All scientific mental work is based upon spiritual understanding, which at once separates such work from anything that may seem to be accomplished upon the plane of human suggestion or will-power. An affirmation of spiritual truth must of necessity come through a mentality permeated with the spirit even more than with the letter of truth. The student of Christian Science learns from the very start that argument alone does not heal, and that he must possess the spirit and the love of good if he would accomplish anything in Christian Science; for, as our Leader says (Science and Health, p. 454), "the letter and mental argument are only human auxiliaries to aid in bringing thought into accord with the spirit of Truth and Love, which heals the sick and the sinner."

There is therefore a legitimate use which can be made of the letter of Christian Science, but to formulate a treatment or to make use of any argument calculated to bring about anything of a purely selfish nature would mean inevitable defeat. It would be the perversion of Christian Science practice or right mental treatment. It would be human suggestion rather than scientific affirmation. The user of literal statements of truth must have within himself some degree of understanding of the divine Principle which makes such statements true, else they fall short of being scientific affirmations. They cannot be powerful, positive, and exact unless supported mentally by some degree of comprehension of the true nature of God and man.

One who believes in two powers could not make any practical use of scientific statements. His use of such statements would be confined to the realm of human will-power. If he believes in the reality of evil, he would have no moral right to declare that God is All. Until he can acknowledge with Christlike humility that because God is infinite good there is and can be no evil, he is not divinely authorized or empowered to declare any scientific fact of being. Affirmations of the truth will transform men into saints only as they learn to subjugate the human will and to attest by thought and act that ever present good precludes the power and presence of evil. If they continue to affirm the supremacy of good but fail to live in conformity to their profession, their use of the letter of Christian Science will certainly make mental nuisances of them, to say the least.

It is no strange thing that students of Christian Science should sometimes be criticized for seeming to cover up evil. The too frequent use of absolute statements of truth, which deny the real existence of evil without furnishing any proof of evil's unreality, lays them open to this very criticism. Right at this point we should pause to ascertain whether we are making practical scientific affirmations of truth, or whether we are mentally experimenting with the letter of Science as a chemist might with certain material elements. The heart must be right if we would go forward in the ennobling strife. We cannot deceive the divine Principle of all righteousness, but we shall deceive ourselves if we believe that mere intellectuality can appropriate and demonstrate the facts of divine Science.

When the Christian Scientist affirms that God is Love, he knows that the one and only thing which will make this a scientific statement with power to bless himself or any one else, is a deep seated love for his fellow man, coupled with an honest, sincere desire to express this love at all times and under all circumstances. It must become an axiomatic truth in the hearts of humanity that Love operates only through channels of love, before the letter of Science can be rightfully employed for the benefit of mankind and instantaneous healing become the rule rather than the exception. Let not a carping, complaining, and unmerciful mentality imagine for one moment that it is employing the weapons of divine Science in its own defense or for the protection of others.

The sword of Truth cannot be wielded by a tyrant, but only by a kind, loving, considerate, and compassionate mentality, pure and undefiled in the sight of God. The Master said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Unless one is seeing good scientifically, he is not in possession of any demonstrable knowledge of Christian metaphysics. Because an evil mentality can quote Scripture to further its own selfish ends, this is no proof that it is either scientific or Christian in its attitude toward God. One could repeat Science and Health from beginning to end and yet not have a spiritually scientific realization of truth unless his heart is right in the sight of God.

The sacred word of God is expressed in demonstration. It is said of Jesus that "his word was with power." So must our affirmations of truth be before we can be called scientific Christians. It is no uncommon occurrence for healing to take place in the Christian Science church, because its readers are rising in consciousness to the zenith of spiritual understanding, or the holiness "without which no man shall see the Lord." They are doing something more than reading from an intellectual or elocutionary standpoint,—they are declaring the truth; in other words, they are voicing the word with power.

Let no mortal be in the least discouraged because of the high standard which Christian Science sets for him, but let him in all meekness, humility, and love begin to meditate upon those things which make for righteousness, and he will soon feel the touch of that ever present influence for good which is destined to purify human consciousness until it can affirm the scientific facts of being with power and authority from on high. He who sees the truth in the smallest degree, and is ready to consecrate himself to the great task of overcoming evil with good, will find that it is God who worketh with him "both to will and to do of his good pleasure." He will be modest in his presentation of spiritual truth, striving always to let the spirit of Truth and Love find expression in his consciousness. If he persists in correcting a corporeal or material sense of life in order to gain an incorporeal or spiritual sense of existence, he will learn, in response to the declaration voiced by the psalmist, to open his mouth wide for Truth to fill it with scientific affirmations of the power, presence, and reality of good.

Let us not say that "all is Mind" (Science and Health, p. 492) if we believe in the reality of matter; let us not say that God is Love if we believe in any opposite to Love; let us not say that God is Life if we believe in death; let us not say that God is divine Principle if we believe in and practise any phase of dishonesty, and all the while imagine that we are voicing the truth to the world. But let us rather ponder these words of our Leader on page 149 of Science and Health: "We need to understand the affirmations of divine Science, dismiss superstition, and demonstrate truth according to Christ."

Copyright, 1916, by The Christian Science Publishing Society.