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- Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014
"Science And Health" is the foundational textbook on the system of physically, emotionally or mentally healing your mind and body. It is based on Mary Baker Eddys discoveries and what she afterwards named Christian Science. The book offers new spiritual insights on the scriptures and briefs the reader with regard to his relationship with God.
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Science And Health
Mary Baker Eddy
Table Of Contents:
Science And Health
Preface
Chapter I - Prayer
Chapter Ii - Atonement And Eucharist
Chapter Iii - Marriage
Chapter Iv - Christian Science Versus Spiritualism
Chapter V - Animal Magnetism Unmasked
Chapter Vi - Science, Theology, Medicine
Chapter Vii - Physiology
Chapter Viii - Footsteps Of Truth
Chapter Ix - Creation
Chapter X - Science Of Being
Chapter Xi - Some Objections Answered
Chapter Xii - Christian Science Practice
Chapter Xiii - Teaching Christian Science
Chapter Xiv - Recapitulation
Key To The Scriptures
Chapter Xv - Genesis
Chapter Xvi - The Apocalypse
Chapter Xvii - Glossary
Chapter Xviii - Fruitage
Science And Health, Mary Baker Eddy
Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck
86450 Altenmünster, Loschberg 9
Germany
ISBN:9783849643386
www.jazzybee-verlag.de
www.facebook.com/jazzybeeverlag
Science And Health
Preface
vi:1 To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings. The wakeful shepherd beholds vi:3 the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet- shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in vi:6 cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to be- nighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ vi:9 Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morn- ing beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wise- men were led to behold and to follow this daystar of vi:12 divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the vi:15 portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping- vi:18 stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal. Though empires fall, "the Lord shall vi:21 reign forever."
A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot make them speedily understood. It is the task of the sturdy vi:24 pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has accomplished.
vi:27 Since the author's discovery of the might of Truth in vii:1 the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but vii:3 to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle. To develop the full might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense vii:6 must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet con- cord to sound.
vii:9 Theology and physics teach that both Spirit and matter are real and good, whereas the fact is that Spirit is good and real, and matter is Spirit's oppo- vii:12 site. The question, What is Truth, is answered by demonstration, by healing both disease and sin; and this demonstration shows that Christian healing con- vii:15 fers the most health and makes the best men. On this basis Christian Science will have a fair fight. Sickness has been combated for centuries by doctors using ma- vii:18 terial remedies; but the question arises, Is there less sickness because of these practitioners? A vigorous "No" is the response deducible from two connate vii:21 facts, - the reputed longevity of the Antediluvians, and the rapid multiplication and increased violence of diseases since the flood.
vii:24 In the author's work, RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPEC- TION, may be found a biographical sketch, narrating experiences which led her, in the year 1866, to the dis- vii:27 covery of the system that she denominated Christian Science. As early as 1862 she began to write down and give to friends the results of her Scriptural study, for vii:30 the Bible was her sole teacher; but these compositions were crude, the first steps of a child in the newly dis- covered world of Spirit.
ix:1 She also began to jot down her thoughts on the main subject, but these jottings were only infantile ix:3 lispings of Truth. A child drinks in the outward world through the eyes and rejoices in the draught. He is as sure of the world's existence as he is of his own; yet ix:6 he cannot describe the world. He finds a few words, and with these he stammeringly attempts to convey his feeling. Later, the tongue voices the more definite ix:9 thought, though still imperfectly.
So was it with the author. As a certain poet says of himself, she "lisped in numbers, for the numbers ix:12 came." Certain essays written at that early date are still in circulation among her first pupils; but they are feeble attempts to state the Principle and practice of ix:15 Christian healing, and are not complete nor satisfac- tory expositions of Truth. To-day, though rejoicing in some progress, she still finds herself a willing dis- ix:18 ciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ.
Her first pamphlet on Christian Science was copy- ix:21 righted in 1870; but it did not appear in print until 1876, as she had learned that this Science must be demonstrated by healing, before a work on the subject ix:24 could be profitably studied. From 1867 until 1875, copies were, however, in friendly circulation.
Before writing this work, SCIENCE AND HEALTH, she ix:27 made copious notes of Scriptural exposition, which have never been published. This was during the years 1867 and 1868. These efforts show her comparative ix:30 ignorance of the stupendous Life-problem up to that time, and the degrees by which she came at length to its solution; but she values them as a parent x:1 may treasure the memorials of a child's growth, and she would not have them changed.
x:3 The first edition of SCIENCE AND HEALTH was pub- lished in 1875. Various books on mental healing have since been issued, most of them incorrect in theory x:6 and filled with plagiarisms from SCIENCE AND HEALTH. They regard the human mind as a healing agent, whereas this mind is not a factor in the Principle of x:9 Christian Science. A few books, however, which are based on this book, are useful.
