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

Part 9 out of 14



A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the
death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's
386:18 real death would bring. You think that your
anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another
despatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and
386:21 you learn that your suffering was merely the result of
your belief. Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and
death. You will learn at length that there is no cause
386:24 for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood.
Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.

Mourning causeless

If a Christian Scientist had said, while you were labor-
386:27 ing under the influence of the belief of grief, "Your sor-
row is without cause," you would not have
understood him, although the correctness of
386:30 the assertion might afterwards be proved to you. So,
when our friends pass from our sight and we lament,
that lamentation is needless and causeless. We shall
387:1 perceive this to be true when we grow into the under-
standing of Life, and know that there is no death.

Mind heals brain-disease

387:3 Because mortal mind is kept active, must it pay the
penalty in a softened brain? Who dares to say that actual
Mind can be overworked? When we reach
387:6 our limits of mental endurance, we conclude
that intellectual labor has been carried sufficiently far;
but when we realize that immortal Mind is ever active,
387:9 and that spiritual energies can neither wear out nor can
so-called material law trespass upon God-given powers
and resources, we are able to rest in Truth, refreshed by
387:12 the assurances of immortality, opposed to mortality.

Right never punishable

Our thinkers do not die early because they faithfully
perform the natural functions of being. If printers and
387:15 authors have the shortest span of earthly ex-
istence, it is not because they occupy the most
important posts and perform the most vital functions in
387:18 society. That man does not pay the severest penalty
who does the most good. By adhering to the realities of
eternal existence, - instead of reading disquisitions on
387:21 the inconsistent supposition that death comes in obedience
to the law of life, and that God punishes man for doing
good, - one cannot suffer as the result of any labor of
387:24 love, but grows stronger because of it. It is a law of so-
called mortal mind, misnamed matter, which causes all
things discordant.

Christian history

387:27 The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs
of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed
on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent
387:30 Mind, who gives man faith and understanding
whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but
from bodily suffering.

388:1 The Christian martyrs were prophets of Christian
Science. Through the uplifting and consecrating power
388:3 of divine Truth, they obtained a victory over the corpo-
real senses, a victory which Science alone can explain.
Stolidity, which is a resisting state of mortal mind, suffers
388:6 less, only because it knows less of material law.

The Apostle John testified to the divine basis of Chris-
tian Science, when dire inflictions failed to destroy his
388:9 body. Idolaters, believing in more than one mind, had
"gods many," and thought that they could kill the body
with matter, independently of mind.

Sustenance spiritual

388:12 Admit the common hypothesis that food is the nutri-
ment of life, and there follows the necessity for another
admission in the opposite direction, - that
388:15 food has power to destroy Life, God, through
a deficiency or an excess, a quality or a quantity. This
is a specimen of the ambiguous nature of all material
388:18 health-theories. They are self-contradictory and self-de-
structive, constituting a "kingdom divided against itself,"
which is "brought to desolation." If food was prepared
388:21 by Jesus for his disciples, it cannot destroy life.

God sustains man

The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of
man, and this becomes self-evident, when we learn that
388:24 God is our Life. Because sin and sickness are
not qualities of Soul, or Life, we have hope in
immortality; but it would be foolish to venture beyond
388:27 our present understanding, foolish to stop eating until
we gain perfection and a clear comprehension of the living
Spirit. In that perfect day of understanding, we shall
388:30 neither eat to live nor live to eat.

Diet and digestion

If mortals think that food disturbs the harmonious
functions of mind and body, either the food or this thought
389:1 must be dispensed with, for the penalty is coupled with
the belief. Which shall it be? If this decision be left
389:3 to Christian Science, it will be given in behalf
of the control of Mind over this belief and every
erroneous belief, or material condition. The less we
389:6 know or think about hygiene, the less we are predisposed
to sickness. Recollect that it is not the nerves, not mat-
ter, but mortal mind, which reports food as undigested.
389:9 Matter does not inform you of bodily derangements; it
is supposed to do so. This pseudo-mental testimony can
be destroyed only by the better results of Mind's oppo-
389:12 site evidence.

Scripture rebukes

Our dietetic theories first admit that food sustains the
life of man, and then discuss the certainty that food can
389:15 kill man. This false reasoning is rebuked in
Scripture by the metaphors about the fount
and stream, the tree and its fruit, and the kingdom di-
389:18 vided against itself. If God has, as prevalent theories
maintain, instituted laws that food shall support human
life, He cannot annul these regulations by an opposite
389:21 law that food shall be inimical to existence.

Ancient confusion

Materialists contradict their own statements. Their
belief in material laws and in penalties for their infrac-
389:24 tion is the ancient error that there is fraternity
between pain and pleasure, good and evil, God
and Satan. This belief totters to its falling before the
389:27 battle-axe of Science.

A case of convulsions, produced by indigestion, came
under my observation. In her belief the woman had
389:30 chronic liver-complaint, and was then suffering from a
complication of symptoms connected with this belief. I
cured her in a few minutes. One instant she spoke de-
390:1 spairingly of herself. The next minute she said, "My
food is all digested, and I should like something more
390:3 to eat."

Ultimate harmony

We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained, and we
should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, sim-
390:6 ply because, to the mortal senses, there is seem-
ing discord. It is our ignorance of God, the
divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and
390:9 the right understanding of Him restores harmony. Truth
will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and
pains of sense for the joys of Soul.

Unnecessary prostration

390:12 When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the
testimony of the material senses with divine Science. Let
your higher sense of justice destroy the false
390:15 process of mortal opinions which you name
law, and then you will not be confined to a sick-room nor
laid upon a bed of suffering in payment of the last far-
390:18 thing, the last penalty demanded by error. "Agree with
thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with
him." Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon
390:21 the thought. Dismiss it with an abiding conviction that
it is illegitimate, because you know that God is no more
the author of sickness than He is of sin. You have no
390:24 law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sick-
ness, but you have divine authority for denying that neces-
sity and healing the sick.

Treatment of disease

390:27 "Agree to disagree" with approaching symptoms of
chronic or acute disease, whether it is cancer, consump-
tion, or smallpox. Meet the incipient stages
390:30 of disease with as powerful mental opposi-
tion as a legislator would employ to defeat the passage of
an inhuman law. Rise in the conscious strength of the
391:1 spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind,
_alias_ matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit.
391:3 Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in
sickness and sin. Then, when thou art delivered to the
judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say, "Thou
391:6 art whole!"

Righteous rebellion

Instead of blind and calm submission to the incipient
or advanced stages of disease, rise in rebellion against
391:9 them. Banish the belief that you can possi-
bly entertain a single intruding pain which can-
not be ruled out by the might of Mind, and in this way
391:12 you can prevent the development of pain in the body.
No law of God hinders this result. It is error to suffer
for aught but your own sins. Christ, or Truth, will de-
391:15 stroy all other supposed suffering, and real suffering for
your own sins will cease in proportion as the sin ceases.

Contradict error

Justice is the moral signification of law. Injustice de-
391:18 clares the absence of law. When the body is supposed
to say, "I am sick," never plead guilty. Since
matter cannot talk, it must be mortal mind
391:21 which speaks; therefore meet the intimation with a pro-
test. If you say, "I am sick," you plead guilty. Then
your adversary will deliver you to the judge (mortal
391:24 mind), and the judge will sentence you. Disease has
no intelligence to declare itself something and announce
its name. Mortal mind alone sentences itself. Therefore
391:27 make your own terms with sickness, and be just to yourself
and to others.

Sin to be overcome

Mentally contradict every complaint from the body,
391:30 and rise to the true consciousness of Life as
Love, - as all that is pure, and bearing the
fruits of Spirit. Fear is the fountain of sickness,
392:1 and you master fear and sin through divine Mind; hence
it is through divine Mind that you overcome disease.
392:3 Only while fear or sin remains can it bring forth death.
To cure a bodily ailment, every broken moral law should
be taken into account and the error be rebuked. Fear,
392:6 which is an element of all disease, must be cast out to
readjust the balance for God. Casting out evil and fear
enables truth to outweigh error. The only course is to
392:9 take antagonistic grounds against all that is opposed to
the health, holiness, and harmony of man, God's image.

Illusions about nerves

The physical affirmation of disease should always be
392:12 met with the mental negation. Whatever benefit is pro-
duced on the body, must be expressed men-
tally, and thought should be held fast to this
392:15 ideal. If you believe in inflamed and weak nerves, you
are liable to an attack from that source. You will call it
neuralgia, but we call it a belief. If you think that con-
392:18 sumption is hereditary in your family, you are liable to
the development of that thought in the form of what is
termed pulmonary disease, unless Science shows you
392:21 otherwise. If you decide that climate or atmosphere is
unhealthy, it will be so to you. Your decisions will mas-
ter you, whichever direction they take.

Guarding the door

392:24 Reverse the case. Stand porter at the door of thought.
Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in
bodily results, you will control yourself har-
392:27 moniously. When the condition is present
which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise,
heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office
392:30 as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears.
Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the
body cannot suffer from them. The issues of pain or
393:1 pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman
forsaking his post, we admit the intruding belief, forget-
393:3 ting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance.

The strength of Spirit

The body seems to be self-acting, only because mortal
mind is ignorant of itself, of its own actions, and of their
393:6 results, - ignorant that the predisposing, re-
mote, and exciting cause of all bad effects is a
law of so-called mortal mind, not of matter. Mind is the
393:9 master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness,
sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take
possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action.
393:12 Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike
good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing
can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on
393:15 man.

No pain in matter

Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind
governs, and that in Science man reflects God's govern-
393:18 ment. Have no fear that matter can ache,
swell, and be inflamed as the result of a law
of any kind, when it is self-evident that matter can have
393:21 no pain nor inflammation. Your body would suffer no
more from tension or wounds than the trunk of a tree
which you gash or the electric wire which you stretch,
393:24 were it not for mortal mind.

When Jesus declares that "the light of the body is the
eye," he certainly means that light depends upon Mind,
393:27 not upon the complex humors, lenses, muscles, the iris
and pupil, constituting the visual organism.

No real disease

Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter
393:30 cannot be. A false belief is both the tempter
and the tempted, the sin and the sinner, the
disease and its cause. It is well to be calm in sickness;
394:1 to be hopeful is still better; but to understand that sick-
ness is not real and that Truth can destroy its seeming
394:3 reality, is best of all, for this understanding is the uni-
versal and perfect remedy.

Recuperation mental

By conceding power to discord, a large majority of
394:6 doctors depress mental energy, which is the only real
recuperative power. Knowledge that we
can accomplish the good we hope for, stimu-
394:9 lates the system to act in the direction which Mind points
out. The admission that any bodily condition is beyond
the control of Mind disarms man, prevents him from
394:12 helping himself, and enthrones matter through error. To
those struggling with sickness, such admissions are dis-
couraging, - as much so as would be the advice to a man
394:15 who is down in the world, that he should not try to rise
above his difficulties.

Experience has proved to the author the fallacy of
394:18 material systems in general, - that their theories are
sometimes pernicious, and that their denials are better
than their affirmations. Will you bid a man let evils
394:21 overcome him, assuring him that all misfortunes are from
God, against whom mortals should not contend? Will
you tell the sick that their condition is hopeless, unless it
394:24 can be aided by a drug or climate? Are material means
the only refuge from fatal chances? Is there no divine
permission to conquer discord of every kind with harmony,
394:27 with Truth and Love?

Arguing wrongly

We should remember that Life is God, and that God
is omnipotent. Not understanding Christian
394:30 Science, the sick usually have little faith in
it till they feel its beneficent influence. This shows
that faith is not the healer in such cases. The sick
395:1 unconsciously argue for suffering, instead of against it.
They admit its reality, whereas they should deny it.
395:3 They should plead in opposition to the testimony of the
deceitful senses, and maintain man's immortality and
eternal likeness to God.

Divine authority

395:6 Like the great Exemplar, the healer should speak to
disease as one having authority over it, leaving Soul to
master the false evidences of the corporeal
395:9 senses and to assert its claims over mortal-
ity and disease. The same Principle cures both sin and
sickness. When divine Science overcomes faith in a car-
395:12 nal mind, and faith in God destroys all faith in sin and in
material methods of healing, then sin, disease, and death
will disappear.

Aids in sickness

395:15 Prayers, in which God is not asked to heal but is be-
sought to take the patient to Himself, do not benefit the
sick. An ill-tempered, complaining, or deceit-
395:18 ful person should not be a nurse. The nurse
should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of
faith, - receptive to Truth and Love.

Mental quackery

395:21 It is mental quackery to make disease a reality - to
hold it as something seen and felt - and then to attempt
its cure through Mind. It is no less erroneous
395:24 to believe in the real existence of a tumor, a
cancer, or decayed lungs, while you argue against their
reality, than it is for your patient to feel these ills in
395:27 physical belief. Mental practice, which holds disease
as a reality, fastens disease on the patient, and it may
appear in a more alarming form.

Effacing images of disease

395:30 The knowledge that brain-lobes cannot kill a man nor
affect the functions of mind would prevent the brain from
becoming diseased, though a moral offence is indeed the
396:1 worst of diseases. One should never hold in mind
the thought of disease, but should efface from
396:3 thought all forms and types of disease, both for
one's own sake and for that of the patient.

Avoid talking disease

Avoid talking illness to the patient. Make no unne-
396:6 cessary inquiries relative to feelings or disease. Never
startle with a discouraging remark about re-
covery, nor draw attention to certain symp-
396:9 toms as unfavorable, avoid speaking aloud the name of
the disease. Never say beforehand how much you have
to contend with in a case, nor encourage in the patient's
396:12 thought the expectation of growing worse before a crisis
is passed.

False testimony refuted

The refutation of the testimony of material sense is
396:15 not a difficult task in view of the conceded falsity of this
testimony. The refutation becomes arduous,
not because the testimony of sin or disease is
396:18 true, but solely on account of the tenacity of belief in its
truth, due to the force of education and the overwhelm-
ing weight of opinions on the wrong side, - all teaching
396:21 that the body suffers, as if matter could have sensation.

Healthful explanation

At the right time explain to the sick the power which
their beliefs exercise over their bodies. Give them divine
396:24 and wholesome understanding, with which to
combat their erroneous sense, and so efface the
images of sickness from mortal mind. Keep distinctly in
396:27 thought that man is the offspring of God, not of man;
that man is spiritual, not material; that Soul is Spirit,
outside of matter, never in it, never giving the body life
396:30 and sensation. It breaks the dream of disease to under-
stand that sickness is formed by the human mind, not by
matter nor by the divine Mind.

Misleading methods

397:1 By not perceiving vital metaphysical points, not seeing
how mortal mind affects the body, - acting beneficially
397:3 or injuriously on the health, as well as on the
morals and the happiness of mortals, - we are
misled in our conclusions and methods. We throw the
397:6 mental influence on the wrong side, thereby actually in-
juring those whom we mean to bless.

Remedy for accidents

Suffering is no less a mental condition than is enjoy-
397:9 ment. You cause bodily sufferings and increase them
by admitting their reality and continuance,
as directly as you enhance your joys by be-
397:12 lieving them to be real and continuous. When an ac-
cident happens, you think or exclaim, "I am hurt!"
Your thought is more powerful than your words, more
397:15 powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury
real.

Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt
397:18 and understand the reason why, and you will find the
ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your
disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine meta-
397:21 physics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures
declare Him to be.

Independent mentality

To heal the sick, one must be familiar with the great
397:24 verities of being. Mortals are no more material in their
waking hours than when they act, walk, see,
hear, enjoy, or suffer in dreams. We can
397:27 never treat mortal mind and matter separately, because
they combine as one. Give up the belief that mind
is, even temporarily, compressed within the skull, and
397:30 you will quickly become more manly or womanly. You
will understand yourself and your Maker better than
before.

Naming maladies

398:1 Sometimes Jesus called a disease by name, as when he
said to the epileptic boy, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I
398:3 charge thee, come out of him, and enter no
more into him." It is added that "the spirit
[error] cried, and rent him sore and came out of him, and
398:6 he was as one dead," - clear evidence that the malady
was not material. These instances show the concessions
which Jesus was willing to make to the popular ignorance
398:9 of spiritual Life-laws. Often he gave no name to the
distemper he cured. To the synagogue ruler's daughter,
whom they called dead but of whom he said, "she is not
398:12 dead, but sleepeth," he simply said, "Damsel, I say unto
thee, arise!" To the sufferer with the withered hand
he said, "Stretch forth thine hand," and it "was restored
398:15 whole, like as the other."

The action of faith

Homoeopathic remedies, sometimes not containing a
particle of medicine, are known to relieve the symptoms
398:18 of disease. What produces the change? It is
the faith of the doctor and the patient, which
reduces self-inflicted sufferings and produces a new effect
398:21 upon the body. In like manner destroy the illusion of
pleasure in intoxication, and the desire for strong drink
is gone. Appetite and disease reside in mortal mind, not
398:24 in matter.

So also faith, cooperating with a belief in the healing
effects of time and medication, will soothe fear and change
398:27 the belief of disease to a belief of health. Even a blind
faith removes bodily ailments for a season, but hypnotism
changes such ills into new and more difficult forms of dis-
398:30 ease. The Science of Mind must come to the rescue,
to work a radical cure. Then we understand the process.
The great fact remains that evil is not mind. Evil has
399:1 no power, no intelligence, for God is good, and therefore
good is infinite, is All.

Corporeal combinations

399:3 You say that certain material combinations produce
disease; but if the material body causes disease, can
matter cure what matter has caused? Mortal
399:6 mind prescribes the drug, and administers it.
Mortal mind plans the exercise, and puts the body through
certain motions. No gastric gas accumulates, not a se-
399:9 cretion nor combination can operate, apart from the
action of mortal thought, _alias_ mortal mind.

