Article January 18, 1930 Issue

The Correct View

ISRAEL PICKENS

In the greatest sermon ever delivered to mankind, Christ Jesus admonished his hearers with these words: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." In this admonition is not only a proclamation of the perfection of God, but also an indication of man's perfection. Of profound significance is this statement of the master Christian, for upon it rests the entire superstructure of Christianity. Perfect God! Whatever the nature of God may be, however great the range of His power and presence, there can be applied to Him no more meaningful, more complete, or more all-inclusive term than the word "perfect."

The unparalleled reasoning of the Nazarene evidenced the divine revelation of God to his understanding. Thus, he clearly and logically taught of this perfect God that He is the author or creator of only that which is good and true. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." This accords with the first chapter of Genesis, wherein it is stated that God pronounced His creation "very good." From boyhood the Master showed a profound knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. When, therefore, he declared of evil that it is "a liar, and the father of it," he corroborated the statement of the prophet Habakkuk regarding Deity, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." The ministry of Christ Jesus was designed to overthrow the so-called kingdom of evil—sin, disease, sorrow, lack, sickness, discord, death.

How wondrously blessed is Christendom that in this present age there came one whose spiritual vision was so great and so pure as to discern the Science underlying the teachings of Christ Jesus! How vivid the light that came to her, and how marvelously illumined became the pages of Scripture to her understanding thought! Mrs. Eddy added nothing to the Master's teachings, nor took away from them one iota; but she discovered the Science which through long ages had lain hidden to scholastic theology, and established the rules whereby to demonstrate the healing power of Truth. To her was given this divine commission of God. In referring to the unfailing success in the healing work of the great Nazarene, she makes this significant statement on pages 476 and 477 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."

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