Article October 3, 1977 Issue

Challenge Those Beliefs!

SUSAN MORRISON

Naaman, captain of the king of Syria's army, was a great and honorable man, but he suffered from leprosy. It appears he not only accepted and believed in the conditions of this disease but also had strong views as to how it could be healed (see II Kings 5:1–14).

In one terse sentence Mrs. Eddy indicates the nature and limiting effects of such material beliefs. In Science and Health she writes, "A mortal belief fulfils its own conditions."^{Science and Health, p. 297;}

Naaman accepted the belief of leprosy as a reality, and he experienced the conditions of that belief. The rigidity of belief in his own human greatness took the form of pride; and pride almost prevented the healing from taking place. But obviously, his true goodness lay in other directions—in the fact that his servants felt they could remonstrate with him, in the fact that he listened to them and that there was a shift in his attitude enabling him to make room for enlightenment. Then his willingness to be obedient replaced the limitation of mortal supposition.

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