0.0 – Science & Health by Mary Baker Eddy Chapter 12 – Section 3 of 3 – Christian Science Practice – 1910 Edition

In answering the objections, by putting everything back into God and acknowledging that there is a divine plan where everything relates with everything else, we are in fact practising Christian Science. We are removing the objections of the human mind by working from the unbroken wholeness of being, seeing everything slotted back into its proper place and value in the divine purpose and plan.
"Christian Science Practice" is a long and very practical healing chapter, finishing with an allegorical account of  a law case. The prisoner on trial is accused of transgressing the laws of matter. He has watched with and tended a sick friend, but in doing this he has broken the laws of health that claim to govern the material body. This is his crime and he is condemned to death. But then permission is obtained for a retrial in the Court of Spirit. Christian Science, appearing as counsel for the defence, argues for man's freedom under the law of God. God's law liberates him from the bogus laws of mortality. The law case finishes with the commanding sentence, "Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake" (442:30). Be a law to yourselves!
~ DISSOLVING BARRIERS, The Healing Work of Christian Science by John L. MorganSHOW ALL

  	    I here present to my readers an allegory illustrative
  	of the law of divine Mind and of the supposed laws of mat-
15	ter and hygiene, an allegory in which the plea of Christian
  	Science heals the sick. 
  	    Suppose a mental case to be on trial, as cases are tried
18	in court. A man is charged with having committed liver-
  	complaint. The patient feels ill, ruminates,	A mental
  	and the trial commences. Personal Sense is	court case 
21	the plaintiff. Mortal Man is the defendant. False Belief
  	is the attorney for Personal Sense. Mortal Minds, Ma-
  	teria Medica, Anatomy, Physiology, Hypnotism, Envy,
24	Greed and Ingratitude, constitute the jury. The court-
  	room is filled with interested spectators, and Judge
  	Medicine is on the bench. 
27	    The evidence for the prosecution being called for, a
  	witness testifies thus: —  

  	  I represent Health-laws. I was present on certain nights
30	when the prisoner, or patient, watched with a sick friend. 
  	Although I have the superintendence of human affairs, I
  	was personally abused on those occasions. I was told that
 
       Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            431

 1	I must remain silent until called for at this trial, when I
  	would be allowed to testify in the case. Notwithstanding
 3	my rules to the contrary, the prisoner watched with the sick
  	every night in the week. When the sick mortal was thirsty,
  	the prisoner gave him drink. During all this time the pris-
 6	oner attended to his daily labors, partaking of food at ir-
  	regular intervals, sometimes going to sleep immediately
  	after a heavy meal. At last he committed liver-complaint,
 9	which I considered criminal, inasmuch as this offence is
  	deemed punishable with death. Therefore I arrested Mor-
  	tal Man in behalf of the state (namely, the body) and cast
12	him into prison. 
  	  At the time of the arrest the prisoner summoned Physi-
  	ology, Materia Medica, and Hypnotism to prevent his pun-
15	ishment. The struggle on their part was long. Materia
  	Medica held out the longest, but at length all these assist-
  	ants resigned to me, Health-laws, and I succeeded in get-
18	ting Mortal Man into close confinement until I should
  	release him. 

  	    The next witness is called: —  

21	  I am Coated Tongue. I am covered with a foul fur,
  	placed on me the night of the liver-attack. Morbid Secre-
  	tion hypnotized the prisoner and took control of his mind,
24	making him despondent. 

  	    Another witness takes the stand and testifies: —  

  	  I am Sallow Skin. I have been dry, hot, and chilled by
27	turns since the night of the liver-attack. I have lost my
  	healthy hue and become unsightly, although nothing on my
  	part has occasioned this change. I practise daily ablutions
30	and perform my functions as usual, but I am robbed of my
  	good looks. 

      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            432

 1	    The next witness testifies: —  

  	  I am Nerve, the State Commissioner for Mortal Man.  
 3	I am intimately acquainted with the plaintiff, Personal
  	Sense, and know him to be truthful and upright, whereas
  	Mortal Man, the prisoner at the bar, is capable of false-
 6	hood. I was witness to the crime of liver-complaint. I
  	knew the prisoner would commit it, for I convey messages
  	from my residence in matter, alias brain, to body. 