The author has not compromised conscience to suit x:12 the general drift of thought, but has bluntly and hon- estly given the text of Truth. She has made no effort to embellish, elaborate, or treat in full detail so in- x:15 finite a theme. By thousands of well-authenticated cases of healing, she and her students have proved the worth of her teachings. These cases for the most part x:18 have been abandoned as hopeless by regular medical attendants. Few invalids will turn to God till all physical supports have failed, because there is so little x:21 faith in His disposition and power to heal disease.
The divine Principle of healing is proved in the personal experience of any sincere seeker of Truth. Its x:24 purpose is good, and its practice is safer and more po- tent than that of any other sanitary method. The un- biased Christian thought is soonest touched by Truth, x:27 and convinced of it. Only those quarrel with her method who do not understand her meaning, or dis- cerning the truth, come not to the light lest their x:30 works be reproved. No intellectual proficiency is req- uisite in the learner, but sound morals are most de- sirable.
xi:1 Many imagine that the phenomena of physical heal- ing in Christian Science present only a phase of the xi:3 action of the human mind, which action in some unex- plained way results in the cure of disease. On the con- trary, Christian Science rationally explains that all xi:6 other pathological methods are the fruits of human faith in matter, faith in the workings, not of Spirit, but of the fleshly mind which must yield to Science.
xi:9 The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their real- xi:12 ity in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works xi:15 are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or "God with us," a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and re- xi:18 peating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,
To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense], And recovering of sight to the blind, xi:21 To set at liberty them that are bruised.
When God called the author to proclaim His Gospel to this age, there came also the charge to plant and xi:24 water His vineyard.
The first school of Christian Science Mind-healing was started by the author with only one student in xi:27 Lynn, Massachusetts, about the year 1867. In 1881, she opened the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston, under the seal of the Commonwealth, a law xi:30 relative to colleges having been passed, which enabled her to get this institution chartered for medical pur- xii:1 poses. No charters were granted to Christian Scien- tists for such institutions after 1883, and up to that xii:3 date, hers was the only College of this character which had been established in the United States, where Christian Science was first introduced.
xii:6 During seven years over four thousand students were taught by the author in this College. Meanwhile she was pastor of the first established Church of xii:9 Christ, Scientist; President of the first Christian Sci- entist Association, convening monthly; publisher of her own works; and (for a portion of this time) sole xii:12 editor and publisher of the Christian Science Journal,
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him. - CHRIST JESUS.
1:1 THE prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are 1:3 possible to God,- a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love. Regardless of what another may say or think on this subject, I speak from experience. 1:6 Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-im- molation, are God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christian- 1:9 ization and health of mankind.
Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from 1:12 trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.
Right motives
2:1 What are the motives for prayer? Do we pray to make ourselves better or to benefit those who hear us, 2:3 to enlighten the infinite or to be heard of men? Are we benefited by praying? Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteous- 2:6 ness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void.
Deity unchangeable
God is not moved by the breath of praise to do more 2:9 than He has already done, nor can the infinite do less than bestow all good, since He is unchang- ing wisdom and Love. We can do more for 2:12 ourselves by humble fervent petitions, but the All-lov- ing does not grant them simply on the ground of lip- service, for He already knows all.
2:15 Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it. Goodness at- tains the demonstration of Truth. A request that 2:18 God will save us is not all that is required. The mere habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as 2:21 humanly circumscribed,- an error which impedes spirit- ual growth.
God's standard
God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is 2:24 intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of any- thing He does not already comprehend? Do we expect to change perfection? Shall 2:27 we plead for more at the open fount, which is pour- ing forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire does bring us nearer the source of all existence and 2:30 blessedness.
Asking God to be God is a vain repetition. God is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;" and 3:1 He who is immutably right will do right without being reminded of His province. The wisdom of man is not 3:3 sufficient to warrant him in advising God.
The spiritual mathematics
Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The 3:6 rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution. Shall we ask the divine Principle of all goodness to do His own 3:9 work? His work is done, and we have only to avail ourselves of God's rule in order to receive His bless- ing, which enables us to work out our own salvation.
3:12 The Divine Being must be reflected by man, - else man is not the image and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the One "altogether lovely;" but to 3:15 understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.
Prayerful ingratitude
How empty are our conceptions of Deity! We admit 3:18 theoretically that God is good, omnipotent, omni- present, infinite, and then we try to give information to this infinite Mind. We plead 3:21 for unmerited pardon and for a liberal outpouring of benefactions. Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the 3:24 blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more. Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.
