Editorial January 30, 1932 Issue

Mind and Its Supposititious Opposite

Clifford P. Smith

Christian Science teaches that God, divine Principle, is the only Mind, the only cause or source of genuine consciousness or true thought; also, that the infinite action of infinite Mind constantly gives to man that consciousness which is complete and perfect. This teaching is offered to all humans; it is offered to persons who seem to lack intelligence adequate for every occasion, who seem to get consciousness or thought from conflicting sources, and who seem to be continually menaced by mental states which do not accord with divine Principle. For this reason, the absolute facts just stated need to be accompanied by auxiliary teaching intended to explain the opposite fiction, and intended to help all persons comprehend and demonstrate the truth of being, particularly the truth concerning Mind and man.

John the Baptist declared the actual truth when he said, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven" (John 3:27). In such a context, the word "heaven" means God. Christ Jesus declared the same truth in other words, and he referred particularly to his receiving of thought: "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge" (John 5:30). In this, as in all else, Jesus is the Ensample and the true Teacher. No man, therefore, thinks by himself; he is not an original source of thought; for, as Mrs. Eddy has said, God is "the Mind of man" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 470).

In the human situation, however, we must take heed what we hear and how we hear. As Jesus did, we must judge or test what we seem to get as thought; and, as he did, we must do this with God-given power. Jesus also declared the true criterion or test by which to recognize the life-giving thought: "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." He said further, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing" (John 3:6; 6:63). In modern speech, spiritual thought is derived from infinite Spirit, and it alone is that which imparts actual life to man.

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