Automatic mechanism

So-called mortal mind sends its despatches over its
399:12 body, but this so-called mind is both the service and
message of this telegraphy. Nerves are un-
able to talk, and matter can return no an-
399:15 swer to immortal Mind. If Mind is the only actor, how
can mechanism be automatic? Mortal mind perpetuates
its own thought. It constructs a machine, manages it,
399:18 and then calls it material. A mill at work or the action
of a water-wheel is but a derivative from, and continua-
tion of, the primitive mortal mind. Without this force
399:21 the body is devoid of action, and this deadness shows
that so-called mortal life is mortal mind, not matter.

Mental strength

Scientifically speaking, there is no mortal mind out of
399:24 which to make material beliefs, springing from illusion.
This misnamed mind is not an entity. It is
only a false sense of matter, since matter is not
399:27 sensible. The one Mind, God, contains no mortal opin-
ions. All that is real is included in this immortal Mind.

Confirmation in a parable

Our Master asked: "How can one enter into a strong
399:30 man's house and spoil his goods, except he first
bind the strong man?" In other words: How
can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called
400:1 mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When
disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear
400:3 of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thor-
oughly cured. Mortal mind is "the strong man," which
must be held in subjection before its influence upon health
400:6 and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we
can despoil "the strong man" of his goods, - namely, of
sin and disease.

Eradicate error from thought

400:9 Mortals obtain the harmony of health, only as they
forsake discord, acknowledge the supremacy of divine
Mind, and abandon their material beliefs.
400:12 Eradicate the image of disease from the per-
turbed thought before it has taken tangible
shape in conscious thought, _alias_ the body, and you pre-
400:15 vent the development of disease. This task becomes easy,
if you understand that every disease is an error, and has
no character nor type, except what mortal mind assigns to
400:18 it. By lifting thought above error, or disease, and con-
tending persistently for truth, you destroy error.

Mortal mind controlled

When we remove disease by addressing the disturbed
400:21 mind, giving no heed to the body, we prove that thought
alone creates the suffering. Mortal mind
rules all that is mortal. We see in the body
400:24 the images of this mind, even as in optics we see painted
on the retina the image which becomes visible to the
senses. The action of so-called mortal mind must be
400:27 destroyed by the divine Mind to bring out the harmony
of being. Without divine control there is discord, mani-
fest as sin, sickness, and death.

Mortal mind not a healer

400:30 The Scriptures plainly declare the baneful influence of
sinful thought on the body. Even our Master felt this.
It is recorded that in certain localities he did not many
401:1 mighty works "because of their unbelief" in Truth. Any
human error is its own enemy, and works against itself;
401:3 it does nothing in the right direction and much
in the wrong. If so-called mind is cherishing
evil passions and malicious purposes, it is not a healer,
401:6 but it engenders disease and death.

Effect of opposites

If faith in the truth of being, which you impart men-
tally while destroying error, causes chemicalization (as
401:9 when an alkali is destroying an acid), it is be-
cause the truth of being must transform the
error to the end of producing a higher manifestation.
401:12 This fermentation should not aggravate the disease, but
should be as painless to man as to a fluid, since matter
has no sensation and mortal mind only feels and sees
401:15 materially.

What I term _chemicalization_ is the upheaval produced
when immortal Truth is destroying erroneous mortal be-
401:18 lief. Mental chemicalization brings sin and sickness to
the surface, forcing impurities to pass away, as is the case
with a fermenting fluid.

Medicine and brain

401:21 The only effect produced by medicine is dependent upon
mental action. If the mind were parted from the body,
could you produce any effect upon the brain
401:24 or body by applying the drug to either? Would
the drug remove paralysis, affect organization, or restore
will and action to cerebrum and cerebellum?

Skilful surgery

401:27 Until the advancing age admits the efficacy and suprem-
acy of Mind, it is better for Christian Scientists to leave
surgery and the adjustment of broken bones
401:30 and dislocations to the fingers of a surgeon,
while the mental healer confines himself chiefly to mental
reconstruction and to the prevention of inflammation.
402:1 Christian Science is always the most skilful surgeon, but
surgery is the branch of its healing which will be last
402:3 acknowledged. However, it is but just to say that the
author has already in her possession well-authenticated
records of the cure, by herself and her students through
402:6 mental surgery alone, of broken bones, dislocated joints,
and spinal vertebrae.

Indestructible life of man

The time approaches when mortal mind will forsake
402:9 its corporeal, structural, and material basis, when im-
mortal Mind and its formations will be appre-
hended in Science, and material beliefs will
402:12 not interfere with spiritual facts. Man is indestructible
and eternal. Sometime it will be learned that mortal
mind constructs the mortal body with this mind's own
402:15 mortal materials. In Science, no breakage nor dislocation
can really occur. You say that accidents, injuries, and
disease kill man, but this is not true. The life of man is
402:18 Mind. The material body manifests only what mortal
mind believes, whether it be a broken bone, disease, or sin.

The evil of mesmerism

We say that one human mind can influence another and
402:21 in this way affect the body, but we rarely remember that
we govern our own bodies. The error, mes-
merism - or hypnotism, to use the recent term
402:24 - illustrates the fact just stated. The operator would
make his subjects believe that they cannot act voluntarily
and handle themselves as they should do. If they yield
402:27 to this influence, it is because their belief is not better
instructed by spiritual understanding. Hence the proof
that hypnotism is not scientific; Science cannot produce
402:30 both disorder and order. The involuntary pleasure or
pain of the person under hypnotic control is proved to be
a belief without a real cause.

Wrong-doer should suffer

403:1 So the sick through their beliefs have induced their own
diseased conditions. The great difference between vol-
403:3 untary and involuntary mesmerism is that vol-
untary mesmerism is induced consciously and
should and does cause the perpetrator to suffer, while self-
403:6 mesmerism is induced unconsciously and by his mistake
a man is often instructed. In the first instance it is under-
stood that the difficulty is a mental illusion, while in the
403:9 second it is believed that the misfortune is a material effect.
The human mind is employed to remove the illusion in
one case, but matter is appealed to in the other. In real-
403:12 ity, both have their origin in the human mind, and can be
healed only by the divine Mind.

Error's power imaginary

You command the situation if you understand that
403:15 mortal existence is a state of self-deception and not the
truth of being. Mortal mind is constantly
producing on mortal body the results of false
403:18 opinions; and it will continue to do so, until mortal
error is deprived of its imaginary powers by Truth,
which sweeps away the gossamer web of mortal illusion.
403:21 The most Christian state is one of rectitude and spir-
itual understanding, and this is best adapted for heal-
ing the sick. Never conjure up some new discovery from
403:24 dark forebodings regarding disease and then acquaint
your patient with it.

Disease-production

The mortal so-called mind produces all that is unlike
403:27 the immortal Mind. The human mind determines the
nature of a case, and the practitioner improves
or injures the case in proportion to the truth
403:30 or error which influences his conclusions. The mental
conception and development of disease are not under-
stood by the patient, but the physician should be familiar
404:1 with mental action and its effect in order to judge the case
according to Christian Science.

Appetites to be abandoned

404:3 If a man is an inebriate, a slave to tobacco, or the special
servant of any one of the myriad forms of sin, meet and
destroy these errors with the truth of being, -
404:6 by exhibiting to the wrong-doer the suffering
which his submission to such habits brings, and by con-
vincing him that there is no real pleasure in false appe-
404:9 tites. A corrupt mind is manifested in a corrupt body.
Lust, malice, and all sorts of evil are diseased beliefs, and
you can destroy them only by destroying the wicked
404:12 motives which produce them. If the evil is over in the
repentant mortal mind, while its effects still remain on the
individual, you can remove this disorder as God's law is
404:15 fulfilled and reformation cancels the crime. The healthy
sinner is the hardened sinner.

Temperance reform

The temperance reform, felt all over our land, results
404:18 from metaphysical healing, which cuts down every tree
that brings not forth good fruit. This con-
viction, that there is no real pleasure in sin,
404:21 is one of the most important points in the theology of
Christian Science. Arouse the sinner to this new and
true view of sin, show him that sin confers no pleasure,
404:24 and this knowledge strengthens his moral courage and
increases his ability to master evil and to love good.

Sin or fear the root of sickness

Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and
404:27 the same thing in Christian Science. Both cures require
the same method and are inseparable in Truth.
Hatred, envy, dishonesty, fear, and so forth,
404:30 make a man sick, and neither material medi-
cine nor Mind can help him permanently, even in body,
unless it makes him better mentally, and so delivers him
405:1 from his destroyers. The basic error is mortal mind.
Hatred inflames the brutal propensities. The indulgence
405:3 of evil motives and aims makes any man, who is above the
lowest type of manhood, a hopeless sufferer.

Mental conspirators

Christian Science commands man to master the pro-
405:6 pensities, - to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness,
to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with
charity, and to overcome deceit with hon-
405:9 esty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you
would not cherish an army of conspirators against
health, happiness, and success. They will deliver you
405:12 to the judge, the arbiter of truth against error. The
judge will deliver you to justice, and the sentence of
the moral law will be executed upon mortal mind and
405:15 body. Both will be manacled until the last farthing
is paid, - until you have balanced your account with
God. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
405:18 reap." The good man finally can overcome his fear of
sin. This is sin's necessity, - to destroy itself. Im-
mortal man demonstrates the government of God, good,
405:21 in which is no power to sin.