3:27 If we are ungrateful for Life, Truth, and Love, and yet return thanks to God for all blessings, we are in- sincere and incur the sharp censure our Master pro- 3:30 nounces on hypocrites. In such a case, the only acceptable prayer is to put the finger on the lips and remember our blessings. While the heart is far from 4:1 divine Truth and Love, we cannot conceal the ingrati- tude of barren lives.
Efficacious petitions
4:3 What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds. To keep the com- 4:6 mandments of our Master and follow his example, is our proper debt to him and the only worthy evidence of our gratitude for all that he has 4:9 done. Outward worship is not of itself sufficient to express loyal and heartfelt gratitude, since he has said: "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
4:12 The habitual struggle to be always good is unceas- ing prayer. Its motives are made manifest in the blessings they bring,- blessings which, even if not 4:15 acknowledged in audible words, attest our worthiness to be partakers of Love.
Watchfulness requisite
Simply asking that we may love God will never 4:18 make us love Him; but the longing to be better and holier, expressed in daily watchful- ness and in striving to assimilate more of 4:21 the divine character, will mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness. We reach the Science of Christianity through demonstration of the 4:24 divine nature; but in this wicked world goodness will "be evil spoken of," and patience must bring experience.
Veritable devotion
4:27 Audible prayer can never do the works of spiritual understanding, which regenerates; but silent prayer, watchfulness, and devout obedience enable 4:30 us to follow Jesus' example. Long prayers, superstition, and creeds clip the strong pinions of love, and clothe religion in human forms. Whatever mate- 5:1 rializes worship hinders man's spiritual growth and keeps him from demonstrating his power over error.
Sorrow and reformation
5:3 Sorrow for wrong-doing is but one step towards reform and the very easiest step. The next and great step re- quired by wisdom is the test of our sincerity, 5:6 - namely, reformation. To this end we are placed under the stress of circumstances. Temptation bids us repeat the offence, and woe comes in return for 5:9 what is done. So it will ever be, till we learn that there is no discount in the law of justice and that we must pay "the uttermost farthing." The measure ye mete "shall 5:12 be measured to you again," and it will be full "and run- ning over."
Saints and sinners get their full award, but not always 5:15 in this world. The followers of Christ drank his cup. Ingratitude and persecution filled it to the brim; but God pours the riches of His love into the understanding and 5:18 affections, giving us strength according to our day. Sin- ners flourish "like a green bay tree;" but, looking farther, the Psalmist could see their end, - the destruction of sin 5:21 through suffering.
Cancellation of human sin
Prayer is not to be used as a confessional to cancel sin. Such an error would impede true religion. Sin is forgiven 5:24 only as it is destroyed by Christ, - Truth and Life. If prayer nourishes the belief that sin is cancelled, and that man is made better merely by praying, 5:27 prayer is an evil. He grows worse who continues in sin because he fancies himself forgiven.
Diabolism destroyed
An apostle says that the Son of God [Christ] came to 5:30 "destroy the works of the devil." We should follow our divine Exemplar, and seek the de- struction of all evil works, error and disease included. 6:1 We cannot escape the penalty due for sin. The Scrip- tures say, that if we deny Christ, "he also will deny us."
Pardon and amendment
6:3 Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the sinner. God is not separate from the wis- 6:6 dom He bestows. The talents He gives we must improve. Calling on Him to forgive our work badly done or left undone, implies the vain supposition 6:9 that we have nothing to do but to ask pardon, and that afterwards we shall be free to repeat the offence.
To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means 6:12 of destroying sin. Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until be- lief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach 6:15 heaven, the harmony of being, we must understand the divine Principle of being.
Mercy without partiality
"God is Love." More than this we cannot ask, 6:18 higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. To suppose that God forgives or punishes sin according as His mercy is sought or un- 6:21 sought, is to misunderstand Love and to make prayer the safety-valve for wrong-doing.
Divine severity
Jesus uncovered and rebuked sin before he cast it 6:24 out. Of a sick woman he said that Satan had bound her, and to Peter he said, "Thou art an of- fence unto me." He came teaching and 6:27 showing men how to destroy sin, sickness, and death. He said of the fruitless tree, "[It] is hewn down."
It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, 6:30 who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: "His rebuke is fearful." The strong language of our Mas- ter confirms this description.
7:1 The only civil sentence which he had for error was, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Still stronger evidence 7:3 that Jesus' reproof was pointed and pungent is found in his own words,- showing the necessity for such forcible utterance, when he cast out devils and healed 7:6 the sick and sinning. The relinquishment of error de- prives material sense of its false claims.
