These commands of infinite wisdom, translated into the new tongue, their spiritual meaning, signify: Thou shalt love Spirit only, not its opposite, in every G.o.d- quality, even in substance; thou shalt recognize thy- self as G.o.d"s spiritual child only, and the true man [15]
and true woman, the all-harmonious "male and female,"
as of spiritual origin, G.o.d"s reflection,-thus as chil- dren of one common Parent,-wherein and whereby Father, Mother, and child are the divine Principle and divine idea, even the divine "Us"-one in good, and [20]
good in One.
With this recognition man could never separate him- self from good, G.o.d; and he would necessarily entertain habitual love for his fellow-man. Only by admitting evil as a reality, and entering into a state of evil [25]
thoughts, can we in belief separate one man"s interests from those of the whole human family, or thus attempt to separate Life from G.o.d. This is the mistake that causes much that must be repented of and overcome.
Not to know what is blessing you, but to believe that [30]
aught that G.o.d sends is unjust,-or that those whom He commissions bring to you at His demand that which
[Page 19.]
is unjust,-is wrong and cruel. Envy, evil thinking, [1]
evil speaking, covetousness, l.u.s.t, hatred, malice, are always wrong, and will break the rule of Christian Science and prevent its demonstration; but the rod of G.o.d, and the obedience demanded of His servants in [5]
carrying out what He teaches them,-these are never unmerciful, never unwise.
The task of healing the sick is far lighter than that of so teaching the divine Principle and rules of Chris- tian Science as to lift the affections and motives of men [10]
to adopt them and bring them out in human lives. He who has named the name of Christ, who has virtually accepted the divine claims of Truth and Love in divine Science, is daily departing from evil; and all the wicked endeavors of suppositional demons can never change the [15]
current of that life from steadfastly flowing on to G.o.d, its divine source.
But, taking the livery of heaven wherewith to cover iniquity, is the most fearful sin that mortals can commit.
I should have more faith in an honest drugging-doctor, [20]
one who abides by his statements and works upon as high a basis as he understands, healing me, than I could or would have in a smooth-tongued hypocrite or mental malpract.i.tioner.
Between the centripetal and centrifugal mental forces [25]
of material and spiritual gravitations, we go into or we go out of materialism or sin, and choose our course and its results. Which, then, shall be our choice,-the sin- ful, material, and perishable, or the spiritual, joy-giving, and eternal? [30]
The spiritual sense of Life and its grand pursuits is of itself a bliss, health-giving and joy-inspiring. This
[Page 20.]
sense of Life illumes our pathway with the radiance of [1]
divine Love; heals man spontaneously, morally and physically,-exhaling the aroma of Jesus" own words, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." [5]
CHAPTER II. ONE CAUSE AND EFFECT.
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Christian Science begins with the First Com- [1]
mandment of the Hebrew Decalogue, "Thou shalt have no other G.o.ds before me." It goes on in perfect unity with Christ"s Sermon on the Mount, and in that age culminates in the Revelation of St. John, [5]
who, while on earth and in the flesh, like ourselves, beheld "a new heaven and a new earth,"-the spiritual universe, whereof Christian Science now bears testimony.
Our Master said, "The works that I do shall ye do also;" and, "The kingdom of G.o.d is within you." This [10]
makes practical all his words and works. As the ages advance in spirituality, Christian Science will be seen to depart from the trend of other Christian denomina- tions in no wise except by increase of spirituality.
My first plank in the platform of Christian Science [15]
is as follows: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for G.o.d is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is [20]
G.o.d, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."(1)
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I am strictly a theist-believe in one G.o.d, one Christ [1]
or Messiah.
