Page 4-B
Restriction And Freedom In Religious Matters
A lecture tm Christian idem
delivered Is Chattel HMI on Nor.
24 by Getth A. Pttmmer of Lon
don. Mr. PHauner it a member
of the Board of Lectureship of
The Mother Church, the First
Church of Christ, Scientist,
Boston.
! Spontaneous freedom to ex
press all one’s joy and power
—that is surely a sign that one
is in the presence of a true
friend! In this sense, Christian
Science is certainly the Chris
tian’s best friend, for in its
atmosphere he can freely ex
press the most joyful of all
Christian powers—that of Chris
tian healing. And yet, strangely
enough, the term “religion” de
rives from words with exactly
the opposite sense, namely “a
binding back’’ or “holding
fast.” This strange contrast be
tween restriction end freedom
in religious matters is well
worth examination by the Chris
tian.
In the first chapter of Gene
sis, for instance, God had free
ly provided plants and trees for
the nourishment of man. While
in Christian Science we inter
pret this passage spiritually, it
has its counterpart in the fact
that the fruits of the earth ore
freely available for mankind’s
use. How. did it come about
then, that Jesus’ opponents
wanted to prevent his disciples
from eating corn, when they
were hungry on the Sabbath
day? Plainly because these op
ponents' reduction of religion to
mere human codes had grad
ually cramped their vision of
the right of the sons of God to
receive blessing and bounty
from Him at all times.
Christian Science makes it
plain that cramping theological
beliefs of this kind are. not just
a matter of harmless religious
theory; they have a marked ef
fect on individual happiness and
health as well. For example, is
there not some significance in
the fact that when Jesus had re
buked the religious leaders for
their niggardly concepts in the
cornfield, he went straight into
their synagogue, “and, behold,
there," the Bible says pointedly,
“was a man which had his hand
withered" (liatt. 12:10).
The question naturally arises,
had this poor withered hand in
the synagogue any relationship
to the synagogue thinking in the
cornfield, which could not un
clasp its sense of good generous
ly enough to permit the dis
ciple’s hands to open for the
plucking of the com? We do not
have to answer this question,
for Jesus himself showed by his
treatment of the case that the
two were quite definitely relat
ed. They were so ckwely re
lated indeed that, by making the
man stand forth in the midst, Je
sus appeared to use him as a test
case for all time—a test case to
prove that bodies cramped by
narrowminded human theology
can be healed only by the ever
lasting love of God for man, in
divine theology.
Christ healing
,'That Jesnus regarded mis
erable mental concepts as the
basic cause of the withering is
clear from the fact that he
never examined the hand itself
—an evident siffi that he did
not attribute the withering to
anything physical within the
hand itself. No—the fact that this
most discerning of all healers
addressed himself solely to the
teachers of the synagogue, in
healing the hand, showed that
the withered hand was undotftt
edly the physical effect of
cramped religious teaching on
one of its sensitive adherents.
Yes. Christian Science shows
clearly that this coldly shrunk
en limb was not a problem of
chemistry or physiology but of
narrow theology and retracted
affection. In proof of this, Jems
proceeded to deal with it solely
in theological terms, which in
his case always meant love in
stead of recrimination, divine
Truth in place of human guilt,
Christliness rafter than critic
ism, patience in preference to
petulance. He knew that spiri
tual love alone can heal condi
tions shrunken stiff by mental
hardness. Yes, it was the gen
erosity of his divine theology
that induced Jesus to give this
taut atmosphere of codes and
creeds the injection it most
needed,—namely, the relaxing
and merciful idea of lifting from
a pit, on the Sabbath day, a
solitary sheep that has fallen
therein. Here was a blessed
and softening hint to the hard
hearted that, no matter what
kind of pit one has fallen into,
or how, or when, or why, no
law of divine Love will ever be
found withholding rescue from
him.
In proof of this, with a maj
estic sweep of his gaze over all
those teac-;.?rs in the synagogue,
he said to the man, "Stretch
t forth thy hand" (Luke 6:10), and
forth it immediately came in
proof of his divine right as a
son of God to receive and give
all tilings good. Mistaken reli-
gious teaching alone had bound
that man. By melting the sharp
limits of that teaching with
large' love, Jesus’ knowledge of
divine Truth had the immediate
effect of filling out that hand
with warm liveliness and eager
mobility.