Audible praying
Audible prayer is impressive; it gives momentary 7:9 solemnity and elevation to thought. But does it pro- duce any lasting benefit? Looking deeply into these things, we find that "a zeal . . . 7:12 not according to knowledge" gives occasion for reac- tion unfavorable to spiritual growth, sober resolve, and wholesome perception of God's requirements. The mo- 7:15 tives for verbal prayer may embrace too much love of applause to induce or encourage Christian sentiment.
Emotional utterances
Physical sensation, not Soul, produces material ec- 7:18 stasy and emotion. If spiritual sense always guided men, there would grow out of ecstatic mo- ments a higher experience and a better life 7:21 with more devout self-abnegation and purity. A self- satisfied ventilation of fervent sentiments never makes a Christian. God is not influenced by man. The "di- 7:24 vine ear" is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied.
Danger from audible prayer
7:27 The danger from prayer is that it may lead us into temp- tation. By it we may become involuntary hypocrites, ut- tering desires which are not real and consoling 7:30 ourselves in the midst of sin with the recollection that we have prayed over it or mean to ask for- giveness at some later day. Hypocrisy is fatal to religion.
8:1 A wordy prayer may afford a quiet sense of self- justification, though it makes the sinner a hypocrite. 8:3 We never need to despair of an honest heart; but there is little hope for those who come only spasmodi- cally face to face with their wickedness and then seek to 8:6 hide it. Their prayers are indexes which do not correspond with their character. They hold secret fellowship with sin, and such externals are spoken of by Jesus as "like 8:9 unto whited sepulchres . . . full . . . of all uncleanness."
Aspiration and love
If a man, though apparently fervent and prayerful, is impure and therefore insincere, what must be the 8:12 comment upon him? If he reached the loftiness of his prayer, there would be no occasion for comment. If we feel the aspiration, hu- 8:15 mility, gratitude, and love which our words express,- this God accepts; and it is wise not to try to deceive ourselves or others, for "there is nothing covered that 8:18 shall not be revealed." Professions and audible pray- ers are like charity in one respect,- they "cover the multitude of sins." Praying for humility with what- 8:21 ever fervency of expression does not always mean a desire for it. If we turn away from the poor, we are not ready to receive the reward of Him who blesses 8:24 the poor. We confess to having a very wicked heart and ask that it may be laid bare before us, but do we not already know more of this heart than we are 8:27 willing to have our neighbor see?
Searching the heart
We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way 8:30 only can we learn what we honestly are. If a friend informs us of a fault, do we listen pa- tiently to the rebuke and credit what is said? Do we not 9:1 rather give thanks that we are "not as other men"? During many years the author has been most grateful 9:3 for merited rebuke. The wrong lies in unmerited cen- sure,- in the falsehood which does no one any good.
Summit of aspiration
The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these 9:6 questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfish- ness, satisfied with having prayed for some- 9:9 thing better, though we give no evidence of the sin- cerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, 9:12 we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is 9:15 a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith.
Practical religion
Dost thou "love the Lord thy God with all thy 9:18 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"? This command includes much, even the sur- render of all merely material sensation, affec- 9:21 tion, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, 9:24 and material sense and human will have no place.
The chalice sacrificial
Are you willing to leave all for Christ, for Truth, and so be counted among sinners? No! Do you really desire 9:27 to attain this point? No! Then why make long prayers about it and ask to be Christians, since you do not care to tread in the footsteps of our 9:30 dear Master? If unwilling to follow his example, why pray with the lips that you may be partakers of his nature? Consistent prayer is the desire to do right. 10:1 Prayer means that we desire to walk and will walk in the light so far as we receive it, even though with bleed- 10:3 ing footsteps, and that waiting patiently on the Lord, we will leave our real desires to be rewarded by Him.
The world must grow to the spiritual understanding 10:6 of prayer. If good enough to profit by Jesus' cup of earthly sorrows, God will sustain us under these sor- rows. Until we are thus divinely qualified and are 10:9 willing to drink his cup, millions of vain repetitions will never pour into prayer the unction of Spirit in demonstration of power and "with signs following." 10:12 Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the world, the flesh, and evil, and thus destroying all error.
Seeking is not sufficient. It is striving that enables 10:15 us to enter. Spiritual attainments open the door to a higher understanding of the divine Life.
Perfunctory prayers
One of the forms of worship in Thibet is to carry a 10:18 praying-machine through the streets, and stop at the doors to earn a penny by grinding out a prayer. But the advance guard of progress has 10:21 paid for the privilege of prayer the price of persecution.
Asking amiss
Experience teaches us that we do not always receive the blessings we ask for in prayer. There is some mis- 10:24 apprehension of the source and means of all goodness and blessedness, or we should certainly receive that for which we ask. The Scrip- 10:27 tures say: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." That which we desire and for which we ask, it is not always 10:30 best for us to receive. In this case infinite Love will not grant the request. Do you ask wisdom to be mer- ciful and not to punish sin? Then "ye ask amiss." 11:1 Without punishment, sin would multiply. Jesus' prayer, "Forgive us our debts," specified also the terms of 11:3 forgiveness. When forgiving the adulterous woman he said, "Go, and sin no more."
