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336:21 by a single man, else God would be manifestly finite, lose the deific character, and become less than God. Allness is the measure of the infinite, and 336:24 nothing less can express God.

God the parent Mind

XXIV. God, the divine Principle of man, and man in God’s likeness are inseparable, harmonious, and eternal. 336:27 The Science of being furnishes the rule of per- fection, and brings immortality to light. God and man are not the same, but in the order of divine Sci- 336:30 ence, God and man coexist and are eternal. God is the parent Mind, and man is God’s spiritual offspring.

Man reflects the perfect God

XXV. God is individual and personal in a scientific 337:1 sense, but not in any anthropomorphic sense. Therefore man, reflecting God, cannot lose his individuality; but as 337:3 material sensation, or a soul in the body, blind mortals do lose sight of spiritual individuality. Material personality is not realism; it is not 337:6 the reflection or likeness of Spirit, the perfect God. Sen- sualism is not bliss, but bondage. For true happiness, man must harmonize with his Principle, divine Love; the 337:9 Son must be in accord with the Father, in conformity with Christ. According to divine Science, man is in a degree as perfect as the Mind that forms him. The truth of be- 337:12 ing makes man harmonious and immortal, while error is mortal and discordant.

Purity the path to perfection

XXVI. Christian Science demonstrates that none but 337:15 the pure in heart can see God, as the gospel teaches. In proportion to his purity is man perfect; and perfection is the order of celestial 337:18 being which demonstrates Life in Christ, Life’s spiritual ideal.

True idea of man

XXVII. The true idea of man, as the reflection of the 337:21 invisible God, is as incomprehensible to the limited senses as is man’s infinite Principle. The visible uni- verse and material man are the poor counter- 337:24 feits of the invisible universe and spiritual man. Eternal things (verities) are God’s thoughts as they exist in the spiritual realm of the real. Temporal things are the 337:27 thoughts of mortals and are the unreal, being the oppo- site of the real or the spiritual and eternal.

Truth demonstrated

XXVIII. Subject sickness, sin, and death to the rule 337:30 of health and holiness in Christian Science, and you ascertain that this Science is demon- strably true, for it heals the sick and sinning as no 338:1 other system can. Christian Science, rightly under- stood, leads to eternal harmony. It brings to light the 338:3 only living and true God and man as made in His like- ness; whereas the opposite belief – that man originates in matter and has beginning and end, that he is both 338:6 soul and body, both good and evil, both spiritual and material – terminates in discord and mortality, in the error which must be destroyed by Truth. The mortality 338:9 of material man proves that error has been ingrafted into the premises and conclusions of material and mortal humanity.

Adam not ideal man

338:12 XXIX. The word _Adam_ is from the Hebrew _adamah_, signifying the _red color of the ground, dust, nothingness_. Divide the name Adam into two syllables, 338:15 and it reads, _a dam_, or obstruction. This suggests the thought of something fluid, of mortal mind in solution. It further suggests the thought of that 338:18 ” darkness . . . upon the face of the deep,” when mat- ter or dust was deemed the agent of Deity in creating man, – when matter, as that which is accursed, stood 338:21 opposed to Spirit. Here _a dam_ is not a mere play upon words; it stands for obstruction, error, even the sup- posed separation of man from God, and the obstacle 338:24 which the serpent, sin, would impose between man and his creator. The dissection and definition of words, aside from their metaphysical derivation, is not scien- 338:27 tific. Jehovah declared the ground was accursed; and from this ground, or matter, sprang Adam, notwith- standing God had blessed the earth “for man’s sake.” 338:30 From this it follows that Adam was not the ideal man for whom the earth was blessed. The ideal man was revealed in due time, and was known as Christ Jesus.

Divine pardon

339:1 XXX. The destruction of sin is the divine method of pardon. Divine Life destroys death, Truth destroys 339:3 error, and Love destroys hate. Being de- stroyed, sin needs no other form of forgiveness. Does not God’s pardon, destroying any one sin, prophesy 339:6 and involve the final destruction of all sin?

Evil not produced by God

XXXI. Since God is All, there is no room for His unlikeness. God, Spirit, alone created all, and called it 339:9 good. Therefore evil, being contrary to good, is unreal, and cannot be the product of God. A sinner can receive no encouragement from the fact that 339:12 Science demonstrates the unreality of evil, for the sinner would make a reality of sin, – would make that real which is unreal, and thus heap up “wrath against the 339:15 day of wrath.” He is joining in a conspiracy against himself, – against his own awakening to the awful un- reality by which he has been deceived. Only those, who 339:18 repent of sin and forsake the unreal, can fully understand the unreality of evil.

Basis of health and immortality

XXXII. As the mythology of pagan Rome has yielded 339:21 to a more spiritual idea of Deity, so will our material theories yield to spiritual ideas, until the finite gives place to the infinite, sickness to health, 339:24 sin to holiness, and God’s kingdom comes “in earth, as it is in heaven.” The basis of all health, sin- lessness, and immortality is the great fact that God is 339:27 the only Mind; and this Mind must be not merely be- lieved, but it must be understood. To get rid of sin through Science, is to divest sin of any supposed mind 339:30 or reality, and never to admit that sin can have intelli- gence or power, pain or pleasure. You conquer error by denying its verity. Our various theories will never lose 340:1 their imaginary power for good or evil, until we lose our faith in them and make life its own proof of harmony 340:3 and God.

This text in the book of Ecclesiastes conveys the Christian Science thought, especially when the word 340:6 _duty_, which is not in the original, is omitted: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole 340:9 duty of man.” In other words: Let us hear the con- clusion of the whole matter: love God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole of man in His 340:12 image and likeness. Divine Love is infinite. Therefore all that really exists is in and of God, and manifests His love.

340:15 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus xx. 3.) The First Commandment is my favorite text. It demonstrates Christian Science. It inculcates the tri- 340:18 unity of God, Spirit, Mind; it signifies that man shall have no other spirit or mind but God, eternal good, and that all men shall have one Mind. The divine Principle 340:21 of the First Commandment bases the Science of being, by which man demonstrates health, holiness, and life eternal. One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con- 340:24 stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, – whatever is wrong in 340:27 social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.

CHAPTER XI – SOME OBJECTIONS ANSWERED

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? – JESUS.

But if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwelleth in you. – PAUL.

341:1 THE strictures on this volume would condemn to oblivion the truth, which is raising up thousands 341:3 from helplessness to strength and elevating them from a theoretical to a practical Christianity. These criticisms are generally based on detached sentences or clauses sep- 341:6 arated from their context. Even the Scriptures, which grow in beauty and consistency from one grand root, ap- pear contradictory when subjected to such usage. Jesus 341:9 said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” [Truth].

Supported by facts

In Christian Science mere opinion is valueless. Proof 341:12 is essential to a due estimate of this subject. Sneers at the application of the word_ Science _to Chris- tianity cannot prevent that from being scien- 341:15 tific which is based on divine Principle, demonstrated ac- cording to a divine given rule, and subjected to proof. The facts are so absolute and numerous in support of 341:18 Christian Science, that misrepresentation and denuncia- 342:1 tion cannot overthrow it. Paul alludes to “doubtful dis- putations.” The hour has struck when proof and demon- 342:3 stration, instead of opinion and dogma, are summoned to the support of Christianity, “making wise the simple.”

Commands of Jesus

In the result of some unqualified condemnations of 342:6 scientific Mind-healing, one may see with sorrow the sad effects on the sick of denying Truth. He that decries this Science does it presumptuously, 342:9 in the face of Bible history and in defiance of the direct command of Jesus, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,” to which command was added the promise 342:12 that his students should cast out evils and heal the sick. He bade the seventy disciples, as well as the twelve, heal the sick in any town where they should be hospitably 342:15 received.

Christianity scientific

If Christianity is not scientific, and Science is not of God, then there is no invariable law, and truth becomes 342:18 an accident. Shall it be denied that a system which works according to the Scriptures has Scriptural authority?

Argument of good works

342:21 Christian Science awakens the sinner, reclaims the infidel, and raises from the couch of pain the helpless invalid. It speaks to the dumb the words of 342:24 Truth, and they answer with rejoicing. It causes the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the blind to see. Who would be the first to disown the Christli- 342:27 ness of good works, when our Master says, “By their fruits ye shall know them”?

If Christian Scientists were teaching or practising 342:30 pharmacy or obstetrics according to the common theo- ries, no denunciations would follow them, even if their treatment resulted in the death of a patient. The people 343:1 are taught in such cases to say, Amen. Shall I then be smitten for healing and for teaching Truth as the Prin- 343:3 ciple of healing, and for proving my word by my deed? James said: “Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.”

