Treasure in heaven
Students of Christian Science, who start with its letter
451:9 and think to succeed without the spirit, will either make
shipwreck of their faith or be turned sadly
awry. They must not only seek, but strive,
451:12 to enter the narrow path of Life, for "wide is the gate,
and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat." Man walks in the
451:15 direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure
is, there will his heart be also. If our hopes and affec-
tions are spiritual, they come from above, not from be-
451:18 neath, and they bear as of old the fruits of the Spirit.
Obligations of teachers
Every Christian Scientist, every conscientious teacher
of the Science of Mind-healing, knows that human will
451:21 is not Christian Science, and he must recog-
nize this in order to defend himself from the
influence of human will. He feels morally obligated to
451:24 open the eyes of his students that they may perceive the
nature and methods of error of every sort, especially any
subtle degree of evil, deceived and deceiving. All mental
451:27 malpractice arises from ignorance or malice aforethought.
It is the injurious action of one mortal mind controlling
another from wrong motives, and it is practised either
451:30 with a mistaken or a wicked purpose.
Indispensable defence
Show your student that mental malpractice tends to
blast moral sense, health, and the human life. Instruct
452:1 him how to bar the door of his thought against this
seeming power, - a task not difficult, when one under-
452:3 stands that evil has in reality no power.
Incorrect reasoning leads to practical error.
The wrong thought should be arrested before it has a
452:6 chance to manifest itself.
Egotistic darkness
Walking in the light, we are accustomed to the light
and require it; we cannot see in darkness. But eyes ac-
452:9 customed to darkness are pained by the light.
When outgrowing the old, you should not fear
to put on the new. Your advancing course may pro-
452:12 voke envy, but it will also attract respect. When error
confronts you, withhold not the rebuke or the explana-
tion which destroys error. Never breathe an immoral
452:15 atmosphere, unless in the attempt to purify it. Better is
the frugal intellectual repast with contentment and virtue,
than the luxury of learning with egotism and vice.
Unwarranted expectations
452:18 Right is radical. The teacher must know the truth
himself. He must live it and love it, or he cannot impart
it to others. We soil our garments with con-
452:21 servatism, and afterwards we must wash them
clean. When the spiritual sense of Truth unfolds its
harmonies, you take no risks in the policy of error. Ex-
452:24 pect to heal simply by repeating the author's words, by
right talking and wrong acting, and you will be disap-
pointed. Such a practice does not demonstrate the
452:27 Science by which divine Mind heals the sick.
Reliable authority
Acting from sinful motives destroys your power of
healing from the right motive. On the other hand, if
452:30 you had the inclination or power to practise
wrongly and then should adopt Christian
Science, the wrong power would be destroyed. You do
453:1 not deny the mathematician's right to distinguish the cor-
rect from the incorrect among the examples on the black-
453:3 board, nor disbelieve the musician when he distinguishes
concord from discord. In like manner it should be granted
that the author understands what she is saying.
Winning the field
453:6 Right and wrong, truth and error, will be at strife in
the minds of students, until victory rests on the side of
invincible truth. Mental chemicalization fol-
453:9 lows the explanation of Truth, and a higher
basis is thus won; but with some individuals the morbid
moral or physical symptoms constantly reappear. I
453:12 have never witnessed so decided effects from the use of
material remedies as from the use of spiritual.
Knowledge and honesty
Teach your student that he must know himself be-
453:15 fore he can know others and minister to human needs.
Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is
human weakness, which forfeits divine help.
453:18 You uncover sin, not in order to injure, but in order
to bless the corporeal man; and a right motive has
its reward. Hidden sin is spiritual wickedness in high
453:21 places. The masquerader in this Science thanks God
that there is no evil, yet serves evil in the name of
good.
Metaphysical treatment
453:24 You should treat sickness mentally just as you would
sin, except that you must not tell the patient that he is
sick nor give names to diseases, for such a
453:27 course increases fear, the foundation of dis-
ease, and impresses more deeply the wrong mind-picture.
A Christian Scientist's medicine is Mind, the divine Truth
453:30 that makes man free. A Christian Scientist never recom-
mends material hygiene, never manipulates. He does
not trespass on the rights of mind nor can he practise
454:1 animal magnetism or hypnotism. It need not be added
that the use of tobacco or intoxicating drinks is not in
454:3 harmony with Christian Science.
Impotence of hate
Teach your students the omnipotence of Truth, which
illustrates the impotence of error. The understanding,
454:6 even in a degree, of the divine All-power de-
stroys fear, and plants the feet in the true path,
- the path which leads to the house built without hands
454:9 "eternal in the heavens." Human hate has no legiti-
mate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned.
That evil or matter has neither intelligence nor power,
454:12 is the doctrine of absolute Christian Science, and this is
the great truth which strips all disguise from error.
Love the incentive
He, who understands in sufficient degree the Princi-
454:15 ple of Mind-healing, points out to his student error as
well as truth, the wrong as well as the right
practice. Love for God and man is the true
454:18 incentive in both healing and teaching. Love inspires,
illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives
give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to
454:21 speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of
Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the
waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.
454:24 Patience must "have her perfect work."
Continuity of interest
Do not dismiss students at the close of a class term,
feeling that you have no more to do for them. Let your
454:27 loving care and counsel support all their feeble
footsteps, until your students tread firmly in
the straight and narrow way. The superiority of spir-
454:30 itual power over sensuous is the central point of Chris-
tian Science. Remember that the letter and mental
argument are only human auxiliaries to aid in bringing
455:1 thought into accord with the spirit of Truth and Love,
which heals the sick and the sinner.
