Article May 24, 1913 Issue

Noticing in the Colonist the letter by "A Truth Seeker,"...

E. C. Pearman—Hamilton, Bermuda.

Royal Gazette

Noticing in the Colonist the letter by "A Truth Seeker," which refers to statements that occurred in a recent lecture on Christian Science, with your permission I will reply.

Throughout the lecture there are many statements which are absolute science and should be separated from any relative connection. As is often the case, individuals are not in agreement mainly because they are not at one regarding premises, therefore conclusions are at variance. When the lecturer stated, "We can only know truth, never error," he was making a declaration which must be examined carefully in the light of what "to know" means. "To know" is defined in a modern dictionary, quoting from Porter on "Human Intellect," as "to be certain that something is." In the first paragraph of the letter to which I refer the writer questions the statement, "We can only know truth, never error." Let us assume that we can know error and see where it will lead. To know is to be certain that something is. To know error would be to give it place, to establish it in the realm of the real or true, and thus error would become true. To know error we must establish it as truth, that is, by the process of knowing, error becomes its opposite, truth, which is impossible. In the allegorical account of creation given in the second chapter of Genesis, which is the material theory of man and the universe as created from matter, in direct opposition to the account in the first chapter of Genesis, we are told of the fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," of truth and error, and we well know the tale of the downfall of man in his attempt to compass the impossible, the knowledge of both truth and error. We may be induced to "believe" error, that is, to accept it as truth, but belief can never change truth, which enables us to distinguish between the true or the real and spiritual and the false or unreal and material.

In another paragraph of the letter the statement made by the lecturer, "Therefore evil is not mind, and evil thinking is not true mind action, and all that is material, limited, discordant, and mortal in human thought, is not intelligence, not mind, but a counterfeit of it," is said to be startling. In the first paragraph of the letter the dictum, "Thinking is the exercise of intelligence or mind, therefore real thinking is the activity of real Mind," is accepted by "A Truth Seeker." Since real thinking is the activity of real Mind, unreal thinking is not the activity of this Mind. True Mind can never be active with untrue thinking, for it would then be thinking of unreality, untruth. The conclusion is plain, that evil thinking is not real Mind action, but the claim of that which asserts itself to be intelligence, which is in fact without intelligence or power, because all intelligence is from the one source, true Mind, and partakes of the nature of this source, is real and true. When the truth is seen and acknowledged, there follows that glorious liberty which is man's royal heritage; he knows the truth and is free.

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
Editorial
"WHICH LOVE THY LAW"
May 24, 1913
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit