The apostle Paul, urging his listeners to challenge and overcome materialistic thinking through spiritual “warfare,” enjoins us to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5). He doesn’t say some thoughts, but every thought. What does this mean? Why is being obedient to this guidance important, and how do we do so? 

If we pay attention to what we’re thinking throughout the day, we find myriad thoughts coming to us. Some of these thoughts are good and helpful. Others are laden with fear, frustration, or anger. We can ask ourselves, “What is the origin of those thoughts?” 

Just as Paul distinguishes between “the carnal mind” (Romans 8:7), which he condemns, and “the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16), which he understood to be supreme—“the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:24)—so Christian Science teaches that the divine Mind, the Mind Christ Jesus expressed, is the real and only Mind, and that man is God’s reflection. It teaches that the carnal mind or mortal mind is a mistaken concept of God and man—the very opposite of the Mind that is God.