 9	    Another witness is called for by the Court of Error
  	and says: —  

  	  I am Mortality, Governor of the Province of Body, in
12	which Mortal Man resides. In this province there is a stat-
  	ute regarding disease, — namely, that he upon whose per-
  	son disease is found shall be treated as a criminal and
15	punished with death. 

  	    The Judge asks if by doing good to his neighbor, it is
  	possible for man to become diseased, transgress the laws,
18	and merit punishment, and Governor Mortality replies in
  	the affirmative. 
  	    Another witness takes the stand and testifies: —  

21	  I am Death. I was called for, shortly after the report of
  	the crime, by the officer of the Board of Health, who pro-
  	tested that the prisoner had abused him, and that my pres-
24	ence was required to confirm his testimony. One of the
  	prisoner's friends, Materia Medica, was present when I
  	arrived, endeavoring to assist the prisoner to escape from
27	the hands of justice, alias nature's so-called law; but my
  	appearance with a message from the Board of Health
  	changed the purpose of Materia Medica, and he decided at
30	once that the prisoner should die. 

      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            433

 1	    The testimony for the plaintiff, Personal Sense, being
  	closed, Judge Medicine arises, and with great solemnity
 3	addresses the jury of Mortal Minds. He an-	Judge
  	alyzes the offence, reviews the testimony, and	Medicine
  	explains the law relating to liver-complaint. 	charges
 6	His conclusion is, that laws of nature render disease	the jury 
  	homicidal. In compliance with a stern duty, his Honor,
  	Judge Medicine, urges the jury not to allow their judg-
 9	ment to be warped by the irrational, unchristian sugges-
  	tions of Christian Science. The jury must regard in such
  	cases only the evidence of Personal Sense against Mortal
12	Man.  
  	    As the Judge proceeds, the prisoner grows restless. His
  	sallow face blanches with fear, and a look of despair and
15	death settles upon it. The case is given to the jury. A
  	brief consultation ensues, and the jury returns a verdict
  	of "Guilty of liver-complaint in the first degree." 
18	    Judge Medicine then proceeds to pronounce the solemn
  	sentence of death upon the prisoner. Because he has
  	loved his neighbor as himself, Mortal Man has	Mortal Man
21	been guilty of benevolence in the first degree,	sentenced 
  	and this has led him into the commission of the second
  	crime, liver-complaint, which material laws condemn as
24	homicide. For this crime Mortal Man is sentenced to
  	be tortured until he is dead. "May God have mercy on
  	your soul," is the Judge's solemn peroration. 
27	    The prisoner is then remanded to his cell (sick-bed),
  	and Scholastic Theology is sent for to prepare the fright-
  	ened sense of Life, God, — which sense must be immortal,
30	 — for death. 
  	    Ah! but Christ, Truth, the spirit of Life and the
  	friend of Mortal Man, can open wide those prison doors
 
      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            434

 1	and set the captive free. Swift on the wings of divine
  	Love, there comes a despatch: "Delay the execution;
 3	the prisoner is not guilty." Consternation fills	Appeal to
  	the prison-yard. Some exclaim, "It is con-	a higher
  	trary to law and justice." Others say,	tribunal 
 6	"The law of Christ supersedes our laws; let us follow
  	Christ." 
  	    After much debate and opposition, permission is ob-
 9	tained for a trial in the Court of Spirit, where Christian
  	Science is allowed to appear as counsel for	Counsel for
  	the unfortunate prisoner. Witnesses, judges,	defence 
12	and jurors, who were at the previous Court of Error,
  	are now summoned to appear before the bar of Justice
  	and eternal Truth. 
15	    When the case for Mortal Man versus Personal Sense
  	is opened, Mortal Man's  counsel regards the prisoner
  	with the utmost tenderness. The counsel's earnest,
18	solemn eyes, kindling with hope and triumph, look up-
  	ward. Then Christian Science turns suddenly to the
  	supreme tribunal, and opens the argument for the
21	defence: —  