Weakness and guilt
455:3 A mental state of self-condemnation and guilt or a
faltering and doubting trust in Truth are unsuitable
conditions for healing the sick. Such mental
455:6 states indicate weakness instead of strength.
Hence the necessity of being right yourself in order to
teach this Science of healing. You must utilize the moral
455:9 might of Mind in order to walk over the waves of error
and support your claims by demonstration. If you are
yourself lost in the belief and fear of disease or sin, and
455:12 if, knowing the remedy, you fail to use the energies of
Mind in your own behalf, you can exercise little or no
power for others' help. "First cast out the beam out
455:15 of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast
out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
The trust of the All-wise
The student, who receives his knowledge of Christian
455:18 Science, or metaphysical healing, from a human teacher,
may be mistaken in judgment and demonstra-
tion, but God cannot mistake. God selects
455:21 for the highest service one who has grown into such a
fitness for it as renders any abuse of the mission an im-
possibility. The All-wise does not bestow His highest
455:24 trusts upon the unworthy. When He commissions a mes-
senger, it is one who is spiritually near Himself. No per-
son can misuse this mental power, if he is taught of God
455:27 to discern it.
Integrity assured
This strong point in Christian Science is not to be
overlooked, - that the same fountain cannot send forth
455:30 both sweet waters and bitter. The higher
your attainment in the Science of mental
healing and teaching, the more impossible it will be-
456:1 come for you intentionally to influence mankind adverse
to its highest hope and achievement.
Chicanery impossible
456:3 Teaching or practising in the name of Truth, but con-
trary to its spirit or rules, is most dangerous quackery.
Strict adherence to the divine Principle and
456:6 rules of the scientific method has secured
the only success of the students of Christian Science.
This alone entitles them to the high standing which
456:9 most of them hold in the community, a reputation ex-
perimentally justified by their efforts. Whoever af-
firms that there is more than one Principle and method
456:12 of demonstrating Christian Science greatly errs, igno-
rantly or intentionally, and separates himself from the
true conception of Christian Science healing and from
456:15 its possible demonstration.
No dishonest concessions
Any dishonesty in your theory and practice betrays a
gross ignorance of the method of the Christ-cure. Science
456:18 makes no concessions to persons or opinions.
One must abide in the /morale/ of truth or he
cannot demonstrate the divine Principle. So long as
456:21 matter is the basis of practice, illness cannot be effica-
ciously treated by the metaphysical process. Truth does
the work, and you must both understand and abide by the
456:24 divine Principle of your demonstration.
This volume indispensable
A Christian Scientist requires my work SCIENCE AND
HEALTH for his textbook, and so do all his students and
456:27 patients. Why? /First/: Because it is the voice
of Truth to this age, and contains the full
statement of Christian Science, or the Science of healing
456:30 through Mind. /Second/: Because it was the first book
known, containing a thorough statement of Christian
Science. Hence it gave the first rules for demonstrating
457:1 this Science, and registered the revealed Truth uncon-
taminated by human hypotheses. Other works, which
457:3 have borrowed from this book without giving it credit,
have adulterated the Science. /Third/: Because this book
has done more for teacher and student, for healer and
457:6 patient, than has been accomplished by other books.
Purity of science
Since the divine light of Christian Science first dawned
upon the author, she has never used this newly discovered
457:9 power in any direction which she fears to have
fairly understood. Her prime object, since
entering this field of labor, has been to prevent suffering,
457:12 not to produce it. That we cannot scientifically both
cure and cause disease is self-evident. In the legend of
the shield, which led to a quarrel between two knights
457:15 because each of them could see but one face of it, both
sides were beautiful according to their degree; but to
mental malpractice, prolific of evil, there is no good as-
457:18 pect, either silvern or golden.
Backsliders and mistakes
Christian Science is not an exception to the general
rule, that there is no excellence without labor in a direct
457:21 line. One cannot scatter his fire, and at the
same time hit the mark. To pursue other
vocations and advance rapidly in the demonstration of
457:24 this Science, is not possible. Departing from Christian
Science, some learners commend diet and hygiene.
They even practise these, intending thereby to initiate
457:27 the cure which they mean to complete with Mind, as if
the non-intelligent could aid Mind! The Scientist's
demonstration rests on one Principle, and there must
457:30 and can be no opposite rule. Let this Principle be ap-
plied to the cure of disease without exploiting other
means.
Mental charlatanism
458:1 Mental quackery rests on the same platform as all
other quackery. The chief plank in this platform is the
458:3 doctrine that Science has two principles in
partnership, one good and the other evil, -
one spiritual, the other material, - and that these two
458:6 may be simultaneously at work on the sick. This
theory is supposed to favor practice from both a mental
and a material standpoint. Another plank in the plat-
458:9 form is this, that error will finally have the same effect
as truth.
Divinity ever ready
It is anything but scientifically Christian to think of
458:12 aiding the divine Principle of healing or of trying to sus-
tain the human body until the divine Mind
is ready to take the case. Divinity is always
458:15 ready. /Semper paratus/ is Truth's motto. Having seen
so much suffering from quackery, the author desires to
keep it out of Christian Science. The two-edged sword
458:18 of Truth must turn in every direction to guard "the tree
of life."
The panoply of wisdom
Sin makes deadly thrusts at the Christian Scientist as
458:21 ritualism and creed are summoned to give place to higher
law, but Science will ameliorate mortal malice.
