nor sickness, nor death, yet, notwithstanding this optimistic assertion, Science and Health and Christian Science teachers and healers, with persistent prescriptions, tell us how to escape the one, and urge upon us their infallible, no cure no pay, remedies for the other. "Like priest, like people." Mrs. Eddy claimed that the title, "Mother," was thrust upon her by her friends and loyal supporters, against her will and expressed wishes. But let us see. Figures and history are cold blooded and relentless propositions. In May, 1890, The National Christian Science Association was in session in New York City. The secretary was "instructed to send to our Mother greetings and words of affection from her assembled children." Her answer was returned the next day and was as follows:

"All hail! He hath filled the hungry with good things and the sick hath He not sent empty away.— Mother Mary."

Any one having access to a copy of her by-laws, if the trouble is taken to examine them, will find the following to be true, the original of which was written with Mrs. Eddy's own hand. She, by the divine right of her position, reserved the title for herself alone, protecting it with an ecclesiastical patent that none dared infringe, the penalty being nothing less than

excommunication from the Mother Church. Article 22, Section 1:

"The Title of Mother. In the year 1895 loyal Christian Scientists had given to the author of their text book, the Founder of Christian Science, the individual, endearing term of Mother. Therefore, if a student of Christian Science shall apply this title, either to herself or others, except as the term for kinship according to the flesh, it shall be regarded by the Church as an indication of disrespect for their Pastor Emeritus, and unfitness to be a member of the Mother Church."

The claims of Christian Science are as absurdly ridiculous and illogical as they are unreasonable and contradictory. We go to the fountain head again, Science and Health, for the illustrations which prove the proposition. On page 26 of the edition of 1910 we are amazed as we read, "He (Christ) proved by his deeds that Christian Science destroys sickness, sin and death." In other words, the allied armies crushed the French at Waterloo, therefore Frederick the Great was the greatest soldier that ever lived! Does the reader see the connection? No? Well, neither does the author, nor can anybody else.

On the 27th page, our Lord is quoted in his famous passage, "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." To apply these words to Christian Science is most prodigiously absurd, for it breaks down in every particular mentioned here. As a result of its work it remains to be proved that, in any of these essential particulars

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