DOUBT DISPELLED

Robert Ellis Key

Doubt is a dangerous error to entertain. A faltering trust in good is faithlessness because it does not rest entirely on God. Doubt is that which questions the integrity and dependability of divine Principle and thus denies the certainty of Truth. In Truth there is no doubt. It is well to remember these facts when tempted to entertain doubt or discouragement.

If the science of mathematics had been consistently opposed and neglected and misinterpreted throughout the centuries, few of us would be ready to trust it in working out a problem of computation. But the science of mathematics is in daily use everywhere, and we know that as long as we use its rules intelligently the result will be correct.

The Science of Christ is more certain and invariable in its results than the science of mathematics. The Science of Christ has been neglected or not understood, but in the proportion that it is understood and utilized, it will be found infallible.

Doubt is an instrument of evil. To exclude doubt we must gain a spiritual understanding of God and His Christ. When Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, the devil came to him with subtle arguments. The first statement the devil made was (Matt. 4:3), "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Evil's first attempt to dethrone the Christ was to cast doubt on man's divine origin. Let us not forget this statement when corporeality argues for reality and attempts to rob us of our divine sonship.

Man is spiritual and eternal. He is not in matter but in Mind. He exists as consciousness, but not as consciousness in matter. Jesus was not touched by the devil's suggestions of doubt which were thrown upon his divine origin, for he said (John 8:14), "I know whence I came, and whither I go." We can follow him in this understanding. We can know also that we have a divine origin and spiritual existence. This understanding rules out the false claims of matter or material laws and reinstates God's law of health and harmony.

The kingdom of God is within us. Ignorance of the truth of being is the chief cause for doubt. One who truly understands God and His laws does not for a moment question His power or the infallibility of His laws. Our progress in Christian Science is marked by successive demonstrations, each of which strengthens our faith in God and consequently diminishes our faith in matter.

Doubt walks with fear, and both point the way to discouragement. The Apostle Thomas was a doubter. He questioned his fellow disciples' declaration that they had seen the risen Master after his crucifixion. He said (John 20:25), "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." His doubts were stilled when Jesus appeared to them as they sat behind closed doors for fear of the Jews.

The power of the Christ as expressed by Jesus was present not only to meet the disciples' need, but to still their fears and to silence the doubts of Thomas. Thus when doubt assails us we can be confident that the Christ is present to destroy our fears and the doubts which accompany them.

Jesus placed particular emphasis on the prayer that contains no element of doubt. He said (Mark 11:24), "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Can we in this age doubt Mind's ever-presence and ever-availability to meet our every need? We have the full revelation of Truth in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. There we read that Truth is immediate in its effects.

We can trust God absolutely. Let us not turn aside because the devil attempts to throw doubt upon our divine sonship. The devil, evil, was a liar from the beginning. The doubts that would at times try to crowd into consciousness have no place there. The consciousness which is born of God is the only true consciousness we possess, and it is ours forever.

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 495): "Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious—as Life eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony."

Robert Ellis Key

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A PRACTICAL RULE OF LIVING

September 3, 1955

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