Cumulative repentence

It were better to be exposed to every plague on earth
than to endure the cumulative effects of a guilty con-
405:24 science. The abiding consciousness of wrong-
doing tends to destroy the ability to do right.
If sin is not regretted and is not lessening, then it is
405:27 hastening on to physical and moral doom. You are con-
quered by the moral penalties you incur and the ills they
bring. The pains of sinful sense are less harmful than its
405:30 pleasures. Belief in material suffering causes mortals to
retreat from their error, to flee from body to Spirit, and
to appeal to divine sources outside of themselves.

The leaves of healing

406:1 The Bible contains the recipe for all healing. "The
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
406:3 Sin and sickness are both healed by the same
Principle. The tree is typical of man's divine
Principle, which is equal to every emergency, offering
406:6 full salvation from sin, sickness, and death. Sin will
submit to Christian Science when, in place of modes and
forms, the power of God is understood and demonstrated
406:9 in the healing of mortals, both mind and body. "Per-
fect Love casteth out fear."

Sickness will abate

The Science of being unveils the errors of sense, and
406:12 spiritual perception, aided by Science, reaches Truth.
Then error disappears. Sin and sickness will
abate and seem less real as we approach the
406:15 scientific period, in which mortal sense is subdued and
all that is unlike the true likeness disappears. The moral
man has no fear that he will commit a murder, and he
406:18 should be as fearless on the question of disease.

Resist to the end

Resist evil - error of every sort - and it will flee from
you. Error is opposed to Life. We can, and ultimately
406:21 shall, so rise as to avail ourselves in every direc-
tion of the supremacy of Truth over error, Life
over death, and good over evil, and this growth will go
406:24 on until we arrive at the fulness of God's idea, and no
more fear that we shall be sick and die. Inharmony of
any kind involves weakness and suffering, - a loss of
406:27 control over the body.

Morbid cravings

The depraved appetite for alcoholic drinks, tobacco,
tea, coffee, opium, is destroyed only by Mind's mastery
406:30 of the body. This normal control is gained
through divine strength and understanding.
There is no enjoyment in getting drunk, in becoming a
407:1 fool or an object of loathing; but there is a very sharp
remembrance of it, a suffering inconceivably terrible to
407:3 man's self-respect. Puffing the obnoxious fumes of to-
bacco, or chewing a leaf naturally attractive to no crea-
ture except a loathsome worm, is at least disgusting.

Universal panacea

407:6 Man's enslavement to the most relentless masters -
passion, selfishness, envy, hatred, and revenge - is con-
quered only by a mighty struggle. Every
407:9 hour of delay makes the struggle more severe.
If man is not victorious over the passions, they crush
out happiness, health, and manhood. Here Christian
407:12 Science is the sovereign panacea, giving strength to the
weakness of mortal mind, - strength from the immortal
and omnipotent Mind, - and lifting humanity above
407:15 itself into purer desires, even into spiritual power and
good-will to man.

Let the slave of wrong desire learn the lessons of Chris-
407:18 tian Science, and he will get the better of that desire
and ascend a degree in the scale of health, happiness,
and existence.

Immortal memory

407:21 If delusion says, "I have lost my memory," contra-
dict it. No faculty of Mind is lost. In Science, all
being is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmoni-
407:24 ous in every action. Let the perfect model be
present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized op-
posite. This spiritualization of thought lets in the light,
407:27 and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your
consciousness.

Sin a form of insanity

There are many species of insanity. All sin is insan-
407:30 ity in different degrees. Sin is spared from
this classification, only because its method of
madness is in consonance with common mortal belief.
408:1 Every sort of sickness is error, - that is, sickness is
loss of harmony. This view is not altered by the fact
408:3 that sin is worse than sickness, and sickness is not ac-
knowledged nor discovered to be error by many who are
sick.

408:6 There is a universal insanity of so-called health, which
mistakes fable for fact throughout the entire round of the
material senses, but this general craze cannot, in a scien-
408:9 tific diagnosis, shield the individual case from the special
name of insanity. Those unfortunate people who are
committed to insane asylums are only so many distinctly
408:12 defined instances of the baneful effects of illusion on mor-
tal minds and bodies.

Drugs and brain-lobes

The supposition that we can correct insanity by the use
408:15 of purgatives and narcotics is in itself a mild species of
insanity. Can drugs go of their own accord
to the brain and destroy the so-called inflam-
408:18 mation of disordered functions, thus reaching mortal
mind through matter? Drugs do not affect a corpse, and
Truth does not distribute drugs through the blood, and
408:21 from them derive a supposed effect on intelligence and sen-
timent. A dislocation of the tarsal joint would produce
insanity as perceptibly as would congestion of the brain,
408:24 were it not that mortal mind thinks that the tarsal joint is
less intimately connected with the mind than is the brain.
Reverse the belief, and the results would be perceptibly
408:27 different.

Matter and animate error

The unconscious thought in the corporeal substra-
tum of brain produces no effect, and that condition of
408:30 the body which we call sensation in matter
is unreal. Mortal mind is ignorant of it-
self, - ignorant of the errors it includes and of their
409:1 effects. Intelligent matter is an impossibility. You
may say: "But if disease obtains in matter, why do
409:3 you insist that disease is formed by mortal mind and
not by matter?" _Mortal mind _and body combine as
one, and the nearer matter approaches its final state-
409:6 ment, - animate error called nerves, brain, mind, - the
more prolific it is likely to become in sin and disease-
beliefs.

Dictation of error

409:9 Unconscious mortal mind - _alias _matter, brain - can-
not dictate terms to consciousness nor say, "I am sick."
The belief, that the unconscious substratum
409:12 of mortal mind, termed the body, suffers and
reports disease independently of this so-called conscious
mind, is the error which prevents mortals from knowing
409:15 how to govern their bodies.

So-called superiority

The so-called conscious mortal mind is believed to be
superior to its unconscious substratum, matter, and
409:18 the stronger never yields to the weaker, ex-
cept through fear or choice. The animate
should be governed by God alone. The real man is
409:21 spiritual and immortal, but the mortal and imperfect
so-called "children of men" are counterfeits from the
beginning, to be laid aside for the pure reality. This
409:24 mortal is put off, and the new man or real man is put
on, in proportion as mortals realize the Science of man
and seek the true model.

Death no benefactor

409:27 We have no right to say that life depends on matter
now, but will not depend on it after death. We cannot
spend our days here in ignorance of the Science
409:30 of Life, and expect to find beyond the grave
a reward for this ignorance. Death will not make us
harmonious and immortal as a recompense for ignorance.
410:1 If here we give no heed to Christian Science, which is
spiritual and eternal, we shall not be ready for spiritual
410:3 Life hereafter.

Life eternal and present

"This is life eternal," says Jesus, - _is_, not _shall be_;
and then he defines everlasting life as a present knowledge
410:6 of his Father and of himself, - the knowledge
of Love, Truth, and Life. "This is life eter-
nal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
410:9 Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." The Scriptures
say, "Man shall not live by bread _alone_, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," show-
410:12 ing that Truth is the actual life of man; but mankind
objects to making this teaching practical.

Love casteth out fear

Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger.
410:15 The more difficult seems the material condition to be
overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our
faith and the purer our love. The Apostle
410:18 John says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love
casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made per-
fect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclama-
410:21 tion of Christian Science.

MENTAL TREATMENT ILLUSTRATED

Be not afraid

The Science of mental practice is susceptible of no
410:24 misuse. Selfishness does not appear in the practice of
Truth or Christian Science. If mental prac-
tice is abused or is used in any way except to
410:27 promote right thinking and doing, the power to heal
mentally will diminish, until the practitioner's healing
ability is wholly lost. Christian scientific practice be-
410:30 gins with Christ's keynote of harmony, "Be not afraid!"
411:1 Said Job: "The thing which I greatly feared is come
upon me."

Naming diseases

411:3 My first discovery in the student's practice was this:
If the student silently called the disease by name, when
he argued against it, as a general rule the body
411:6 would respond more quickly, - just as a per-
son replies more readily when his name is spoken; but
this was because the student was not perfectly attuned to
411:9 divine Science, and needed the arguments of truth for
reminders. If Spirit or the power of divine Love bear
witness to the truth, this is the ultimatum, the scientific
411:12 way, and the healing is instantaneous.

Evils cast out

It is recorded that once Jesus asked the name of a dis-
ease, - a disease which moderns would call _dementia_.
411:15 The demon, or evil, replied that his name was
Legion. Thereupon Jesus cast out the evil,
and the insane man was changed and straightway be-
411:18 came whole. The Scripture seems to import that Jesus
caused the evil to be self-seen and so destroyed.

Fear as the foundation

The procuring cause and foundation of all sickness is
411:21 fear, ignorance, or sin. Disease is always induced by a
false sense mentally entertained, not destroyed.
Disease is an image of thought externalized.
411:24 The mental state is called a material state. Whatever
is cherished in mortal mind as the physical condition is
imaged forth on the body.

