An allegory which illustrates the justice of God's law in contradistinction to the injustice of mortal belief is found at the close of the chapter entitled "Christian Science Practice" in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. In this allegorical trial material belief is described as causing sickness and as threatening the death of one who has broken so-called health laws while caring for an ailing friend. Christian Science comes to the rescue of the defendant after the trial which follows the charge of his having committed liver complaint and the accused has been found guilty. Before the Supreme Court of Spirit the prisoner is again tried, but according to the law of God.

We read in the textbook (p. 442), "The Jury of Spiritual Senses agreed at once upon a verdict, and there resounded throughout the vast audience-chamber of Spirit the cry, Not guilty."

This allegory concerns the divine justice which cancels penalties not incurred by sin. But the same justice is available to destroy every human woe. The false belief that man is a mortal is the universal accuser of mankind. It is from this accusation that the companion charges of sin, mental deficiency, sickness, poverty, and the like arise.

To demonstrate universal justice, the fundamental belief that man is a material personality, beginning in dust and ending in death, must be dealt with. The fact that man is spiritual, sinless, intelligent, blessed, the loved son of the one Father, is the evidence which Christian Science brings to bear against the lawless accusations of mortal mind. "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven," said Christ Jesus (Matt. 23:9). And he brought justice to those who were burdened by the verdicts of the physical sense of life—the inheritance of all mortals.

In the twelfth chapter of Revelation, the chapter which signifies the coming of the idea of Truth through the Science of Christianity, we read of a war in heaven. The angels of God fought against the dragon of evil, and the dragon was overcome. Here are the words (verse 10): "The accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." The error was conquered "by the blood of the Lamb," the Christliness which is revealed when the mortal sense of self is sacrificed for the real.

Man's sonship with God is a living fact. Every individual, since he exists eternally in Science, is untouched by the accusations, the beliefs, of mortality. The real selfhood of everyone is intact, for man in Science is an idea of divine Mind. To know these truths and to cling to them consistently is the method which Christian Science provides for the healing of minds and bodies. "Not guilty" is the cry which every individual should keep before his thought when the claims of mortal mind beset him. And if one finds himself tempted to express the spirit of accusation by believing that the misconduct and sickness, the poverty, sorrow, and envy of mortals are realities, he should hold firmly to the assertion, "The accuser is not here; I am not a party to false accusation."

Christ Jesus recognized the claims of mortal mind, and he rebuked them wherever he saw self-justification or hypocrisy supporting evil. But he never made a reality of human errors. He said (John 12:47), "If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." The Master knew well that each one judges himself—each is self-condemned by the beliefs which he entertains. Why add to the burden of anyone's self-condemnation by agreeing with error, supporting the unreal and untrue? Why not adhere to the profound truth of man—"Not guilty"—and condemn only the Adam-dream, which presents man as a mortal? This will help the victim of "the accuser" win his eternal freedom. Jesus illustrated the larger justice of God when he manifested the healing power which delivers mortals from both sin and its consequences.

No one can escape retribution for unrepented sin, but our scientific thinking will shorten the period of stubborn resistance to Truth. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 174), "The thunder of Sinai and the Sermon on the Mount are pursuing and will overtake the ages, rebuking in their course all error and proclaiming the kingdom of heaven on earth."

The spirit of Truth, which is the essence of Christian Science, restrains one from letting his thought concerning others be dragged down to a personal level through the influence of mortals, who are often quick to agree with "the accuser of our brethren." Loyal Scientists help to lift the burden of condemnation from those who either blindly or willingly have lent themselves to error's uses. In our churches, our homes, our businesses, we have frequent opportunity to be loyal to the truth we know and to meet every accusation of mortal mind with the inward cry, "Not guilty."

This loving stand will aid the world in its awakening from the Adam-dream, wherein all that is unworthy and mortal seems to take place. This saving attitude will help to heal the seemingly sinful by spiritual means, for it will awaken them to see the errors they are entertaining and will cause them to seek the higher acquittal of divine justice. Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 2), "When we remember that God is just, and admit the total depravity of mortals, alias mortal mind,— and that this Adam legacy must first be seen, and then must be subdued and recompensed by justice, the eternal attribute of Truth,— the outlook demands labor, and the laborers seem few."

Perhaps our greatest contribution toward demonstrating "justice, the eternal attribute of Truth," to the age in which we live will be our refusal to condemn our neighbor, to accuse him of being a mortal. Then we too shall see our lifework as an effort "not to judge the world, but to save the world." Our resistance to mortal mind's false accusations will be expressed in our insistent and compassionate cry, "Not guilty." The justice of God is universal. Science fully reveals it.

Helen Wood Bauman