The study of metaphysics is the study of the cause of true effect. The knowledge of the truth about such a cause is true Science. The right reflection of this cause in daily life is Christianity. Therefore the true knowledge of cause and its correct expression is Christian Science. It is impossible to separate knowledge and expression, to know God as the only cause and yet commit sin, for sin is the expression of ignorance. To claim a knowledge of God as the only cause and yet believe in the reality of sin, is to accept the premise of mesmerism; namely, that an effect can be produced without a real cause. The right practice of metaphysics is action based on the understanding of perfect cause and perfect effect. The supposedly wrong practice of metaphysics, which is malpractice, is action based either on the assumption that God is both good and evil, or that an evil effect can be derived from such a cause as infinite good.

Since God is Mind, man is the intelligent expression of that Mind, and so man's practice, his words and deeds must, in reality, be the expression of that intelligence. It is therefore necessary, when a patient comes to a Christian Science practitioner for the purpose of having some manifestation of error removed, that the lack of understanding of God, which claims to be the cause of the manifestation, be removed as well as the manifestation. Any effort to persuade mortal mind to relinquish a belief in material sickness and hold to a belief in material health, is not Christian Science but mesmerism. The reason for this is that as mortal mind is the exact opposite of divine Mind it is naturally expressed in sin and sickness. To try to convince this mind that it possesses the idea of health is to try to get a good effect from an evil cause, which is as much mesmerism as expecting a bad effect from a good cause. To be healed, one must, in a degree, understand that divine Mind is the only cause and harmony the only possible effect, that the idea of health which has to be understood is an idea of the divine Mind, everywhere expressed, and that the testimony of mortal mind is never to be accepted and its beliefs are never real. The student of Christian Science, therefore, is called upon not only to understand divine Mind as the only cause, but also to refrain from agreeing with mortal mind in thought, word, or other expression.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy says, on page 391, "When the body is supposed to say, 'I am sick,' never plead guilty." Again on page 392 we read: "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously." And on page 390 we find this instruction: "When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the testimony of the material senses with divine Science." The ability to dispute sense testimony, to watch thought, and to refrain from pleading guilty, depends therefore on the understanding of divine Science. It must never be forgotten, however, that this understanding has to be put into practice to dispute the testimony of the senses. It is imperative that this practice should start at once; it cannot be safely postponed until the symptoms of disease appear. The practice of metaphysics cannot be separated from its theory, and metaphysics is as much practice as theory, although it deals with thoughts, not with things.

A Christian Scientist is like a lawyer in a case. On one side is the understanding of Truth, on the other the suggestion of mortal mind. Knowing that consciousness is filled with the understanding of divine Science, he can refuse admission to mortal suggestions, but if he has not been in the habit of refusing admission to such suggestions in daily life, how can he do well when the trial comes? What lawyer would go about pouring into every waiting ear the suggestion of his client's guilt? If he did, he would both ruin his client's case and stamp himself a hypocrite for supporting such a case. But is the student of Christian Science any different who, after accepting in theory the allness of good, goes about speaking of past or present illnesses, or the possibility of future recovery, of difficulties from climate or surroundings, or of personal likes and dislikes? Once the admission is made that evil is unreal it is necessary for the one making that admission to live up to it. He cannot admit the reality of evil as operating in himself or in another. Further, he cannot even admit the reality of the belief in evil. It is possible to say with regard to a child that he believes that two times two equals five. It would be absurd to say that the two times two of that child is five, for no belief can alter the facts of arithmetic. In the same way a Christian Scientist may say, if it seems necessary, that some individual believes that malpractice or some lesser form of evil operates and has power. It is never scientific, however, to say that such an individual is a malpractitioner, an evil or a sick man, for to do so would be to accept the reality of the belief. To admit that mortal mind operates anywhere or in any one is to admit all there is to mortal mind and so seemingly to open one's thought to the mesmerism of its suggestions. When seemingly surrounded by the expression of suppositional evil, operating in its own belief, the student of Christian Science must constantly reverse sense testimony through the understanding of divine Science. This reversal is the practice of metaphysics, is doing God's will, and is the only way which leads to further understanding of the allness of God. Jesus said, "If any man will do his [God's] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."