There are probably few readers of the Bible who have not paused, on reading the incident of Jesus and the sinful woman, to wonder as to what he wrote on the ground in reply to her accusers. A selected article that appeared in the Christian Science Sentinel of May 17, 1900, states that Professor Gregory of Leipzig has discovered in an old manuscript a different reading of this passage, in which the ninth verse is thus rendered: And they when they read it went out one by one, etc. As the professor interprets it, Jesus wrote on the sand the secret sins of those who would have had their fellow-sinner stoned in support of their own self-righteousness. Their assumption of innocence in bringing a less fortunate culprit to punishment could not hide from the piercing purity of Jesus' consciousness the sinfulness they had hidden from the world; and he turned upon them the sentence of their own moral distance from purity and goodness.

If this rule of our Master were generally obeyed, and those only who are "without sin" should cast the stone of condemnation at the erring, what a benediction of mercy and love would rest upon this saddened, sinful world. Too many of us are prone to find fault with all whose manner of life and conduct does not conform to our ideals, and to harshly condemn those who have yielded to temptations that may not have come our way or against which we may have been more strongly fortified. What have we to glory in with respect to our own righteousness, that we should sit in the place of judge over the brother who may have stumbled and fallen? How many of us would have done better under the same circumstances? How can any one think that he would have been a better or a truer man than the one he may condemn, had he been in the other's place?

While the Christ-law condemns sin, and does not exempt the sinner from the punishment that may be necessary to bring him to repentance, it calls for compassion rather than condemnation, especially from those who are also liable to be tempted. Had Jesus spurned the woman in his natural abhorrence of her sin, instead of lovingly bidding her to "sin no more," the result would probably have been hardening instead of redemptive. He declared that his mission was to save, not to condemn. It is Love that uplifts, and heals, and regenerates, that raises the fallen and recalls the wanderer. If our exalted Master could not fulfil his Christ-work among men without the exercise of a love that is beyond human imagination to conceive, how much more should they love and be merciful who follow his example so fitfully and so feebly? What Christlikeness can there be in bringing another into condemnation for doing what we have not ourselves risen above? If Christ Jesus were likewise standing in our midst when we are accusing others, what, think you, would he write upon the sand for us to read?

St. Paul says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." The apostle's injunction points the safe course for us. The Christian's work is to "restore" the sinner, bring back the prodigal, unloose the prisoners of material sense, and not to bind their bonds closer about them by pharisaical denunciation or repudiation. With their Leader's example before them, Christian Scientists are without excuse in this regard. Her patience with and love for her enemies, should make our own lips mute when tempted to exploit another's errors and hide our own. Let us be thankful that we have one to guide us who thus follows Christ, and whose constant effort is to lead mankind into the same path.

In their healing work Christian Scientists meet the various conditions constituting the sinful material sense of being, and are in especial need of such humility and love as Jesus manifested, that they may bring to light the Divine likeness, the true man, which these wrong conditions have seemingly obscured. They cannot heal the sick or the sinful while mentally censuring them for past mistakes or for the errors that may be uncovered in the healing process. No matter what form of evil may have overtaken the sufferer who comes for help, or how repugnant to our sense are the errors which he may have indulged, there pertains to our own human nature the possibility of our having fallen into a like snare, if in the same mortal weakness we had passed through the same fire of temptation. This remembrance should help us restore our brother "in the spirit of meekness." Sin is not overcome by condemning the victim, but by tenderly showing him its illusive nature, and lifting his thought to perceive the allness of God; this redeems the sinner and destroys the sin.

The charity that "thinketh no evil, and is kind" must become spontaneous in Christians ere they can be wholly Christlike. To effect our complete salvation from evil we must go in demonstration over the same ground that our Master has traversed; but we must love as he loved if we would live as he lived. We also must become "the friend of sinners" if we would heal them of their delusions. The mirage of personal sense may so distort the human perception that one may often appear sinful and repellent, but this is not the sense which guided Jesus, or gave him the "correct view of man" which, as our text-book declares, "healed the sick" (Science and Health, p. 477). We must turn away from the teaching of material sense if we would learn to love and condemn not, and to forgive as we would be forgiven.

The closer we approximate the purity of the Christ-mind, the more unreal and impersonal must sin of all kinds appear to us. The tendency to dwell constantly upon others' faults or failings, even in the privacy of our own thoughts, springs from our own mental defilement, since all that we accept of sin in another comes from our own concept thereof; and to give this expression as true of him, must add to and prolong our own enslavement to it. The truth of the infinite fatherhood of God, good, makes evil impersonal and unreal in every instance, and if we would work out our salvation on this basis we must not exclude others from the possible attainment of perfect spiritual sonship.

As fellow-pilgrims to a better country, striving alike for the attainment of the Christ-ideal, we cannot afford to lay the smallest weight upon each other's efforts thitherward. If we honestly believe we are doing all that we can, with what ability and understanding we have, we can at least give others credit for living quite as consistently with their light. Uncharitable judgment is a sin that can be destroyed only through love, and for its indulgence we must atone. If we are spiritually stronger than our brother we shall be compassionate of his weakness and help him as we have opportunity. This was Jesus' way.

Though it may take a long and direful struggle with their sense of material selfhood, and the love of sin pertaining thereto, for mankind to reach the full knowledge of man's spiritual individuality and perfection in the likeness of God, this progression and attainment is indispensable to human health and salvation. As one rises towards the realization that only what manifests God is true, he ceases to attach evil to the thought of his own or another's personality. To refrain from judging others, while yet in a state of imperfection, is a Christian demand; it means obedience to the Golden Rule. We must learn to lay down our selfishness,—self-love, self-will, self-righteousness,—even, if it need be, on the cross of humiliation; for not otherwise shall we grow to reflect that selfless, Christlike love whose work is not to accuse, but to make whole,—to heal and to save.