The Christianly scientific man reflects the
458:24 divine law, thus becoming a law unto himself. He does
violence to no man. Neither is he a false accuser. The
Christian Scientist wisely shapes his course, and is hon-
458:27 est and consistent in following the leadings of divine
Mind. He must prove, through living as well as heal-
ing and teaching, that Christ's way is the only one
458:30 by which mortals are radically saved from sin and
sickness.
Advancement by sacrifice
Christianity causes men to turn naturally from matter
459:1 to Spirit, as the flower turns from darkness to light.
Man then appropriates those things which "eye hath
459:3 not seen nor ear heard." Paul and John
had a clear apprehension that, as mortal man
achieves no worldly honors except by sacrifice,
459:6 so he must gain heavenly riches by forsaking all worldli-
ness. Then he will have nothing in common with the
worldling's affections, motives, and aims. Judge not the
459:9 future advancement of Christian Science by the steps
already taken, lest you yourself be condemned for fail-
ing to take the first step.
Dangerous knowledge
459:12 Any attempt to heal mortals with erring mortal mind,
instead of resting on the omnipotence of the divine
Mind, must prove abortive. Committing the
459:15 bare process of mental healing to frail mor-
tals, untaught and unrestrained by Christian Science,
is like putting a sharp knife into the hands of a blind
459:18 man or a raging maniac, and turning him loose in
the crowded streets of a city. Whether animated by
malice or ignorance, a false practitioner will work mis-
459:21 chief, and ignorance is more harmful than wilful wicked-
ness, when the latter is distrusted and thwarted in its
incipiency.
Certainty of results
459:24 To mortal sense Christian Science seems abstract, but
the process is simple and the results are sure if the Science
is understood. The tree must be good, which
459:27 produces good fruit. Guided by divine Truth
and not guesswork, the /theologus/ (that is, the student -
the Christian and scientific expounder - of the divine
459:30 law) treats disease with more certain results than any
other healer on the globe. The Christian Scientist should
understand and adhere strictly to the rules of divine meta-
460:1 physics as laid down in this work, and rest his demonstra-
tion on this sure basis.
Ontology defined
460:3 Ontology is defined as "the science of the necessary
constituents and relations of all beings," and it under-
lies all metaphysical practice. Our system of
460:6 Mind-healing rests on the apprehension of the
nature and essence of all being, - on the divine Mind
and Love's essential qualities. Its pharmacy is moral,
460:9 and its medicine is intellectual and spiritual, though used
for physical healing. Yet this most fundamental part of
metaphysics is the one most difficult to understand and
460:12 demonstrate, for to the material thought all is material,
till such thought is rectified by Spirit.
Mischievous imagination
Sickness is neither imaginary nor unreal, - that is,
460:15 to the frightened, false sense of the patient. Sickness
is more than fancy; it is solid conviction. It
is therefore to be dealt with through right ap-
460:18 prehension of the truth of being. If Christian healing
is abused by mere smatterers in Science, it becomes a
tedious mischief-maker. Instead of scientifically effect-
460:21 ing a cure, it starts a petty crossfire over every cripple
and invalid, buffeting them with the superficial and cold
assertion, "Nothing ails you."
Author's early instructions
460:24 When the Science of Mind was a fresh revelation to
the author, she had to impart, while teaching its grand
facts, the hue of spiritual ideas from her own
460:27 spiritual condition, and she had to do this orally
through the meagre channel afforded by language and by
her manuscript circulated among the students. As for-
460:30 mer beliefs were gradually expelled from her thought, the
teaching became clearer, until finally the shadow of old
errors was no longer cast upon divine Science.
Proof by induction
I do not maintain that anyone can exist in the flesh
without food and raiment; but I do believe that the
461:3 real man is immortal and that he lives in
Spirit, not matter. Christian Science must
be accepted at this period by induction. We admit the
461:6 whole, because a part is proved and that part illustrates
and proves the entire Principle. Christian Science can
be taught only by those who are morally advanced and
461:9 spiritually endowed, for it is not superficial, nor is it
discerned from the standpoint of the human senses.
Only by the illumination of the spiritual sense, can
461:12 the light of understanding be thrown upon this Science,
because Science reverses the evidence before the material
senses and furnishes the eternal interpretation of God and
461:15 man.
If you believe that you are sick, should you say, " I am
sick"? No, but you should tell your belief sometimes,
461:18 if this be requisite to protect others. If you commit a
crime, should you acknowledge to yourself that you are
a criminal? Yes. Your responses should differ because
461:21 of the different effects they produce. Usually to admit
that you are sick, renders your case less curable, while
to recognize your sin, aids in destroying it. Both sin and
461:24 sickness are error, and Truth is their remedy. The truth
regarding error is, that error is not true, hence it is unreal.
To prove scientifically the error or unreality of sin, you
461:27 must first see the claim of sin, and then destroy it.
Whereas, to prove scientifically the error or unreality of
disease, you must mentally unsee the disease; then you
461:30 will not feel it, and it is destroyed.
Rapidity of assimilation
Systematic teaching and the student's spiritual growth
and experience in practice are requisite for a thorough
462:1 comprehension of Christian Science. Some individu-
als assimilate truth more readily than others, but any
462:3 student, who adheres to the divine rules
of Christian Science and imbibes the spirit
of Christ, can demonstrate Christian Science, cast out
462:6 error, heal the sick, and add continually to his store of
spiritual understanding, potency, enlightenment, and
success.
Divided loyalty
462:9 If the student goes away to practise Truth's teach-
ings only in part, dividing his interests between God and
mammon and substituting his own views for
462:12 Truth, he will inevitably reap the error he sows.
