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Churchly neglect
Must Christian Science come through the
Christian churches as some persons insist? This Science has come already,
after the manner of God's appointing, but the churches seem not ready to
receive it, according to the Scriptural saying, "He came unto his own,
and his own received him not." Jesus once said: "I thank Thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in Thy sight." As aforetime, the spirit of the Christ,
which taketh away the ceremonies and doctrines of men, is not accepted until
the hearts of men are made ready for it.
John the
Baptist, and the Messiah
The mission of Jesus confirmed prophecy, and
explained the so-called miracles of olden time as natural demonstrations of
the divine power, demonstrations which were not understood. Jesus' works
established his claim to the Messiahship. In reply to John's inquiry,
"Art thou he that should come," Jesus returned an affirmative reply,
recounting his works instead of referring to his doctrine, confident that this
exhibition of the divine power to heal would fully answer the question. Hence
his reply: "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see:
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached
to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." In
other words, he gave his benediction to any one who should not deny that such
effects, coming from divine Mind, prove the unity of God, - the divine
Principle which brings out all harmony.
Christ
rejected
The Pharisees of old thrust the spiritual idea
and the man who lived it out of their synagogues, and retained their
materialistic beliefs about God. Jesus' system of healing received no aid nor
approval from other sanitary or religious systems, from doctrines of physics
or of divinity; and it has not yet been generally accepted. To-day, as of
yore, unconscious of the reappearing of the spiritual idea, blind belief shuts
the door upon it, and condemns the cure of the sick and sinning if it is
wrought on any but a material and a doctrinal theory. Anticipating this
rejection of idealism, of the true idea of God, - this salvation from all
error, physical and mental, - Jesus asked, "When the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?"
John's
misgivings
Did the doctrines of John the Baptist confer
healing power upon him, or endow him with the truest conception of the Christ?
This righteous preacher once pointed his disciples to Jesus as "the Lamb
of God;" yet afterwards he seriously questioned the signs of the
Messianic appearing, and sent the inquiry to Jesus, "Art thou he that
should come?"
Faith
according to works
Was John's faith greater than that of the
Samaritan woman, who said, "Is not this the Christ?" There was also
a certain centurion of whose faith Jesus himself declared, "I have not
found so great faith, no, not in Israel."
In Egypt, it was Mind which saved the
Israelites from belief in the plagues. In the wilderness, streams flowed from
the rock, and manna fell from the sky. The Israelites looked upon the brazen
serpent, and straightway believed that they were healed of the poisonous
stings of vipers. In national prosperity, miracles attended the successes of
the Hebrews; but when they departed from the true idea, their demoralization
began. Even in captivity among foreign nations, the divine Principle wrought
wonders for the people of God in the fiery furnace and in kings' palaces.
Judaism
antipathetic
Judaism was the antithesis of Christianity,
because Judaism engendered the limited form of a national or tribal religion.
It was a finite and material system, carried out in special theories
concerning God, man, sanitary methods, and a religious cultus. That he made
"himself equal with God," was one of the Jewish accusations against
him who planted Christianity on the foundation of Spirit, who taught as he was
inspired by the Father and would recognize no life, intelligence, nor
substance outside of God.
Priestly
learning
The Jewish conception of God, as Yawah,
Jehovah, or only a mighty hero and king, has not quite given place to the true
knowledge of God. Creeds and rituals have not cleansed their hands of
rabbinical lore. To-day the cry of bygone ages is repeated, "Crucify
him!" At every advancing step, truth is still opposed with sword and
spear.
Testimony
of martyrs
The word martyr
, from the Greek, means witness
; but those who testified for Truth were so often persecuted unto
death, that at length the word martyr
was narrowed in its significance and so has come always to mean one
who suffers for his convictions. The new faith in the Christ, Truth, so roused
the hatred of the opponents of Christianity, that the followers of Christ were
burned, crucified, and otherwise persecuted; and so it came about that human
rights were hallowed by the gallows and the cross.
Absence
of Christ-power
Man-made doctrines are waning. They have not
waxed strong in times of trouble. Devoid of the Christ-power, how can they
illustrate the doctrines of Christ or the miracles of grace? Denial of the
possibility of Christian healing robs Christianity of the very element, which
gave it divine force and its astonishing and unequalled success in the first
century.
Basis of
miracles
The true Logos is demonstrably Christian
Science, the natural law of harmony which overcomes discord, - not because
this Science is supernatural or preternatural, nor because it is an infraction
of divine law, but because it is the immutable law of God, good. Jesus said:
"I knew that Thou hearest me always;" and he raised Lazarus from the
dead, stilled the tempest, healed the sick, walked on the water. There is
divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over
material resistance.
Lawful
wonders
A miracle fulfils God's law, but does not
violate that law. This fact at present seems more mysterious than the miracle
itself. The Psalmist sang: "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou
fleddest? Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye
skipped like rams, and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at
the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob." The
miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the
Science of God's unchangeable law. Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the
exercise of divine power.
Fear and
sickness identical
The same power which heals sin heals also
sickness. This is "the beauty of holiness," that when Truth heals
the sick, it casts out evils, and when Truth casts out the evil called
disease, it heals the sick. When Christ cast out the devil of dumbness,
"it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake."
There is to-day danger of repeating the offence of the Jews by limiting the
Holy One of Israel and asking: "Can God furnish a table in the
wilderness?" What cannot God do?
The
unity of Science and Christianity
It has been said, and truly, that Christianity
must be Science, and Science must be Christianity, else one or the other is
false and useless; but neither is unimportant or untrue, and they are alike in
demonstration. This proves the one to be identical with the other.
Christianity as Jesus taught it was not a creed, nor a system of ceremonies,
nor a special gift from a ritualistic Jehovah; but it was the demonstration of
divine Love casting out error and healing the sick, not merely in the name
of Christ, or Truth, but in demonstration of Truth, as must be the
case in the cycles of divine light.
The
Christ-mission
Jesus established his church and maintained his
mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught his followers
that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal
both the sick and the sinning. He claimed no intelligence, action, nor life
separate from God. Despite the persecution this brought upon him, he used his
divine power to save men both bodily and spiritually.
Ancient
spiritualism
The question then as now was, How did Jesus
heal the sick? His answer to this question the world rejected. He appealed to
his students: "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" That is:
Who or what is it that is thus identified with casting out evils and healing
the sick? They replied, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." These prophets were
considered dead, and this reply may indicate that some of the people believed
that Jesus was a medium, controlled by the spirit of John or of Elias.
This ghostly fancy was repeated by Herod
himself. That a wicked king and debauched husband should have no high
appreciation of divine Science and the great work of the Master, was not
surprising; for how could such a sinner comprehend what the disciples did not
fully understand? But even Herod doubted if Jesus was controlled by the
sainted preacher. Hence Herod's assertion: "John have I beheaded: but who
is this?" No wonder Herod desired to see the new Teacher.
Doubting
disciples
The disciples apprehended their Master better
than did others; but they did not comprehend all that he said and did, or they
would not have questioned him so often. Jesus patiently persisted in teaching
and demonstrating the truth of being. His students saw this power of Truth
heal the sick, cast out evil, raise the dead; but the ultimate of this
wonderful work was not spiritually discerned, even by them, until after the
crucifixion, when their immaculate Teacher stood before them, the victor over
sickness, sin, disease, death, and the grave.
Yearning to be understood, the Master repeated,
"But whom say ye
that I am?" This renewed inquiry meant: Who or what is it that
is able to do the work, so mysterious to the popular mind? In his rejection of
the answer already given and his renewal of the question, it is plain that
Jesus completely eschewed the narrow opinion implied in their citation of the
common report about him.
A divine
response
With his usual impetuosity, Simon replied for
his brethren, and his reply set forth a great fact: "Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God!" That is: The Messiah is what thou hast
declared, - Christ, - the spirit of God, of Truth, Life, and Love, which heals
mentally. This assertion elicited from Jesus the benediction, "Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven;" that is, Love hath shown thee the way
of Life!
The true
and living rock
Before this the impetuous disciple had been
called only by his common names, Simon Bar-jona, or son of Jona; but now the
Master gave him a spiritual name in these words: "And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock [the meaning of the Greek word petros
, or stone
] I will build my church; and the gates of hell [
hades , the under-world
, or the grave
] shall not prevail against it." In other words, Jesus purposed
founding his society, not on the personal Peter as a mortal, but on the
God-power which lay behind Peter's confession of the true Messiah.
Sublime
summary
It was now evident to Peter that divine Life,
Truth, and Love, and not a human personality, was the healer of the sick and a
rock, a firm foundation in the realm of harmony. On this spiritually
scientific basis Jesus explained his cures, which appeared miraculous to
outsiders. He showed that diseases were cast out neither by corporeality, by materia
medica , nor by hygiene, but by the divine
Spirit, casting out the errors of mortal mind. The supremacy of Spirit was the
foundation on which Jesus built. His sublime summary points to the religion of
Love.
New era
in Jesus
Jesus established in the Christian era the
precedent for all Christianity, theology, and healing. Christians are under as
direct orders now, as they were then, to be Christlike, to possess the
Christ-spirit, to follow the Christ-example, and to heal the sick as well as
the sinning. It is easier for Christianity to cast out sickness than sin, for
the sick are more willing to part with pain than are sinners to give up the
sinful, so-called pleasure of the senses. The Christian can prove this to-day
as readily as it was proved centuries ago.
Healthful
theology
Our Master said to every follower: "Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature! . . . Heal the
sick! . . . Love thy neighbor as thyself!" It was this theology of Jesus
which healed the sick and the sinning. It is his theology in this book and the
spiritual meaning of this theology, which heals the sick and causes the wicked
to "forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." It was
our Master's 'theology which the impious sought to destroy.
