Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures
by
Mary Baker Eddy

Part 8 out of 14



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

God the parent Mind

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

Man reflects the perfect God

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

Purity the path to perfection

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

True idea of man

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

Truth demonstrated

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

Adam not ideal man

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

Divine pardon

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

Evil not produced by God

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

Basis of health and immortality

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

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

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




CHAPTER XI - SOME OBJECTIONS ANSWERED

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

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

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

Supported by facts

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

Commands of Jesus

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

Christianity scientific

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

Argument of good works

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

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

Personal experience

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

Proof from miracles

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

Example of the disciples

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

Strong position

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

Efficacy may be attested

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

The one divine method

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

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

Omnipotence set forth

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

Contradictions not found

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

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

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

God's idea the ideal man

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

Nothingness of error

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

Truth antidotes error

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

Serving two masters

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

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

Essential element of Christianity

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

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

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

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

All disease a delusion

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

Elimination of sickness

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

Full fruitage yet to come

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

Law and gospel

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

Language inadequate

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

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

Substance spiritual

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

Both words and works

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

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

The divine life-link

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

Truth a present help

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

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

Fatal premises

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

Fruitless worship

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

Spirit the tangible

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

Ghosts not realities

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

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

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

The real and the unreal

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

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

Superstition obsolete

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

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

Christian warfare

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

Healing omitted

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

Scientific consistency

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

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

Spiritual meaning

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

Practical arguments

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

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

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

Conditions of criticism

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

Weakness of material theories

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

Irreconciliable differences

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

Copartnership impossible

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

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

Two infinite creators absurd

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

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

Anthropomorphism

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

One supremacy

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

Matter impotent

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

Scientific and Biblical facts

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

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

Personal confidence

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

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

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

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

Two different artists

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

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

Choose ye to-day

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

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

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

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




CHAPTER XII - CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PRACTICE

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

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

A gospel narrative

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

Parable of the creditor

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

Divine insight

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

Penitence or hospitality

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

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

Genuine repentance

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

Compassion requisite

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

Speedy healing

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

Truth desecrated

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

Moral evils to be cast out

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

The true physician

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

Source of calmness

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

Genuine healing

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

Gratitude and humility

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

The salt of the earth

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

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

Real and counterfeit

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

Results of faith in Truth

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

Life independent of matter

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

Man's entity

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

The Christ treatment

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

Matter not medicine

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

No healing in sin

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

Like curing like

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

Transient potency of drugs

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

Diagnosis of matter

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

Ghost-stories inducing fear

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

Mind imparts purity, health, and beauty

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

Brain not intelligent

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

Veritable success

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

Recognition of benefits

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

Disease far more docile than iniquity

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

Love frees from fear

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

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

Mind circulates blood

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

Mind can destroy all ills

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

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

Temperature is mental

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

Science _versus _hypnotism

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

Cure for palsy

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

Latent fear diagnosed

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

Insidious concepts

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

Remedy for fever

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

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

Climate harmless

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

Mind governs body

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

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

Latent power

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

Disease powerless

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

Jurisdiction of Mind

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

Power of imagination

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

Fevers the effect of fear

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

Misdirected contention

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

Benefits of metaphysics

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

A higher discovery

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

Ignorance of our rights

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

No laws of matter

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

God-given dominion

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

Begin rightly

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

Hygiene excessive

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

Blissful ignorance

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

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

A clean mind and body

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

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

Beliefs illusive

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

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

Corporeal penalties

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

Not matter, but Mind

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

Benefit of philanthropy

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

Honest toil has no penalty

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

Our sleep and food

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

Doubtful evidence

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

Climate and belief

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

Erroneous despatch



 


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