Article September 28, 1968 Issue

Put on the New Man

CAREY BROWNE

The Christian Scientist accepts the fact that he continually faces the demand to put off the old man and put on the new. The wording of this demand comes from Christ Jesus' great follower, Paul, who first gave it to the Christians of his day. The counsel, however, is directed to those of all times, including ours, who seek spirituality: "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."^{Eph. 4:22-24;}

The phrasing in this statement indicates clearly that in proportion as we put off the old man we put on—that is, we become—the new man. What is the new man but the perfect man of God's creating, the man who is therefore really not new at all since man as the son of God has always existed? Putting off the old, we find the new through fresh spiritual discovery and acceptance of the man whose relation to the creator is perfect and has been established forever.

The first step toward discovering the new man in Christian Science is the honest recognition that the old man is marked by traits that we now are ready to discard. Honesty gets the action started, and recognition moves it forward. We become gladly willing to displace the old with the new in proportion as we get an ever closer look at the attractive characteristics of the new man—a view flooded by the light of spiritual perception, revealing vividly the man of God's creating. In the radiance of spiritual perceiving the dark outlines of the old man stand out in their ugly, undesirable pattern, increasing our desire to eliminate them.

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