Article December 23, 1911 Issue

THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

W. S. ILIFF.

Among the many blessings brought to this age through Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Christian Science, one which stands out very prominently is the clearer understanding the student obtains of the Scriptures, and very often passages—learned by heart, perhaps many years ago—come suddenly into consciousness with a dazzling clearness that for the moment causes astonishment. On such occasions we often exclaim, "How simple! why did I not see that before?" but on reflection the reason is discovered in the fact that, before being enlightened through Christian Science, we were looking at the verse or chapter from an entirely different view-point, and consequently were expecting an interpretation perhaps directly opposite to what it contained.

Recently I had a clear illustration of the foregoing and derived very considerable help therefrom. It was after reading the third chapter of St. John's gospel. The first reading seemed only to spell "regeneration" until I came to the thirteenth verse. There I stopped, and read the verse over and over again. Slowly but surely the light dawned, and the incident of the interview of Nicodemus with our Master and Wayshower stood out as a present-day practical illustration of the ever-present truth, the truth which Christian Science is daily enabling us to discern and demonstrate. Nicodemus approached Jesus from the commonly accepted standpoint that God at different periods endowed certain mortals with divine power, thereby enabling them to perform wonderful works which otherwise would have been impossible; namely, "We know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Jesus in his reply commenced at once to lead his inquirer from the unreal to the real, demanding an entirely new birth. Nicodemus, through the clouded lens of wrong teaching, fails to see the possibility of this, and our Master lovingly proceeds to make the meaning plainer to the perplexed ruler. He makes a sharp division between the false and the true, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," or spiritual. Nicodemus exclaims in amazement, "How can these things be?" and is unable to grasp the fact that "man is not material; he is spiritual" (Science and Health, p. 468), so the Way-shower leads him still higher to the wonderful statement that "no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."

To me this verse is like Christ's "Peace, be still" to the troubled waters. It seems to say, Why look to the false sense of man for salvation. Wherein is he to be accounted of? This wrong conception of man never has ascended up to heaven, and can therefore be of no assistance whatever. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." This rich legacy Mrs. Eddy has given to the whole world, to be used and demonstrated. I am constantly applying this spiritual understanding to my own problems, and was recently able to prove it to the complete satisfaction of one who as yet is not interested in Christian Science. It arose out of a business visit, during which he informed that the only business he was concerned about at that moment was a certain fever, which he named. He knew I was a Christian Scientist, and when I offered to help him he accepted readily. The truth was immediately declared, and next morning he informed me that he was able to keep on working until eleven o'clock the previous night and was then feeling better than ever before.

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