The Origin of Christian Science/Introduction
INTRODUCTION.
By Rev. F. C. McConnell, D.D.
Dr. Stafford performed a duty to his fellow men, when he wrote this book. Few men are so well qualified as he, by nature and training, to accomplish such a task.
Dr. Stafford has been a careful student of philosophy and theology for more than a decade of years since he was graduated from one of our best institutions and pursued studies in one of the German universities.
It is but simple justice, to say that the book maintains throughout, the attitude of scholarly research and perfect fairness. It has not been the author's method to caricature, but to balance statement against statement, with the poise of a scholar who knows his ground and is familiar with the processes of thought, with which he deals, quoting correctly from sages and from modern scholars with equal facility, being versed in the Greek and the Latin tongues, in which the ancient authors wrote, and also in the German language in which are translations of their works.
Let it be remembered that it is not Dr. Stafford's immediate purpose to refute Christian Science. He has taken for his task the single object of showing where the founder of Christian Science and the Neoplatonists agree. And this he does show to be true of their ideas, their philosophy and often of their verbiage itself, even to the use of imagery and illustration. Parallel thoughts and statements are introduced with conclusions reached, alike in both Neoplatonism and Christian Science, covering so completely the whole range of the writings of Mrs. Eddy that an irresistible conviction is produced, that the author of Christian Science borrowed from the Neoplatonists, with here and there a flavor from Spinoza.
Interest in these parallels is sustained and heightened to the last page of the book. A few parallel passages, here and there, might not excite comment, but when all the essential body of the system of Christian Science, covering the whole range of cosmology, psychology, theology and philosophy, is traceable to these Grecian philosophers, as Dr. Stafford shows, there is but one conclusion possible.
The very delightful style of Dr. Stafford makes the book attractive from the beginning to the end; and the exceeding generosity of the author toward the founder and the advocates of the cult whose sources he traces, challenges the good will of the reader from page to page.
Dr. Stafford discloses the true nature of Christian Science in such a lucid manner, as to make his work desirable to those who care to know about the system whether friendly or opposed to the teachings of its author.
Few men who are capable of such intricate research could have sustained the good spirit and impartial fairness which are everywhere manifest. If Christian Science should live to need a history, or dying, want posthumous genealogy, or if one would now understand its true nature, let this book be commended.
The author has given to the book the title: “The Origin of Christian Science”—“A Key to the Writings of Mary Baker G. Eddy.” The title, with the subscription, is itself explanatory of the plan of the treatment. Parallel passages are produced and quoted, with citations made in footnotes to the authors from which they come. And these are compared with the writings of Mrs. Eddy on the same subjects. Since the author of Christian Science claims to have given a key to the sacred Scriptures, it is but fitting that one who knows, should furnish a key to her writings. Dr. Stafford has shown that Plato was the manufacturer of that “key” and has prior claim, and that he never thought of connecting it with the revelation sent down from heaven. He has also traced the course of those who have temporized with that “key” from Plato's day down through the centuries until Mrs. Eddy seized it and attempted to thrust it into the lock of eternity.
Our debt to Dr. Stafford is enhanced by the clearness with which he has presented a very abstruse subject. The mysteries of human life are so deep and so little known that many people are helpless in the hands of those who would lead them. Witness those who resort to spiritism, mind-reading, fortune-telling and what not. Dr. Stafford has laid bare the very abstruse subjects involved in Platonic philosophy and Christian Science in such a way as to make them clear to all who seek to know the truth. He has shown by irrefutable evidence that Christian Science is a key which locks God out of his word and locks Jesus Christ out of his blood-bought kingdom.
This key opens a door outward, where Plato and Plotinus and Proclus and Spinoza roam in the limitless unreal, but never can it open the door into the Father's house of many mansions.
First Baptist Church, Waco, Texas.