Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 Part 12

Man is seen only in the true likeness of his Maker.

Believing a lie veils the truth from our vision; even as in mathematics, in summing up positive and negative [10]

quant.i.ties, the negative quant.i.ty offsets an equal positive quant.i.ty, making the aggregate positive, or true quant.i.ty, by that much, less available.

_Why do Christian Scientists hold that their theology is_ _essential to heal the sick, when the mind-cure claims to heal_ [15]

_without it?_

The theology of Christian Science is Truth; opposed to which is the error of sickness, sin, and death, that Truth destroys.

A "mind-cure" is a matter-cure. An adherent to this [20]

method honestly acknowledges this fact in her work ent.i.tled "Mind-cure on a Material Basis." In that work the author grapples with Christian Science, attempts to solve its divine Principle by the rule of human mind, fails, and ends in a parody on this Science which is amus- [25]

ing to astute readers,-especially when she tells them that she is practising this Science.

The theology of Christian Science is based on the action of the divine Mind over the human mind and body; whereas, "mind-cure" rests on the notion that the human [30]

mind can cure its own disease, or that which it causes,

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and the _sickness of matter_,-which is infidel in the one [1]

case, and anomalous in the other. It was said of old by Truth-traducers, that Jesus healed through Beelzebub; but the claim that one erring mind cures another one was at first gotten up to hinder his benign influence and to hide [5]

his divine power.

Our Master understood that Life, Truth, Love are the triune Principle of all pure theology; also, that this divine trinity is one infinite remedy for the opposite triad, sick- ness, sin, and death. [10]

_If there is no sin, why did Jesus come to save sinners?_

If there is no reality in sickness, why does a Chris- tian Scientist go to the bedside and address himself to the healing of disease, on the basis of its unreality?

Jesus came to seek and to save such as believe in the [15]

reality of the unreal; to save them from _this false belief_; that they might lay hold of eternal Life, the great reality that concerns man, and understand the final fact,-that G.o.d is omnipotent and omnipresent; yea, "that the Lord He is G.o.d; there is none else beside Him," as the Scrip- [20]

tures declare.

_If Christ was G.o.d, why did Jesus cry out, __"__My G.o.d,_ _why hast Thou forsaken me?__"_

Even as the struggling heart, reaching toward a higher goal, appeals to its hope and faith, Why failest thou [25]

me? Jesus as the son of man was human: Christ as the Son of G.o.d was divine. This divinity was reaching humanity through the crucifixion of the human,-that momentous demonstration of G.o.d, in which Spirit proved its supremacy over matter. Jesus a.s.sumed for mortals the [30]

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weakness of flesh, that Spirit might be found "All-in-all." [1]

Hence, the human cry which voiced that struggle; thence, the way he made for mortals' escape. Our Master bore the cross to show his power over death; then relinquished his earth-task of teaching and dem- [5]

onstrating the nothingness of sickness, sin, and death, and rose to his native estate, man's indestructible eternal life in G.o.d.

_What can prospective students of the College take for_ _preliminary studies? Do you regard the study of litera-_ [10]

_ture and languages as objectionable?_

Persons contemplating a course at the Ma.s.sachusetts Metaphysical College, can prepare for it through no books except the Bible, and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Man-made theories are nar- [15]

row, else extravagant, and are always materialistic.

The ethics which guide thought spiritually must bene- fit every one; for the only philosophy and religion that afford instruction are those which deal with facts and resist speculative opinions and fables. [20]

Works on science are profitable; for science is not human. It is spiritual, and not material. Literature and languages, to a limited extent, are aids to a student of the Bible and of Christian Science.

_Is it possible to know why we are put into this condition_ [25]

_of mortality?_

It is quite as possible to know wherefore man is thus conditioned, as to be certain that he _is_ in a state of mortality. The only evidence of the existence of a mor- tal man, or of a material state and universe, is gathered [30]

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from the five personal senses. This delusive evidence, [1]

Science has dethroned by repeated proofs of its falsity.

We have no more proof of human discord,-sin, sickness, disease, or death,-than we have that the earth's surface is flat, and her motions imaginary. If [5]

man's _ipse dixit_ as to the stellar system is correct, this is because Science is true, and the evidence of the senses is false. Then why not submit to the affirmations of Science concerning the greater subject of human weal and woe? Every question between Truth and error, [10]

Science must and will decide. Left to the decision of Science, your query concerns a negative which the posi- tive Truth destroys; for G.o.d's universe and man are immortal. We must not consider the false side of exist- ence in order to gain the true solution of Life and its [15]

great realities.

_Have you changed your instructions as to the right way_ _of treating disease?_

I have not; and this important fact must be, and al- ready is, apprehended by those who understand my in- [20]

structions on this question. Christian Science demands both law and gospel, in order to demonstrate healing, and I have taught them both in its demonstration, and with signs following. They are a unit in restoring the equipoise of mind and body, and balancing man's ac- [25]

count with his Maker. The sequence proves that strict adherence to one is inadequate to compensate for the absence of the other, since both const.i.tute the divine law of healing.

The Jewish religion demands that "whoso sheddeth [30]

man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." But this

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law is not infallible in wisdom; and obedience thereto [1]

may be found faulty, since false testimony or mistaken evidence may cause the innocent to suffer for the guilty.

Hence the gospel that fulfils the law in righteousness, the genius whereof is displayed in the surprising wisdom [5]

of these words of the New Testament: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." No possible injustice lurks in this mandate, and no human mis- judgment can pervert it; for the offender alone suffers, and always according to divine decree. This sacred, [10]

solid precept is verified in all directions in Mind- healing, and is supported in the Scripture by parallel proof.

The law and gospel of Truth and Love teach, through divine Science, that sin is identical with suffering, and [15]

that suffering is the lighter affliction. To reach the sum- mit of Science, whence to discern G.o.d's perfect ways and means, the material sense must be controlled by the higher spiritual sense, and Truth be enthroned, while "we look not at the things which are seen, but at [20]

the things which are not seen."

Cynical critics misjudge my meaning as to the sci- entific treatment of the sick. Disease that is superin- duced by sin is not healed like the more physical ailment. The beginner in sin-healing must know this, or [25]

he never can reach the Science of Mind-healing, and so "overcome evil with good." Error in premise is met with error in practice; yea, it is "the blind leading the blind." Ignorance of the cause of disease can neither remove that cause nor its effect. [30]

I endeavor to accommodate my instructions to the present capability of the learner, and to support the

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liberated thought until its alt.i.tude reaches beyond the [1]

mere alphabet of Mind-healing. Above physical wants, lie the higher claims of the law and gospel of healing.

First is the law, which saith:-

"Thou shalt not commit adultery;" in other words, [5]