Unspoken pleading

411:27 Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear
of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemp-
tion from disease and danger. Watch the re-
411:30 sult of this simple rule of Christian Science,
and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every
disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear,
412:1 your patient is healed. The great fact that God lovingly
governs all, never punishing aught but sin, is your stand-
412:3 point, from which to advance and destroy the human fear
of sickness. Mentally and silently plead the case scien-
tifically for Truth. You may vary the arguments to meet
412:6 the peculiar or general symptoms of the case you treat,
but be thoroughly persuaded in your own mind concern-
ing the truth which you think or speak, and you will be
412:9 the victor.

Eloquent silence

You may call the disease by name when you mentally
deny it; but by naming it audibly, you are liable under
412:12 some circumstances to impress it upon the
thought. The power of Christian Science and
divine Love is omnipotent. It is indeed adequate to un-
412:15 clasp the hold and to destroy disease, sin, and death.

Insistence requisite

To prevent disease or to cure it, the power of Truth,
of divine Spirit, must break the dream of the material
412:18 senses. To heal by argument, find the type
of the ailment, get its name, and array your
mental plea against the physical. Argue at first men-
412:21 tally, not audibly, that the patient has no disease, and
conform the argument so as to destroy the evidence of
disease. Mentally insist that harmony is the fact, and
412:24 that sickness is a temporal dream. Realize the presence
of health and the fact of harmonious being, until the
body corresponds with the normal conditions of health
412:27 and harmony.

The cure of infants

If the case is that of a young child or an infant, it needs
to be met mainly through the parent's thought, silently
412:30 or audibly on the aforesaid basis of Christian
Science. The Scientist knows that there can
be no hereditary disease, since matter is not intelligent
413:1 and cannot transmit good or evil intelligence to man, and
God, the only Mind, does not produce pain in matter.
413:3 The act of yielding one's thoughts to the undue contem-
plation of physical wants or conditions induces those very
conditions. A single requirement, beyond what is neces-
413:6 sary to meet the simplest needs of the babe is harmful.
Mind regulates the condition of the stomach, bowels, and
food, the temperature of children and of men, and matter
413:9 does not. The wise or unwise views of parents and other
persons on these subjects produce good or bad effects on
the health of children.

Ablutions for cleanliness

413:12 The daily ablutions of an infant are no more natural
nor necessary than would be the process of taking a fish
out of water every day and covering it with dirt
413:15 in order to make it thrive more vigorously in its
own element. "Cleanliness is next to godliness," but
washing should be only for the purpose of keeping the
413:18 body clean, and this can be effected without scrubbing the
whole surface daily. Water is not the natural habitat of
humanity. I insist on bodily cleanliness within and with-
413:21 out. I am not patient with a speck of dirt; but in caring
for an infant one need not wash his little body all over each
day in order to keep it sweet as the new-blown flower.

Juvenile ailments

413:24 Giving drugs to infants, noticing every symptom of
flatulency, and constantly directing the mind to such
signs, - that mind being laden with illusions
413:27 about disease, health-laws, and death, - these
actions convey mental images to children's budding
thoughts, and often stamp them there, making it probable
413:30 at any time that such ills may be reproduced in the very
ailments feared. A child may have worms, if you say so,
or any other malady, timorously held in the beliefs con-
414:1 cerning his body. Thus are laid the foundations of the
belief in disease and death, and thus are children educated
414:3 into discord.

Cure of insanity

The treatment of insanity is especially interesting.
However obstinate the case, it yields more readily than
414:6 do most diseases to the salutary action of
truth, which counteracts error. The argu-
ments to be used in curing insanity are the same as in
414:9 other diseases: namely, the impossibility that matter,
brain, can control or derange mind, can suffer or cause
suffering; also the fact that truth and love will establish
414:12 a healthy state, guide and govern mortal mind or the
thought of the patient, and destroy all error, whether it is
called dementia, hatred, or any other discord.

414:15 To fix truth steadfastly in your patients' thoughts, ex-
plain Christian Science to them, but not too soon, - not
until your patients are prepared for the explanation, -
414:18 lest you array the sick against their own interests by troub-
ling and perplexing their thought. The Christian Scien-
tist's argument rests on the Christianly scientific basis of
414:21 being. The Scripture declares, "The Lord He is God
[good]; there is none else beside Him." Even so, harmony
is universal, and discord is unreal. Christian Science de-
414:24 clares that Mind is substance, also that matter neither
feels, suffers, nor enjoys. Hold these points strongly in
view. Keep in mind the verity of being, - that man is
414:27 the image and likeness of God, in whom all being is
painless and permanent. Remember that man's perfec-
tion is real and unimpeachable, whereas imperfection is
414:30 blameworthy, unreal, and is not brought about by divine
Love.

Matter is not inflamed

Matter cannot be inflamed. Inflammation is fear, an
415:1 excited state of mortals which is not normal. Immor-
tal Mind is the only cause; therefore disease is neither a
415:3 cause nor an effect. Mind in every case is the
eternal God, good. Sin, disease, and death
have no foundations in Truth. Inflamation as a mor-
415:6 tal belief quickens or impedes the action of the system,
because thought moves quickly or slowly, leaps or halts
when it contemplates unpleasant things, or when the in-
415:9 dividual looks upon some object which he dreads. In-
flammation never appears in a part which mortal thought
does not reach. That is why opiates relieve inflammation.
415:12 They quiet the thought by inducing stupefaction and by
resorting to matter instead of to Mind. Opiates do not
remove the pain in any scientific sense. They only ren-
415:15 der mortal mind temporarily less fearful, till it can master
an erroneous belief.

Truth calms the thought

Note how thought makes the face pallid. It either re-
415:18 tards the circulation or quickens it, causing a pale or
flushed cheek. In the same way thought in-
creases or diminishes the secretions, the action
415:21 of the lungs, of the bowels, and of the heart. The mus-
cles, moving quickly or slowly and impelled or palsied by
thought, represent the action of all the organs of the hu-
415:24 man system, including brain and viscera. To remove
the error producing disorder, you must calm and instruct
mortal mind with immortal Truth.

Effects of etherization

415:27 Etherization will apparently cause the body to dis-
appear. Before the thoughts are fully at rest, the limbs
will vanish from consciousness. Indeed, the
415:30 whole frame will sink from sight along with
surrounding objects, leaving the pain standing forth as
distinctly as a mountain-peak, as if it were a separate
416:1 bodily member. At last the agony also vanishes. This
process shows the pain to be in the mind, for the inflam-
416:3 mation is not suppressed; and the belief of pain will
presently return, unless the mental image occasioning
the pain be removed by recognizing the truth of being.

Sedatives valueless

416:6 A hypodermic injection of morphine is administered
to a patient, and in twenty minutes the sufferer is qui-
etly asleep. To him there is no longer any
416:9 pain. Yet any physician - allopathic, homoe-
opathic, botanic, eclectic - will tell you that the trouble-
some material cause is unremoved, and that when the
416:12 soporific influence of the opium is exhausted, the pa-
tient will find himself in the same pain, unless the belief
which occasions the pain has meanwhile been changed.
416:15 Where is the pain while the patient sleeps?

The so-called physical ego

The material body, which you call _me_, is mortal mind,
and this mind is material in sensation, even as the body,
416:18 which has originated from this material sense
and been developed according to it, is mate-
rial. This materialism of parent and child is only in
416:21 mortal mind, as the dead body proves; for when the
mortal has resigned his body to dust, the body is no
longer the parent, even in appearance.

Evil thought depletes

416:24 The sick know nothing of the mental process by
which they are depleted, and next to nothing of the
metaphysical method by which they can be
416:27 healed. If they ask about their disease, tell
them only what is best for them to know. Assure them
that they think too much about their ailments, and
416:30 have already heard too much on that subject. Turn
their thoughts away from their bodies to higher ob-
jects. Teach them that their being is sustained by
417:1 Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace,
and harmony in God, divine Love.

Helpful encouragement

417:3 Give sick people credit for sometimes knowing more
than their doctors. Always support their trust in the
power of Mind to sustain the body. Never
417:6 tell the sick that they have more courage
than strength. Tell them rather, that their strength
is in proportion to their courage. If you make the sick
417:9 realize this great truism, there will be no reaction from
over-exertion or from excited conditions. Maintain
the facts of Christian Science, - that Spirit is God, and
417:12 therefore cannot be sick; that what is termed matter
cannot be sick; that all causation is Mind, acting
through spiritual law. Then hold your ground with
417:15 the unshaken understanding of Truth and Love, and
you will win. When you silence the witness against your
plea, you destroy the evidence, for the disease disap-
417:18 pears. The evidence before the corporeal senses is not
the Science of immortal man.

Disease to be made unreal

To the Christian Science healer, sickness is a dream
417:21 from which the patient needs to be awakened. Dis-
ease should not appear real to the physician,
since it is demonstrable that the way to
417:24 cure the patient is to make disease unreal to him. To
do this, the physician must understand the unreality
of disease in Science.

