Article November 3, 1951 Issue

IMPORTANCE OF THE COUNTERFACT

RICHARD H. CHASE

Since time began, mortals have believed in the reality of disease and discord; and so have considered them part of existence. Since the advent of Christian Science, people have been learning that man is the son of God, created in the image of divine Spirit. Hence, man is not material, but spiritual; and because his true embodiment is composed of spiritual substance, flawless and harmonious, he cannot experience disease. Thus individuals are being awakened to the deception of material existence and are discovering that inharmony of all kinds is an illusion of the physical senses, to be destroyed by a realization of true being.

What is the result of this awakening to the real nature of man? Simply this: that individuals have been encouraged to challenge the claims of matter and human thinking, and to question their reality, reliability, and authority. And to what result? The attainment of harmony in every direction; because, as Mary Baker Eddy states in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 346), "Disbelief in error destroys error, and leads to the discernment of Truth."

The Christian Scientist is not helpless in his fight with sin, disease, and death, for he has the most powerful weapon in the world, namely, the truth—the truth of God, man, and the universe. Just as the truth that two times three equals six destroys the error that two times three equals five, so the truth of man's spiritual individuality as a creation of God destroys the false premise that man is material and so subject to the frailties of the flesh. When one is tempted to believe in the reality of sin or suffering, he should recall these statements found on page 233 of Science and Health: "The counter fact relative to any disease is required to cure it. The utterance of truth is designed to rebuke and destroy error." It is not enough for the student of Christian Science to diagnose the errors in his thinking. He must also discover and declare the truths concerning himself as a divine idea, because these truths are the counterfacts that silence the false arguments of error. A knowledge of who he really is destroys the illusion of what he is not.

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A GIFT FROM LOVE
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