Article September 7, 1940 Issue

"Divine Science is absolute"

RICHARD J. DAVIS

MARY BAKER EDDY, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes on page 274 of her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "Divine Science is absolute, and permits no half-way position in learning its Principle and rule—establishing it by demonstration." The student of Christian Science realizes that a clear understanding of this statement is essential. It indicates that no healing ever takes place, or can take place, through taking a "half-way position," through a "half-way" declaration of the truth. The absolute truth, or the divine fact regarding the relationship between God and man, must be understood and maintained. Healing does not take place through arguing with an erroneous belief as if it had reality; for Truth does not argue. Divine Mind does not need to be convinced of its own omnipotence.

The spiritual premise in scientific thinking is always perfection; that is, perfection is the fact underlying our declarations of Truth, even though the senses may seem to testify to the contrary. For example, if we expect to demonstrate the fact of man's perfection, we cannot work from the mistaken standpoint that man is mortal, even a human being endeavoring to become better, or that he is sick and may soon be well. If that were the case, our premise would be faulty. Perfection is the basis of reality, and reality is the basis of perfection. Christ Jesus referred to the fact of man's perfection and the manner of its demonstration, when he declared, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." The thirty-first verse of the first chapter of Genesis also confirms the correctness of working from the standpoint of perfection: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Perfect Mind creates only perfect ideas; perfect God and perfect man constitute real being.

Christianly scientific thinking requires the continued maintenance of divine facts. It does not ascribe reality to evil, past, present, or future. Scientific thinking is always from the basis of perfection, and, of course, this is quite necessary, if the unreality of evil in any given instance is to be demonstrated. This is particularly true where there has been some trying and unpleasant experience—a quarrel, a dispute, or a heated argument, the outcome of which may be a break in friendship. The human tendency is to let thought go back and rehearse the whole incident over and over, and even mentally react the argument or quarrel. Error will induce one to discuss the subject—the pros and cons, the characters of the participants—even carry on a mental argument—and all the while the error, in belief, is being given life and reality by this activity of animal magnetism. Going over unpleasant experiences is equivalent to saying, again and again, that they are or were real. This course of action will never bring peace of mind, or harmony. If mental pictures of unhappy incidents or quarrels persist in one's consciousness, is it not because mortal mind is inducing us to resist evil on a human basis, instead of affirming the truth and abiding by it, and thereby rejecting the belief that evil has ever occurred? If we continue to think of it as real, and give it a past, does it not still exist as something to us, instead of becoming nothing? The evil that came into the experience of Job appeared because he had let evil seem real to him; because, as he admitted, he had anticipated and feared its appearance.

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