Personal experience

343:6 Is not finite mind ignorant of God’s method? This makes it doubly unfair to impugn and misrepresent the facts, although, without this cross-bearing, 343:9 one might not be able to say with the apostle, “None of these things move me.” The sick, the halt, and the blind look up to Christian Science with blessings, 343:12 and Truth will not be forever hidden by unjust parody from the quickened sense of the people.

Proof from miracles

Jesus strips all disguise from error, when his teachings 343:15 are fully understood. By parable and argument he ex- plains the impossibility of good producing evil; and he also scientifically demonstrates this great 343:18 fact, proving by what are wrongly called miracles, that sin, sickness, and death are beliefs – illusive errors – which he could and did destroy.
343:21 It would sometimes seem as if truth were rejected be- cause meekness and spirituality are the conditions of its acceptance, while Christendom generally demands so 343:24 much less.

Example of the disciples

Anciently those apostles who were Jesus’ students, as well as Paul who was not one of his students, healed 343:27 the sick and reformed the sinner by their religion. Hence the mistake which allows words, rather than works, to follow such examples! 343:30 Whoever is the first meekly and conscientiously to press along the line of gospel-healing, is often accounted a heretic.

Strong position

344:1 It is objected to Christian Science that it claims God as the only absolute Life and Soul, and man to be His 344:3 idea, – that is, His image. It should be added that this is claimed to represent the normal, healthful, and sinless condition of man in divine 344:6 Science, and that this claim is made because the Scrip- tures say that God has created man in His own image and after His likeness. Is it sacrilegious to assume that 344:9 God’s likeness is not found in matter, sin, sickness, and death?

Efficacy may be attested

Were it more fully understood that Truth heals and 344:12 that error causes disease, the opponents of a demonstrable Science would perhaps mercifully withhold their misrepresentations, which harm the sick; 344:15 and until the enemies of Christian Science test its efficacy according to the rules which disclose its merits or de- merits, it would be just to observe the Scriptural precept, 344:18 “Judge not.”

The one divine method

There are various methods of treating disease, which are not included in the commonly accepted systems; but 344:21 there is only one which should be presented to the whole world, and that is the Christian Science which Jesus preached and practised and left to us 344:24 as his rich legacy.

Why should one refuse to investigate this method of treating disease? Why support the popular systems 344:27 of medicine, when the physician may perchance be an infidel and may lose ninety-and-nine patients, while Christian Science cures its hundred? Is it because 344:30 allopathy and homoeopathy are more fashionable and less spiritual?

Omnipotence set forth

In the Bible the word _Spirit_ is so commonly applied 345:1 to Deity, that Spirit and God are often regarded as syn- onymous terms; and it is thus they are uniformly used 345:3 and understood in Christian Science. As it is evident that the likeness of Spirit cannot be material, does it not follow that God cannot be in His 345:6 unlikeness and work through drugs to heal the sick? When the omnipotence of God is preached and His ab- soluteness is set forth, Christian sermons will heal the 345:9 sick.

Contradictions not found

It is sometimes said, in criticising Christian Science, that the mind which contradicts itself neither knows 345:12 itself nor what it is saying. It is indeed no small matter to know one’s self; but in this volume of mine there are no contradictory 345:15 statements, – at least none which are apparent to those who understand its propositions well enough to pass judgment upon them. One who understands Christian 345:18 Science can heal the sick on the divine Principle of Chris- tian Science, and this practical proof is the only feasible evidence that one does understand this Science.

345:21 Anybody, who is able to perceive the incongruity be- tween God’s idea and poor humanity, ought to be able to discern the distinction (made by Christian Science) 345:24 between God’s man, made in His image, and the sinning race of Adam.

The apostle says: “For if a man think himself to be 345:27 something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” This thought of human, material nothingness, which Science inculcates, enrages the carnal mind and is the 345:30 main cause of the carnal mind’s antagonism.

God’s idea the ideal man

It is not the purpose of Christian Science to “educate the idea of God, or treat it for disease,” as is alleged 346:1 by one critic. I regret that such criticism confounds _man_ with Adam. When man is spoken of as made in God’s 346:3 image, it is not sinful and sickly mortal man who is referred to, but the ideal man, reflecting God’s likeness.

Nothingness of error

346:6 It is sometimes said that Christian Science teaches the nothingness of sin, sickness, and death, and then teaches how this nothingness is to be saved and healed. 346:9 The nothingness of nothing is plain; but we need to understand that error is nothing, and that its nothingness is not saved, but must be demonstrated in 346:12 order to prove the somethingness – yea, the allness – of Truth. It is self-evident that we are harmonious only as we cease to manifest evil or the belief that we suffer 346:15 from the sins of others. Disbelief in error destroys error, and leads to the discernment of Truth. There are no vacuums. How then can this demonstration be “fraught 346:18 with falsities painful to behold”?

Truth antidotes error

We treat error through the understanding of Truth, because Truth is error’s antidote. If a dream ceases, it 346:21 is self-destroyed, and the terror is over. When a sufferer is convinced that there is no reality in his belief of pain, – because matter has no sensation, 346:24 hence pain in matter is a false belief, – how can he suffer longer? Do you feel the pain of tooth-pulling, when you believe that nitrous-oxide gas has made you unconscious? 346:27 Yet, in your concept, the tooth, the operation, and the forceps are unchanged.

Serving two masters

Material beliefs must be expelled to make room for 346:30 spiritual understanding. We cannot serve both God and mammon at the same time; but is not this what frail mortals are trying to do? Paul says: 347:1 “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” Who is ready to admit this?

347:3 It is said by one critic, that to verify this wonderful philosophy Christian Science declares that whatever is mortal or discordant has no origin, existence, nor real- 347:6 ness. Nothing really has Life but God, who is infinite Life; hence all is Life, and death has no dominion. This writer infers that if anything needs to be doctored, it 347:9 must be the one God, or Mind. Had he stated his syllo- gism correctly, the conclusion would be that there is noth- ing left to be doctored.

Essential element of Christianity

347:12 Critics should consider that the so-called mortal man is not the reality of man. Then they would behold the signs of Christ’s coming. Christ, as the spir- 347:15 itual or true idea of God, comes now as of old, preaching the gospel to the poor, heal- ing the sick, and casting out evils. Is it error which 347:18 is restoring an essential element of Christianity, – namely, apostolic, divine healing? No; it is the Science of Christianity which is restoring it, and is the light 347:21 shining in darkness, which the darkness comprehends not.

If Christian Science takes away the popular gods, – 347:24 sin, sickness, and death, – it is Christ, Truth, who de- stroys these evils, and so proves their nothingness.

The dream that matter and error are something 347:27 must yield to reason and revelation. Then mortals will behold the nothingness of sickness and sin, and sin and sickness will disappear from consciousness. 347:30 The harmonious will appear real, and the inharmo- nious unreal. These critics will then see that error is indeed the nothingness, which they chide us for 348:1 naming nothing and which we desire neither to honor nor to fear.

348:3 Medical theories virtually admit the nothingness of hallucinations, even while treating them as disease; and who objects to this? Ought we not, then, to approve 348:6 any cure, which is effected by making the disease appear to be – what it really is – an illusion?

All disease a delusion

Here is the difficulty: it is not generally understood how 348:9 one disease can be just as much a delusion as another. It is a pity that the medical faculty and clergy have not learned this, for Jesus established 348:12 this foundational fact, when devils, delusions, were cast out and the dumb spake.

Elimination of sickness

Are we irreverent towards sin, or imputing too much 348:15 power to God, when we ascribe to Him almighty Life and Love? I deny His cooperation with evil, because I desire to have no faith in evil or in 348:18 any power but God, good. Is it not well to eliminate from so-called mortal mind that which, so long as it remains in mortal mind, will show itself in forms of sin, sickness, and 348:21 death? Instead of tenaciously defending the supposed rights of disease, while complaining of the suffering dis- ease brings, would it not be well to abandon the defence, 348:24 especially when by so doing our own condition can be im- proved and that of other persons as well?

Full fruitage yet to come

I have never supposed the world would immediately 348:27 witness the full fruitage of Christian Science, or that sin, disease, and death would not be believed for an indefinite time; but this I do aver, that, 348:30 as a result of teaching Christian Science, ethics and temperance have received all impulse, health has been restored, and longevity increased. If such are the pres- 349:1 ent fruits, what will the harvest be, when this Science is more generally understood?