You see, Jesus knew that
false knowledge or sin is never
man nor part of man, even
when it parades as a withered
hand or a self-righteous Phar
isee. To Jesus, there was only
one sinner in every case,
namely the false belief that
evil can be real, when in point
of divine Truth, "God saw every
thing that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good" (Gen.
1:31). To Jesus, therefore, not
only was evil unreal, but also
the fear of it, and belief in
punishment on account of it.
It was precisely beceuse the
Pharisees understood neither
good nor evil in this clear scien
tific way, that they bound men,
in their belief that man is a
sinner. Jesus did exactly the op
posite; he set men free, by
binding the belief that evil can
ever be part of the image and
likeness of God. By binding sin
and man together, of course,
the Pharisees’ teaching "then
made man captive to accusa
tion and condemnation, heredity
and deformity; whereas, by
hireling false belief instead,
Jesus' teaching liberated both
sinner and invalid.
Christian Science brings these
contrasted religious outlooks,
and their diverse effects on
health and happiness, squarely
to the Christian’s attention to
day, to help him, as a friend,
to consider seriously the trend
of his own beliefs concerning
God, man, and sin. Are his re
ligious views opening his hands
towards freedom and fruitful
ness, as he walks through the
cornfields of life, or are they
closing them conscientiously
against these divine rifftts?
Cramping Systems
In this respect, the Christian
Science textbook, "Science and
Health with Key to the Scrip
tures” by Mary Baker Eddy,
the Discoverer and Founder of
Christian Science, has a contri
bution to make that every Chris
tian can welcome with warmth,
for Christian Science is here to
■ “reinstate primitive Christian
ity and its lost element of heal
ing” (Manual of The Mother
Church, p. 17).
Nearly: two thousand years
ago, Christianity healed sin by
destroying the false belief stat
produced it and restored the
sick, dying, and dead by spiri
tual means alone. But today
Christianity is often believed to
have little power in these res
pects, except to persuade sin
ners that their sins are person
ally forgiven and to nod the sick
sadly to hospitals.
Who will deny then that
Christianity today needs a friend
to release her original power to
heal by spiritual truth alone?
In a fearless paragraph entitl
ed "Cramping systems,” the
Christian Science textbook (p.
226) courageously diagnoses the
systems from which Christian
ity today needs to be freed;
then it names the friend ordain
ed of God to free her. These
cramping systems are first, hu
man codes; second, scholastic
theology; and third, material
medicine and hygiene; but let us
see sympathetically now from
the words at Science and Health
itself just how those systems
cramp the Christian's spiritual
aspirations. “Human codes,
scholastic theology, material
medicine and hygiene, fetter
faith and spiritual understand
ing,” says the sentence explain
ing the causes of the cramp. Then
comes the liberating friend:
“Divine Science rands asunder
these fetters, and man’s birth
right of sole allegiance to his
Maker asserts itself.”
Every Christian knows from
«m Bible that Christ’s Christian
ity can undoubtedly heal him of
sin and sickness; but, you see,
“human codes, scholastic the
ology, material medicine and
hygiene” have usually pegged
his faith and understanding so
tightly into materiality and medi
cal theory that his confidence
in the power of Spirit to heal
him by spiritual means alone is
sapped and withered. But today
there is exhilarating new hope
the brightest hope, indeed,
that the world has been given
since the Christian era began,
the Science of Christ, Christian
ity’s best friend, is here to
rend asunder these ilhisory
fetters, so that man’s divinely
natural allegiance to his heav
enly Father can reassert itself,
i Codes aad Cijeds Unclasped
From this standpoint it was a
■ good sign that that man with
I the withered hand was found by
Jesus in the synagogue, in the
> house of prayer. This at least
showed some intuition that it
was really his thought of God,
not merely his condition of body,
stat needed healing. What a
help if every invalid could but
see this! Yes, the man’s prob
lem was one of theology, not
one of physiology. Hence, when
Christ had freed his mind from
the unlawful clasp of codes and
creeds, his natural allegiance to
Spirit immediately leapt into
self-assertion, like a released
spring. No wonder the withered
hand stretched out with haste
to receive its share of blessing.
Let us now pause to deduce
from what we have heard so
far, two of the early contribu
tions that Christian Science
makes to the Christian: first, it
opens up the Scriptural account
of the Master's healing work
with such scientific clarity that
he can perceive the actual
thoughts and spiritual deductions
upon which stat work was
cased; second, it rouses him to
recognize that, to Jesus, sin,
disease, and death were not the
result of degenerating body, but
of deteriorating thought, of the
frightening false belief that evil
is a real part of God’s creation.