417:27 Explain audibly to your patients, as soon as they can
bear it, the complete control which Mind holds over the
body. Show them how mortal mind seems to induce
417:30 disease by certain fears and false conclusions, and how
divine Mind can cure by opposite thoughts. Give your
patients an underlying understanding to support them
418:1 and to shield them from the baneful effects of their own
conclusions. Show them that the conquest over sickness,
418:3 as well as over sin, depends on mentally destroying all
belief in material pleasure or pain.

Christian pleading

Stick to the truth of being in contradistinction to the
418:6 error that life, substance, or intelligence can be in matter.
Plead with an honest conviction of truth and
a clear perception of the unchanging, unerr-
418:9 ing, and certain effect of divine Science. Then, if your
fidelity is half equal to the truth of your plea, you will
heal the sick.

Truthful arguments

418:12 It must be clear to you that sickness is no more
the reality of being than is sin. This mortal dream
of sickness, sin, and death should cease
418:15 through Christian Science. Then one dis-
ease would be as readily destroyed as another. What-
ever the belief is, if arguments are used to destroy it,
418:18 the belief must be repudiated, and the negation must ex-
tend to the supposed disease and to whatever decides its
type and symptoms. Truth is affirmative, and confers
418:21 harmony. All metaphysical logic is inspired by this sim-
ple rule of Truth, which governs all reality. By the
truthful arguments you employ, and especially by the
418:24 spirit of Truth and Love which you entertain, you will
heal the sick.

Morality required

Include moral as well as physical belief in your efforts
418:27 to destroy error. Cast out all manner of evil. "Preach
the gospel to every creature." Speak the
truth to every form of error. Tumors, ulcers,
418:30 tubercles, inflammation, pain, deformed joints, are wak-
ing dream-shadows, dark images of mortal thought, which
flee before the light of Truth.

419:1 A moral question may hinder the recovery of the sick.
Lurking error, lust, envy, revenge, malice, or hate will
419:3 perpetuate or even create the belief in disease. Errors
of all sorts tend in this direction. Your true course is
to destroy the foe, and leave the field to God, Life, Truth,
419:6 and Love, remembering that God and His ideas alone
are real and harmonious.

Relapse unnecessary

If your patient from any cause suffers a relapse, meet
419:9 the cause mentally and courageously, knowing that
there can be no reaction in Truth. Neither
disease itself, sin, nor fear has the power to
419:12 cause disease or a relapse. Disease has no intelligence
with which to move itself about or to change itself from
one form to another. If disease moves, mind, not mat-
419:15 ter, moves it; therefore be sure that you move it off.
Meet every adverse circumstance as its master. Ob-
serve mind instead of body, lest aught unfit for develop-
419:18 ment enter thought. Think less of material conditions
and more of spiritual.

Conquer beliefs and fears

Mind produces all action. If the action proceeds from
419:21 Truth, from immortal Mind, there is harmony; but mor-
tal mind is liable to any phase of belief. A
relapse cannot in reality occur in mortals or
419:24 so-called mortal minds, for there is but one
Mind, one God. Never fear the mental malpractitioner,
the mental assassin, who, in attempting to rule mankind,
419:27 tramples upon the divine Principle of metaphysics, for God
is the only power. To succeed in healing, you must con-
quer your own fears as well as those of your patients, and
419:30 rise into higher and holier consciousness.

True government of man

If it is found necessary to treat against relapse, know
that disease or its symptoms cannot change forms, nor
420:1 go from one part to another, for Truth destroys disease.
There is no metastasis, no stoppage of harmonious
420:3 action, no paralysis. Truth not error, Love
not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man. If
students do not readily heal themselves, they should
420:6 early call an experienced Christian Scientist to aid
them. If they are unwilling to do this for themselves,
they need only to know that error cannot produce this
420:9 unnatural reluctance.

Positive reassurance

Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims,
for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease
420:12 and ward it off, as positively as they can the
temptation to sin. This fact of Christian Sci-
ence should be explained to invalids when they are in a
420:15 fit mood to receive it, - when they will not array them-
selves against it, but are ready to become receptive to the
new idea. The fact that Truth overcomes both disease
420:18 and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy
stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It in-
creases or diminishes the action, as the case may require,
420:21 better than any drug, alterative, or tonic.

Proper stimulus

Mind is the natural stimulus of the body, but erro-
neous belief, taken at its best, is not promotive of health
420:24 or happiness. Tell the sick that they can
meet disease fearlessly, if they only realize
that divine Love gives them all power over every physical
420:27 action and condition.

Awaken the patient

If it becomes necessary to startle mortal mind to break
its dream of suffering, vehemently tell your patient that
420:30 he must awake. Turn his gaze from the false
evidence of the senses to the harmonious facts
of Soul and immortal being. Tell him that he suffers
421:1 only as the insane suffer, from false beliefs. The only
difference is, that insanity implies belief in a diseased
421:3 brain, while physical ailments (so-called) arise from the
belief that other portions of the body are deranged. De-
rangement, or _disarrangement_, is a word which conveys
421:6 the true definition of all human belief in ill-health, or dis-
turbed harmony. Should you thus startle mortal mind
in order to remove its beliefs, afterwards make known
421:9 to the patient your motive for this shock, showing him
that it was to facilitate recovery.

How to treat a crisis

If a crisis occurs in your treatment, you must treat
421:12 the patient less for the disease and more for the mental
disturbance or fermentation, and subdue the
symptoms by removing the belief that this
421:15 chemicalization produces pain or disease. Insist vehe-
mently on the great fact which covers the whole ground,
that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside
421:18 Him. There is _no disease_. When the supposed suffer-
ing is gone from mortal mind, there can be no pain; and
when the fear is destroyed, the inflammation will sub-
421:21 side. Calm the excitement sometimes induced by chemi-
calization, which is the alterative effect produced by
Truth upon error, and sometimes explain the symptoms
421:24 and their cause to the patient.

No perversion of Mind-science

It is no more Christianly scientific to see disease than
it is to experience it. If you would destroy the sense
421:27 of disease, you should not build it up by
wishing to see the forms it assumes or by
employing a single material application for
421:30 its relief. The perversion of Mind-science is like as-
serting that the products of eight multiplied by five, and
of seven by ten, are both forty, and that their combined
422:1 sum is fifty, and then calling the process mathematics.
Wiser than his persecutors, Jesus said: "If I by Beelze-
422:3 bub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them
out?"

Effect of this book

If the reader of this book observes a great stir through-
422:6 out his whole system, and certain moral and physical
symptoms seem aggravated, these indications
are favorable. Continue to read, and the book
422:9 will become the physician, allaying the tremor which
Truth often brings to error when destroying it.

Disease neutralized

Patients, unfamiliar with the cause of this commotion
422:12 and ignorant that it is a favorable omen, may be alarmed.
If such be the case, explain to them the law
of this action. As when an acid and alkali
422:15 meet and bring out a third quality, so mental and moral
chemistry changes the material base of thought, giving
more spirituality to consciousness and causing it to depend
422:18 less on material evidence. These changes which go on
in mortal mind serve to reconstruct the body. Thus
Christian Science, by the alchemy of Spirit, destroys sin
422:21 and death.

Bone-healing by surgery

Let us suppose two parallel cases of bone-disease, both
similarly produced and attended by the same symptoms.
422:24 A surgeon is employed in one case, and a
Christian Scientist in the other. The sur-
geon, holding that matter forms its own conditions and
422:27 renders them fatal at certain points, entertains fears and
doubts as to the ultimate outcome of the injury. Not
holding the reins of government in his own hands, he
422:30 believes that something stronger than Mind - namely,
matter - governs the case. His treatment is therefore
tentative. This mental state invites defeat. The belief
423:1 that he has met his master in matter and may not be
able to mend the bone, increases his fear; yet this belief
423:3 should not be communicated to the patient, either ver-
bally or otherwise, for this fear greatly diminishes the
tendency towards a favorable result. Remember that the
423:6 unexpressed belief oftentimes affects a sensitive patient
more strongly than the expressed thought.

Scientific corrective

The Christian Scientist, understanding scientifically
423:9 that all is Mind, commences with mental causation, the
truth of being, to destroy the error. This cor-
rective is an alterative, reaching to every part
423:12 of the human system. According to Scripture, it searches
"the joints and marrow," and it restores the harmony of
man.

Coping with difficulties

423:15 The matter-physician deals with matter as both his foe
and his remedy. He regards the ailment as weakened or
strengthened according to the evidence which
423:18 matter presents. The metaphysician, making
Mind his basis of operation irrespective of matter and
regarding the truth and harmony of being as superior to
423:21 error and discord, has rendered himself strong, instead
of weak, to cope with the case; and he proportionately
strengthens his patient with the stimulus of courage and
423:24 conscious power. Both Science and consciousness are
now at work in the economy of being according to the law
of Mind, which ultimately asserts its absolute supremacy.