Law and gospel

349:3 As Paul asked of the unfaithful in ancient days, so the rabbis of the present day ask concerning our heal- ing and teaching, “Through breaking the law, 349:6 dishonorest thou God?” We have the gospel, however, and our Master annulled material law by heal- ing contrary to it. We propose to follow the Master’s 349:9 example. We should subordinate material law to spirit- ual law. Two essential points of Christian Science are, that neither Life nor man dies, and that God is not the 349:12 author of sickness.

Language inadequate

The chief difficulty in conveying the teachings of divine Science accurately to human thought lies in this, that like 349:15 all other languages, English is inadequate to the expression of spiritual conceptions and propositions, because one is obliged to use material terms 349:18 in dealing with spiritual ideas. The elucidation of Chris- tian Science lies in its spiritual sense, and this sense must be gained by its disciples in order to grasp the meaning of 349:21 this Science. Out of this condition grew the prophecy concerning the Christian apostles, “They shall speak with new tongues.”

349:24 Speaking of the things of Spirit while dwelling on a material plane, material terms must be generally em- ployed. Mortal thought does not at once catch the 349:27 higher meaning, and can do so only as thought is edu- cated up to spiritual apprehension. To a certain extent this is equally true of all learning, even that which is 349:30 wholly material.

Substance spiritual

In Christian Science, substance is understood to be Spirit, while the opponents of Christian Science believe 350:1 substance to be matter. They think of matter as some- thing and almost the only thing, and of the things which 350:3 pertain to Spirit as next to nothing, or as very far removed from daily experience. Christian Science takes exactly the opposite view.

Both words and works

350:6 To understand all our Master’s sayings as recorded in the New Testament, sayings infinitely important, his followers must grow into that stature of 350:9 manhood in Christ Jesus which enables them to interpret his spiritual meaning. Then they know how Truth casts out error and heals the sick. His 350:12 words were the offspring of his deeds, both of which must be understood. Unless the works are com- prehended which his words explained, the words are 350:15 blind.

The Master often refused to explain his words, because it was difficult in a material age to apprehend spiritual 350:18 Truth. He said: “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their 350:21 eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

The divine life-link

350:24 “The Word was made flesh.” Divine Truth must be known by its effects on the body as well as on the mind, before the Science of being can be demon- 350:27 strated. Hence its embodiment in the incar- nate Jesus, – that life-link forming the connection through which the real reaches the unreal, Soul rebukes sense, and 350:30 Truth destroys error.

Truth a present help

In Jewish worship the Word was materially explained, and the spiritual sense was scarcely perceived. The 351:1 religion which sprang from half-hidden Israelitish history was pedantic and void of healing power. When we lose 351:3 faith in God’s power to heal, we distrust the divine Principle which demonstrates Christian Science, and then we cannot heal the sick. Neither can 351:6 we heal through the help of Spirit, if we plant ourselves on a material basis.

The author became a member of the orthodox Con- 351:9 gregational Church in early years. Later she learned that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers of her devout parents and the church; but when the 351:12 spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a _present help_. It was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which 351:15 healed the sick.

Fatal premises

We cannot bring out the practical proof of Christianity, which Jesus required, while error seems as potent and 351:18 real to us as Truth, and while we make a per- sonal devil and an anthropomorphic God our starting-points, – especially if we consider Satan as a 351:21 being coequal in power with Deity, if not superior to Him. Because such starting-points are neither spiritual nor scientific, they cannot work out the Spirit-rule of Christian 351:24 healing, which proves the nothingness of error, discord, by demonstrating the all-inclusiveness of harmonious Truth.

Fruitless worship

351:27 The Israelites centred their thoughts on the material in their attempted worship of the spiritual. To them matter was substance, and Spirit was shadow. 351:30 They thought to worship Spirit from a ma- terial standpoint, but this was impossible. They might appeal to Jehovah, but their prayer brought down no 352:1 proof that it was heard, because they did not sufficiently understand God to be able to demonstrate His power 352:3 to heal, – to make harmony the reality and discord the unreality.

Spirit the tangible

Our Master declared that his material body was not 352:6 spirit, evidently considering it a mortal and material be- lief of flesh and bones, whereas the Jews took a diametrically opposite view. To Jesus, not 352:9 materiality, but spirituality, was the reality of man’s ex- istence, while to the rabbis the spiritual was the intangi- ble and uncertain, if not the unreal.

Ghosts not realities

352:12 Would a mother say to her child, who is frightened at imaginary ghosts and sick in consequence of the fear: “I know that ghosts are real. They exist, 352:15 and are to be feared; but you must not be afraid of them”?

Children, like adults, _ought_ to fear a reality which 352:18 can harm them and which they do not understand, for at any moment they may become its helpless victims; but instead of increasing children’s fears by declaring 352:21 ghosts to be real, merciless, and powerful, thus water- ing the very roots of childish timidity, children should be assured that their fears are groundless, that ghosts 352:24 are not realities, but traditional beliefs, erroneous and man-made.

In short, children should be told not to believe in ghosts, 352:27 because there are no such things. If belief in their reality is destroyed, terror of ghosts will depart and health be re- stored. The objects of alarm will then vanish into noth- 352:30 ingness, no longer seeming worthy of fear or honor. To accomplish a good result, it is certainly not irrational to tell the truth about ghosts.

The real and the unreal

353:1 The Christianly scientific real is the sensuous unreal. Sin, disease, whatever seems real to material sense, is un- 353:3 real in divine Science. The physical senses and Science have ever been antagonistic, and they will so continue, till the testimony of the physical 353:6 senses yields entirely to Christian Science.

How can a Christian, having the stronger evidence of Truth which contradicts the evidence of error, think of 353:9 the latter as real or true, either in the form of sickness or of sin? All must admit that Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and that omnipotent Truth certainly 353:12 does destroy error.

Superstition obsolete

The age has not wholly outlived the sense of ghostly beliefs. It still holds them more or less. Time has not 353:15 yet reached eternity, immortality, complete reality. All the real is eternal. Perfection underlies reality. Without perfection, nothing is wholly 353:18 real. All things will continue to disappear, until per- fection appears and reality is reached. We must give up the spectral at all points. We must not continue to admit 353:21 the somethingness of superstition, but we must yield up all belief in it and be wise. When we learn that error is not real, we shall be ready for progress, “forgetting 353:24 those things which are behind.”

The grave does not banish the ghost of materiality. So long as there are supposed limits to Mind, and those 353:27 limits are human, so long will ghosts seem to continue. Mind is limitless. It never was material. The true idea of being is spiritual and immortal, and from this it follows 353:30 that whatever is laid off is the ghost, some unreal belief. Mortal beliefs can neither demonstrate Christianity nor apprehend the reality of Life.

Christian warfare

354:1 Are the protests of Christian Science against the notion that there can be material life, substance, or mind “utter 354:3 falsities and absurdities,” as some aver? Why then do Christians try to obey the Scriptures and war against “the world, the flesh, and the devil”? 354:6 Why do they invoke the divine aid to enable them to leave all for Christ, Truth? Why do they use this phraseology, and yet deny Christian Science, when it teaches precisely 354:9 this thought? The words of divine Science find their immortality in deeds, for their Principle heals the sick and spiritualizes humanity.

Healing omitted

354:12 On the other hand, the Christian opponents of Chris- tian Science neither give nor offer any proofs that their Master’s religion can heal the sick. Surely 354:15 it is not enough to cleave to barren and desul- tory dogmas, derived from the traditions of the elders who thereunto have set their seals.

Scientific consistency

354:18 Consistency is seen in example more than in precept. Inconsistency is shown by words without deeds, which are like clouds without rain. If our words 354:21 fail to express our deeds, God will redeem that weakness, and out of the mouth of babes He will perfect praise. The night of materiality is far spent, and with 354:24 the dawn Truth will waken men spiritually to hear and to speak the new tongue.

Sin should become unreal to every one. It is in itself 354:27 inconsistent, a divided kingdom. Its supposed realism has no divine authority, and I rejoice in the apprehension of this grand verity.

Spiritual meaning

354:30 The opponents of divine Science must be charitable, if they would be Christian. If the letter of Christian Science appears inconsistent, they should 355:1 gain the spiritual meaning of Christian Science, and then the ambiguity will vanish.

Practical arguments

355:3 The charge of inconsistency in Christianly scientific methods of dealing with sin and disease is met by some- thing practical, – namely, the proof of the 355:6 utility of these methods; and proofs are better than mere verbal arguments or prayers which evince no spiritual power to heal.

355:9 As for sin and disease, Christian Science says, in the language of the Master, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” Let discord of every name and nature 355:12 be heard no more, and let the harmonious and true sense of Life and being take possession of human consciousness.