Whoever would demonstrate the healing of Christian
Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every state-
462:15 ment, and advance from the rudiments laid down. There
is nothing difficult nor toilsome in this task, when the way
is pointed out; but self-denial, sincerity, Christianity, and
462:18 persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every
department of life.
Anatomy defined
Anatomy, when conceived of spiritually, is mental self-
462:21 knowledge, and consists in the dissection of thoughts to
discover their quality, quantity, and origin.
Are thoughts divine or human? That is the
462:24 important question. This branch of study is indispen-
sable to the excision of error. The anatomy of Christian
Science teaches when and how to probe the self-in-
462:27 flicted wounds of selfishness, malice, envy, and hate. It
teaches the control of mad ambition. It unfolds the
hallowed influences of unselfishness, philanthropy, spir-
462:30 itual love. It urges the government of the body both
in health and in sickness. The Christian Scientist,
through understanding mental anatomy, discerns and
463:1 deals with the real cause of disease. The material physi-
cian gropes among phenomena, which fluctuate every in-
463:3 stant under influences not embraced in his diagnosis, and
so he may stumble and fall in the darkness.
Scientific obstetrics
Teacher and student should also be familiar with the
463:6 obstetrics taught by this Science. To attend properly
the birth of the new child, or divine idea,
you should so detach mortal thought from its
463:9 material conceptions, that the birth will be natural and
safe. Though gathering new energy, this idea cannot
injure its useful surroundings in the travail of spiritual
463:12 birth. A spiritual idea has not a single element of error,
and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive.
The new idea, conceived and born of Truth and Love, is
463:15 clad in white garments. Its beginning will be meek, its
growth sturdy, and its maturity undecaying. When
this new birth takes place, the Christian Science infant
463:18 is born of the Spirit, born of God, and can cause the
mother no more suffering. By this we know that Truth
is here and has fulfilled its perfect work.
Unhesitating decision
463:21 To decide quickly as to the proper treatment of error -
whether error is manifested in forms of sickness, sin,
or death - is the first step towards destroy-
463:24 ing error. Our Master treated error through
Mind. He never enjoined obedience to the laws of nature,
if by these are meant laws of matter, nor did he use drugs.
463:27 There is a law of God applicable to healing, and it is a
spiritual law instead of material. The sick are not healed
by inanimate matter or drugs, as they believe that they
463:30 are. Such seeming medical effect or action is that of so-
called mortal mind.
Seclusion of the author
It has been said to the author, "The world is bene-
464:1 fited by you, but it feels your influence without seeing
you. Why do you not make yourself more widely
464:3 known?" Could her friends know how little
time the author has had, in which to make
herself outwardly known except through her laborious
464:6 publications, - and how much time and toil are still re-
quired to establish the stately operations of Christian
Science, - they would understand why she is so secluded.
464:9 Others could not take her place, even if willing so to do.
She therefore remains unseen at her post, seeking no self-
aggrandizement but praying, watching, and working for
464:12 the redemption of mankind.
If from an injury or from any cause, a Christian Scien-
tist were seized with pain so violent that he could not
464:15 treat himself mentally, - and the Scientists had failed
to relieve him, - the sufferer could call a surgeon, who
would give him a hypodermic injection, then, when the
464:18 belief of pain was lulled, he could handle his own case
mentally. Thus it is that we "prove all things; [and]
hold fast that which is good."
The right motive and its reward
464:21 In founding a pathological system of Christianity, the
author has labored to expound divine Principle, and not
to exalt personality. The weapons of bigotry,
464:24 ignorance, envy, fall before an honest heart.
Adulterating Christian Science, makes it void.
Falsity has no foundation. "The hireling fleeth, because
464:27 he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Neither
dishonesty nor ignorance ever founded, nor can they over-
throw a scientific system of ethics.
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. - ISAIAH.
465:1 THIS chapter is from the first edition of the author's
class-book, copyrighted in 1870. After much labor
465:3 and increased spiritual understanding, she revised that
treatise for this volume in 1875. Absolute Christian
Science pervades its statements, to elucidate scientific
465:6 metaphysics.
/Question/. - What is God?
465:9 /Answer/. - God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite
Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.
/Question/. - Are these terms synonymous?
465:12 /Answer/. - They are. They refer to one absolute God.
They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and
wholeness of Deity. The attributes of God are justice,
465:15 mercy, wisdom, goodness, and so on.
/Question/. - Is there more than one God or Principle?
/Answer/. - There is not. Principle and its idea is one,
465:18 and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-
466:1 present Being, and His reflection is man and the universe.
/Omni/ is adopted from the Latin adjective signifying /all/.
466:3 Hence God combines all-power or potency, all-science
or true knowledge, all-presence. The varied manifesta-
tions of Christian Science indicate Mind, never matter,
466:6 and have one Principle.
Real /versus/ unreal
/Question/. - What are spirits and souls?
/Answer/. - To human belief, they are personalities
466:9 constituted of mind and matter, life and death, truth and
error, good and evil; but these contrasting
pairs of terms represent contraries, as Chris-
466:12 tian Science reveals, which neither dwell together nor
assimilate. Truth is immortal; error is mortal. Truth
is limitless; error is limited. Truth is intelligent; error
466:15 is non-intelligent. Moreover, Truth is real, and error is
unreal. This last statement contains the point you will
most reluctantly admit, although first and last it is the
466:18 most important to understand.
Mankind redeemed
The term /souls/ or /spirits/ is as improper as the term
/gods/. Soul or Spirit signifies Deity and nothing else.
466:21 There is no finite soul nor spirit. Soul or
Spirit means only one Mind, and cannot be
rendered in the plural. Heathen mythology and Jewish
466:24 theology have perpetuated the fallacy that intelligence,
soul, and life can be in matter; and idolatry and ritualism
are the outcome of all man-made beliefs. The Science
466:27 of Christianity comes with fan in hand to separate the
chaff from the wheat. Science will declare God aright,
and Christianity will demonstrate this declaration and
466:30 its divine Principle, making mankind better physically,
morally, and spiritually.
Two chief commands
467:1 /Question/. - What are the demands of the Science of
Soul?
467:3 /Answer/. - The first demand of this Science is, " Thou
shalt have no other gods before me." This /me/ is Spirit.
Therefore the command means this: Thou shalt
467:6 have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no
truth, no love, but that which is spiritual. The second
is like unto it, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
467:9 It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one
Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love.
Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact
467:12 becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-
hood of man will be established. Having no other gods,
turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide
467:15 him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-
ing that Mind which was also in Christ.
Soul not confined in body
Science reveals Spirit, Soul, as not in the body, and
467:18 God as not in man but as reflected by man. The greater
cannot be in the lesser. The belief that the
greater can be in the lesser is an error that
467:21 works ill. This is a leading point in the Science of Soul,
that Principle is not in its idea. Spirit, Soul, is not
confined in man, and is never in matter. We reason im-
467:24 perfectly from effect to cause, when we conclude that
matter is the effect of Spirit; but /a priori/ reasoning
shows material existence to be enigmatical. Spirit gives
467:27 the true mental idea. We cannot interpret Spirit, Mind,
through matter. Matter neither sees, hears, nor feels.
Sinlessness of Mind, Soul
Reasoning from cause to effect in the Science of Mind,
467:30 we begin with Mind, which must be under-
stood through the idea which expresses it and
cannot be learned from its opposite, matter. Thus we
468:1 arrive at Truth, or intelligence, which evolves its own
unerring idea and never can be coordinate with human
468:3 illusions. If Soul sinned, it would be mortal, for sin is
mortality's self, because it kills itself. If Truth is im-
mortal, error must be mortal, because error is unlike
468:6 Truth. Because Soul is immortal, Soul cannot sin, for
sin is not the eternal verity of being.
/Question/. - What is the scientific statement of being?
468:9 /Answer/. - There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor sub-
stance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite
manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal
468:12 Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and
eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is
God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore
468:15 man is not material; he is spiritual.
Spiritual synonyms
/Question/. - What is substance?
/Answer/. - Substance is that which is eternal and inca-
468:18 pable of discord and decay. Truth, Life, and Love are
substance, as the Scriptures use this word in
Hebrews: "The substance of things hoped
468:21 for, the evidence of things not seen." Spirit, the synonym
of Mind, Soul, or God, is the only real substance. The
spiritual universe, including individual man, is a com-
468:24 pound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit.
Eternity of Life
/Question/. - What is Life?
/Answer/. - Life is divine Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit.
468:27 Life is without beginning and without end.
Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of
Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in
468:30 proportion as the other is recognized. Time is finite;
469:1 eternity is forever infinite. Life is neither in nor of mat-
ter. What is termed matter is unknown to Spirit, which
469:3 includes in itself all substance and is Life eternal. Mat-
ter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind. Life is not
limited. Death and finiteness are unknown to Life. If
469:6 Life ever had a beginning, it would also have an ending.
/Question/. - What is intelligence?
/Answer/. - Intelligence is omniscience, omnipresence,
469:9 and omnipotence. It is the primal and eternal quality
of infinite Mind, of the triune Principle, - Life, Truth,
and Love, - named God.
True sense of infinitude
469:12 /Question/. - What is Mind?
/Answer/. - Mind is God. The exterminator of error
is the great truth that God, good, is the /only/ Mind, and
469:15 that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind
- called /devil/ or evil - is not Mind, is not
Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality. There
469:18 can be but one Mind, because there is but one God; and
if mortals claimed no other Mind and accepted no other,
sin would be unknown. We can have but one Mind, if
469:21 that one is infinite. We bury the sense of infinitude,
when we admit that, although God is infinite, evil has a
place in this infinity, for evil can have no place, where all
469:24 space is filled with God.
The sole governor
We lose the high signification of omnipotence, when
after admitting that God, or good, is omnipresent and
469:27 has all-power, we still believe there is another
power, named /evil/. This belief that there
is more than one mind is as pernicious to divine theology
469:30 as are ancient mythology and pagan idolatry. With
470:1 one Father, even God, the whole family of man would
be brethren; and with one Mind and that God, or good,
470:3 the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth,
and have unity of Principle and spiritual power which
constitute divine Science. The supposed existence of
470:6 more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This
error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the
spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an
470:9 unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and
universal.
The divine standard of perfection
Divine Science explains the abstract statement that
470:12 there is one Mind by the following self-evident propo-
sition: If God, or good, is real, then evil, the
unlikeness of God, is unreal. And evil can
470:15 only seem to be real by giving reality to the
unreal. The children of God have but one Mind. How
can good lapse into evil, when God, the Mind of man,
470:18 never sins? The standard of perfection was originally
God and man. Has God taken down His own standard,
and has man fallen?
Indestructible relationship
470:21 God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle
of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection,
man, remains perfect. Man is the expression
470:24 of God's being. If there ever was a moment
when man did not express the divine perfec-
tion, then there was a moment when man did not express
470:27 God, and consequently a time when Deity was unex-
pressed - that is, without entity. If man has lost per-
fection, then he has lost his perfect Principle, the divine
470:30 Mind. If man ever existed without this perfect Principle
or Mind, then man's existence was a myth.