Formation from thought

423:27 Ossification or any abnormal condition or derange-
ment of the body is as directly the action of mortal
mind as is dementia or insanity. Bones have
423:30 only the substance of thought which forms
them. They are only phenomena of the mind of mor-
tals. The so-called substance of bone is formed first
424:1 by the parent's mind, through self-division. Soon the
child becomes a separate, individualized mortal mind,
424:3 which takes possession of itself and its own thoughts of
bones.

Accidents unknown to God

Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind,
424:6 and we must leave the mortal basis of belief
and unite with the one Mind, in order to
change the notion of chance to the proper sense
424:9 of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.

Opposing mentality

Under divine Providence there can be no accidents,
since there is no room for imperfection in perfection.

424:12 In medical practice objections would be raised if one
doctor should administer a drug to counteract the work-
ing of a remedy prescribed by another doctor.
424:15 It is equally important in metaphysical prac-
tice that the _minds_ which surround your patient should
not act against your influence by continually expressing
424:18 such opinions as may alarm or discourage, - either by
giving antagonistic advice or through unspoken thoughts
resting on your patient. While it is certain that the
424:21 divine Mind can remove any obstacle, still you need the
ear of your auditor. It is not more difficult to make your-
self heard mentally while others are thinking about your
424:24 patients or conversing with them, if you understand
Christian Science - the oneness and the allness of divine
Love; but it is well to be alone with God and the sick
424:27 when treating disease.

Mind removes scrofula

To prevent or to cure scrofula and other so-called he-
reditary diseases, you must destroy the belief in these ills
424:30 and the faith in the possibility of their trans-
mission. The patient may tell you that he
has a humor in the blood, a scrofulous diathesis. His
425:1 parents or some of his progenitors farther back have so
believed. Mortal mind, not matter, induces this con-
425:3 clusion and its results. You will have humors, just so
long as you believe them to be safety-valves or to be
ineradicable.

Nothing to consume

425:6 If the case to be mentally treated is consumption, take
up the leading points included (according to belief) in
this disease. Show that it is not inherited;
425:9 that inflammation, tubercles, hemorrhage, and
decomposition are beliefs, images of mortal thought su-
perimposed upon the body; that they are not the truth
425:12 of man; that they should be treated as error and put out
of thought. Then these ills will disappear.

The lungs re-formed

If the body is diseased, this is but one of the beliefs of
425:15 mortal mind. Mortal man will be less mortal, when he
learns that matter never sustained existence
and can never destroy God, who is man's Life.
425:18 When this is understood, mankind will be more spiritual
and know that there is nothing to consume, since Spirit,
God, is All-in-all. What if the belief is consumption?
425:21 God is more to a man than his belief, and the less we ac-
knowledge matter or its laws, the more immortality we
possess. Consciousness constructs a better body when
425:24 faith in matter has been conquered. Correct material
belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form
you anew. You will never fear again except to offend
425:27 God, and you will never believe that heart or any por-
tion of the body can destroy you.

Soundness maintained

If you have sound and capacious lungs and want
425:30 them to remain so, be always ready with the
mental protest against the opposite belief in
heredity. Discard all notions about lungs, tubercles, in-
426:1 herited consumption, or disease arising from any cir-
cumstance, and you will find that mortal mind, when
426:3 instructed by Truth, yields to divine power, which steers
the body into health.

Our footsteps heavenward

The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less
426:6 difficult when she has the high goal always before her
thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps
in endeavoring to reach it. When the desti-
426:9 nation is desirable, expectation speeds our progress. The
struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak,
resting instead of wearying one. If the belief in death
426:12 were obliterated, and the understanding obtained that
there is no death, this would be a "tree of life," known
by its fruits. Man should renew his energies and en-
426:15 deavors, and see the folly of hypocrisy, while also learn-
ing the necessity of working out his own salvation. When
it is learned that disease cannot destroy life, and that
426:18 mortals are not saved from sin or sickness by death, this
understanding will quicken into newness of life. It will
master either a desire to die or a dread of the grave,
426:21 and thus destroy the great fear that besets mortal
existence.

Christian standard

The relinquishment of all faith in death and also of
426:24 the fear of its sting would raise the standard of health
and morals far beyond its present elevation,
and would enable us to hold the banner of
426:27 Christianity aloft with unflinching faith in God, in Life
eternal. Sin brought death, and death will disappear
with the disappearance of sin. Man is immortal, and
426:30 the body cannot die, because matter has no life to sur-
render. The human concepts named matter, death, dis-
ease, sickness, and sin are all that can be destroyed.

Life not contingent on matter

427:1 If it is true that man lives, this fact can never change
in Science to the opposite belief that man dies. Life is
427:3 the law of Soul, even the law of the spirit of
Truth, and Soul is never without its represent-
ative. Man's individual being can no more
427:6 die nor disappear in unconsciousness than can Soul, for
both are immortal. If man believes in death now, he
must disbelieve in it when learning that there is no reality
427:9 in death, since the truth of being is deathless. The be-
lief that existence is contingent on matter must be met
and mastered by Science, before Life can be understood
427:12 and harmony obtained.

Mortality vanquished

Death is but another phase of the dream that exist-
ence can be material. Nothing can interfere with the
427:15 harmony of being nor end the existence of
man in Science. Man is the same after as
before a bone is broken or the body guillotined. If man
427:18 is never to overcome death, why do the Scriptures say,
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"? The
tenor of the Word shows that we shall obtain the victory
427:21 over death in proportion as we overcome sin. The great
difficulty lies in ignorance of what God is. God, Life,
Truth, and Love make man undying. Immortal Mind,
427:24 governing all, must be acknowledged as supreme in the
physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual.

No death nor inaction

Called to the bed of death, what material remedy has
427:27 man when all such remedies have failed? Spirit is his
last resort, but it should have been his first
and only resort. The dream of death must
427:30 be mastered by Mind here or hereafter. Thought
will waken from its own material declaration, "I am
dead," to catch this trumpet-word of Truth, "There
428:1 is no death, no inaction, diseased action, overaction, nor
reaction."

Vision opening

428:3 Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstra-
tion of the facts of Soul in Jesus' way resolves the dark
visions of material sense into harmony and
428:6 immortality. Man's privilege at this supreme
moment is to prove the words of our Master: "If a man
keep my saying, he shall never see death." To divest
428:9 thought of false trusts and material evidences in order
that the spiritual facts of being may appear, - this is
the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep
428:12 away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may
establish in truth the temple, or body, "whose builder
and maker is God."

Intelligent consecration

428:15 We should consecrate existence, not "to the unknown
God" whom we "ignorantly worship," but to the eternal
builder, the everlasting Father, to the Life
428:18 which mortal sense cannot impair nor mortal
belief destroy. We must realize the ability of mental
might to offset human misconceptions and to replace them
428:21 with the life which is spiritual, not material.

The present immortality

The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man
_is_, not _shall be_, perfect and immortal. We must hold
428:24 forever the consciousness of existence, and
sooner or later, through Christ and Christian
Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence
428:27 of man's immortality will become more apparent, as ma-
terial beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being
are admitted.

Careful guidance

428:30 The author has healed hopeless organic disease, and
raised the dying to life and health through the under-
standing of God as the only Life. It is a sin to believe
429:1 that aught can overpower omnipotent and eternal Life,
and this Life must be brought to light by the understand-
429:3 ing that there is no death, as well as by other
graces of Spirit. We must begin, however,
with the more simple demonstrations of control, and
429:6 the sooner we begin the better. The final demonstration
takes time for its accomplishment. When walking, we
are guided by the eye. We look before our feet, and if
429:9 we are wise, we look beyond a single step in the line of
spiritual advancement.

Clay replying to the potter

The corpse, deserted by thought, is cold and decays,
429:12 but it never suffers. Science declares that man is sub-
ject to Mind. Mortal mind affirms that mind
is subordinate to the body, that the body is
429:15 dying, that it must be buried and decomposed
into dust; but mortal mind's affirmation is not true.
Mortals waken from the dream of death with bodies un-
429:18 seen by those who think that they bury the body.

Continuity of existence

If man did not exist before the material organization
began, he could not exist after the body is disintegrated.
429:21 If we live after death and are immortal, we
must have lived before birth, for if Life ever
had any beginning, it must also have an ending, even ac-
429:24 cording to the calculations of natural science. Do you
believe this? No! Do you understand it? No! This
is why you doubt the statement and do not demonstrate
429:27 the facts it involves. We must have faith in all the say-
ings of our Master, though they are not included in the
teachings of the schools, and are not understood gener-
429:30 ally by our ethical instructors.

Life all-inclusive

Jesus said (John viii. 51), "If a man keep my saying,
he shall never see death." That statement is not con-
430:1 fined to spiritual life, but includes all the phenomena of
existence. Jesus demonstrated this, healing the dying
430:3 and raising the dead. Mortal mind must part
with error, must put off itself with its deeds,
and immortal manhood, the Christ ideal, will appear.
430:6 Faith should enlarge its borders and strengthen its base
by resting upon Spirit instead of matter. When man
gives up his belief in death, he will advance more rapidly
430:9 towards God, Life, and Love. Belief in sickness and
death, as certainly as belief in sin, tends to shut out the
true sense of Life and health. When will mankind wake
430:12 to this great fact in Science?