Remission of penalty
A magistrate sometimes remits the penalty, but this 11:6 may be no moral benefit to the criminal, and at best, it only saves the criminal from one form of punishment. The moral law, which has the 11:9 right to acquit or condemn, always demands restitu- tion before mortals can "go up higher." Broken law brings penalty in order to compel this progress.
Truth annihilates error
11:12 Mere legal pardon (and there is no other, for divine Principle never pardons our sins or mistakes till they are corrected) leaves the offender free to re- 11:15 peat the offence, if indeed, he has not already suffered sufficiently from vice to make him turn from it with loathing. Truth bestows no pardon upon error, but 11:18 wipes it out in the most effectual manner. Jesus suffered for our sins, not to annul the divine sentence for an in- dividual's sin, but because sin brings inevitable suffering.
Desire for holiness
11:21 Petitions bring to mortals only the results of mor- tals' own faith. We know that a desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain holiness; but if we 11:24 desire holiness above all else, we shall sac- rifice everything for it. We must be willing to do this, that we may walk securely in the only practical road 11:27 to holiness. Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual 11:30 desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth. Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best expressed in thought and in life.
Prayer for the sick
12:1 "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," says the Scripture. What is this healing prayer? A mere re- 12:3 quest that God will heal the sick has no power to gain more of the divine presence than is always at hand. The beneficial effect of 12:6 such prayer for the sick is on the human mind, mak- ing it act more powerfully on the body through a blind faith in God. This, however, is one belief casting out 12:9 another, - a belief in the unknown casting out a belief in sickness. It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human under- 12:12 standing of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and con- scientious protests of Truth, - of man's likeness to 12:15 God and of man's unity with Truth and Love.
Prayer to a corporeal God affects the sick like a drug, which has no efficacy of its own but borrows its 12:18 power from human faith and belief. The drug does nothing, because it has no intelligence. It is a mortal belief, not divine Principle or Love, which causes a 12:21 drug to be apparently either poisonous or sanative.
The common custom of praying for the recovery of the sick finds help in blind belief, whereas help should come 12:24 from the enlightened understanding. Changes in belief may go on indefinitely, but they are the merchandise of human thought and not the outgrowth of divine Science.
Love impartial and universal
12:27 Does Deity interpose in behalf of one worshipper, and not help another who offers the same measure of prayer? If the sick recover because they 12:30 pray or are prayed for audibly, only peti- tioners (per se or by proxy) should get well. In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail them- 13:1 selves of God as "a very present help in trouble." Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and 13:3 bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters."
Public exaggerations
In public prayer we often go beyond our convictions, 13:6 beyond the honest standpoint of fervent desire. If we are not secretly yearning and openly striv- ing for the accomplishment of all we ask, 13:9 our prayers are "vain repetitions," such as the heathen use. If our petitions are sincere, we labor for what we ask; and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward 13:12 us openly. Can the mere public expression of our de- sires increase them? Do we gain the omnipotent ear sooner by words than by thoughts? Even if prayer is 13:15 sincere, God knows our need before we tell Him or our fellow-beings about it. If we cherish the desire hon- estly and silently and humbly, God will bless it, and 13:18 we shall incur less risk of overwhelming our real wishes with a torrent of words.
Corporeal ignorance
If we pray to God as a corporeal person, this will 13:21 prevent us from relinquishing the human doubts and fears which attend such a belief, and so we cannot grasp the wonders wrought by infi- 13:24 nite, incorporeal Love, to whom all things are possible. Because of human ignorance of the divine Principle, Love, the Father of all is represented as a corporeal 13:27 creator; hence men recognize themselves as merely physical, and are ignorant of man as God's image or re- flection and of man's eternal incorporeal existence. The 13:30 world of error is ignorant of the world of Truth, - blind to the reality of man's existence, - for the world of sen- sation is not cognizant of life in Soul, not in body.
Bodily presence
14:1 If we are sensibly with the body and regard omnipo- tence as a corporeal, material person, whose ear we 14:3 would gain, we are not "absent from the body" and "present with the Lord" in the demonstration of Spirit. We cannot "serve two mas- 14:6 ters." To be "present with the Lord" is to have, not mere emotional ecstasy or faith, but the actual demon- stration and understanding of Life as revealed in 14:9 Christian Science. To be "with the Lord" is to be in obedience to the law of God, to be absolutely governed by divine Love,- by Spirit, not by matter.