What is the relative value of the two conflicting the- 355:15 ories regarding Christian healing? One, according to the commands of our Master, heals the sick. The other, popular religion, declines to admit that Christ’s religion 355:18 has exercised any systematic healing power since the first century.

Conditions of criticism

The statement that the teachings of Christian Sci- 355:21 ence in this work are “absolutely false, and the most egregious fallacies ever offered for accept- ance,” is an opinion wholly due to a misap- 355:24 prehension both of the divine Principle and practice of Christian Science and to a consequent inability to demon- strate this Science. Without this understanding, no one 355:27 is capable of impartial or correct criticism, because demon- stration and spiritual understanding are God’s immortal keynotes, proved to be such by our Master and evidenced 355:30 by the sick who are cured and by the sinners who are reformed.

Weakness of material theories

Strangely enough, we ask for material theories in sup- 356:1 port of spiritual and eternal truths, when the two are so antagonistic that the material thought must become spir- 356:3 itualized before the spiritual fact is attained. So-called material existence affords no evidence of spiritual existence and immortality. Sin, 356:6 sickness, and death do not prove man’s entity or immor- tality. Discord can never establish the facts of harmony. Matter is not the vestibule of Spirit.

Irreconciliable differences

356:9 Jesus reasoned on this subject practically, and con- trolled sickness, sin, and death on the basis of his spir- ituality. Understanding the nothingness of 356:12 material things, he spoke of flesh and Spirit as the two opposites, – as error and Truth, not contrib- uting in any way to each other’s happiness and existence. 356:15 Jesus knew, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.”

Copartnership impossible

There is neither a present nor an eternal copartner- 356:18 ship between error and Truth, between flesh and Spirit. God is as incapable of producing sin, sick- ness, and death as He is of experiencing these 356:21 errors. How then is it possible for Him to create man subject to this triad of errors, – man who is made in the divine likeness?

356:24 Does God create a material man out of Himself, Spirit? Does evil proceed from good? Does divine Love com- mit a fraud on humanity by making man inclined to sin, 356:27 and then punishing him for it? Would any one call it wise and good to create the primitive, and then punish its derivative?

Two infinite creators absurd

356:30 Does subsequent follow its antecedent? It does. Was there original self-creative sin? Then there must have been more than one creator, more than one God. 357:1 In common justice, we must admit that God will not punish man for doing what He created man 357:3 capable of doing, and knew from the outset that man would do. God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil.” We sustain Truth, not by accept- 357:6 ing, but by rejecting a lie.

Jesus said of personified evil, that it was “a liar, and the father of it.” Truth creates neither a lie, a capacity 357:9 to lie, nor a liar. If mankind would relinquish the belief that God makes sickness, sin, and death, or makes man capable of suffering on account of this malevolent triad, 357:12 the foundations of error would be sapped and error’s de- struction ensured; but if we theoretically endow mortals with the creativeness and authority of Deity, how dare we 357:15 attempt to destroy what He hath made, or even to deny that God made man evil and made evil good?

Anthropomorphism

History teaches that the popular and false notions 357:18 about the Divine Being and character have originated in the human mind. As there is in reality but one God, one Mind, wrong notions about God 357:21 must have originated in a false supposition, not in im- mortal Truth, and they are fading out. They are false claims, which will eventually disappear, according to the 357:24 vision of St. John in the Apocalypse.

One supremacy

If what opposes God is real, there must be two powers, and God is not supreme and infinite. Can 357:27 Deity be almighty, if another mighty and self-creative cause exists and sways man- kind? Has the Father “Life in Himself,” as the Scrip- 357:30 tures say, and, if so, can Life, or God, dwell in evil and create it? Can matter drive Life, Spirit, hence, and so defeat omnipotence?

Matter impotent

358:1 Is the woodman’s axe, which destroys a tree’s so-called life, superior to omnipotence? Can a leaden bullet de- 358:3 prive a man of Life, – that is, of God, who is man’s Life? If God is at the mercy of matter, then matter is omnipotent. Such doctrines are “confu- 358:6 sion worse confounded.” If two statements directly con- tradict each other and one is true, the other must be false. Is Science thus contradictory?

Scientific and Biblical facts

358:9 Christian Science, understood, coincides with the Scriptures, and sustains logically and demonstratively every point it presents. Otherwise it would 358:12 not be Science, and could not present its proofs. Christian Science is neither made up of contra- dictory aphorisms nor of the inventions of those who scoff 358:15 at God. It presents the calm and clear verdict of Truth against error, uttered and illustrated by the prophets, by Jesus, by his apostles, as is recorded throughout the 358:18 Scriptures.

Why are the words of Jesus more frequently cited for our instruction than are his remarkable works? Is 358:21 it not because there are few who have gained a true knowledge of the great import to Christianity of those works?

Personal confidence

358:24 Sometimes it is said; “Rest assured that whatever effect Christian Scientists may have on the sick, comes through rousing within the sick a belief 358:27 that in the removal of disease these healers have wonderful power, derived from the Holy Ghost.” Is it likely that church-members have more faith in 358:30 some Christian Scientist, whom they have perhaps never seen and against whom they have been warned, than they have in their own accredited and orthodox 359:1 pastors, whom they have seen and have been taught to love and to trust?

359:3 Let any clergyman try to cure his friends by their faith in him. Will that faith heal them? Yet Scien- tists will take the same cases, and cures will follow. 359:6 Is this because the patients have more faith in the Scien- tist than in their pastor? I have healed infidels whose only objection to this method was, that I as a Chris- 359:9 tian Scientist believed in the Holy Spirit, while they, the patients, did not.

Even though you aver that the material senses are 359:12 indispensable to man’s existence or entity, you must change the human concept of life, and must at length know yourself spiritually and scientifically. The evi- 359:15 dence of the existence of Spirit, Soul, is palpable only to spiritual sense, and is not apparent to the material senses, which cognize only that which is the opposite of Spirit.

359:18 True Christianity is to be honored wherever found, but when shall we arrive at the goal which that word implies? From Puritan parents, the discov- 359:21 erer of Christian Science early received her religious education. In childhood, she often listened with joy to these words, falling from the lips of her 359:24 saintly mother, “God is able to raise you up from sick- ness;” and she pondered the meaning of that Scripture she so often quotes: “And these signs shall follow them 359:27 that believe; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Two different artists

A Christian Scientist and an opponent are like two 359:30 artists. One says: “I have spiritual ideals, indestructible and glorious. When others see them as I do, in their true light and loveliness, – and 360:1 know that these ideals are real and eternal because drawn from Truth, – they will find that nothing is lost, and all 360:3 is won, by a right estimate of what is real.”

The other artist replies: “You wrong my experience. I have no mind-ideals except those which are both mental 360:6 and material. It is true that materiality renders these ideals imperfect and destructible; yet I would not ex- change mine for thine, for mine give me such personal 360:9 pleasure, and they are not so shockingly transcendental. They require less self-abnegation, and keep Soul well out of sight. Moreover, I have no notion of losing my old 360:12 doctrines or human opinions.”

Choose ye to-day

Dear reader, which mind-picture or externalized thought shall be real to you, – the material or the spiritual? 360:15 Both you cannot have. You are bringing out your own ideal. This ideal is either temporal or eternal. Either Spirit or matter is your model. If you 360:18 try to have two models, then you practically have none. Like a pendulum in a clock, you will be thrown back and forth, striking the ribs of matter and swinging between the 360:21 real and the unreal.

Hear the wisdom of Job, as given in the excellent trans- lation of the late Rev. George R. Noyes, D.D.: – 360:24 Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, He putteth no trust in His ministering spirits, 360:27 And His angels He chargeth with frailty.

Of old, the Jews put to death the Galilean Prophet, the best Christian on earth, for the truth he spoke and 360:30 demonstrated, while to-day, Jew and Christian can unite in doctrine and denomination on the very basis of Jesus’ words and works. The Jew believes that the Messiah or 361:1 Christ has not yet come; the Christian believes that Christ is God. Here Christian Science intervenes, ex- 361:3 plains these doctrinal points, cancels the disagreement, and settles the question. Christ, as the true spiritual idea, is the ideal of God now and forever, here and everywhere. 361:6 The Jew who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist; he has one omnipresent God. Thus the Jew unites with the Christian’s doctrine that God is come and is present now and forever. The Christian who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist. Thus he virtually unites with the Jew’s belief in one God, and 361:12 recognizes that Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of God. This declaration of Jesus, understood, conflicts not at all with another of his 361:15 sayings: “I and my Father are one,” – that is, one in quality, not in quantity. As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the, sun, even so God 361:18 and man, Father and son, are one in being. The Scrip- ture reads: “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”

361:21 I have revised _Science and Health_ only to give a clearer and fuller expression of its original meaning. Spir- itual ideas unfold as we advance. A human perception of 361:24 divine Science, however limited, must be correct in order to be Science and subject to demonstration. A germ of in- finite Truth, though least in the kingdom of heaven is the 361:27 higher hope on earth, but it will be rejected and reviled until God prepares the soil for the seed. That which when sown bears immortal fruit, enriches mankind only 361:30 when it is understood, – hence the many readings given the Scriptures, and the requisite revisions of _Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures_.

