Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 Part 15

the very elect. We will charitably hope, however, that some people employ the _et cetera_ of ignorance and self- conceit unconsciously, in their witless ventilation of false statements and claims. Misguiding the public mind and taking its money in exchange for this abuse, has become [20]

too common: we will hope it is the froth of error pa.s.sing off; and that Christian Science will some time appear all the clearer for the purification of the public thought con- cerning it.

_Has man fallen from a state of perfection?_ [25]

If G.o.d is the Principle of man (and He is), man is the idea of G.o.d; and this idea cannot fail to express the ex- act nature of its Principle,-any more than goodness, to present the quality of good. Human hypotheses are always human vagaries, formulated views antagonistic [30]

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to the divine order and the nature of Deity. All these [1]

mortal beliefs will be purged and dissolved in the cru- cible of Truth, and the places once knowing them will know them no more forever, having been swept clean by the winds of history. The grand verities of Science [5]

will sift the chaff from the wheat, until it is clear to hu- man comprehension that man was, and is, G.o.d's perfect likeness, that reflects all whereby we can know G.o.d. In Him we live, move, and have being. Man's origin and existence being in Him, man is the ultimatum of per- [10]

fection, and by no means the medium of imperfection.

Immortal man is the eternal idea of Truth, that cannot lapse into a mortal belief or error concerning himself and his origin: he cannot get out of the focal distance of infinity. If G.o.d is upright and eternal, man as His like- [15]

ness is erect in goodness and perpetual in Life, Truth, and Love. If the great cause is perfect, its effect is per- fect also; and cause and effect in Science are immutable and immortal. A mortal who is sinning, sick, and dying, is not immortal man; and never was, and never can be, [20]

G.o.d's image and likeness, the true ideal of immortal man's divine Principle. The spiritual man is that per- fect and unfallen likeness, coexistent and coeternal with G.o.d. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." [25]

_What course should Christian Scientists take in regard_ _to aiding persons brought before the courts for violation of_ _medical statutes?_

Beware of joining any medical league which in any way obligates you to a.s.sist-because they chance to be [30]

under arrest-vendors of patent pills, mesmerists,

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occultists, sellers of impure literature, and authors of [1]

spurious works on mental healing. By rendering error such a service, you lose much more than can be gained by mere unity on the single issue of opposition to unjust medical laws. [5]

A league which obligates its members to give money and influence in support and defense of medical char- latans in general, and possibly to aid individual rights in a wrong direction-which Christian Science eschews -should be avoided. Anybody and everybody, who [10]

will fight the medical faculty, can join this league. It is better to be friendly with cultured and conscientious medical men, who leave Christian Science to rise or fall on its own merit or demerit, than to affiliate with a wrong cla.s.s of people. [15]

Unconst.i.tutional and unjust coercive legislation and laws, infringing individual rights, must be "of few days, and full of trouble." The _vox populi_, through the provi- dence of G.o.d, promotes and impels all true reform; and, at the best time, will redress wrongs and rectify injus- [20]

tice. Tyranny can thrive but feebly under our Govern- ment. G.o.d reigns, and will "turn and overturn" until right is found supreme.

In a certain sense, we should commiserate the lot of regular doctors, who, in successive generations for cen- [25]

turies, have planted and sown and reaped in the fields of what they deem pathology, hygiene, and therapeutics, but are now elbowed by a new school of pract.i.tioners, outdoing the healing of the old. The old will not patronize the new school, at least not until it shall come to understand [30]

the medical system of the new.

Christian Science Mind-healing rests demonstrably on

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the broad and sure foundation of Science; and this is [1]

not the basis of _materia medica_, as some of the most skil- ful and scholarly physicians openly admit.

To prevent all unpleasant and unchristian action-as we drift, by right of G.o.d's dear love, into more spiritual [5]

lines of life-let each society of pract.i.tioners, the matter- physicians and the metaphysicians, agree to disagree, and then patiently wait on G.o.d to decide, as surely He will, which is the true system of medicine.

