Article April 3, 1909 Issue

The movement to live as Jesus lived—to do what Jesus...

Anna Friendlich—Portland, Ore.

Spectator

The movement to live as Jesus lived—to do what Jesus would do—appeals strongly to Christian Scientists. "The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained today. This point won, ... you have begun at the numeration table of Christian Science," says the Christian Science text-book, Science and Health (p. 326). How to advance beyond the numeration table is the problem. Can we live a divine life on a human basis; a spiritual life on a material basis?

I might say: "For two weeks I shall live as Abraham Lincoln lived; I shall paint as Raphael painted; I shall play as Beethoven played; shall write as Shakespeare wrote." But how, without the genius, without the spirit that animated these men? And how achieve the infinitely greater feat of living as Jesus lived, without the Mind that was in Christ Jesus? This is the very instruction we find Paul instilling into the early Christians, the beginners in Christian living. This Mind is perfect Love, of which Paul makes the astonishing statement that we can give our bodies to be burned and yet not have it; that we can bestow all our goods upon the poor, and yet not have it.

The study of the Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus," rightly named the Science of Mind, forms the subject-matter of this text-book. Our experience is that in proportion as we grasp its meaning, we do what Jesus did,—heal the sick and the sinning; and our human life is magnified more nearly to approach the divine. We count not ourselves to have apprehended, but we press forward toward the mark. The Founder of Christian Science still proclaims herself "a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ" (Science and Health, Pref., p. ix.).

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Poem
"A NEW SONG."
April 3, 1909
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit