A Way That Seemeth Right: An Examination of Christian Science

What It's About

Written in 1897 by an Episcopal clergyman, this is a point-by-point challenge to Christian Science, which was then growing quickly in the United States. Hart says he wrote it after seeing families divided by the movement and being asked repeatedly for guidance on it. He begins with healing in general: what Scripture does and doesn't promise about miraculous cures, and how healing shrines and cults have drawn the sick throughout history. He then turns to Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health and tests its teachings on man, spirit, the Holy Ghost, sin and forgiveness against orthodox Christian doctrine. His conclusion is that Christian Science is "another gospel" and that its cures can be explained without it.

Key Concepts

Hart's central argument is that apparent Christian Science cures come from the mind's influence over the body, through suggestion and a state he compares to mesmerism. He does not see them as proof of a new revelation. He also argues that the New Testament healing commissions were given to the Apostles and were never a standing promise to all believers. Much of the book is theological, defending the personality of God and the reality of sin against the movement's teaching that sin and sickness are unreal. It ends with the testimony of a former follower who left Christian Science for the Church.

About the Author

Henry Martyn Hart (1838–1920) was an English-born Episcopal priest who moved to Denver, Colorado in 1879 to lead St. John's Church in the Wilderness. He became the first Dean of its cathedral and oversaw the building of the present St. John's Cathedral. He was also active in the city's charitable life and helped found the Denver Charity Organization in 1887, a forerunner of the United Way.