Science is neither a law of matter nor of man. It is the unerring manifesto of Mind, the law of G.o.d, its divine Principle. Who dare say that matter or [5]
mortals can evolve Science? Whence, then, is it, if not from the divine source, and what, but the contempor- ary of Christianity, so far in advance of human knowl- edge that mortals must work for the discovery of even a portion of it? Christian Science translates Mind, G.o.d, [10]
to mortals. It is the infinite calculus defining the line, plane, s.p.a.ce, and fourth dimension of Spirit. It abso- lutely refutes the amalgamation, transmigration, absorp- tion, or annihilation of individuality. It shows the impossibility of transmitting human ills, or evil, from one [15]
individual to another; that all true thoughts revolve in G.o.d"s...o...b..ts: they come from G.o.d and return to Him,-and untruths belong not to His creation, there- fore these are null and void. It hath no peer, no comp- pet.i.tor, for it dwelleth in Him besides whom "there is [20]
none other."
That Christian Science is Christian, those who have demonstrated it, according to the rules of its divine Principle,-together with the sick, the lame, the deaf, and the blind, healed by it,-have proven to a waiting world. [25]
He who has not tested it, is incompetent to condemn it; and he who is a willing sinner, cannot demonstrate it.
A falling apple suggested to Newton more than the simple fact cognized by the senses, to which it seemed to fall by reason of its own ponderosity; but the primal [30]
cause, or Mind-force, invisible to material sense, lay concealed in the treasure-troves of Science. True,
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Newton named it gravitation, having learned so much; [1]
but Science, demanding more, pushes the question: Whence or what is the power back of gravitation,-the intelligence that manifests power? Is pantheism true?
Does mind "sleep in the mineral, or dream in the [5]
animal, and wake in man"? Christianity answers this question. The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, demon- strated a divine intelligence that subordinates so-called material laws; and disease, death, winds, and waves, obey this intelligence. Was it Mind or matter that spake [10]
in creation, "and it was done"? The answer is self- evident, and the command remains, "Thou shalt have no other G.o.ds before me."
It is plain that the Me spoken of in the First Com- mandment, must be Mind; for matter is not the Chris- [15]
tian"s G.o.d, and is not intelligent. Matter cannot even talk; and the serpent, Satan, the first talker in its behalf, lied. Reason and revelation declare that G.o.d is both noumenon and phenomena,-the first and only cause.
The universe, including man, is not a result of atomic [20]
action, material force or energy; it is not organized dust.
G.o.d, Spirit, Mind, are terms synonymous for the one G.o.d, whose reflection is creation, and man is His image and likeness. Few there are who comprehend what Chris- tian Science means by the word _reflection_. G.o.d is seen [25]
only in that which reflects good, Life, Truth, Love- yea, which manifests all His attributes and power, even as the human likeness thrown upon the mirror repeats precisely the looks and actions of the object in front of it.
All must be Mind and Mind"s ideas; since, according to [30]
natural science, G.o.d, Spirit, could not change its species and evolve matter.
[Page 24.]
These facts enjoin the First Commandment; and [1]
knowledge of them makes man spiritually minded. St.
Paul writes: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." This knowl- edge came to me in an hour of great need; and I give it [5]
to you as death-bed testimony to the daystar that dawned on the night of material sense. This knowledge is practical, for it wrought my immediate recovery from an injury caused by an accident, and p.r.o.nounced fatal by the physicians. On the third day thereafter, I called [10]
for my Bible, and opened it at Matthew ix. 2. As I read, the healing Truth dawned upon my sense; and the result was that I rose, dressed myself, and ever after was in better health than I had before enjoyed. That short experience included a glimpse of the great fact [15]
that I have since tried to make plain to others, namely, Life in and of Spirit; this Life being the sole reality of existence. I learned that mortal thought evolves a sub- jective state which it names matter, thereby shutting out the true sense of Spirit. _Per contra_, Mind and man [20]
are immortal; and knowledge gained from mortal sense is illusion, error, the opposite of Truth; therefore it cannot be true. A knowledge of both good and evil (when good is G.o.d, and G.o.d is All) is impossible. Speak- ing of the origin of evil, the Master said: "When he [25]
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." G.o.d warned man not to believe the talking serpent, or rather the allegory describing it. The Nazarene Prophet declared that his followers should handle serpents; that is, put down all subtle falsi- [30]
ties or illusions, and thus destroy any supposed effect arising from false claims exercising their supposed power