Spiritualized consciousness
14:12 Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, - neither in nor of matter, - and the body will then utter no 14:15 complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is turned into joy when the body is controlled by spir- 14:18 itual Life, Truth, and Love. Hence the hope of the promise Jesus bestows: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; . . . because I 14:21 go unto my Father," - [because the Ego is absent from the body, and present with Truth and Love.] The Lord's Prayer is the prayer of Soul, not of material 14:24 sense.
Entirely separate from the belief and dream of mate- rial living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual under- 14:27 standing and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth. This understanding casts out error and heals the sick, and with it you can speak 14:30 "as one having authority."
"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father 15:1 which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."
Spiritual sanctuary
15:3 So spake Jesus. The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit, the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and Love. Closed to 15:6 error, it is open to Truth, and vice versa. The Father in secret is unseen to the physical senses, but He knows all things and rewards according to 15:9 motives, not according to speech. To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, 15:12 that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.
Effectual invocation
In order to pray aright, we must enter into the 15:15 closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must 15:18 deny sin and plead God's allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We 15:21 must "pray without ceasing." Such prayer is an- swered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master's injunction is, that we pray in secret and 15:24 let our lives attest our sincerity.
Trustworthy beneficence
Christians rejoice in secret beauty and bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God. Self-forgetfulness, 15:27 purity, and affection are constant prayers. Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and 15:30 they assuredly call down infinite blessings. Trustworthi- ness is the foundation of enlightened faith. Without a fitness for holiness, we cannot receive holiness.
Loftiest adoration
16:1 A great sacrifice of material things must precede this advanced spiritual understanding. The highest prayer 16:3 is not one of faith merely; it is demonstra- tion. Such prayer heals sickness, and must destroy sin and death. It distinguishes between Truth 16:6 that is sinless and the falsity of sinful sense.
The prayer of Jesus Christ
Our Master taught his disciples one brief prayer, which we name after him the Lord's Prayer. Our Mas- 16:9 ter said, "After this manner therefore pray ye," and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs. There is indeed some doubt 16:12 among Bible scholars, whether the last line is not an addition to the prayer by a later copyist; but this does not affect the meaning of the prayer itself.
16:15 In the phrase, "Deliver us from evil," the original properly reads, "Deliver us from the evil one." This reading strengthens our scientific apprehension of the peti- 16:18 tion, for Christian Science teaches us that "the evil one," or one evil, is but another name for the first lie and all liars.
Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and 16:21 sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spir- itual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord's Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick. 16:24 Here let me give what I understand to be the spir- itual sense of the Lord's Prayer:
Our Father which art in heaven, 16:27 Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Thy name. Adorable One.
16:30 Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.
17:1 Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Enable us to know,- as in heaven, so on earth,- God is 17:3 omnipotent, supreme.
Give us this day our daily bread; Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;
17:6 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And Love is reflected in love;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 17:9 evil; And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.
17:12 For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.
Chapter Ii - Atonement And Eucharist
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. - PAUL.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. - PAUL.
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. - JESUS.
Divine oneness
18:1 ATONEMENT is the exemplification of man's unity with God, whereby man reflects divine Truth, Life, 18:3 and Love. Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man's oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage. His mission was both in- 18:6 dividual and collective. He did life's work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals,- to show them how to do theirs, but not to do 18:9 it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility. Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he 18:12 refuted all opponents with his healing power.
Human reconciliation
The atonement of Christ reconciles man to God, not God to man; for the divine Principle of Christ is God, 18:15 and how can God propitiate Himself? Christ is Truth, which reaches no higher than itself. The fountain can rise no higher than its source. Christ, 18:18 Truth, could conciliate no nature above his own, derived 19:1 from the eternal Love. It was therefore Christ's purpose to reconcile man to God, not God to man. Love and 19:3 Truth are not at war with God's image and likeness. Man cannot exceed divine Love, and so atone for him- self. Even Christ cannot reconcile Truth to error, for 19:6 Truth and error are irreconcilable. Jesus aided in recon- ciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, the divine Principle of Jesus' teachings, and this truer 19:9 sense of Love redeems man from the law of matter, sin, and death by the law of Spirit,- the law of divine Love.
19:12 The Master forbore not to speak the whole truth, de- claring precisely what would destroy sickness, sin, and death, although his teaching set households at variance, 19:15 and brought to material beliefs not peace, but a sword.
Efficacious repentance
Every pang of repentance and suffering, every effort 19:18 for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to understand Jesus' atonement for sin and aid its efficacy; but if the sinner continues to pray 19:21 and repent, sin and be sorry, he has little part in the atone- ment,- in the at-one-ment with God,- for he lacks the practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables 19:24 man to do the will of wisdom. Those who cannot dem- onstrate, at least in part, the divine Principle of the teach- ings and practice of our Master have no part in God. If 19:27 living in disobedience to Him, we ought to feel no secur- ity, although God is good.
