Article October 9, 1920 Issue

Spiritual Transformation

WILLIAM CAPELL

Thousands have turned to Christian Science with the hope of being healed of some specific inharmony; many have come for physical healing after all material means have failed; others have sought refuge from some seemingly crushing sorrow or from a paralyzing fear; and still others have come seeking freedom from the fetters of some beseting sin. All, however, who feel for the first time the liberating power of divine Love, eventually learn that this holy experience is but the beginning of the healing, which will not be complete until full salvation from sin, disease, and death has been attained.

In that very instructive conversation with Nicodemus related in the third chapter of John, Jesus not only indicated the source of all the woes of earth, but he also pointed out the only way to the attainment of the joys of heaven. He said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And when the materially minded Nicodemus failed to understand this statement, Jesus went on and made clear the distinction the real man and the counterfeit, in these words: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." In other words, all the ills and evils of mortal experience are due to a misconception of man's true nature and to ignorance of God; and only by gaining the true understanding of God and man can the supremacy of Spirit be seen and the powerlessness and nothingness of evil be proved.

Because the churches, like the Jews of old, have confused the personality of Jesus with the Christ, the fact that Jesus had to work out his salvation in precisely the same way in which we have to work out ours has been lost sight of. Consequently, the great helpfulness to be gained by a right appreciation of his experience has not been utilized. When it is perceived that in his explanation of the new birth Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus from the standpoint of his own personal experience, the great import of the Master's work as the Way-shower is better appreciated. While it is true that even in boyhood Jesus recognized to a remarkable degree the divine nature of his true selfhood, the New Testament affords ample evidence to prove that through revelation and demonstration he advanced in spiritual understanding. It was this spiritual growth which enabled the Master to overcome death and to make that wonderful demonstration called the ascension. As Mrs. Eddy says on page 564 of Science and Health, "Since Jesus must have been tempted in all points, he, the immaculate, met and conquered sin in every form."

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