Article September 21, 1918 Issue

Mankind would do well to-day to recognize the truth of...

The Christian Science Monitor

Mankind would do well to-day to recognize the truth of Shakespeare's saying that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in its philosophy; and so to recognize the grotesque limitations of the human mind, and consequently to cease from setting down as mythical whatever cannot be apprehended by one or other of the five material senses. There is a wholesome check on overweening confidence in the question propounded over two hundred years ago by Locke, "How would you proceed to explain to a man born blind what it means to see?"

Now the human mind, being entirely material, will accept anything, and be outraged at nothing, no matter how absurd its claims, so long as, in the explanation offered, the way is left open for a return to matter. Thus if a man or a sect arose professing to heal disease through the use of any absurd device, the phenomena would, in all probability, be gravely investigated; certainly it would arouse no special comment or opposition. But remove the device, and the idea of healing is accounted "foolishness." Mrs. Eddy explains this tendency when she says (Science and Health, p. 28), "The determination to hold Spirit in the grasp of matter is the persecutor of Truth and Love."

Christian Science teaches that all is Mind, infinite Life, Truth, and Love, and that the human mind is the supposititious counterfeit of this Mind. The human mind believes very strongly in its own identity, and especially in the exclusiveness of its own thinking and in the originality of its own thoughts. Thus a man is utterly incredulous of any interference from without. He says in effect: "I am monarch of my own realm. I think what I please." As long as all men were believing this, all were in much the same position. No one had any special advantage over his neighbor, but suppose there arose a man who, recognizing the fact that, far from being an independent entity, the human mind is utterly at the mercy of any thought that may present itself, began to present thoughts to others. Those others, if uninstructed in the truth, might be at his mercy and might accept them as their own. Let anyone ask himself, Where did that thought come from, that sudden fear, that despair, that belief in the power of evil, that desire to save by compromise and to agree to something less than right? Perhaps the man still answers, From my own inwardness, and so becomes the victim of suggestion.

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
Article
That Christian Scientists are regarded by examining...
September 21, 1918
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit