Jesus' promise is perpetual. Had it been given only
to his immediate disciples, the Scriptural passage would
328:30 read you, not /they/. The purpose of his great life-work
extends through time and includes universal humanity.
Its Principle is infinite, reaching beyond the pale of a
329:1 single period or of a limited following. As time moves
on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly
329:3 dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow
in all the grandeur of universal goodness.
Imitation of Jesus
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little under-
329:6 standing of Christian Science proves the truth of all that
I say of it. Because you cannot walk on the
water and raise the dead, you have no right to
329:9 question the great might of divine Science in these direc-
tions. Be thankful that Jesus, who was the true demon-
strator of Science, did these things, and left his example for
329:12 us. In Science we can use only what we understand. We
must prove our faith by demonstration.
One should not tarry in the storm if the body is freez-
329:15 ing, nor should he remain in the devouring flames. Un-
til one is able to prevent bad results, he should avoid their
occasion. To be discouraged, is to resemble a pupil in
329:18 addition, who attempts to solve a problem of Euclid, and
denies the rule of the problem because he fails in his first
effort.
Error destroyed, not pardoned
329:21 There is no hypocrisy in Science. Principle is impera-
tive. You cannot mock it by human will. Science is a
divine demand, not a human. Always right,
329:24 its divine Principle never repents, but main-
tains the claim of Truth by quenching error.
The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction of error. If
329:27 men understood their real spiritual source to be all bless-
edness, they would struggle for recourse to the spiritual
and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mor-
329:30 tal mind is plunged, the more intense the opposition to
spirituality, till error yields to Truth.
The hopeful outlook
Human resistance to divine Science weakens in pro-
330:1 portion as mortals give up error for Truth and the un-
derstanding of being supersedes mere belief. Until the
330:3 author of this book learned the vastness of
Christian Science, the fixedness of mortal illu-
sions, and the human hatred of Truth, she cherished
330:6 sanguine hopes that Christian Science would meet with
immiediate and universal acceptance.
When the following platform is understood and the
330:9 letter and the spirit bear witness, the infallibility of divine
metaphysics will be demonstrated.
The deific supremacy
I. God is infinite, the only Life, substance, Spirit, or
330:12 Soul, the only intelligence of the universe, including man.
Eye hath neither seen God nor His image and
likeness. Neither God nor the perfect man
330:15 can be discerned by the material senses. The individ-
uality of Spirit, or the infinite, is unknown, and thus a
knowledge of it is left either to human conjecture or to the
330:18 revelation of divine Science.
The deific definitions
II. God is what the Scriptures declare Him to be, -
Life, Truth, Love. Spirit is divine Principle, and divine
330:21 Principle is Love, and Love is Mind, and
Mind is not both good and bad, for God is
Mind; therefore there is in reality one Mind only, be-
330:24 cause there is one God.
Evil obsolete
III. The notion that both evil and good are real is a
delusion of material sense, which Science annihilates.
330:27 Evil is nothing, no thing, mind, nor power.
As manifested by mankind it stands for a lie,
nothing claiming to be something, - for lust, dishonesty,
330:30 selfishness, envy, hypocrisy, slander, hate, theft, adultery,
murder, dementia, insanity, inanity, devil, hell, with all
the etceteras that word includes.
Life the creator
331:1 IV. God is divine Life, and Life is no more confined
to the forms which reflect it than substance is in its
331:3 shadow. If life were in mortal man or mate-
rial things, it would be subject to their limi-
tations and would end in death. Life is Mind, the creator
331:6 reflected in His creations. If He dwelt within what He
creates, God would not be reflected but absorbed, and the
Science of being would be forever lost through a mortal
331:9 sense, which falsely testifies to a beginning and an
end.
Allness of Spirit
V. The Scriptures imply that God is All-in-all. From
331:12 this it follows that nothing possesses reality nor existence
except the divine Mind and His ideas. The
Scriptures also declare that God is Spirit.
331:15 Therefore in Spirit all is harmony, and there can be no
discord; all is Life, and there is no death. Everything
in God's universe expresses Him.
The universal cause
331:18 VI. God is individual, incorporeal. He is divine Prin-
ciple, Love, the universal cause, the only creator, and
there is no other self-existence. He is all-
331:21 inclusive, and is reflected by all that is real
and eternal and by nothing else. He fills all space, and
it is impossible to conceive of such omnipresence and in-
331:24 dividuality except as infinite Spirit or Mind. Hence all
is Spirit and spiritual.
Divine trinity
VII. Life, Truth, and Love constitute the triune Person
331:27 called God, - that is, the triply divine Principle, Love.
They represent a trinity in unity, three in
one, - the same in essence, though multi-
331:30 form in office: God the Father-Mother; Christ the spirit-
ual idea of sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter.
These three express in divine Science the threefold, essen-
332:1 tial nature of the infinite. They also indicate the divine
Principle of scientific being, the intelligent relation of God
332:3 to man and the universe.
Father-Mother
VIII. Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which in-
dicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation.
332:6 As the apostle expressed it in words which he
quoted with approbation from a classic poet:
"For we are also His offspring."
The Son of God
332:9 IX. Jesus was born of Mary. Christ is the true idea
voicing good, the divine message from God to men speak-
ing to the human consciousness. The Christ
332:12 is incorporeal, spiritual, - yea, the divine
image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses;
the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and
332:15 casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death. As
Paul says: "There is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The corporeal
332:18 man Jesus was human.
Holy Ghost or Comforter
X. Jesus demonstrated Christ; he proved that Christ
is the divine idea of God - the Holy Ghost,
332:21 or Comforter, revealing the divine Principle,
Love, and leading into all truth.
Christ Jesus
XI. Jesus was the son of a virgin. He was appointed
332:24 to speak God's word and to appear to mortals in such
a form of humanity as they could understand
as well as perceive. Mary's conception of
332:27 him was spiritual, for only purity could reflect Truth
and Love, which were plainly incarnate in the good and
pure Christ Jesus. He expressed the highest type of
332:30 divinity, which a fleshly form could express in that age.
Into the real and ideal man the fleshly element cannot
enter. Thus it is that Christ illustrates the coincidence,
333:1 or spiritual agreement, between God and man in His
image.
Messiah or Christ
333:3 XII. The word /Christ/ is not properly a synonym for
Jesus, though it is commonly so used. Jesus was a human
name, which belonged to him in common with
333:6 other Hebrew boys and men, for it is identical
with the name Joshua, the renowned Hebrew leader. On
the other hand, Christ is not a name so much as the divine
333:9 title of Jesus. Christ expresses God's spiritual, eternal
nature. The name is synonymous with Messiah, and al-
ludes to the spirituality which is taught, illustrated, and
333:12 demonstrated in the life of which Christ Jesus was the
embodiment. The proper name of our Master in the
Greek was Jesus the Christ; but Christ Jesus better sig-
333:15 nifies the Godlike.
The divine Principle and idea
XIII. The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the
first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is
333:18 without beginning of years or end of days.
Throughout all generations both before and
after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spirit-
333:21 ual idea, - the reflection of God, - has come with some
measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive
Christ, Truth. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets
333:24 caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which
baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of
Love. The divine image, idea, or Christ was, is, and
333:27 ever will be inseparable from the divine Principle, God.
Jesus referred to this unity of his spiritual identity thus:
"Before Abraham was, I am;" "I and my Father are
333:30 one;" "My Father is greater than I." The one Spirit
includes all identities.
Spiritual oneness
XIV. By these sayings Jesus meant, not that the hu-
334:1 man Jesus was or is eternal, but that the divine idea or
Christ was and is so and therefore antedated Abraham;
334:3 not that the corporeal Jesus was one with the
Father, but that the spiritual idea, Christ,
dwells forever in the bosom of the Father, God, from
334:6 which it illumines heaven and earth; not that the Father
is greater than Spirit, which is God, but greater, infinitely
greater, than the fleshly Jesus, whose earthly career was
334:9 brief.
The Son's duality
XV. The invisible Christ was imperceptible to the
so-called personal senses, whereas Jesus appeared as a
334:12 bodily existence. This dual personality of the
unseen and the seen, the spiritual and mate-
rial, the eternal Christ and the corporeal Jesus manifest
334:15 in flesh, continued until the Master's ascension, when
the human, material concept, or Jesus, disappeared,
while the spiritual self, or Christ, continues to exist in
334:18 the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the sins
of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before
the human Jesus was incarnate to mortal eyes.
Eternity of the Christ
334:21 XVI. This was "the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world," - slain, that is, according to the testi-
mony of the corporeal senses, but undying in
334:24 the deific Mind. The Revelator represents the
Son of man as saying (Revelation i. 17, 18): "I am the
first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead
334:27 [not understood]; and, behold, I am alive for evermore,
[Science has explained me]." This is a mystical state-
ment of the eternity of the Christ, and is also a reference
334:30 to the human sense of Jesus crucified.
Infinite Spirit
XVII. Spirit being God, there is but one Spirit, for
there can be but one infinite and therefore one God.
335:1 There are neither spirits many nor gods many. There
is no evil in Spirit, because God is Spirit. The theory,
335:3 that Spirit is distinct from matter but must
pass through it, or into it, to be individualized,
would reduce God to dependency on matter, and establish
335:6 a basis for pantheism.
The only substance
XVIII. Spirit, God, has created all in and of Him-
self. Spirit never created matter. There is nothing in
335:9 Spirit out of which matter could be made,
for, as the Bible declares, without the Logos,
the AEon or Word of God, "was not anything made
335:12 that was made." Spirit is the only substance, the in-
visible and indivisible infinite God. Things spiritual and
eternal are substantial. Things material and temporal
335:15 are insubstantial.
Soul and Spirit one
XIX. Soul and Spirit being one, God and Soul are
one, and this one never included in a limited mind or a
335:18 limited body. Spirit is eternal, divine. Noth-
ing but Spirit, Soul, can evolve Life, for Spirit
is more than all else. Because Soul is immortal, it does
335:21 not exist in mortality. Soul must be incorporeal to be
Spirit, for Spirit is not finite. Only by losing the false
sense of Soul can we gain the eternal unfolding of Life as
335:24 immortality brought to light.
The one divine Mind
XX. Mind is the divine Principle, Love, and can pro-
duce nothing unlike the eternal Father-Mother, God.
335:27 Reality is spiritual, harmonious, immutable,
immortal, divine, eternal. Nothing unspirit-
ual can be real, harmonious, or eternal. Sin, sickness,
335:30 and mortality are the suppositional antipodes of Spirit,
and must be contradictions of reality.
The divine Ego
XXI. The Ego is deathless and limitless, for limits
336:1 would imply and impose ignorance. Mind is the I AM,
or infinity. Mind never enters the finite. Intelligence
336:3 never passes into non-intelligence, or matter.
Good never enters into evil the unlimited into
the limited, the eternal into the temporal, nor the im-
336:6 mortal into mortality. The divine Ego, or individuality,
is reflected in all spiritual individuality from the infini-
tesimal to the infinite.
The real manhood
336:9 XXII. Immortal man was and is God's image or idea,
even the infinite expression of infinite Mind, and immor-
tal man is coexistent and coeternal with that
336:12 Mind. He has been forever in the eternal
Mind, God; but infinite Mind can never be in man, but
is reflected by man. The spiritual man's consciousness
336:15 and individuality are reflections of God. They are the
emanations of Him who is Life, Truth, and Love. Im-
mortal man is not and never was material, but always
336:18 spiritual and eternal.
Indivisibility of the infinite
XXIII. God is indivisible. A portion of God could
not enter man; neither could God's fulness be reflected
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.
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
theories 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.