CHAPTER XII – CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PRACTICE

Why art thou cast down, O my soul [sense]? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance and my God. – PSALMS.

And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. – JESUS.

A gospel narrative

362:1 IT is related in the seventh chapter of Luke’s Gospel that Jesus was once the honored guest of a certain 362:3 Pharisee, by name Simon, though he was quite unlike Simon the disciple. While they were at meat, an unusual incident occurred, as if to interrupt the scene 362:6 of Oriental festivity. A “strange woman” came in. Heedless of the fact that she was debarred from such a place and such society, especially under the stern 362:9 rules of rabbinical law, as positively as if she were a Hin- doo pariah intruding upon the household of a high-caste Brahman, this woman (Mary Magdalene, as she has 362:12 since been called) approached Jesus. According to the custom of those days, he reclined on a couch with his head towards the table and his bare feet away from it. 362:15 It was therefore easy for the Magdalen to come behind 363:1 the couch and reach his feet. She bore an alabaster jar containing costly and fragrant oil, – sandal oil perhaps, 363:3 which is in such common use in the East. Breaking the sealed jar, she perfumed Jesus’ feet with the oil, wiping them with her long hair, which hung loosely 363:6 about her shoulders, as was customary with women of her grade.

Parable of the creditor

Did Jesus spurn the woman? Did he repel her adora- 363:9 tion? No! He regarded her compassionately. Nor was this all. Knowing what those around him were saying in their hearts, especially his host, 363:12 – that they were wondering why, being a prophet, the exalted guest did not at once detect the woman’s immoral status and bid her depart, – knowing this, Jesus rebuked 363:15 them with a short story or parable. He described two debtors, one for a large sum and one for a smaller, who were released from their obligations by their common 363:18 creditor. “Which of them will love him most?” was the Master’s question to Simon the Pharisee; and Simon re- plied, “He to whom he forgave most.” Jesus approved 363:21 the answer, and so brought home the lesson to all, follow- ing it with that remarkable declaration to the woman, “Thy sins are forgiven.”

Divine insight

363:24 Why did he thus summarize her debt to divine Love? Had she repented and reformed, and did his insight detect this unspoken moral uprising? She 363:27 bathed his feet with her tears before she anointed them with the oil. In the absence of other proofs, was her grief sufficient evidence to warrant the 363:30 expectation of her repentance, reformation, and growth in wisdom? Certainly there was encouragement in the mere fact that she was showing her affection for a man 364:1 of undoubted goodness and purity, who has since been rightfully regarded as the best man that ever trod this 364:3 planet. Her reverence was unfeigned, and it was mani- fested towards one who was soon, though they knew it not, to lay down his mortal existence in behalf of all 364:6 sinners, that through his word and works they might be redeemed from sensuality and sin.

Penitence or hospitality

Which was the higher tribute to such ineffable affec- 364:9 tion, the hospitality of the Pharisee or the contrition of the Magdalen? This query Jesus answered by rebuking self-righteousness and declaring 364:12 the absolution of the penitent. He even said that this poor woman had done what his rich entertainer had neg- lected to do, – wash and anoint his guest’s feet, a special 364:15 sign of Oriental courtesy.

Here is suggested a solemn question, a question indi- cated by one of the needs of this age. Do Christian 364:18 Scientists seek Truth as Simon sought the Saviour, through material conservatism and for personal homage? Jesus told Simon that such seekers as he gave small reward 364:21 in return for the spiritual purgation which came through the Messiah. If Christian Scientists are like Simon, then it must be said of them also that they _love_ 364:24 little.

Genuine repentance

On the other hand, do they show their regard for Truth, or Christ, by their genuine repentance, by their 364:27 broken hearts, expressed by meekness and human affection, as did this woman? If so, then it may be said of them, as Jesus said of the 364:30 unwelcome visitor, that they indeed love much, because much is forgiven them.

Compassion requisite

Did the careless doctor, the nurse, the cook, and the 365:1 brusque business visitor sympathetically know the thorns they plant in the pillow of the sick and the heavenly 365:3 homesick looking away from earth, – Oh, did they know! – this knowledge would do much more towards healing the sick and preparing their helpers 365:6 for the “midnight call,” than all cries of “Lord, Lord!” The benign thought of Jesus, finding utterance in such words as “Take no thought for your life,” would heal 365:9 the sick, and so enable them to rise above the supposed necessity for physical thought-taking and doctoring; but if the unselfish affections be lacking, and common 365:12 sense and common humanity are disregarded, what men- tal quality remains, with which to evoke healing from the outstretched arm of righteousness?

Speedy healing

365:15 If the Scientist reaches his patient through divine Love, the healing work will be accomplished at one visit, and the disease will vanish into its native 365:18 nothingness like dew before the morning sun- shine. If the Scientist has enough Christly affection to win his own pardon, and such commendation as the Mag- 365:21 dalen gained from Jesus, then he is Christian enough to practise scientifically and deal with his patients compas- sionately; and the result will correspond with the spiritual 365:24 intent.

Truth desecrated

If hypocrisy, stolidity, inhumanity, or vice finds its way into the chambers of disease through the would-be 365:27 healer, it would, if it were possible, convert into a den of thieves the temple of the Holy Ghost, – the patient’s spiritual power to resuscitate him- 365:30 self. The unchristian practitioner is not giving to mind or body the joy and strength of Truth. The poor suf- fering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, 366:1 patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindness.

Moral evils to be cast out

366:3 In order to cure his patient, the metaphysician must first cast moral evils out of himself and thus attain the spiritual freedom which will en- 366:6 able him to cast physical evils out of his patient; but heal he cannot, while his own spiritual barrenness debars him from giving drink to the thirsty 366:9 and hinders him from reaching his patient’s thought, – yea, while mental penury chills his faith and under- standing.

The true physician

366:12 The physician who lacks sympathy for his fellow- being is deficient in human affection, and we have the apostolic warrant for asking: “He that loveth 366:15 not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Not having this spiritual affection, the physician lacks faith in the divine 366:18 Mind and has not that recognition of infinite Love which alone confers the healing power. Such so-called Scien- tists will strain out gnats, while they swallow the camels 366:21 of bigoted pedantry.

Source of calmness

The physician must also watch, lest he be over- whelmed by a sense of the odiousness of sin and by the 366:24 unveiling of sin in his own thoughts. The sick are terrified by their sick beliefs, and sinners should be affrighted by their sinful beliefs; but 366:27 the Christian Scientist will be calm in the presence of both sin and disease, knowing, as he does, that Life is God and God is All.

Genuine healing

366:30 If we would open their prison doors for the sick, we must first learn to bind up the broken-hearted. If we would heal by the Spirit, we must not hide the talent 367:1 of spiritual healing under the napkin of its form, nor bury the _morale _of Christian Science in the grave-clothes 367:3 of its letter. The tender word and Christian encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience with his fears and the removal of them, are better than 367:6 hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame 367:9 with divine Love.

Gratitude and humility

This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not “for the loaves and fishes,” nor, like the Pharisee, with 367:12 the arrogance of rank and display of scholar- ship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the sum- mit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and 367:15 the perfume of _gratitude_, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.

The salt of the earth

A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period 367:18 of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when he said: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill can- 367:21 not be hid.” Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory.

367:24 The infinite Truth of the Christ-cure has come to this age through a “still, small voice,” through silent utter- ances and divine anointing which quicken and increase 367:27 the beneficial effects of Christianity. I long to see the consummation of my hope, namely, the student’s higher attainments in this line of light.

Real and counterfeit

367:30 Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth’s opposite, has no might. Evil is but the 368:1 counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is but a supposititious opposite of the highest right. The 368:3 confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that 368:6 time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals, and truth will become still clearer as error is self- 368:9 destroyed.

Results of faith in Truth

Against the fatal beliefs that error is as real as Truth, that evil is equal in power to good if not superior, and that 368:12 discord is as normal as harmony, even the hope of freedom from the bondage of sickness and sin has little inspiration to nerve endeavor. When we 368:15 come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man, 368:18 then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing the sick and destroying error.

Life independent of matter

That Life is not contingent on bodily conditions is 368:21 proved, when we learn that life and man survive this body. Neither evil, disease, nor death can be spiritual, and the material belief in them dis- 368:24 appears in the ratio of one’s spiritual growth. Because matter has no consciousness or Ego, it cannot act; its conditions are illusions, and these false conditions are the 368:27 source of all seeming sickness. Admit the existence of matter, and you admit that mortality (and therefore dis- ease) has a foundation in fact. Deny the existence of matter, and you can destroy the belief in material con- ditions. When fear disappears, the foundation of disease is gone. Once let the mental physician believe in the 369:1 reality of matter, and he is liable to admit also the reality of all discordant conditions, and this hinders his de- 369:3 stroying them. Thus he is unfitted for the successful treatment of disease.

Man’s entity

In proportion as matter loses to human sense all en- 369:6 tity as man, in that proportion does man become its master. He enters into a diviner sense of the facts, and comprehends the theology of Jesus 369:9 as demonstrated in healing the sick, raising the dead, and walking over the wave. All these deeds manifested Jesus’ control over the belief that matter is substance, 369:12 that it can be the arbiter of life or the constructor of any form of existence.

The Christ treatment

We never read that Luke or Paul made a reality of 369:15 disease in order to discover some means of healing it. Jesus never asked if disease were acute or chronic, and he never recommended atten- 369:18 tion to laws of health, never gave drugs, never prayed to know if God were willing that a man should live. He understood man, whose life is God, to be immortal, and 369:21 knew that man has not two lives, one to be destroyed and the other to be made indestructible.

Matter not medicine

The prophylactic and therapeutic (that is, the prevent- 369:24 ive and curative) arts belong emphatically to Christian Science, as would be readily seen, if psychology, or the Science of Spirit, God, was understood. 369:27 Unscientific methods are finding their dead level. Lim- ited to matter by their own law, what have they of the advantages of Mind and immortality?

No healing in sin

369:30 No man is physically healed in wilful error or by it, any more than he is morally saved in or by sin. It is error even to murmur or to be angry over sin. To be 370:1 every whit whole, man must be better spiritually as well as physically. To be immortal, we must forsake the 370:3 mortal sense of things, turn from the lie of false belief to Truth, and gather the facts of being from the divine Mind. The body improves under the 370:6 same regimen which spiritualizes the thought; and if health is not made manifest under this regimen, this proves that fear is governing the body. This is the law 370:9 of cause and effect, or like producing like.

Like curing like

Homoeopathy furnishes the evidence to the senses, that symptoms, which might be produced by a certain drug, 370:12 are removed by using the same drug which might cause the symptoms. This confirms my theory that faith in the drug is the sole factor in the 370:15 cure. The effect, which mortal mind produces through one belief, it removes through an opposite belief, but it uses the same medicine in both cases. 370:18 The moral and spiritual facts of health, whispered into thought, produce very direct and marked effects on the body. A physical diagnosis of disease – since mor- 370:21 tal mind must be the cause of disease – tends to induce disease.

Transient potency of drugs

According to both medical testimony and individual 370:24 experience, a drug may eventually lose its supposed power and do no more for the patient. Hygienic treatment also loses its efficacy. Quackery 370:27 likewise fails at length to inspire the credulity of the sick, and then they cease to improve. These les- sons are useful. They should naturally and genuinely 370:30 change our basis from sensation to Christian Science, from error to Truth, from matter to Spirit.

Diagnosis of matter

Physicians examine the pulse, tongue, lungs, to dis- 371:1 cover the condition of matter, when in fact all is Mind. The body is the substratum of mortal mind, 371:3 and this so-called mind must finally yield to the mandate of immortal Mind.

Ghost-stories inducing fear

Disquisitions on disease have a mental effect similar 371:6 to that produced on children by telling ghost-stories in the dark. By those uninstructed in Christian Science, nothing is really understood of material 371:9 existence. Mortals are believed to be here without their consent and to be removed as involuntarily, not knowing why nor when. As frightened children look everywhere 371:12 for the imaginary ghost, so sick humanity sees danger in every direction, and looks for relief in all ways except the right one. Darkness induces fear. The adult, in bond- 371:15 age to his beliefs, no more comprehends his real being than does the child; and the adult must be taken out of his darkness, before he can get rid of the illusive suffer- 371:18 ings which throng the gloaming. The way in divine Science is the only way out of this condition.

Mind imparts purity, health, and beauty

I would not transform the infant at once into a 371:21 man, nor would I keep the suckling a lifelong babe. No impossible thing do I ask when urging the claims of Christian Science; but because 371:24 this teaching is in advance of the age, we should not deny our need of its spiritual unfoldment. Mankind will improve through Science and Christi- 371:27 anity. The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weak- 371:30 ness, and health instead of disease. Truth is an altera- tive in the entire system, and can make it “every whit whole.”

Brain not intelligent

372:1 Remember, brain is not mind. Matter cannot be sick, and Mind is immortal. The mortal body is only an erro- 372:3 neous mortal belief of mind in matter. What you call matter was originally error in solu- tion, elementary mortal mind, – likened by Milton to 372:6 “chaos and old night.” One theory about this mortal mind is, that its sensations can reproduce man, can form blood, flesh, and bones. The Science of being, in which 372:9 all is divine Mind, or God and His idea, would be clearer in this age, but for the belief that matter is the medium of man, or that man can enter his own embodied thought, 372:12 bind himself with his own beliefs, and then call his bonds material and name them divine law.

Veritable success

When man demonstrates Christian Science absolutely, 372:15 he will be perfect. He can neither sin, suffer, be subject to matter, nor disobey the law of God. There- fore he will be as the angels in heaven. Chris- 372:18 tian Science and Christianity are one. How, then, in Christianity any more than in Christian Science, can we believe in the reality and power of both Truth and error, 372:21 Spirit and matter, and hope to succeed with contraries? Matter is not self-sustaining. Its false supports fail one after another. Matter succeeds for a period only by 372:24 falsely parading in the vestments of law.

Recognition of benefits

“Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” In Chris- 372:27 tian Science, a denial of Truth is fatal, while a just acknowledgment of Truth and of what it has done for us is an effectual help. If pride, super- 372:30 stition, or any error prevents the honest recognition of benefits received, this will be a hindrance to the recovery of the sick and the success of the student.

Disease far more docile than iniquity

373:1 If we are Christians on all moral questions, but are in darkness as to the physical exemption which Christian- 373:3 ity includes, then we must have more faith in God on this subject and be more alive to His promises. It is easier to cure the most 373:6 malignant disease than it is to cure sin. The author has raised up the dying, partly because they were willing to be restored, while she has struggled long, and perhaps in 373:9 vain, to lift a student out of a chronic sin. Under all modes of pathological treatment, the sick recover more rapidly from disease than does the sinner from his sin. 373:12 Healing is easier than teaching, if the teaching is faithfully done.

Love frees from fear

The fear of disease and the love of sin are the sources 373:15 of man’s enslavement. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” but the Scriptures also declare, through the exalted thought of John, that 373:18 “perfect Love casteth out fear.”

The fear occasioned by ignorance can be cured; but to remove the effects of fear produced by sin, you must 373:21 rise above both fear and sin. Disease is expressed not so much by the lips as in the functions of the body. Es- tablish the scientific sense of health, and you relieve the 373:24 oppressed organ. The inflammation, decomposition, or deposit will abate, and the disabled organ will resume its healthy functions.

Mind circulates blood

373:27 When the blood rushes madly through the veins or languidly creeps along its frozen channels, we call these conditions disease. This is a misconception. 373:30 Mortal mind is producing the propulsion or the languor, and we prove this to be so when by mental means the circulation is changed, and returns to that standard 374:1 which mortal mind has decided upon as essential for health. Anodynes, counter-irritants, and depletion never 374:3 reduce inflammation scientifically, but the truth of being, whispered into the ear of mortal mind, will bring relief.

Mind can destroy all ills

Hatred and its effects on the body are removed by 374:6 Love. Because mortal mind seems to be conscious, the sick say: “How can my mind cause a disease I never thought of and knew nothing about, 374:9 until it appeared on my body?” The author has an- swered this question in her explanation of disease as origi- nating in human belief before it is consciously apparent 374:12 on the body, which is in fact the objective state of mortal mind, though it is called matter. This mortal blindness and its sharp consequences show our need of divine meta- 374:15 physics. Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind.

Ignorance of the cause or approach of disease is no 374:18 argument against the mental origin of disease. You con- fess to ignorance of the future and incapacity to preserve your own existence, and this belief helps rather than 374:21 hinders disease. Such a state of mind induces sickness. It is like walking in darkness on the edge of a precipice. You cannot forget the belief of danger, and your steps 374:24 are less firm because of your fear, and ignorance of mental cause and effect.

