Editorial April 30, 1932 Issue

Spiritual Understanding

Duncan Sinclair

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE reveals the truth that God is Mind—the one perfect Mind. It teaches that Mind alone has presence and power, and that Mind's manifestation, the spiritual creation, is always under the government of divine law. Christian Science further teaches the truth that God is Love and that, consequently, His creation is altogether lovable and lovely. And in thus revealing God as perfect Mind or Love and His creation as the perfect manifestation or reflection of Himself, Christian Science honors God, honors the understanding which makes Him and His universe so wonderfully known to us, and at the same time gives the lie to every erroneous belief. Mrs. Eddy writes on page 183 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "If Christian Science dishonors human belief, it honors spiritual understanding; and the one Mind only is entitled to honor."

But what, more particularly, is meant by saying that Christian Science "dishonors human belief"? It means that Christian Science denies reality to all the erroneous material concepts held by the so-called human mind; that it denies material sense, which seems to provide the human mind with its material concepts. Thus Christian Science denies matter and all the phenomena associated therewith, such as accident, disease, and death. In other words, Christian Science denies reality and power to evil in its every seeming form. And these denials it enables its followers to make through the spiritual understanding of the allness and perfection of Mind, and the perfection of Mind's manifestation or creation. Possessed of this understanding of God and His universe and of the knowledge of the unreality of all unlike God, Spirit—namely, matter or evil—the Christian Scientist honors God whole-heartedly, unreservedly. And in doing so he obeys the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Honoring spiritual understanding as he does, aware of the help it is to him in correcting the falsities of material sense, the Christian Scientist strives, with a constant effort, to increase his knowledge of God so that he may have greater faith in Him; for he knows that as faith in God increases, faith in matter, so called, is overcome. It is the understanding of and faith in God and the overcoming of material sense which heals mentally and physically, enabling one to build up for one's self a better sense of body—indeed, forming one anew. Our Leader says (Science and Health, p. 425): "Consciousness constructs a better body when faith in matter has been conquered. Correct material belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form you anew."

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