Article April 7, 1923 Issue

The Beloved Son

BESSIE L. BIGNALL

It is reasonable to assume that most of those who have turned to the Bible and the teachings of Christian Science for spiritual enlightenment or for healing, have accepted with joy the fundamental facts concerning the substance and origin of man. To begin thinking of man as the beloved son of God brings a feeling of comfort and rest, whatever our previous concepts may have been along this line. Then to consider man as spiritual, sinless, perfect, harmonious, and eternal, quickens hope and faith, even though the truth regarding our real state of being may, at first, seem vague and incomprehensible; for an earnest desire and effort to gain spiritual discernment will gradually dispel the darkened sense. Increasing glimpses of reality will enlighten thought, making it possible for us to rise above many of the limitations and conditions of erroneous human belief.

Biblical history supports every statement as to man's spiritual selfhood, which is presented in the inspired writings of Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew's gospel, we read that Jesus, taking with him Peter, James, and John, ascended into a high mountain, and was there "transfigured before them." Out of the bright cloud overshadowing them there came a voice saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." This transformation proved that matter is not even temporal substance, and that there is not a soul to escape from a body to become a spiritual man. Through exalted consciousness alone may spiritual existence be discerned and then demonstrated.

So tenacious has been the belief in the reality of the material organism as constituting the identity of man, that mortals have deliberately prevented the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth and their own freedom from sorrowful experiences. When the Master referred to his real individuality in the words, "Before Abraham was, I am," it so enraged the Jews that they attempted then and there to destroy what they believed to be man, namely, the material body. Later, they experienced keen satisfaction in crucifying the body of our dear Lord. Even his devoted followers accepted the world's belief regarding him. The bringing of ointments and spices to the sepulcher typified the thought that would hold man as a material being and keep him in that state through an erroneous sense of existence, fear, and grief. The two angels whom the women at the sepulcher beheld, said unto them: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." The beloved son of God will never be found in the deadening beliefs of creed, dogma, mysticism, or material system: man abides eternally in the realm of Spirit. In the words of the beloved disciple, "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

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