Marvels
and reformations
From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full
of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. Moses proved the
power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha.
The Christian era was ushered in with signs and wonders. Reforms have commonly
been attended with bloodshed and persecution, even when the end has been
brightness and peace; but the present new, yet old, reform in religious faith
will teach men patiently and wisely to stem the tide of sectarian bitterness,
whenever it flows inward.
Science
obscured
The decisions by vote of Church Councils as to
what should and should not be considered Holy Writ; the manifest mistakes in
the ancient versions; the thirty thousand different readings in the Old
Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New, - these facts show how a
mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, with its own hue
darkening to some extent the inspired pages. But mistakes could neither wholly
obscure the divine Science of the Scriptures seen from Genesis to Revelation,
mar the demonstration of Jesus, nor annul the healing by the prophets, who
foresaw that "the stone which the builders rejected" would become
"the head of the corner."
Opponents
benefited
Atheism, pantheism, theosophy, and agnosticism
are opposed to Christian Science, as they are to ordinary religion; but it
does not follow that the profane or atheistic invalid cannot be healed by
Christian Science. The moral condition of such a man demands the remedy of
Truth more than it is needed in most cases; and Science is more than usually
effectual in the treatment of moral ailments.
God
invisible to the senses
That God is a corporeal being, nobody can truly
affirm. The Bible represents Him as saying: "Thou canst not see My face;
for there shall no man see Me, and live." Not materially but spiritually
we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. We shall obey and adore
in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly,
warring no more over the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our
God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of the head. Mankind will no
longer be tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love, - straining out gnats
and swallowing camels.
The true
worship
We worship spiritually, only as we cease to
worship materially. Spiritual devoutness is the soul of Christianity.
Worshipping through the medium of matter is paganism. Judaic and other rituals
are but types and shadows of true worship. "The true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth."
Anthropomorphism
The Jewish tribal Jehovah was a man-projected
God, liable to wrath, repentance, and human changeableness. The Christian
Science God is universal, eternal, divine Love, which changeth not and causeth
no evil, disease, nor death. It is indeed mournfully true that the older
Scripture is reversed. In the beginning God created man in His, God's, image;
but mortals would procreate man, and make God in their own human image. What
is the god of a mortal, but a mortal magnified?
More
than profession required
This indicates the distance between the
theological and ritualistic religion of the ages and the truth preached by
Jesus. More than profession is requisite for Christian demonstration. Few
understand or adhere to Jesus' divine precepts for living and healing. Why?
Because his precepts require the disciple to cut off the right hand and pluck
out the right eye, - that is, to set aside even the most cherished beliefs and
practices, to leave all for Christ.
No
ecclesiastical monopoly
All revelation (such is the popular thought!)
must come from the schools and along the line of scholarly and ecclesiastical
descent, as kings are crowned from a royal dynasty. In healing the sick and
sinning, Jesus elaborated the fact that the healing effect followed the
understanding of the divine Principle and of the Christ-spirit which governed
the corporeal Jesus. For this Principle there is no dynasty, no ecclesiastical
monopoly. Its only crowned head is immortal sovereignty. Its only priest is
the spiritualized man. The Bible declares that all believers are made
"kings and priests unto God." The outsiders did not then, and do not
now, understand this ruling of the Christ; therefore they cannot demonstrate
God's healing power. Neither can this manifestation of Christ be comprehended,
until its divine Principle is scientifically understood.
A change
demanded
The adoption of scientific religion and of
divine healing will ameliorate sin, sickness, and death. Let our pulpits do
justice to Christian Science. Let it have fair representation by the press.
Give to it the place in our institutions of learning now occupied by
scholastic theology and physiology, and it will eradicate sickness and sin in
less time than the old systems, devised for subduing them, have required for
self-establishment and propagation.
Two
claims omitted
Anciently the followers of Christ, or Truth,
measured Christianity by its power over sickness, sin, and death; but modern
religions generally omit all but one of these powers, - the power over sin. We
must seek the undivided garment, the whole Christ, as our first proof of
Christianity, for Christ, Truth, alone can furnish us with absolute evidence.
Selfishness
and loss
If the soft palm, upturned to a lordly salary,
and architectural skill, making dome and spire tremulous with beauty, turn the
poor and the stranger from the gate, they at the same time shut the door on
progress. In vain do the manger and the cross tell their story to pride and
fustian. Sensuality palsies the right hand, and causes the left to let go its
grasp on the divine.
Temple
cleansed
As in Jesus' time, so to-day, tyranny and pride
need to be whipped out of the temple, and humility and divine Science to be
welcomed in. The strong cords of scientific demonstration, as twisted and
wielded by Jesus, are still needed to purge the temples of their vain traffic
in worldly worship and to make them meet dwelling-places for the Most High.
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