Science and Health with Key to The Scriptures
 CHAPTER XIV
— RECAPITULATION (cont.)
PAGE 490
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is real pleasure in sin; but
the grand truths of Christian Science dispute this error. |
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Will-power an animal
propensity |
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Will-power is but a product
of belief, and this belief commits depredations on harmony. Human will is an
animal propensity, not a faculty of Soul. |
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Hence it cannot govern man
aright. Christian Science reveals Truth and Love as the motive-powers of man.
Will - blind, stubborn, and head- |
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long - cooperates with
appetite and passion. From this cooperation arises its evil. From this also
comes its powerlessness, since all power belongs to God, good. |
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Theories helpless |
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The Science of Mind needs to
be understood. Until it is understood, mortals are more or less deprived of
Truth. Human theories are helpless to make |
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man harmonious or immortal,
since he is so already, according to Christian Science. Our only need is to
know this and reduce to practice the real man's di- |
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vine Principle, Love |
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True nature and
origin |
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"Quench not the Spirit.
Despise not prophesyings." Human belief - or knowledge gained from the
so-called |
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material senses - would, by
fair logic, annihilate man along with the dissolving elements of clay. The
scientifically Christian explanations of the |
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nature and origin of man
destroy all material sense with immortal testimony. This immortal testimony
ushers in the spiritual sense of being, which can be obtained |
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in no other way. |
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Sleep an illusion |
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Sleep and mesmerism explain
the mythical nature of material sense. Sleep shows material sense as either
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oblivion, nothingness, or an
illusion or dream. Under the mesmeric illusion of belief, a man will think that
he is freezing when he is warm, and that he |
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PAGE 491
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is swimming when he is on dry
land. Needle-thrusts will not hurt him. A delicious perfume will seem
intolerable. |
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Animal magnetism thus
uncovers material sense, and shows it to be a belief without actual foundation
or validity. Change the belief, and the sensation changes. |
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Destroy the belief, and the
sensation disappears. |
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Man linked with
Spirit |
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Material man is made up of
involuntary and voluntary error, of a negative right and a positive wrong, the
latter |
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calling itself right. Man's
spiritual individuality is never wrong. It is the likeness of man's Maker.
Matter cannot connect mortals with the true |
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origin and facts of being, in
which all must end. It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which
annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and |
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find the indissoluble
spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness,
inseparable from his creator. |
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Material man as a
dream |
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The belief that matter and
mind are one, - that mat- |
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ter is awake at one time and
asleep at another, sometimes presenting no appearance of mind, - this belief
culminates in another belief, that |
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man dies. Science reveals
material man as never the real being. The dream or belief goes on, whether our
eyes are closed or open. In sleep, memory and consciousness are |
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lost from the body, and they
wander whither they will apparently with their own separate embodiment.
Personality is not the individuality of man. A wicked man |
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may have an attractive
personality. |
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Spiritual existence the
one fact |
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When we are awake, we dream
of the pains and pleasures of matter. Who will say, even though he |
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does not understand Christian
Science, that this dream - rather than the dreamer - may not be mortal man? Who
can rationally say otherwise, |
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PAGE 492
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when the dream leaves mortal
man intact in body and thought, although the so-called dreamer is unconscious?
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For right reasoning there
should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence. In
reality there is no other existence, since Life cannot be united to its |
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unlikeness, mortality. |
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Mind one and all |
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Being is holiness, harmony,
immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small
degree, |
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will uplift the physical and
moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate
character. Thus progress will finally destroy |
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all error, and bring
immortality to light. We know that a statement proved to be good must be
correct. New thoughts are constantly obtaining the floor. These two |
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contradictory theories - that
matter is something, or that all is Mind - will dispute the ground, until one
is acknowledged to be the victor. Discussing his cam- |
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paign, General Grant said: "I
propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." Science says:
All is Mind and Mind's idea. You must fight it out on this |
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line. Matter can afford you
no aid. |
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Scientific
ultimatum |
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The notion that mind and
matter commingle in the human illusion as to sin, sickness, and death must
even- |
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tually submit to the Science
of Mind, which denies this notion. God is Mind, and God is infinite; hence
all is Mind. On this statement rests the |
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Science of being, and the
Principle of this Science is divine, demonstrating harmony and immortality.