_Do we not see in the commonly accepted teachings of the_ [10]

_day, the Christ-idea mingled with the teachings of John_ _the Baptist? or, rather, Are not the last eighteen centuries_ _but the footsteps of Truth being baptized of John, and com-_ _ing up straightway out of the ceremonial (or ritualistic)_ _waters to receive the benediction of an honored Father, and_ [15]

_afterwards to go up into the wilderness, in order to over-_ _come mortal sense, before it shall go forth into all the cities_ _and towns of Judea, or see many of the people from beyond_ _Jordan? Now, if all this be a fair or correct view of this_ _question, why does not John hear this voice, or see the_ [20]

_dove,-or has not Truth yet reached the sh.o.r.e?_

Every individual character, like the individual John the Baptist, at some date must cry in the desert of earthly joy; and his voice be heard divinely and humanly. In the desolation of human understanding, [25]

divine Love hears and answers the human call for help; and the voice of Truth utters the divine verities of being which deliver mortals out of the depths of ignorance and vice. This _is_ the Father's benediction. It gives lessons to human life, guides the understanding, peoples [30]

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the mind with spiritual ideas, reconstructs the Judean [1]

religion, and reveals G.o.d and man as the Principle and idea of all good.

Understanding this fact in Christian Science, brings the peace symbolized by a dove; and this peace floweth [5]

as a river into a sh.o.r.eless eternity. He who knew the foretelling Truth, beheld the forthcoming Truth, as it came up out of the baptism of Spirit, to enlighten and redeem mortals. Such Christians as John cognize the symbols of G.o.d, reach the sure foundations of time, stand [10]

upon the sh.o.r.e of eternity, and grasp and gather-in all glory-what eye hath not seen.

_Is there infinite progression with man after the destruc-_ _tion of mortal mind?_

Man is the offspring and idea of the Supreme Being, [15]

whose law is perfect and infinite. In obedience to this law, man is forever unfolding the endless beat.i.tudes of Being; for he is the image and likeness of infinite Life, Truth, and Love.

Infinite progression is concrete being, which finite [20]

mortals see and comprehend only as abstract glory. As mortal mind, or the material sense of life, is put off, the spiritual sense and Science of being is brought to light.

Mortal mind is a myth; the one Mind is immortal. [25]

A mythical or mortal sense of existence is consumed as a moth, in the treacherous glare of its own flame- the errors which devour it. Immortal Mind is G.o.d, immortal good; in whom the Scripture saith "we live, and move, and have our being." This Mind, then, is not [30]

subject to growth, change, or diminution, but is the divine

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intelligence, or Principle, of all real being; holding [1]

man forever in the rhythmic round of unfolding bliss, as a living witness to and perpetual idea of inexhaustible good.

_In your book, Science and Health,_(_3_)_ page 181, you_ [5]

_say: __"__Every sin is the author of itself, and every_ _invalid the cause of his own sufferings.__"__ On page_ _182 you say: __"__Sickness is a growth of illusion, spring-_ _ing from a seed of thought,-either your own thought_ _or another's.__"__ Will you please explain this seeming_ [10]

_contradiction?_

No person can accept another's belief, except it be with the consent of his own belief. If the error which knocks at the door of your own thought originated in another's mind, you are a free moral agent to reject or [15]

to accept this error; hence, you are the arbiter of your own fate, and sin is the author of sin. In the words of our Master, you are "a liar, and the father of it [the lie]."

_Why did Jesus call himself __"__the Son of man__"__?_ [20]

In the life of our Lord, meekness was as conspicuous as might. In John xvii. he declared his sons.h.i.+p with G.o.d: "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." [25]

The hour had come for the avowal of this great truth, and for the proof of his eternal Life and sons.h.i.+p. Jesus'

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wisdom ofttimes was shown by his forbearing to speak, [1]

as well as by speaking, the whole truth. Haply he waited for a preparation of the human heart to receive start- ling announcements. This wisdom, which character- ized his sayings, did not prophesy his death, and thereby [5]

hasten or permit it.

The disciples and prophets thrust disputed points on minds unprepared for them. This cost them their lives, and the world's temporary esteem; but the prophecies were fulfilled, and their motives were rewarded by [10]