The relations of God and man, divine Principle and
471:1 idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows
no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine
471:3 order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He cre-
ates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged
in its eternal history.
Celestial evidence
471:6 The unlikeness of Truth, - named /error/, - the op-
posite of Science, and the evidence before the five cor-
poreal senses, afford no indication of the grand
471:9 facts of being; even as these so-called senses
receive no intimation of the earth's motions or of the
science of astronomy, but yield assent to astronomical
471:12 propositions on the authority of natural science.
The facts of divine Science should be admitted, -
although the evidence as to these facts is not supported
471:15 by evil, by matter, or by material sense, - because the
evidence that God and man coexist is fully sustained by
spiritual sense. Man is, and forever has been, God's re-
471:18 flection. God is infinite, therefore ever present, and
there is no other power nor presence. Hence the spirit-
uality of the universe is the only fact of creation. "Let
471:21 God be true, but every [material] man a liar."
The test of experience
/Question/. - Are doctrines and creeds a benefit to man?
/Answer/. - The author subscribed to an orthodox
471:24 creed in early youth, and tried to adhere to it until she
caught the first gleam of that which inter-
prets God as above mortal sense. This
471:27 view rebuked human beliefs, and gave the spiritual im-
port, expressed through Science, of all that proceeds
from the divine Mind. Since then her highest creed has
471:30 been divine Science, which, reduced to human apprehen-
sion, she has named Christian Science. This Science
472:1 teaches man that God is the only Life, and that this Life
is Truth and Love; that God is to be understood, adored,
472:3 and demonstrated; that divine Truth casts out supposi-
tional error and heals the sick.
God's law destroys evil
The way which leads to Christian Science is straight
472:6 and narrow. God has set His signet upon Science, mak-
ing it coordinate with all that is real and only
with that which is harmonious and eternal.
472:9 Sickness, sin, and death, being inharmonious, do not
originate in God nor belong to His government. His
law, rightly understood, destroys them. Jesus furnished
472:12 proofs of these statements.
Evanescent materiality
/Question/. - What is error?
/Answer/. - Error is a supposition that pleasure and
472:15 pain, that intelligence, substance, life, are existent in mat-
ter. Error is neither Mind nor one of Mind's
faculties. Error is the contradiction of Truth.
472:18 Error is a belief without understanding. Error is unreal
because untrue. It is that which seemeth to be and is not.
If error were true, its truth would be error, and we should
472:21 have a self-evident absurdity - namely, /erroneous truth/.
Thus we should continue to lose the standard of Truth.
Unrealities that seem real
/Question/. - Is there no sin?
472:24 /Answer/. - All reality is in God and His creation, har-
monious and eternal. That which He creates is good,
and He makes all that is made. Therefore
472:27 the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is
the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring
belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not
472:30 true, because they are not of God. We learn in Christian
473:1 Science that all inharmony of mortal mind or body is illu-
sion, possessing neither reality nor identity though seeming
473:3 to be real and identical.
Christ the ideal Truth
The Science of Mind disposes of all evil. Truth, God,
is not the father of error. Sin, sickness, and death are
473:6 to be classified as effects of error. Christ
came to destroy the belief of sin. The God-
principle is omnipresent and omnipotent. God is every-
473:9 where, and nothing apart from Him is present or has
power. Christ is the ideal Truth, that comes to heal
sickness and sin through Christian Science, and attributes
473:12 all power to God. Jesus is the name of the man who,
more than all other men, has presented Christ, the true
idea of God, healing the sick and the sinning and destroy-
473:15 ing the power of death. Jesus is the human man, and
Christ is the divine idea; hence the duality of Jesus the
Christ.
Jesus not God
473:18 In an age of ecclesiastical despotism, Jesus introduced
the teaching and practice of Christianity, affording the
proof of Christianity's truth and love; but to
473:21 reach his example and to test its unerring Sci-
ence according to his rule, healing sickness, sin, and
death, a better understanding of God as divine Prin-
473:24 ciple, Love, rather than personality or the man Jesus, is
required.
Jesus not understood
Jesus established what he said by demonstration,
473:27 thus making his acts of higher importance than his
words. He proved what he taught. This
is the Science of Christianity. Jesus /proved/
473:30 the Principle, which heals the sick and casts out error,
to be divine. Few, however, except his students un-
derstood in the least his teachings and their glorious
474:1 proofs, - namely, that Life, Truth, and Love (the Prin-
ciple of this unacknowledged Science) destroy all error,
474:3 evil, disease, and death.
Miracles rejected
The reception accorded to Truth in the early Chris-
tian era is repeated to-day. Whoever introduces the
474:6 Science of Christianity will be scoffed at and
scourged with worse cords than those which
cut the flesh. To the ignorant age in which it first
474:9 appears, Science seems to be a mistake, - hence the
misinterpretation and consequent maltreatment which
it receives. Christian marvels (and /marvel/ is the sim-
474:12 ple meaning of the Greek word rendered /miracle/ in the
New Testament) will be misunderstood and misused
by many, until the glorious Principle of these marvels is
474:15 gained.
Divine fulfilment
If sin, sickness, and death are as real as Life, Truth,
and Love, then they must all be from the same source;
474:18 God must be their author. Now Jesus came
to destroy sin, sickness, and death yet the
Scriptures aver, "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."
474:21 Is it possible, then, to believe that the evils which Jesus
lived to destroy are real or the offspring of the divine
will?