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Victory for Truth |
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The conservative theory,
long believed, is that there |
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are two factors, matter and
mind, uniting on some impossible basis. This theory would keep truth and error
always at war. Victory would perch on neither banner. |
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On the other hand, Christian
Science speedily shows Truth to be triumphant. To corporeal sense, the sun
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appears to rise and set, and
the earth to stand still; but astronomical science contradicts this, and
explains the solar system as working on a differ- |
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ent plan. All the evidence of
physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to
Science, to the immortal truth of all things. |
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Mental preparation
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Question, - Will you
explain sickness and show how it is to be healed? |
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Answer. - The method
of Christian Science Mind-heal- |
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ing is touched upon in a
previous chapter entitled Christian Science Practice. A full answer to the
above question involves teaching, which enables the |
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healer to demonstrate and
prove for himself the Principle and rule of Christian Science or metaphysical
healing. |
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Mind destroys all
ills |
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Mind must be found superior
to all the beliefs of the |
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five corporeal senses, and
able to destroy all ills. Sickness is a belief, which must be annihilated by
the divine Mind. Disease is an experience of |
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so-called mortal mind. It is
fear made manifest on the body. Christian Science takes away this physical
sense of discord, just as it removes any other sense of moral or |
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mental inharmony. That man is
material, and that matter suffers, - these propositions can only seem real and
natural in illusion. Any sense of soul in matter is not the |
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reality of being. |
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If Jesus awakened Lazarus
from the dream, illusion, of death, this proved that the Christ could improve
on a false |
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sense. Who dares to doubt
this consummate test of the power and willingness of divine Mind to hold man
forever |
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PAGE 494
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intact in his perfect state,
and to govern man's entire action? Jesus said: "Destroy this temple [body], and
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in three days I [Mind] will
raise it up;" and he did this for tired humanity's reassurance. |
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Inexhaustible divine
Love |
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Is it not a species of
infidelity to believe that so great |
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a work as the Messiah's was
done for himself or for God, who needed no help from Jesus' example to preserve
the eternal harmony? But mortals |
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did need this help, and Jesus
pointed the way for them. Divine Love always has met and always will meet every
human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demon- |
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strated the divine power to
heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all
mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good. |
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Reason and
Science |
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The miracle of grace is no
miracle to Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as
the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring |
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human sense to flee from its
own convictions and seek safety in divine Science. Reason, rightly directed,
serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but |
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sin, sickness, and death will
seem real (even as the experiences of the sleeping dream seem real) until the
Science of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with |
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the unbroken reality of
scientific being. |
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Which of these two theories
concerning man are you ready to accept? One is the mortal testimony, changing,
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dying, unreal. The other is
the eternal and real evidence, bearing Truth's signet, its lap piled high with
immortal fruits. |
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Followers of
Jesus |
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Our Master cast out devils
(evils) and healed the sick. It should be said of his followers also, that they
cast fear and all evil out of themselves and others and heal the sick. |
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PAGE 495
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God will heal the sick
through man, whenever man is governed by God. Truth casts out error now |
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as surely as it did nineteen
centuries ago. All of Truth is not understood; hence its healing power is not
fully demonstrated. |
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Destruction of all
evil |
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If sickness is true or the
idea of Truth, you cannot destroy sickness, and it would be absurd to try. Then
classify sickness and error as our Master did, |
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when he spoke of the sick,
"whom Satan hath bound," and find a sovereign antidote for error in the
life-giving power of Truth acting on human belief, a power |
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which opens the prison doors
to such as are bound, and sets the captive free physically and morally. |
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Steadfast and calm
trust |
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When the illusion of sickness
or sin tempts you, cling |
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steadfastly to God and His
idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear
nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and |
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calm trust, that the
recognition of life harmonious - as Life eternally is - can destroy any painful
sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, |
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instead of corporeal sense,
support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error
with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence dis- |
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cord with harmony. |
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Rudiments and
growth |
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Question. - How can I
progress most rapidly in the understanding of Christian Science? |
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Answer. - Study
thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit. Adhere to the divine Principle of
Christian Science and follow the behests of God, |
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abiding steadfastly in
wisdom, Truth, and Love. In the Science of Mind, you will soon ascertain |
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PAGE 496
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that error cannot destroy
error. You will also learn that in Science there is no transfer of evil
suggestions |
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from one mortal to another,
for there is but one Mind, and this ever-present omnipotent Mind is reflected
by man and governs the entire universe. You will learn |
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that in Christian Science the
first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.
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Condition of
progress |
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We all must learn that Life
is God. Ask yourself: Am I living the life that approaches the supreme good? Am
I demonstrating the healing power of |
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Truth and Love? If so then
the way will grow brighter "unto the perfect day." Your fruits will prove what
the understanding of God brings to man. |
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Hold perpetually this
thought, – that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which
enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of
healing, |
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based upon its divine
Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being. |
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Triumph over
death |
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"The sting of death is sin;
and the strength of sin is |
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the law," - the law of mortal
belief, at war with the facts of immortal Life, even with the spiritual law
which says to the grave, "Where is thy |
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victory?" But "when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that |
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is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory." |
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Question. - Have
Christian Scientists any religious creed? |
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Answer. - They have
not, if by that term is meant doctrinal beliefs. The following is a brief
exposition of |
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PAGE 497
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the important points, or
religious tenets, of Christian Science: - |
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1. As adherents of Truth, we
take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life. We
acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. |
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2. We acknowledge His Son,
one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God's image and
likeness. |
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3. We acknowledge God's
forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding
that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is pun- |
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ished so long as the belief
lasts. |
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4. We acknowledge Jesus'
atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man's
unity |
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with God through Christ Jesus
the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through
Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the |
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Galilean Prophet in healing
the sick and overcoming sin and death. |
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5. We acknowledge that the
crucifixion of Jesus and |
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his resurrection served to
uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and
the nothingness of matter. |
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6. And we solemnly promise to
watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do
unto others as we would have them do unto us; and |
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to be merciful, just, and
pure. |
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