Jesus' sinless career
Jesus urged the commandment, "Thou shalt have no 19:30 other gods before me," which may be ren- dered: Thou shalt have no belief of Life as mortal; thou shalt not know evil, for there is one Life,- 20:1 even God, good. He rendered "unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are 20:3 God's." He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved, not by spirits but by Spirit.
20:6 To the ritualistic priest and hypocritical Pharisee Jesus said, "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." Jesus' history made a 20:9 new calendar, which we call the Christian era; but he established no ritualistic worship. He knew that men can be baptized, partake of the Eucharist, support the 20:12 clergy, observe the Sabbath, make long prayers, and yet be sensual and sinful.
Perfect example
Jesus bore our infirmities; he knew the error of mortal 20:15 belief, and "with his stripes [the rejection of error] we are healed." "Despised and rejected of men," returning blessing for cursing, he taught mor- 20:18 tals the opposite of themselves, even the nature of God; and when error felt the power of Truth, the scourge and the cross awaited the great Teacher. Yet he swerved not, 20:21 well knowing that to obey the divine order and trust God, saves retracing and traversing anew the path from sin to holiness.
Behest of the cross
20:24 Material belief is slow to acknowledge what the spiritual fact implies. The truth is the centre of all religion. It commands sure entrance into 20:27 the realm of Love. St. Paul wrote, "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that 20:30 is set before us;" that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing.
Moral victory
21:1 If Truth is overcoming error in your daily walk and conversation, you can finally say, "I have fought a 21:3 good fight . . . I have kept the faith," be- cause you are a better man. This is having our part in the at-one-ment with Truth and Love. 21:6 Christians do not continue to labor and pray, expecting because of another's goodness, suffering, and triumph, that they shall reach his harmony and reward.
21:9 If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striv- ing to enter in. He constantly turns away from ma- terial sense, and looks towards the imperishable things 21:12 of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy.
Inharmonious travellers
21:15 If my friends are going to Europe, while I am en route for California, we are not journeying together. We have separate time-tables to consult, 21:18 different routes to pursue. Our paths have diverged at the very outset, and we have little oppor- tunity to help each other. On the contrary, if my 21:21 friends pursue my course, we have the same railroad guides, and our mutual interests are identical; or, if I take up their line of travel, they help me on, and our 21:24 companionship may continue.
Zigzag course
Being in sympathy with matter, the worldly man is at the beck and call of error, and will be attracted thither- 21:27 ward. He is like a traveller going westward for a pleasure-trip. The company is alluring and the pleasures exciting. After following the sun for 21:30 six days, he turns east on the seventh, satisfied if he can only imagine himself drifting in the right direction. By- and-by, ashamed of his zigzag course, he would borrow 22:1 the passport of some wiser pilgrim, thinking with the aid of this to find and follow the right road.
Moral retrogression
22:3 Vibrating like a pendulum between sin and the hope of forgiveness,- selfishness and sensuality causing con- stant retrogression,- our moral progress will 22:6 be slow. Waking to Christ's demand, mortals experience suffering. This causes them, even as drown- ing men, to make vigorous efforts to save themselves; and 22:9 through Christ's precious love these efforts are crowned with success.
Wait for reward
"Work out your own salvation," is the demand of 22:12 Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. "Occupy till I come!" Wait for your re- ward, and "be not weary in well doing." If 22:15 your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race.
22:18 When the smoke of battle clears away, you will dis- cern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from 22:21 temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.
Deliverance not vicarious
Final deliverance from error, whereby we rejoice in 22:24 immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached through paths of flowers nor by pinning one's faith without works to another's vicarious 22:27 effort. Whosoever believeth that wrath is righteous or that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does not understand God.
Justice and substitution
22:30 Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy cancels the debt only when justice approves. Revenge is inadmissible. Wrath which is only appeased is not 23:1 destroyed, but partially indulged. Wisdom and Love may require many sacrifices of self to save us from sin. 23:3 One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires constant self-immolation on the sinner's part. That 23:6 God's wrath should be vented upon His beloved Son, is divinely unnatural. Such a theory is man-made. The atonement is a hard problem in theology, but its scien- 23:9 tific explanation is, that suffering is an error of sinful sense which Truth destroys, and that eventually both sin and suf- fering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love.
Doctrines and faith
23:12 Rabbinical lore said: "He that taketh one doctrine, firm in faith, has the Holy Ghost dwelling in him." This preaching receives a strong rebuke in 23:15 the Scripture, "Faith without works is dead." Faith, if it be mere belief, is as a pendulum swinging be- tween nothing and something, having no fixity. Faith, 23:18 advanced to spiritual understanding, is the evidence gained from Spirit, which rebukes sin of every kind and estab- lishes the claims of God.
Self-reliance and confidence
23:21 In Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, faith and the words corresponding thereto have these two defini- tions, trustfulness and trustworthiness. One 23:24 kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others. Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how to work out one's "own salvation, with fear and trem- 23:27 bling." "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!" expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the injunction, "Believe . . . and thou shalt be saved!" 23:30 demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spir- itual understanding and confides all to God.
The Hebrew verb to believe means also to be firm or 24:1 to be constant. This certainly applies to Truth and Love understood and practised. Firmness in error will never 24:3 save from sin, disease, and death.
Life's healing currents
Acquaintance with the original texts, and willingness to give up human beliefs (established by hierarchies, and 24:6 instigated sometimes by the worst passions of men), open the way for Christian Science to be understood, and make the Bible the chart of life, where 24:9 the buoys and healing currents of Truth are pointed out.
Radical changes
He to whom "the arm of the Lord" is revealed will 24:12 believe our report, and rise into newness of life with re- generation. This is having part in the atone- ment; this is the understanding, in which 24:15 Jesus suffered and triumphed. The time is not distant when the ordinary theological views of atonement will undergo a great change, - a change as radical as that 24:18 which has come over popular opinions in regard to pre- destination and future punishment.
Purpose of crucifixion
Does erudite theology regard the crucifixion of Jesus 24:21 chiefly as providing a ready pardon for all sinners who ask for it and are willing to be forgiven? Does spiritualism find Jesus' death necessary 24:24 only for the presentation, after death, of the material Jesus, as a proof that spirits can return to earth? Then we must differ from them both.
24:27 The efficacy of the crucifixion lay in the practical af- fection and goodness it demonstrated for mankind. The truth had been lived among men; but until they saw that 24:30 it enabled their Master to triumph over the grave, his own disciples could not admit such an event to be possible. After the resurrection, even the unbelieving Thomas was 25:1 forced to acknowledge how complete was the great proof of Truth and Love.
True flesh and blood
25:3 The spiritual essence of blood is sacrifice. The effi- cacy of Jesus' spiritual offering is infinitely greater than can be expressed by our sense of human 25:6 blood. The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon "the accursed tree," than when it was flowing in 25:9 his veins as he went daily about his Father's business. His true flesh and blood were his Life; and they truly eat his flesh and drink his blood, who partake of that divine 25:12 Life.
Effective triumph
Jesus taught the way of Life by demonstration, that we may understand how this divine Principle heals 25:15 the sick, casts out error, and triumphs over death. Jesus presented the ideal of God better than could any man whose origin was less spiritual. By 25:18 his obedience to God, he demonstrated more spiritu- ally than all others the Principle of being. Hence the force of his admonition, "If ye love me, keep my com- 25:21 mandments."
Though demonstrating his control over sin and disease, the great Teacher by no means relieved others from giving 25:24 the requisite proofs of their own piety. He worked for their guidance, that they might demonstrate this power as he did and understand its divine Principle. Implicit faith 25:27 in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the 25:30 great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.
Individual experience
26:1 While we adore Jesus, and the heart overflows with gratitude for what he did for mortals, - treading alone 26:3 his loving pathway up to the throne of glory, in speechless agony exploring the way for us, - yet Jesus spares us not one individual expe- 26:6 rience, if we follow his commands faithfully; and all have the cup of sorrowful effort to drink in proportion to their demonstration of his love, till all are redeemed 26:9 through divine Love.
Christ's demonstration
The Christ was the Spirit which Jesus implied in his own statements: "I am the way, the truth, and the life;" 26:12 "I and my Father are one." This Christ, or divinity of the man Jesus, was his divine nature, the godliness which animated him. Divine Truth, 26:15 Life, and Love gave Jesus authority over sin, sickness, and death. His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does 26:18 for man.
Proof in practice
A musician demonstrates the beauty of the music he teaches in order to show the learner the way by prac- 26:21 tice as well as precept. Jesus' teaching and practice of Truth involved such a sacrifice as makes us admit its Principle to be Love. This was 26:24 the precious import of our Master's sinless career and of his demonstration of power over death. He proved by his deeds that Christian Science destroys sickness, sin, 26:27 and death.
Our Master taught no mere theory, doctrine, or belief. It was the divine Principle of all real being which he 26:30 taught and practised. His proof of Christianity was no form or system of religion and worship, but Christian Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love. 27:1 Jesus sent a message to John the Baptist, which was in- tended to prove beyond a question that the Christ had 27:3 come: "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