Temperature is mental

Heat and cold are products of mortal mind. The body, 374:27 when bereft of mortal mind, at first cools, and after- wards it is resolved into its primitive mortal elements. Nothing that lives ever dies, and 374:30 _vice versa_. Mortal mind produces animal heat, and then expels it through the abandonment of a belief, or in- creases it to the point of self-destruction. Hence it is 375:1 mortal mind, not matter, which says, “I die.” Heat would pass from the body as painlessly as gas dissipates 375:3 into the air when it evaporates but for the belief that in- flammation and pain must accompany the separation of heat from the body.

Science _versus _hypnotism

375:6 Chills and heat are often the form in which fever mani- fests itself. Change the mental state, and the chills and fever disappear. The old-school physician 375:9 proves this when his patient says, ” I am better,” but the patient believes that matter, not mind, has helped him. The Christian Scientist demonstrates 375:12 that divine Mind heals, while the hypnotist dispossesses the patient of his individuality in order to control him. No person is benefited by yielding his mentality to any 375:15 mental despotism or malpractice. All unscientific mental practice is erroneous and powerless, and should be under- stood and so rendered fruitless. The genuine Christian 375:18 Scientist is adding to his patient’s mental and moral power, and is increasing his patient’s spirituality while restoring him physically through divine Love.

Cure for palsy

375:21 Palsy is a belief that matter governs mortals, and can paralyze the body, making certain portions of it motionless. Destroy the belief, show mortal 375:24 mind that muscles have no power to be lost, for Mind is supreme, and you cure the palsy.

Latent fear diagnosed

Consumptive patients always show great hopeful- 375:27 ness and courage, even when they are supposed to be in hopeless danger. This state of mind seems anomalous except to the expert in Christian 375:30 Science. This mental state is not understood, simply because it is a stage of fear so excessive that it amounts to fortitude. The belief in consumption presents to mor- 376:1 tal thought a hopeless state, an image more terrifying than that of most other diseases. The patient turns involun- 376:3 tarily from the contemplation of it, but though unacknowl- edged, the latent fear and the despair of recovery remain in thought.

Insidious concepts

376:6 Just so is it with the greatest sin. It is the most subtle, and does its work almost self-deceived. The diseases deemed dangerous sometimes come from the 376:9 most hidden, undefined, and insidious beliefs. The pallid invalid, whom you declare to be wasting away with consumption of the blood, should be told that blood 376:12 never gave life and can never take it away, – that Life is Spirit, and that there is more life and immortality in one good motive and act, than in all the blood which ever 376:15 flowed through mortal veins and simulated a corporeal sense of life.

Remedy for fever

If the body is material, it cannot, for that very reason, 376:18 suffer with a fever. Because the so-called material body is a mental concept and governed by mortal mind, it manifests only what that so-called 376:21 mind expresses. Therefore the efficient remedy is to destroy the patient’s false belief by both silently and au- dibly arguing the true facts in regard to harmonious 376:24 being, – representing man as healthy instead of diseased, and showing that it is impossible for matter to suffer, to feel pain or heat, to be thirsty or sick. Destroy fear, 376:27 and you end fever. Some people, mistaught as to Mind- science, inquire when it will be safe to check a fever. Know that in Science you cannot check a fever after ad- 376:30 mitting that it must have its course. To fear and admit the power of disease, is to paralyze mental and scientific demonstration.

377:1 If your patient believes in taking cold, mentally con- vince him that matter cannot take cold, and that thought 377:3 governs this liability. If grief causes suffering, convince the sufferer that affliction is often the source of joy, and that he should rejoice always in ever-present Love.

Climate harmless

377:6 Invalids flee to tropical climates in order to save their lives, but they come back no better than when they went away. Then is the time to cure them through 377:9 Christian Science, and prove that they can be healthy in all climates, when their fear of climate is exterminated.

Mind governs body

377:12 Through different states of mind, the body becomes suddenly weak or abnormally strong, showing mortal mind to be the producer of strength or weak- 377:15 ness. A sudden joy or grief has caused what is termed instantaneous death. Because a belief origi- nates unseen, the mental state should be continually 377:18 watched that it may not produce blindly its bad effects. The author never knew a patient who did not recover when the belief of the disease had gone. Remove the 377:21 leading error or governing fear of this lower so-called mind, and you remove the cause of all disease as well as the mor- bid or excited action of any organ. You also remove in 377:24 this way what are termed organic diseases as readily as functional difficulties.

The cause of all so-called disease is mental, a mortal 377:27 fear, a mistaken belief or conviction of the necessity and power of ill-health; also a fear that Mind is helpless to defend the life of man and incompetent to control it. With- 377:30 out this ignorant human belief, any circumstance is of it- self powerless to produce suffering. It is latent belief in disease, as well as the fear of disease, which associates sick- 378:1 ness with certain circumstances and causes the two to appear conjoined, even as poetry and music are repro- 378:3 duced in union by human memory. Disease has no in- telligence. Unwittingly you sentence yourself to suffer. The understanding of this will enable you to commute this 378:6 self-sentence, and meet every circumstance with truth. Disease is less than mind, and Mind can control it.

Latent power

Without the so-called human mind, there can be no 378:9 inflammatory nor torpid action of the system. Remove the error, and you destroy its effects. By looking a tiger fearlessly in the eye, Sir Charles 378:12 Napier sent it cowering back into the jungle. An ani- mal may infuriate another by looking it in the eye, and both will fight for nothing. A man’s gaze, fastened 378:15 fearlessly on a ferocious beast, often causes the beast to retreat in terror. This latter occurrence represents the power of Truth over error, – the might of intelligence 378:18 exercised over mortal beliefs to destroy them; whereas hypnotism and hygienic drilling and drugging, adopted to cure matter, is represented by two material erroneous 378:21 bases.

Disease powerless

Disease is not an intelligence to dispute the empire of Mind or to dethrone Mind and take the government into 378:24 its own hands. Sickness is not a God-given, nor a self-constituted material power, which copes astutely with Mind and finally conquers it. God 378:27 never endowed matter with power to disable Life or to chill harmony with a long and cold night of discord. Such a power, without the divine permission, is incon- 378:30 ceivable; and if such a power could be divinely directed, it would manifest less wisdom than we usually find dis- played in human governments.

Jurisdiction of Mind

379:1 If disease can attack and control the body without the consent of mortals, sin can do the same, for both 379:3 are errors, announced as partners in the be- ginning. The Christian Scientist finds only effects, where the ordinary physician looks for causes. 379:6 The real jurisdiction of the world is in Mind, controlling every effect and recognizing all causation as vested in divine Mind.

Power of imagination

379:9 A felon, on whom certain English students experi- mented, fancied himself bleeding to death, and died be- cause of that belief, when only a stream of 379:12 warm water was trickling over his arm. Had he known his sense of bleeding was an illusion, he would have risen above the false belief. Let the despairing in- 379:15 valid, inspecting the hue of her blood on a cambric hand- kerchief, think of the experiment of those Oxford boys, who caused the death of a man, when not a drop of his 379:18 blood was shed. Then let her learn the opposite state- ment of life as taught in Christian Science, and she will understand that she is not dying on account of the state of 379:21 her blood, but is suffering from her belief that blood is destroying her life. The so-called vital current does not affect the invalid’s health, but her belief produces the 379:24 very results she dreads.

Fevers the effect of fear

Fevers are errors of various types. The quickened pulse, coated tongue, febrile heat, dry skin, pain in the 379:27 head and limbs, are pictures drawn on the body by a mortal mind. The images, held in this disturbed mind, frighten conscious thought. Unless 379:30 the fever-picture, drawn by millions of mortals and im- aged on the body through the belief that mind is in matter and discord is as real as harmony, is destroyed through 380:1 Science, it may rest at length on some receptive thought, and become a fever case, which ends in a belief called 380:3 death, which belief must be finally conquered by eternal Life. Truth is always the victor. Sickness and sin fall by their own weight. Truth is the rock of ages, the head- 380:6 stone of the corner, “but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”

Misdirected contention

Contending for the evidence or indulging the demands 380:9 of sin, disease, or death, we virtually contend against the control of Mind over body, and deny the power of Mind to heal. This false method 380:12 is as though the defendant should argue for the plaintiff in favor of a decision which the defendant knows will be turned against himself.