This awakens the Christian to
see why, by having a knowledge
of God, the divine Mind, and be
lieving in naught else beside His
thoughts, Jesus was adequately
equipped to heal every disease
among the people. These two
deductions are enough just
now: but even they already
show that, in its discovery of
the Mind of Christ, of the divine
law upon which Jesus worked,
Christian Science is certainly
not dishonoring the Christian's
Lord in any way. Chi the con
trary, it honors him as no other
power on earth today honors
him, by doing many mighty'
works of healing in his name.
Let me tell you of such a heal
ing:
A Christian Science practi
tioner was once asked to help
a man with serious lung trouble.
The case certainly looked physi
cal rather than mental, for there
was poor general physique, in
drawn cheeks, labored breath
ing, and an insistent cough.
One day, the patient rang to
complain rebelliously that some
good work to which he had de
voted special pride had been set
at nought by his superior; some
weeks later, he complained re
sentfully stat a stranger had
been undermining the good es
teem in which he had always
been held in his home, and then
later to complain frustratedlj
that a church, that he had good
hope of joining, had refused
him membership.
As the practitioner dealt pa
tiently with these troubles, none
of which appeared to have any
bearing on lung disease, be per
ceived that they all followed
fte same pattern, namely, per
sonal goodness and high hopes
followed by depreciation and dis
appointment. So it suddenly
became clear that what the man
was really suffering from was a
weak or infirm sense of good
ness. In other words, his prob
lem was not a physical condi
tion at decaying lungs depressing
his mind, but a mental condi
tion of insecure goodness im
pairing his lungs. Yes, it is no
mens play upon words to say
that this man’s health was not
good, because his sense of good
ness was not healthy—it was so
personal indeed that it was sub
ject at any time to attacks of
hurt, resentment, and rebellion.
The fact is this man had never
realized that when Jesus said
“there is none geod but one,
stat is, God” (Matt. 19:17),
he was not only showing fte
divine Mind as the sole source
of goodness, he was also re
veating the secret of all sound
health Practitioner and patient
discussed this passage many
times to clarify their vision that
gocxtoeM is present in man by
- reflection, aot by person
id possession.
Now as fte patient credited
aH his goodness to God in this
way, instead of to himself, end
thea trusted Gad patiently to in
terpret this goodness to all His
other children in His own way
and time, a new grip or grasp
was observable in his thought,
a fixedness of trust, a sureness
of hope, a freedom from fear.
Gradually his body, being noth
ing but an expression of think
ing, began to respond to this cor
rection or spiritualization of
thought. The cheeks filled out,
the breathing became normal,
and the cough disappeared. This
individual was soon able to take
tip tennis and swimming again,
and that was the end of his
personal sense of goodness, alias
lung disease. And a much better
and more patient Christian he
was. as wall, for having the dis
ease destroyed by divinely theo
logical means alone.
The whole Christian world
stands to benefit enormously by
Christian Science bealinp of this
purely spiritual kind, but they
owe nothing of course to psychi
atry, blind faith healing, or
psychosomatic medicine. Their
■ole model is the Christ-healing
that cured stat withered band,
wherein it becomes clear that
the human mind alone feels sick,
fte divine Mind alone heals, and
Christ's infallible method re
ceives its proper credit for heal-
THE CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY
GEHH A. PLIMMER
ing in the twentieth century,
just as effectively as it did in
the first.
Practical Spiritual Communion
It is, of course, a great re
assurance to the inquiring Chris
tian to see that Christian Sci
ence healing is in fact a revival
of Christ-healing based accurate
ly on Jesus’ method. This being
so, an henest, earnest Christian
need no more fear opening his
Christianity toward Christian
Science, than a bud need fear
opening its petals toward its own
lovely blossom.
But does this apply to the
more serious suspects of Chris
tian theology? This is a good
point. The best way to answer
it, I think, is to examine the
transition of a sincere Christian
into Christian Science.
For years, just such an ear
nest Christian had yearned to
understand God properly, in
order to gam dominion over evil.
To this end he talked with many
dedicated churdimefi, and pray
ed a great deal, finally attend
ing his church each day to re
ceive bread and wine in Holy
Communion to help him. How
ever, his habit of thinking of
himself as a sinner seemed but
to increase his affinity with evil,
till after years of struggle, he
was in a state of hopeless des
pair. But the Christian Science
textbook, which he began to,
read at this point for fir s *
time in his life, gradually be
gan to change his sense of God,
man, and sin in a very radical
way. It showed him with full
Bible authority that. In reality,
God is entirely and only good,
and that man, His spiritual like
ness. is His naturally, fiood and
wholly spiritual child; that
therefore God end man are on
the same side, and that sin is
merely a serious Wise belief
about man, over which God
gives us fuH dominion. From
this, the man slowly began now
to class evil as a detached and
foreign lie, rather than his own
inseparable and native weak
ness; and to challenge it accord
ingly as a presumptuous illu
sion, an upstart truth.
As the result, he began to fed
hope, encouragement, and some
dominion for the first time in
his long struggle; indeed, these
wholesome, spiritual truths-were
veqjtable bread and wine to bis
hungering heart. But even
better, he could tell from the
improvements gradually taking
place in his attitudes and habits
Uipt his spiritual communion
with God, divine Truth, was
proving genuinely effective, at
last.
Mrs. Eddy says: "Whatever
materializes worship hinders
man’s spiritual growth and keeps
him from demonstrating his
power over error” (Science and
Health, p. 4). From this pas
sage, the man gradually real
ized that in his particular wor
ship, he had permitted mate
rial symbols instituted in
remembrance of Jesus to take
the place of the Christ, the spiri
tual truth of God and man,
which Jesus proved to be fte
only genuine reformer of sin
ners.
Os course, he realized that in
his former church, fte symbols
of communion were Intended to
point to a higher truth, but it
was Christian Science which un
folded this higher truth to him
in all its power and significance.
Indeed, he gradually saw that
in his worship of Spirit there
had been a fundamental error
—namely, faith in matter as a
means of reaching Spirit. This
error Christian Science showed
him was interfering with the
purity of his communion with
Spirit. When it was already be
ginning to be thinned away a
little from his thought, through
his growing sense of the altaess
of Spirit, the man read this state
ment in Science and Health: "If
Christ, Truth, has come to us
in demonstration, no other
commemoration is requisite, for
demonstration is Immanuel, or
God with us; and if a friend be
with us, why need we memo
rials of that friend?” (Science
and health, p. 34).
This passage finally settled
ou-right his false belief that he
need or could worship God
from both a spiritual and a ma
terial basis. He was beginning
to recognize, you see, that
Christ-healing is itself proof
of communion with Truth. So
he promptly surrendered any
further attempt to reach God
through material symbols of
communion. Very soon he found
that jbe had lost his desire to
smoke, ins desire to drink, and
his desire for medical remedies.
This was immensely encourag
ing ' proof that true communion
with God is unity with Spirit.
Obviously unobstructed access to
the Christ Comforter bad begun
to answer the desire for peace
that cigarettes had formerly
tried to satisfy, and the longing
for joy that social drink had
tried to satisfy, so <be desire for
both tobacco and alcohol for
ever disappeared. Sp also did
the moodiness and joylessness
that were symptomatic of his
old belief in separation from
God.
IThe question now sis, was
Christian Science proving friend
or foe to Ibis man’s Christian
ity? His answer was unhesitat
ing: “The best friend my Chris
tianity has ever, had! ” he said.
"It is giving me the Christ,
Truth, in the place of material
symbols, and healing instead of
my tong disappointed hopes.
See. whereas in the past. I used
to plead in despair for the per
sonal forgiveness of a mortal’s
errors, now I humbly stand in
the dignity of man made in
God's likeness, and challenge
those errors as fraudulent false
beliefs.” But, even as he said
this, be felt grateful that the
symbols of bread, wine, and
personal communion in which
he had trusted so long, had al
ways pointed him to God, as
the source of the help he need
ed, but only now was he begin
ning to understand scientifical
ly his true relation to God as
His idea, before the world was.
It has been said that Chris
tian Science interprets the sacra
ments in such a transcendental
way as to put them out of hu
man reach. Nothing could be
(further from fte truth. The
spiritual concepts this young
Christian was now gaining of
baptism, bread and wine, com
munion and eucharist, cup and
cross, were so close to his daily
thinking and living as to be
purifying and Christianizing his
whole human life. Why? Be
cause he was now enjoying the
sacraments in their original spir
itual sense.
The Sacrament as Healing
Impulse toward communion in
Christian Science is not, of
course, 'the urgency of human
problems, but the immense love
ableness of God. So communion
in Christian Science is a listen
ing time, not an informing time;
a stimulus to challenge, not a
sop to self-deception. It is a
time of joy in the truth of be
ing, of gratitude to God for the
perfection and pure spirituality
of Hie creation. Commankm is al
so a time for accuracy in honor;
for true communion honors God
as Life, Spirit, and Love to
whom matter, sin, disease, and
death are eternally unknown;
and men it honors as without
beginning of years or end of
days, God’s very image and
likeness, spiritual and perfect.
As the Christian thinks
through this spiritual platform
■ for communion in Christian Sci
ence, namely, its fixed Prin
ciple of perfect God and perfect
man as basis for challenging the
beliefs in sin and sickness, he
will see that communion in
Christian Science is not merely
reverent; it is actually scien
tific. It was this scientific com
munion with the divine truth of
God end man that healed that
withered hand, and rebuilt those
decayed lungs. Its bread of di
vine truth is food of hope to
fte hungry heart, and its wine
of inspiration, stimulus and
strength to the faltering heart,
that I can assure you. These sac
ramental concepts are not above
the human, obviously. On the
contrary, they baptize the hu
man with blessings from aoove,
and every neighboring heart can
feel their hallowing influence.
This is proof enough that Chris
tian Science is not substituting
the sacraments, but substantiat
ing them spiritually by changes
for the better in every depart
ment of human life.
Yes, and best of aH, Christian
Science is now calling Christian
healing back and giving it the
place of honor among the sacra
ments instituted by the Master.
Christian Science insists that
the outward and visible sign
of this holiest of all sacraments
is not the actual anointing with
oil or the Laying on of hands,
but genuine proofs h physical
healing and reformed lives that
the divine Mind is over present
and ties aH power.
When Jesus instructed us to
"worship the Father in spirit
and in truth” (John 4;23), he
did not say "in spirit and in
matter.” Did we but know it, be
was not merely providing here
the strict design for true wor
ship; he was also writing the
prescription for perfect health
and happiness. Yes it is quite
true—when fte cold letter of
the human yields to the wmm
spirit of the divine, we see that
health ani happiness both de
rive their vitality not from mat
ter which is temporal and de
structible. but direct from di
vine sources.
A Church Without Creeds
This was early mado clear in
fte life of the one who later dis
covered Christian Science, Mary
Baker Eddy. In her girlhood she
was greatly troubled by fte doc
trine of predestination, a harsh
human code providing for some
to be saved, ethers eternally
damned. "So perturbed was I.”
she wrote later, “by the
thoughts aroused by this erron
eous doctrine, that the family
doctor y/at summoned, and
pronounced me stricken with
fever” (Retrospection and Intro
pectioo, p. IS).
She continues, "My mother,
as she bathed my burning tem
ples, bade me lean on God’s
love, which would give me rest,
if I went to Him in prayer, as I
was wont to do, seeking Hi s
guidance. I prayed; and a soft
glow of ineffable joy come over
me. The fever was gone, and I
rose and dressed myself, in a
normal condition of health.”
(ibid., p. 13).
As you think it through, you
will see stat this infant fever
was in fte same class as the
withered hand—namely, caused
by mental impressions of harsh
concepts of God, and healed by
yielding the mind to a true
sense of His love. But it is far
more significant than its simple
telling may imply; for it was
a pattern of prophecy for the
whole brave life of this woman
who was later to dare to pro
claim that the way to be sin
less, well, and happy is to un
derstand the divine Love that
casts out the belief that there
can ever he anything to fear
anywhere in the universe of
perfect Mind.
By the time she was forty
one, she said, “The fallacy of
materia mediea, i‘s lack of sci
ence. and the want of divinity
in scholastic theology, had al
ready dawned on me’’ (The First
Church of Christ, Scientist, and
Miscellany, p. 307). She was
here nearing the perception of
one of the basic teachings of
Christian Science, namely, that
"There is no life, truth, intelli
gence, nor /iftstance in matter”
(Science and Health, p. 468).
She writes of the darkest hour
before her discovery, “Previous
ly the cloud of mortal mind
seemed to have a silver lining;
but now it was not even fringed
with light. Matter was no longer
spanned with its rainbow of
promise” (Retrospection and In
trospection, p. 23). It was into
this waiting consciousness of
yearning spirituality that the
positive aspect of her revelation,
namely fte aliness and omni
potence of Spirit, suddenly broke
with unmistakable signs of heal
ing. This was in 1866. She speaks
in Science and Health (p. 351)
of how the spiritual sense of the
creed came to her through the
Science of Christianity and she
adds, “It was the living, palpi
tating presence of fte Christ,
Truth, which healad the sick.”
In 1879, Mrs. Eddy began to
found a church without creeds,
which, by the very nature of ail
she had learned from the Bible
concerning thigjgbt, the divine
Mind and health, is also, and in
evitably, a church without drugs
or ritual, Through this Church,
the Church of Christ, Scientist
one can learn to keep himself
morally sound and physically
well solely by knowing 'God
aright. Today Christian Science
is restoring the lost salt to
Christianity. This is because
The Mother Church and its many
branches throughout the world
are reinstating Christian heal
ing in all its original potency.
As one would expect, scientific
Christianity has a textbook,
"Science and Health with Key to
the Scriptures;" Personally, I
shall never cease to be grateful
to the man who, lending me this
book when I was deep in prob
lems, said, "Don’t lead it to
fight it. Read it with the
thought stat if there is any
good in it for you, you will see
it. There will be lots that you
don’t understand at first, but
don’t let stat upset you. Just
accept the little things that you
can understand and agree with,
and be grateful for them. The
difficult things will explain them
selves later.’’
I can only say in all humility
that, though my intellect and
theology had many akimuftes
with the ideas ft this great book,
yet my spiritual senses, more
intelligent than my intellect,
leaned forward and drank deep
of its truth*, till* fte paptfog
hart come at teat to it water
brook.
Os coamt, the discovery of the
Science of the Christ by a wom
en has taken the world by sur
prise; but God’s ways always
have; and praise Him for that!
Certainly, 1 am always glad
that when Jesus was once tak
en by surprise by a mode of
God, be did not swiftly summon
fte skills of scepticism to kill
it, but, instead, said quietly,
"Even so, Father: for so it seem
ed good in thy sight” (Matt.
11:26). *
Today seems a day tor build
ing bypasses, but he who would
acquire the art of Christian
healing must not try to bypass
Mrs. Eddy’s Science and Health,
tor, with the Bible, this book is
fte way to leam it scientifical
ly. I know from deep personal
experience that the human in
tellect and human will will be
blessed beyond their knowing
if they can but say to God’s
choice of this book and this
woman, “Even so, Father; for
so it seemed good in thy sight.”
Trinity Vital to Prayer
And now, fte Trinity, the last
aspect of theology to move
into light. In the mind of stat
Christian I spoke of earlier.
Actually, the world owes fte
church a great debt for keeping
this threefold aspect of God’s
nature steadily before human
ity; but the Trinity is far too
necessary for daily prayer and
healing to be left a mystery,
especially since Jesus bade his
followers specifically to teach
and baptize "in the name of the
Father, and of fte Son, and of
fte Holy Ghost" <Matt. 28:19).
Yes. we need to understand the
Father, the divine Principle of
life, in every prayer we utter;
we need also to know the Son
net merely the person of Jesus
but the Christ, the full manifes
tation of the Father; but how can
our prayer heal, unless we also
comprehend the Holy Ghost, the
spirit of Truth that heals every
thing unlike the Father and the
Son. Here then are three in
finitely sacred aspects of God’s
nature, three distinct offices of
divinity, explained by Mrs. Ed
dy as "God the Father-Mother;
Christ the spiritual idea of son
ship: divine Science or the Holy
Comforter. These ftree,” she
says “express in divine Science
fte threefold, essential nature
of fte infinite” (Science and
Health, p. 331). Each has a vital
part to play in the prayer that
heals—God’s nature in its self
existent aspect, its creative as
pect, and its saving aspect.
Let me show you now that each
of these aspects is an indispen
sable part of the oneness of the
Trinity as it heals by the bright
ness of its supreme glory.
A Christian Science practi
tioner once had an extremely
difficult case. He knew every
truth he possibly could, but
without the slightest apparent
effect. Finally, in utter helpless
ness he cried out in despair at
three o’clock one morning, “God
show me why there is no re
sponse.” The answer was
a voice in the room; “It is
because of the world’s unbelief
in the Comforter.” He saw in
a flash that all his work had
dealt with the Father and’ Son,
Mind and idea, and 1 none of it
with divine Science or the Holy
Comforter. In other words, his
prayer had qierely been two
fold, not threefold or fully
trinitarian in its character. With
joy and inspiration refreshed
by this clear guidance, he began
thanking Gad for the Comforter
are) aH its appearings in history,
and saw clearly that fte world’s
unbelief in it could ia no wise
lessen its divine power to help
and heal humanity. Next morn
ing his patient, never especially
noteworthy for gratitude, said
to hkn, “You did something far
me last nigit!” Who did? The
third office of the Trinity, the
saving aspect of Truth, so im
portant to healing that Mrs.
(Eddy has this to say about it;
“Works ob metaphysics leave
the grand point untouched. They
never crown fte power of Mind
as fte Messiah, nor do they
carry the day against physical
enemies, even to the extinc
tion of all belief in matter, evil,
disease, abd death . . (Sci
ence and Health p. 116). Yes,
generous and unflagging grati
tude for the scientific healing
power of this Holy Ghost is an
indispensable part of Christian '
beating.
Scientific Christians
Jesus said, "By their fruits ye
shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).
The first effect of Christian Sci
ence on the Christian is that in
stead of discussing disease as a
fearful possibility, ha begins to
discard it fearlesriy as a mare
mental suggestion; rather than
bind himself on account of the I
lies of sin, he begins now to hind
sin instead an account of its lies;
and to love more purely be
comes his ideal. So spiritual
thinking gradually becomes his
mw high altar, with materiel
belief its constant sacrifice. The
aim of his communion is now I
the beauty of holiness that haais. I
Wednesday, Nov. 27,1965
As to the sacraments— why. as
he learns to exchange the ob
jects of sense for the ideas of
Soul, the whole of life becomes
sacramental—dad in radiance
of spiritual reality. So his
Christianity passes radically
from casual partnership with
matter to scientific unity with
Spirit; and the spiritual mean
ing of the Scriptures becomes
his daily bread and wine, his
guard and guide.
Now the important question is
“Are such seekers and finders
deserting Jesus’ Christianity?”
I tell you: “No—they are dis
covering its exhilarating spiri
tual Science." Then, they are
not really deviating into a here
sy? Most certainly not; in point
of fact they are keeping pace
with the maturing inheritance
of Christ, with that spirit of
Truth which the founder of
Christianity said would be sent
to guide into all truth.
But now, should the Christian
expanding like this into the Sci-.
ence of his Master’s teachings
talk a lot about his enthralling
discovery? No; it is much better
for hkn to pray and prove his
prayers, so that he can have
fruits of healing by which others
may judge Christian Science in
telligently. In all these things
fear not to displease others.
What is pleasing in the sight of
"> God is always pledsing in the
sight of His image and likeness.
Just quietly trust the Christ to
interr-'rt your spiritual progress
to others.
Then should the Christian
maturing in his application of .
Christian Science hide himself
in secret isolation? Quite def
finitely not she who discovered
Christian Science understood the
motherhood of God. The
Mother Church, its branch
churches, and the Reading
Rooms, provided for by Mrs. Ed
dy, give spiritual food and op
portunities for spiritual growth,
indispensable to the scientific
Christian in his brave proof
that matter is nought because
Spirit is all. Each must openly
and unselfishly aid the collec
tive salvation of the whole world.
This is now the function of
Christ’s church in the full maj
esty of its Science, the Church
of Christ, Scientist; end it is the
new, scientific Christian’s very
necessary friend.
Have no doubt then: the .
honest seeker for Truth has
divine authority in this age for
studying the Science of his
Lord’s teachings, and for heal
ing sickness through the divine
Comforter promised by our
Master. Hence God’s counsel
to Joshua as he stood at the
doorway to the Promised Land,
a good land, a land flowing with
milk and honey, is good counsel
for the Christian today as he
stands surveying Christian Sci
, ence:
“Arise,” he said, “go . . .
unto the land . . . Every place
that the sole of your foot shall
tread upon, that have I given
unto you. ... I will not fail
thee, nor forsake thee. . . .
Only be thou strong and very
courageous." (Josh. 1:1-7).
ONLY
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