Some nineteen centuries ago "the most scientific man...

Algernon Hervey-Bathurst—London, Eng.

Onlooker

Some nineteen centuries ago "the most scientific man that ever trod the globe," as Mrs. Eddy says on page 313 of Science and Health, was teaching the multitudes who "heard him gladly" on the shores of the Galiean sea and among the Judean hills. This great man, who has rightly been termed the Master, shattered the beliefs of ages, reversed so-called laws, overcame the law of gravity, and relied in no way at all on the testimony of the physical senses, but proved that evil, failure, limitation, sin, sickness, death, fear, are not created by God, have no true existence, but are the outcome of the mortal belief in some power equal to or greater than God. Today the world is again being roused to a true understanding of the teachings of Jesus the Christ.

The knowledge or science of this Christ-teaching has been termed Christian Science. As is well known, Mrs. Eddy, the author of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and, as is perhaps almost equally well known, she has from her childhood been a deep and earnest student of the Bible, and rediscovered this great truth in its sacred pages. Christian Science is nothing new; there is nothing that can compete with Christian Science with respect to age, for it has been from all time. Truth has ever been, and it is the truth that has been revealed through Christian Science.

Today Christian Science is reiterating the teachings of Jesus, and with "signs following." As already pointed out, Jesus overcame evil in every form, whether manifested mentally, morally, or physically. If, then, Christians are to follow his teachings, clearly they must also overcome all evil. If we endeavor to unravel this "mystery" of the overcoming of evil, it becomes, however, no more of a mystery than is the "mystery of godliness." It is clear that godliness includes no evil. The more Godlike, therefore, a man is, the less he knows of evil. Jesus, who, as we read on page 364 of Science and Health, has been "rightfully regarded as the best man that ever trod this planet," was so clear as to the truth about God and His creation, and that in it was no sin, suffering, or discord, that he successfully healed sickness, reformed the sinner, and raised the dead; and to his followers for all time he said in language of unmistakable clearness, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." Christian Scientists have learned, through the faultless logic and profound simplicity of the teachings of Mrs. Eddy, that it is far from being presumption for mankind to do the works Jesus told them to do; it is their duty and privilege to do so. And Jesus never taught his followers to be harsh or impractical; he taught by his own example that, unless we reflect love, sympathy, and human affection, we can do little to lift the load of sorrow, sin, or sickness from those hungering for that peace which the world cannot give. There are among us today many who, having experienced the healing power of Christian Science and not yet understanding how it is accomplished, say, with gratitude, in the words of the blind man healed by the Master: "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see."

The healing of sickness, discord, or sin in Christian Science is not achieved by manipulating the human mind in any way, it is a spiritual understanding of the one God, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases," the one perfect cause or creator, and man, as His image and likeness,—dependent, that is, in no sense on matter, the so-called material senses, or mortal mind, but dependent on and reflecting the one Mind or God. The apostle's injunction, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," applies to all mankind, and Christian Scientists are proving that to the extent they follow this injunction, they apprehend the truth which Jesus said "shall make you free."

The knowledge of this truth does not include any mighty struggle with evil as a powerful entity; it entails the spiritual understanding of God as omnipotent good, and a willingness to trust to His omnipotence, not in one instance, in certain circumstances, but at all times and in all ways, for it is through a practical understanding of the all-power of good alone that the belief in evil can be destroyed. A mistake can only be corrected by knowing the truth about it. The belief that three and three make seven can only be corrected by knowing that the sum of the two numbers is six. So with the belief in sin, sorrow, suffering, want, and misery; it is healed to the extent that we understand that the same fountain cannot send forth both sweet and bitter water, by realizing that the one Mind or God is supreme, infinite, omnipotent, and omnipresent good, that He made all that was made, and made that perfect. In the face of that understanding, the testimony of the physical senses for nothing more than it is, an illusion, the opposite of truth, a falsity.

There is nothing mysterious, nothing unnatural in the teachings and practice of Christian Science, and, thanks to the glorious, practical message it has given to humanity, the commands of Jesus are again being declared in every Christian Science church throughout this and every land, with "signs following." Critics may confound its teachings with the teachings of mesmerism, hypnotism, willpower, suggestion, and the like, but the facts cannot be altered, the tree will still be known by its fruit, and those who seek its protection and shelter will not seek in vain.

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