Benefits of metaphysics

380:15 The physical effects of fear illustrate its illusion. Gaz- ing at a chained lion, crouched for a spring, should not terrify a man. The body is affected only with 380:18 the belief of disease produced by a so-called mind ignorant of the truth which chains disease. Noth- ing but the power of Truth can prevent the fear of 380:21 error, and prove man’s dominion over error.

A higher discovery

Many years ago the author made a spiritual discov- ery, the scientific evidence of which has accumulated to 380:24 prove that the divine Mind produces in man health, harmony, and immortality. Gradu- ally this evidence will gather momentum and clearness, 380:27 until it reaches its culmination of scientific statement and proof. Nothing is more disheartening than to believe that there is a power opposite to God, or good, and that 380:30 God endows this opposing power with strength to be used against Himself, against Life, health, harmony.

Ignorance of our rights

Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern 381:1 man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God. Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust 381:3 decrees, and the bias of education enforces this slavery. Be no more willing to suffer the illusion that you are sick or that some disease is develop- 381:6 ing in the system, than you are to yield to a sinful temp- tation on the ground that sin has its necessities.

No laws of matter

When infringing some supposed law, you say that 381:9 there is danger. This fear is the danger and induces the physical effects. We cannot in reality suffer from breaking anything except a moral or 381:12 spiritual law. The so-called laws of mortal belief are destroyed by the understanding that Soul is immortal, and that mortal mind cannot legislate the times, periods, 381:15 and types of disease, with which mortals die. God is the lawmaker, but He is not the author of barbarous codes. In infinite Life and Love there is no sickness, sin, nor 381:18 death, and the Scriptures declare that we live, move, and have our being in the infinite God.

God-given dominion

Think less of the enactments of mortal mind, and you 381:21 will sooner grasp man’s God-given dominion. You must understand your way out of human theories relating to health, or you will never believe 381:24 that you are quite free from some ailment. The har- mony and immortality of man will never be reached without the understanding that Mind is not in matter. 381:27 Let us banish sickness as an outlaw, and abide by the rule of perpetual harmony, – God’s law. It is man’s moral right to annul an unjust sentence, a sentence never 381:30 inflicted by divine authority.

Begin rightly

Christ Jesus overruled the error which would impose penalties for transgressions of the physical laws of 382:1 health; he annulled supposed laws of matter, opposed to the harmonies of Spirit, lacking divine au- 382:3 thority and having only human approval for their sanction.

Hygiene excessive

If half the attention given to hygiene were given to the 382:6 study of Christian Science and to the spiritualization of thought, this alone would usher in the millen- inium. Constant bathing and rubbing to alter 382:9 the secretions or to remove unhealthy exhalations from the cuticle receive a useful rebuke from Jesus’ precept, “Take no thought . . . for the body.” We must beware 382:12 of making clean merely the outside of the platter.

Blissful ignorance

He, who is ignorant of what is termed hygienic law, is more receptive of spiritual power and of faith in one 382:15 God, than is the devotee of supposed hygienic law, who comes to teach the so-called igno- rant one. Must we not then consider the so-called law 382:18 of matter a canon “more honored in the breach than the observance”? A patient thoroughly booked in medi- cal theories is more difficult to heal through Mind than 382:21 one who is not. This verifies the saying of our Master: “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein.”

382:24 One whom I rescued from seeming spiritual oblivion, in which the senses had engulfed him, wrote to me: “I should have died, but for the glorious Principle you teach, 382:27 – supporting the power of Mind over the body and show- ing me the nothingness of the so-called pleasures and pains of sense. The treatises I had read and the medicines I 382:30 had taken only abandoned me to more hopeless suffering and despair. Adherence to hygiene was useless. Mortal mind needed to be set right. The ailment was not bodily, 383:1 but mental, and I was cured when I learned my way in Christian Science.”

A clean mind and body

383:3 We need a clean body and a clean mind, – a body rendered pure by Mind as well as washed by water. One says: “I take good care of my body.” 383:6 To do this, the pure and exalting influence of the divine Mind on the body is requisite, and the Christian Scientist takes the best care of his body when he leaves 383:9 it most out of his thought, and, like the Apostle Paul, is “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be pres- ent with the Lord.”

383:12 A hint may be taken from the emigrant, whose filth does not affect his happiness, because mind and body rest on the same basis. To the mind equally gross, dirt 383:15 gives no uneasiness. It is the native element of such a mind, which is symbolized, and not chafed, by its sur- roundings; but impurity and uncleanliness, which do 383:18 not trouble the gross, could not be borne by the refined. This shows that the mind must be clean to keep the body in proper condition.

Beliefs illusive

383:21 The tobacco-user, eating or smoking poison for half a century, sometimes tells you that the weed preserves his health, but does this make it so? Does his 383:24 assertion prove the use of tobacco to be a salu- brious habit, and man to be the better for it? Such in- stances only prove the illusive physical effect of a false 383:27 belief, confirming the Scriptural conclusion concerning a man, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

The movement-cure – pinching and pounding the poor 383:30 body, to make it sensibly well when it ought to be in- sensibly so – is another medical mistake, resulting from the common notion that health depends on inert matter 384:1 instead of on Mind. Can matter, or what is termed matter, either feel or act without mind?

Corporeal penalties

384:3 We should relieve our minds from the depressing thought that we have transgressed a material law and must of necessity pay the penalty. Let us reassure 384:6 ourselves with the law of Love. God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for deeds of kindness, though they expose him to fatigue, 384:9 cold, heat, contagion. If man seems to incur the penalty through matter, this is but a belief of mortal mind, not an enactment of wisdom, and man has only to enter his 384:12 protest against this belief in order to annul it. Through this action of thought and its results upon the body, the student will prove to himself, by small beginnings, the 384:15 grand verities of Christian Science.

Not matter, but Mind

If exposure to a draught of air while in a state of perspiration is followed by chills, dry cough, influenza, 384:18 congestive symptoms in the lungs, or hints of inflammatory rheumatism, your Mind-remedy is safe and sure. If you are a Christian Scientist, such 384:21 symptoms are not apt to follow exposure; but if you believe in laws of matter and their fatal effects when transgressed, you are not fit to conduct your own case or 384:24 to destroy the bad effects of your belief. When the fear subsides and the conviction abides that you have broken no law, neither rheumatism, consumption, nor any other 384:27 disease will ever result from exposure to the weather. In Science this is an established fact which all the evidence before the senses can never overrule.

Benefit of philanthropy

384:30 Sickness, sin, and death must at length quail before the divine rights of intelligence, and then the power of Mind over the entire functions and organs of the 385:1 human system will be acknowledged. It is proverbial that Florence Nightingale and other philanthropists en- 385:3 gaged in humane labors have been able to undergo without sinking fatigues and expo- sures which ordinary people could not endure. The ex- 385:6 planation lies in the support which they derived from the divine law, rising above the human. The spiritual demand, quelling the material, supplies energy and en- 385:9 durance surpassing all other aids, and forestalls the penalty which our beliefs would attach to our best deeds. Let us remember that the eternal law of right, 385:12 though it can never annul the law which makes sin its own executioner, exempts man from all penalties but those due for wrong-doing.

Honest toil has no penalty

385:15 Constant toil, deprivations, exposures, and all untow- ard conditions, _if without sin_, can be experienced with- out suffering. Whatever it is your duty to do, 385:18 you can do without harm to yourself. If you sprain the muscles or wound the flesh, your remedy is at hand. Mind decides whether or not the 385:21 flesh shall be discolored, painful, swollen, and inflamed.

Our sleep and food

You say that you have not slept well or have overeaten. You are a law unto yourself. Saying this and believing 385:24 it, you will suffer in proportion to your belief and fear. Your sufferings are not the penalty for having broken a law of matter, for it is a law of mortal 385:27 mind which you have disobeyed. You say or think, be- cause you have partaken of salt fish, that you must be thirsty, and you are thirsty accordingly, while the oppo- 385:30 site belief would produce the opposite result.

Doubtful evidence

Any supposed information, coming from the body or from inert matter as if either were intelligent, is an illu- 386:1 sion of mortal mind, – one of its dreams. Realize that the evidence of the senses is not to be accepted 386:3 in the case of sickness, any more than it is in the case of sin.

Climate and belief

Expose the body to certain temperatures, and belief 386:6 says that you may catch cold and have catarrh; but no such result occurs without mind to demand it and produce it. So long as mortals declare 386:9 that certain states of the atmosphere produce catarrh, fever, rheumatism, or consumption, those effects will follow, – not because of the climate, but on account of 386:12 the belief. The author has in too many instances healed disease through the action of Truth on the minds of mor- tals, and the corresponding effects of Truth on the body, 386:15 not to know that this is so.

Erroneous despatch