I here present to my readers an allegory illustrative
of the law of divine Mind and of the supposed laws of mat-
430:15 ter and hygiene, an allegory in which the plea of Christian
Science heals the sick.

A mental court case

Suppose a mental case to be on trial, as cases are tried
430:18 in court. A man is charged with having committed liver-
complaint. The patient feels ill, ruminates,
and the trial commences. Personal Sense is
430:21 the plaintiff. Mortal Man is the defendant. False Belief
is the attorney for Personal Sense. Mortal Minds, Ma-
teria Medica, Anatomy, Physiology, Hypnotism, Envy,
430:24 Greed and Ingratitude, constitute the jury. The court-
room is filled with interested spectators, and Judge
Medicine is on the bench.
430:27 The evidence for the prosecution being called for, a
witness testifies thus: -

I represent Health-laws. I was present on certain nights
430:30 when the prisoner, or patient, watched with a sick friend.
Although I have the superintendence of human affairs, I
was personally abused on those occasions. I was told that
431:1 I must remain silent until called for at this trial, when I
would be allowed to testify in the case. Notwithstanding
431:3 my rules to the contrary, the prisoner watched with the sick
every night in the week. When the sick mortal was thirsty,
the prisoner gave him drink. During all this time the pris-
431:6 oner attended to his daily labors, partaking of food at ir-
regular intervals, sometimes going to sleep immediately
after a heavy meal. At last he committed liver-complaint,
431:9 which I considered criminal, inasmuch as this offence is
deemed punishable with death. Therefore I arrested Mor-
tal Man in behalf of the state (namely, the body) and cast
431:12 him into prison.

At the time of the arrest the prisoner summoned Physi-
ology, Materia Medica, and Hypnotism to prevent his pun-
431:15 ishment. The struggle on their part was long. Materia
Medica held out the longest, but at length all these assist-
ants resigned to me, Health-laws, and I succeeded in get-
431:18 ting Mortal Man into close confinement until I should
release him.

The next witness is called:-

431:21 I am Coated Tongue. I am covered with a foul fur,
placed on me the night of the liver-attack. Morbid Secre-
tion hypnotized the prisoner and took control of his mind,
431:24 making him despondent.

Another witness takes the stand and testifies:-

I am Sallow Skin. I have been dry, hot, and chilled by
431:27 turns since the night of the liver-attack. I have lost my
healthy hue and become unsightly, although nothing on my
part has occasioned this change. I practise daily ablutions
431:30 and perform my functions as usual, but I am robbed of my
good looks.

432:1 The next witness testifies: -

I am Nerve, the State Commissioner for Mortal Man.
432:3 I am intimately acquainted with the plaintiff, Personal
Sense, and know him to be truthful and upright, whereas
Mortal Man, the prisoner at the bar, is capable of false-
432:6 hood. I was witness to the crime of liver-complaint. I
knew the prisoner would commit it, for I convey messages
from my residence in matter, alias brain, to body.

432:9 Another witness is called for by the Court of Error
and says: -

I am Mortality, Governor of the Province of Body, in
432:12 which Mortal Man resides. In this province there is a stat-
ute regarding disease, - namely, that he upon whose per-
son disease is found shall be treated as a criminal and
432:15 punished with death.

The Judge asks if by doing good to his neighbor, it is
possible for man to become diseased, transgress the laws,
432:18 and merit punishment, and Governor Mortality replies in
the affirmative.

Another witness takes the stand and testifies: -

432:21 I am Death. I was called for, shortly after the report of
the crime, by the officer of the Board of Health, who pro-
tested that the prisoner had abused him, and that my pres-
432:24 ence was required to confirm his testimony. One of the
prisoner's friends, Materia Medica, was present when I
arrived, endeavoring to assist the prisoner to escape from
432:27 the hands of justice, _alias_ nature's so-called law; but my
appearance with a message from the Board of Health
changed the purpose of Materia Medica, and he decided at
432:30 once that the prisoner should die.

Judge Medicine charges the jury

433:1 The testimony for the plaintiff, Personal Sense, being
closed, Judge Medicine arises, and with great solemnity
433:3 addresses the jury of Mortal Minds. He an-
alyzes the offence, reviews the testimony, and
explains the law relating to liver-complaint.
433:6 His conclusion is, that laws of nature render disease
homicidal. In compliance with a stern duty, his Honor,
Judge Medicine, urges the jury not to allow their judg-
433:9 ment to be warped by the irrational, unchristian sugges-
tions of Christian Science. The jury must regard in such
cases only the evidence of Personal Sense against Mortal
433:12 Man.

As the Judge proceeds, the prisoner grows restless. His
sallow face blanches with fear, and a look of despair and
433:15 death settles upon it. The case is given to the jury. A
brief consultation ensues, and the jury returns a verdict
of "Guilty of liver-complaint in the first degree."

Mortal Man sentenced

433:18 Judge Medicine then proceeds to pronounce the solemn
sentence of death upon the prisoner. Because he has
loved his neighbor as himself, Mortal Man has
433:21 been guilty of benevolence in the first degree,
and this has led him into the commission of the second
crime, liver-complaint, which material laws condemn as
433:24 homicide. For this crime Mortal Man is sentenced to
be tortured until he is dead. "May God have mercy on
your soul," is the Judge's solemn peroration.

433:27 The prisoner is then remanded to his cell (sick-bed),
and Scholastic Theology is sent for to prepare the fright-
ened sense of Life, God, - which sense must be immortal,
433:30 - for _death_.

Appeal to a higher tribunal

Ah! but Christ, Truth, the spirit of Life and the
friend of Mortal Man, can open wide those prison doors
434:1 and set the captive free. Swift on the wings of divine
Love, there comes a despatch: "Delay the execution;
434:3 the prisoner is not guilty." Consternation fills
the prison-yard. Some exclaim, "It is con-
trary to law and justice." Others say,
434:6 "The law of Christ supersedes _our_ laws; let us follow
Christ."

Counsel for defence

After much debate and opposition, permission is ob-
434:9 tained for a trial in the Court of Spirit, where Christian
Science is allowed to appear as counsel for
the unfortunate prisoner. Witnesses, judges
434:12 and jurors, who were at the previous Court of Error,
are now summoned to appear before the bar of Justice
and eternal Truth.

434:15 When the case for Mortal Man _versus_ Personal Sense
is opened, Mortal Man's counsel regards the prisoner
with the utmost tenderness. The counsel's earnest,
434:18 solemn eyes, kindling with hope and triumph, look up-
ward. Then Christian Science turns suddenly to the
supreme tribunal, and opens the argument for the
434:21 defence: -

The prisoner at the bar has been unjustly sentenced.
His trial was a tragedy, and is morally illegal. Mortal
434:24 Man has had no proper counsel in the case. All the test-
mony has been on the side of Personal Sense, and we shall
unearth this foul conspiracy against the liberty and life of
434:27 Man. The only valid testimony in the case shows the
alleged crime never to have been committed. The pris-
oner is not proved "worthy of death, or of bonds."

434:30 Your Honor, the lower court has sentenced Mortal Man
to die, but God made Man immortal and amenable to
Spirit only. Denying justice to the body, that court com-
435:1 mended man's immortal Spirit to heavenly mercy, - Spirit
which is God Himself and Man's only lawgiver! Who or
435:3 what has sinned? Has the body or has Mortal Mind
committed a criminal deed? Counsellor False Belief has
argued that the body should die, while Reverend Theology
435:6 would console conscious Mortal Mind, which alone is capa-
ble of sin and suffering. The body committed no offence.
Mortal Man, in obedience to higher law, helped his fellow-
435:9 man, an act which should result in good to himself as well
as to others.

The law of our Supreme Court decrees that whosoever
435:12 _sinneth_ shall die; but good deeds are immortal, bringing
joy instead of grief, pleasure instead of pain, and life
instead of death. If liver-complaint was committed by
435:15 trampling on Laws of Health, this was a good deed, for the
agent of those laws is an outlaw, a destroyer of Mortal
Man's liberty and rights. Laws of Health should be sen-
435:18 tenced to die.

Watching beside the couch of pain in the exercise of a
love that "is the fulfilling of the law," - doing "unto
435:21 others as ye would that they should do unto you," - this
is no infringement of law, for no demand, human or divine,
renders it just to punish a man for acting justly. If mor-
435:24 tals sin, our Supreme Judge in equity decides what penalty
is due for the sin, and Mortal Man can suffer only for his
sin. For naught else can he be punished, according to the
435:27 law of Spirit, God.

Then what jurisdiction had his Honor, Judge Medicine,
in this case? To him I might say, in Bible language, "Sit-
435:30 test thou to judge . . . after the law, and commandest . . .
to be smitten contrary to the law?" The only jurisdiction
to which the prisoner can submit is that of Truth, Life, and
435:33 Love. If they condemn him not, neither shall Judge Medi-
cine condemn him; and I ask that the prisoner be restored


 


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