Truth destroys falsity
474:24 Despite the hallowing influence of Truth in the de-
struction of error, must error still be immortal? Truth
spares all that is true. If evil is real, Truth
474:27 must make it so; but error, not Truth, is
the author of the unreal, and the unreal vanishes,
while all that is real is eternal. The apostle says that
474:30 the mission of Christ is to "destroy the works of the
devil." Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and
darkness cannot dwell together. Light extinguishes the
475:1 darkness, and the Scripture declares that there is "no
night there." To Truth there is no error, - all is Truth.
475:3 To infinite Spirit there is no matter, - all is Spirit, divine
Principle and its idea.
Fleshly factors unreal
/Question/. - What is man?
475:6 /Answer/. - Man is not matter; he is not made up of
brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. The
Scriptures inform us that man is made in
475:9 the image and likeness of God. Matter is
not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so
unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and be-
475:12 cause he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so under-
stood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of
Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of
475:15 God, including all right ideas; the generic term for
all that reflects God's image and likeness; the conscious
identity of being as found in Science, in which man is
475:18 the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal;
that which has no separate mind from God; that which
has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which
475:21 possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his
own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker.
And God said: "Let us make man in our image, after
475:24 our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
475:27 creepeth upon the earth."
Man unfallen
Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death. The
real man cannot depart from holiness, nor
475:30 can God, by whom man is evolved, engender
the capacity or freedom to sin. A mortal sinner is not
476:1 God's man. Mortals are the counterfeits of immortals.
They are the children of the wicked one, or the one evil,
476:3 which declares that man begins in dust or as a material
embryo. In divine Science, God and the real man are
inseparable as divine Principle and idea.
Mortals are not immortals
476:6 Error, urged to its final limits, is self-destroyed.
Error will cease to claim that soul is in body, that life
and intelligence are in matter, and that
476:9 this matter is man. God is the Principle of
man, and man is the idea of God. Hence man is not
mortal nor material. Mortals will disappear, and im-
476:12 mortals, or the children of God, will appear as the only
and eternal verities of man. Mortals are not fallen chil-
dren of God. They never had a perfect state of being,
476:15 which may subsequently be regained. They were, from
the beginning of mortal history, "conceived in sin and
brought forth in iniquity." Mortality is finally swallowed
476:18 up in immortality. Sin, sickness, and death must dis-
appear to give place to the facts which belong to immortal
man.
Imperishable identity
476:21 Learn this, O mortal, and earnestly seek the spiritual
status of man, which is outside of all material selfhood.
Remember that the Scriptures say of mortal
476:24 man: "As for man, his days are as grass: as
a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind
passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall
476:27 know it no more."
The kingdom within
When speaking of God's children, not the children of
men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;"
476:30 that is, Truth and Love reign in the real
man, showing that man in God's image is
unfallen and eternal. Jesus beheld in Science the per-
477:1 fect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal
man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour
477:3 saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man
healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom
of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy.
477:6 Man is not a material habitation for Soul; he is himself
spiritual. Soul, being Spirit, is seen in nothing imperfect
nor material.
Material body never God's idea
477:9 Whatever is material is mortal. To the five corporeal
senses, man appears to be matter and mind united; but
Christian Science reveals man as the idea of
477:12 God, and declares the corporeal senses to be
mortal and erring illusions. Divine Science
shows it to be impossible that a material body, though
477:15 interwoven with matter's highest stratum, misnamed
mind, should be man, - the genuine and perfect man,
the immortal idea of being, indestructible and eternal.
477:18 Were it otherwise, man would be annihilated.
Reflection of Spirit
/Question/. - What are body and Soul?
/Answer/. - Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the re-
477:21 flection in multifarious forms of the living Principle,
Love. Soul is the substance, Life, and intelli-
gence of man, which is individualized, but not
477:24 in matter. Soul can never reflect anything inferior to
Spirit.
Man inseparable from Spirit
Man is the expression of Soul. The Indians caught
477:27 some glimpses of the underlying reality, when
they called a certain beautiful lake "the smile
of the Great Spirit." Separated from man,
477:30 who expresses Soul, Spirit would be a nonentity; man,
divorced from Spirit, would lose his entity. But there is,
478:1 there can be, no such division, for man is coexistent with
God.
A vacant domicile
478:3 What evidence of Soul or of immortality have you
within mortality? Even according to the teachings of
natural science, man has never beheld Spirit
478:6 or Soul leaving a body or entering it. What
basis is there for the theory of indwelling spirit, except
the claim of mortal belief? What would be thought of
478:9 the declaration that a house was inhabited, and by a cer-
tain class of persons, when no such persons were ever seen
to go into the house or to come out of it, nor were they
478:12 even visible through the windows? Who can see a soul
in the body?
Harmonious functions
/Question/. - Does brain think, and do nerves feel, and
478:15 is there intelligence in matter?
/Answer/. - No, not if God is true and mortal man a
liar. The assertion that there can be pain or pleasure
478:18 in matter is erroneous. That body is most
harmonious in which the discharge of the nat-
ural functions is least noticeable. How can intelligence
478:21 dwell in matter when matter is non-intelligent and
brain-lobes cannot think? Matter cannot perform the
functions of Mind. Error says, "I am man;" but this
478:24 belief is mortal and far from actual. From beginning
to end, whatever is mortal is composed of material hu-
man beliefs and of nothing else. That only is real which
478:27 reflects God. St. Paul said, "But when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me
by His grace, . . . I conferred not with flesh and blood."
Immortal birthright
478:30 /Mortal man/ is really a self-contradictory phrase, for
man is not mortal, "neither indeed can be;" man is im-
479:1 mortal. If a child is the offspring of physical sense and
not of Soul, the child must have a material, not a spirit-
479:3 ual origin. With what truth, then, could the
Scriptural rejoicing be uttered by any mother,
"I have gotten a man from the Lord"? On the con-
479:6 trary, if aught comes from God, it cannot be mortal and
material; it must be immortal and spiritual.
Matter's supposed selfhood
Matter is neither self-existent nor a product of Spirit.
479:9 An image of mortal thought, reflected on the retina, is
all that the eye beholds. Matter cannot see,
feel, hear, taste, nor smell. It is not self-
479:12 cognizant, - cannot feel itself, see itself, nor
understand itself. Take away so-called mortal mind,
which constitutes matter's supposed selfhood, and matter
479:15 can take no cognizance of matter. Does that which we
call dead ever see, hear, feel, or use any of the physical
senses?
Chaos and darkness
479:18 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep."
479:21 (Genesis i. 1, 2.) In the vast forever, in the
Science and truth of being, the only facts are Spirit
and its innumerable creations. Darkness and chaos
479:24 are the imaginary opposites of light, understanding,
and eternal harmony, and they are the elements of
nothingness.
Spiritual reflection
479:27 We admit that black is not a color, because it reflects
no light. So evil should be denied identity or power,
because it has none of the divine hues. Paul
479:30 says: "For the invisible things of Him, from
the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being under-
stood by the things that are made." (Romans i. 20.)
480:1 When the substance of Spirit appears in Christian Sci-
ence, the nothingness of matter is recognized. Where
480:3 the spirit of God is, and there is no place where God is
not, evil becomes nothing, - the opposite of the some-
thing of Spirit. If there is no spiritual reflection, then
480:6 there remains only the darkness of vacuity and not a trace
of heavenly tints.
Harmony from Spirit
Nerves are an element of the belief that there is sensa-
480:9 tion in matter, whereas matter is devoid of sensation.
Consciousness, as well as action, is governed
by Mind, - is in God, the origin and gov-
480:12 ernor of all that Science reveals. Material sense has
its realm apart from Science in the unreal. Harmonious
action proceeds from Spirit, God. inharmony has no
480:15 Principle; its action is erroneous and presupposes man
to be in matter. Inharmony would make matter the
cause as well as the effect of intelligence, or Soul, thus
480:18 attempting to separate Mind from God.
Evil non-existent
Man is not God, and God is not man. Again, God,
or good, never made man capable of sin. It is the oppo-
480:21 site of good - that is, evil - which seems to
make men capable of wrong-doing. Hence,
evil is but an illusion, and it has no real basis. Evil is a
480:24 false belief. God is not its author. The supposititious
parent of evil is a lie.
Vapor and nothingness
The Bible declares: "All things were made by Him
480:27 [the divine Word]; and without Him was not anything,
made that was made." This is the eternal
verity of divine Science. If sin, sickness,
480:30 death were understood as nothingness, they would dis-
appear. As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would
vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the
481:1 other. How important, then, to choose good as the
reality! Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing
481:3 else. God's being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and
boundless bliss. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty." Like the archpriests of yore, man is
481:6 free "to enter into the holiest," - the realm of God.
The fruit forbidden
Material sense never helps mortals to understand
Spirit, God. Through spiritual sense only, man com-
481:9 prehends and loves Deity. The various con-
tradictions of the Science of Mind by the ma-
terial senses do not change the unseen Truth, which re-
481:12 mains forever intact. The forbidden fruit of knowledge,
against which wisdom warns man, is the testimony of
error, declaring existence to be at the mercy of death,
481:15 and good and evil to be capable of commingling. This
is the significance of the Scripture concerning this "tree
of the knowledge of good and evil," - this growth of
481:18 material belief, of which it is said: "In the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Human hypotheses
first assume the reality of sickness, sin, and death, and
481:21 then assume the necessity of these evils because of their
admitted actuality. These human verdicts are the pro-
curers of all discord.
Sense and pure Soul
481:24 If Soul sins, it must be mortal. Sin has the elements
of self-destruction. It cannot sustain itself. If sin is
supported, God must uphold it, and this is
481:27 impossible, since Truth cannot support error.
Soul is the divine Principle of man and never sins, -
hence the immortality of Soul. In Science we learn that
481:30 it is material sense, not Soul, which sins; and it will be
found that it is the sense of sin which is lost, and not a
sinful soul. When reading the Scriptures, the substitu-
482:1 tion of the word /sense/ for /soul/ gives the exact meaning in
a majority of cases.
Soul defined
482:3 Human thought has adulterated the meaning of the
word /soul/ through the hypothesis that soul is both an evil
and a good intelligence, resident in matter.
482:6 The proper use of the word /soul/ can always
be gained by substituting the word /God/, where the deific
meaning is required. In other cases, use the word /sense/,
482:9 and you will have the scientific signification. As used
in Christian Science, Soul is properly the synonym of
Spirit, or God; but out of Science, soul is identical with
482:12 sense, with material sensation.
Sonship of Jesus
/Question/. - Is it important to understand these ex-
planations in order to heal the sick?
482:15 /Answer/. - It is, since Christ is "the way" and the
truth casting out all error. Jesus called himself " the
Son of man," but not the son of Joseph. As
482:18 woman is but a species of the genera, he was
literally the Son of Man. Jesus was the highest human
concept of the perfect man. He was inseparable from
482:21 Christ, the Messiah, - the divine idea of God outside
the flesh. This enabled Jesus to demonstrate his con-
trol over matter. Angels announced to the Wisemen of
482:24 old this dual appearing, and angels whisper it, through
faith, to the hungering heart in every age.