Article March 20, 1954 Issue

THE STANDARD OF PERFECTION

JOSEPH Q. PETRO

Christ Jesus said (Matt. 5: 48), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." This command, given to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, sets a spiritual standard that cannot be lowered. The Master clearly understood that man is truly spiritual, hence perfect, possessing the very qualities of the one divine Principle, God. Furthermore, Jesus did not set forth an impossible standard. He demonstrated this perfection and thus had every right to demand that his followers demonstrate man's perfect status by casting out sin, disease, and death.

When one begins to realize that his real selfhood is spiritual, he has started to obey the Master's commandment to be perfect.

Jesus demonstrated the healing power of God's ever-operative law in performing what to human sense appeared to be miraculous cures. In reality they were natural demonstrations of the Christ. He never reasoned from the imperfection of material evidence. Explaining this point in her own inimitable way, Mary Baker Eddy asserts in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 476, 477): "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Poem
SAFETY
March 20, 1954
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit