Article July 7, 1934 Issue

The spirit and the flesh always have been and always...

Charles W. J. Tennant, District Manager of Committees on Publication for Great Britain and Ireland,—London, England

Everyman

The spirit and the flesh always have been and always will be antagonistic. At no point can they unite. The mission of Christ Jesus was to prove that the spiritual is true, and that the material is untrue, and he did this by healing the sick, reforming the sinner, raising the dead, and finally by ascending out of all materiality. He declared that his followers would do the works which he did, and he said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God [of Spirit]." Now the new birth implies that a complete change from the material to the spiritual must take place in human consciousness.

The one who is experiencing the new birth, and who, as Christ Jesus said, can therefore "see the kingdom of God," has gained a measure of spiritual understanding which develops in proportion to his spiritual growth. He begins to learn that all that is true must be eternal, immortal, spiritual, and immutable, and to apply this understanding in his daily life. He is learning to see that since God, good, is omnipotent, there is no other power; that God, being omniscient, is the only Mind or intelligence; that God, Spirit, being omnipresent, nothing else is present in reality. These facts are impossible for the physical senses to comprehend, but metaphysical facts are always outside of and apart from matter.

By the new birth is meant the gaining of the Mind of Christ, thus, thinking as Christ Jesus thought and seeing everything from his spiritual point of view. It may be asked, How did he think? For instance, what was he thinking when he walked on the Sea of Galilee? He was conscious of the unseen truth of spiritual existence and was thus sustained by the law of Spirit, which supersedes any material belief of law. The same law was applied when Peter left the boat and walked on the water, but when he allowed fear to enter his consciousness he immediately began to sink. Jesus lifted him up and said, "Wherefore didst thou doubt?" Doubt what? Surely that the power of spiritual law supersedes all belief in material so-called laws. Doubt, being a belief of the carnal mind, brought Peter under its conditions. Had he had perfect faith together with spiritual understanding, he would have walked on the water as did the Master.

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