The task of trying to prove the existence of opposites...

Stanley M. Sydenham, Committee on Publication for Yorkshire, England,

Hull Daily News

The task of trying to prove the existence of opposites may be interesting, but it does not contribute towards the solution of the problems which confront mankind. Innumerable theories, which have been presented from time to time since pure Christianity was lost sight of in the early centuries of the Christian era, have all proved failures, for not one of them has been demonstrable. In one of her books, "Miscellaneous Writings," on page 169, Mrs. Eddy writes: "That there is a dual meaning to every Biblical passage, the most eminent divines of the world have concluded; and to get at the highest, or metaphysical, it is necessary rightly to read what the inspired writers left for our spiritual instruction. The literal rendering makes them nothing valuable, but often is the foundation of unbelief and hopelessness. The metaphysical rendering is health and peace and hope for all."

There is only one reply to the question, "Is God a God of love only?" and that is an emphatic "Yes." In the working out of his own salvation from the belief of life in matter, material man suffers until his love of sin is quenched. Love of sin is idolatry; it is the belief that there is pleasure and good in something that God has not made. The punishment which accompanies sin is the exclusion of the individual, through his false belief in, or reliance upon, something which really does not exist, from the consciousness of God's ever-presence.

Matthew 10:34 presents no difficulties; and although not specifically mentioned in my last letter, it was adequately dealt with in the statement which reads as follows: "To that dense state of mind which believed in the reality of both matter and Spirit, Christ Jesus' teaching certainly did not bring peace; neither can it do so to-day. All the world's troubles are due to its resistance to Truth; and it will have peace only when it yields up its false material beliefs and is receptive and responsive to Spirit and spiritual law."

Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind; and the revelation of Christian Science progressively discloses heaven here and now. It is one of the great joys which Christian Science brings, the knowledge that it is not necessary to die to reach heaven. Our beloved Master said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."

God, the infinite One, Spirit, cannot and does not live, move, and have His being in His ideas (infinity cannot be in anything), for as the Apostle Paul states, "In him we live, and move, and have our being. . . . For we are also his offspring." The teaching of the reality of a sick, sinning, fallen man, who, after much sorrow and suffering, may be restored to his original perfection, makes God responsible for the dreadful conditions which no one would care to impute even to an earthly parent. The beloved disciple, John, lifting thought above the dream of life in matter, clearly perceived the reality of man's being, and thereby gave to the world the gladsome message, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." It is this knowledge, the knowledge that man is the spiritual, perfect, harmonious, and eternal child of God, which opens up the way of escape from the various beliefs which bind man to earth. There is no doubt but that as sin increased in the world the length of human life decreased. Statistics prove that longevity is increasing; and that increase is due solely to the increasing knowledge of the fact that real life is spiritual, and that God is the Life of all. It is God, Spirit, who "giveth to all life, and breath, and all things."

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The task of trying to prove the existence of opposites...

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