Article March 29, 1952 Issue

"NEW WINE INTO NEW BOTTLES"

W. STUART BOOTH

Christian Science reveals the fact that because the teachings of Christ Jesus were based upon invariable divine Principle and because the material thought conditions he faced and pierced with the irresistible light of Truth are ever essentially the same, the Master's spiritual instructions are as appealing and practical today as when they were voiced two thousand years ago. This is as true of the implied and illustrative teachings of our Master as it is of his explicit instructions.

For our present purpose let us consider Christ Jesus' brief statement that men do not "put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved" (Matt. 9:17). Correlative to and explanatory of this is Mary Baker Eddy's statement in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 281, 282): "Divine Science does not put new wine into old bottles, Soul into matter, nor the infinite into the finite. Our false views of matter perish as we grasp the facts of Spirit. The old belief must be cast out or the new idea will be spilled, and the inspiration, which is to change our standpoint, will be lost."

Because of the tenacity of human belief in matter there is a strong tendency and a persistent effort to put the new wine or inspiration of Christian Science into earthen vessels. This is seen in the erroneous belief that matter exists as substance; that matter is conscious and, being conscious, is both cause and effect; that men live in their physical bodies, which can become sick of themselves because they are deemed to be self-acting and self-governed. This leads to the belief that Christian Science is to be employed to change a sick material body into a healthy material body in order that one may be comfortable in matter.

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