  	  The prisoner at the bar has been unjustly sentenced. 
  	His trial was a tragedy, and is morally illegal. Mortal
24	Man has had no proper counsel in the case. All the testi-
  	mony has been on the side of Personal Sense, and we shall
  	unearth this foul conspiracy against the liberty and life of
27	Man.  The only valid testimony in the case shows the
  	alleged crime never to have been committed. The pris-
  	oner is not proved "worthy of death, or of bonds." 
30	  Your Honor, the lower court has sentenced Mortal Man
  	to die, but God made Man immortal and amenable to
  	Spirit only. Denying justice to the body, that court com-
 
      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            435

 1	mended man's immortal Spirit to heavenly mercy, — Spirit
  	which is God Himself and Man's  only lawgiver! Who or
 3	what has sinned? Has the body or has Mortal Mind
  	committed a criminal deed? Counsellor False Belief has
  	argued that the body should die, while Reverend Theology
 6	would console conscious Mortal Mind, which alone is capa-
  	ble of sin and suffering. The body committed no offence. 
  	Mortal Man, in obedience to higher law, helped his fellow-
 9	man, an act which should result in good to himself as well
  	as to others. 
  	  The law of our Supreme Court decrees that whosoever
12	sinneth shall die; but good deeds are immortal, bringing
  	joy instead of grief, pleasure instead of pain, and life
  	instead of death. If liver-complaint was committed by
15	trampling on Laws of Health, this was a good deed, for the
  	agent of those laws is an outlaw, a destroyer of Mortal
  	Man's  liberty and rights. Laws of Health should be sen-
18	tenced to die. 
  	  Watching beside the couch of pain in the exercise of a
  	love that "is the fulfilling of the law," — doing "unto
21	others as ye would that they should do unto you," — this
  	is no infringement of law, for no demand, human or divine,
  	renders it just to punish a man for acting justly. If mor-
24	tals sin, our Supreme Judge in equity decides what penalty
  	is due for the sin, and Mortal Man can suffer only for his
  	sin. For naught else can he be punished, according to the
27	law of Spirit, God. 
  	  Then what jurisdiction had his Honor, Judge Medicine,
  	in this case? To him I might say, in Bible language, "Sit-
30	test thou to judge . . . after the law, and commandest . . . 
  	to be smitten contrary to the law?" The only jurisdiction
  	to which the prisoner can submit is that of Truth, Life, and
33	Love. If they condemn him not, neither shall Judge Medi-
  	cine condemn him; and I ask that the prisoner be restored
  	to the liberty of which he has been unjustly deprived. 

      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            436

 1	  The principal witness (the officer of the Health-laws)
  	deposed that he was an eye-witness to the good deeds for
 3	which Mortal Man is under sentence of death. After be-
  	traying him into the hands of your law, the Health-agent
  	disappeared, to reappear however at the trial as a witness
 6	against Mortal Man and in the interest of Personal Sense,
  	a murderer. Your Supreme Court must find the pris-
  	oner on the night of the alleged offence to have been acting
 9	within the limits of the divine law, and in obedience
  	thereto. Upon this statute hangs all the law and testimony. 
  	Giving a cup of cold water in Christ's name, is a Christian
12	service. Laying down his life for a good deed, Mortal Man
  	should find it again. Such acts bear their own justifica-
  	tion, and are under the protection of the Most High. 
15	  Prior to the night of his arrest, the prisoner summoned
  	two professed friends, Materia Medica and Physiology, to
  	prevent his committing liver-complaint, and thus save him
18	from arrest. But they brought with them Fear, the sheriff,
  	to precipitate the result which they were called to prevent. 
  	It was Fear who handcuffed Mortal Man and would now
21	punish him. You have left Mortal Man no alternative. 
  	He must obey your law, fear its consequences, and be pun-
  	ished for his fear. His friends struggled hard to rescue the
24	prisoner from the penalty they considered justly due, but
  	they were compelled to let him be taken into custody, tried,
  	and condemned. Thereupon Judge Medicine sat in judg-
27	ment on the case, and substantially charged the jury, twelve
  	Mortal Minds, to find the prisoner guilty. His Honor sen-
  	tenced Mortal Man to die for the very deeds which the di-
30	vine law compels man to commit. Thus the Court of Error
  	construed obedience to the law of divine Love as disobedi-
  	ence to the law of Life. Claiming to protect Mortal Man
33	in right-doing, that court pronounced a sentence of death
  	for doing right. 
  	  One of the principal witnesses, Nerve, testified that he
 
      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            437

 1	was a ruler of Body, in which province Mortal Man resides. 
  	He also testified that he was on intimate terms with the
 3	plaintiff, and knew Personal Sense to be truthful; that he
  	knew Man, and that Man was made in the image of God,
  	but was a criminal. This is a foul aspersion on man's
 6	Maker. It blots the fair escutcheon of omnipotence. It in-
  	dicates malice aforethought, a determination to condemn
  	Man in the interest of Personal Sense. At the bar of Truth,
 9	in the presence of divine Justice, before the Judge of our
  	higher tribunal, the Supreme Court of Spirit, and before
  	its jurors, the Spiritual Senses, I proclaim this witness,
12	Nerve, to be destitute of intelligence and truth and to be
  	a false witness. 
  	  Man self-destroyed; the testimony of matter respected;
15	Spirit not allowed a hearing; Soul a criminal though
  	recommended to mercy; the helpless innocent body tor-
  	tured, — these are the terrible records of your Court of
18	Error, and I ask that the Supreme Court of Spirit reverse
  	this decision. 

  	    Here the opposing counsel, False Belief, called Chris-
21	tian Science to order for contempt of court. Various
  	notables — Materia Medica, Anatomy, Physiology, Scho-
  	lastic Theology, and Jurisprudence — rose to the ques-
24	tion of expelling Christian Science from the bar, for such
  	high-handed illegality. They declared that Christian Sci-
  	ence was overthrowing the judicial proceedings of a regu-
27	larly constituted court. 
  	    But Judge Justice of the Supreme Court of Spirit over-
  	ruled their motions on the ground that unjust usages
30	were not allowed at the bar of Truth, which ranks above
  	the lower Court of Error. 
  	    The attorney, Christian Science, then read from the
33	supreme statute-book, the Bible, certain extracts on the
 
      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            438

 1	Rights of Man, remarking that the Bible was better au-
  	thority than Blackstone: —  

 3	  Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and
  	let them have dominion. 
  	  Behold, I give unto you power . . . over all the power
 6	of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 
  	  If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 

  	    Then Christian Science proved the witness, Nerve, to
 9	be a perjurer. Instead of being a ruler in the Province
  	of Body, in which Mortal Man was reported to reside,
  	Nerve was an insubordinate citizen, putting in false
12	claims to office and bearing false witness against Man.  
  	Turning suddenly to Personal Sense, by this time silent,
  	Christian Science continued: —  

15	  I ask your arrest in the name of Almighty God on three
  	distinct charges of crime, to wit:  perjury, treason, and con-
  	spiracy against the rights and life of man. 

18	    Then Christian Science continued: —  

  	  Another witness, equally inadequate, said that on the
  	night of the crime a garment of foul fur was spread over
21	him by Morbid Secretion, while the facts in the case show
  	that this fur is a foreign substance, imported by False Be-
  	lief, the attorney for Personal Sense, who is in partnership
24	with Error and smuggles Error's goods into market with-
  	out the inspection of Soul's government officers. When
  	the Court of Truth summoned Furred Tongue for examina-
27	tion, he disappeared and was never heard of more. 
  	  Morbid Secretion is not an importer or dealer in fur, but
  	we have heard Materia Medica explain how this fur is
30	manufactured, and we know Morbid Secretion to be on
  	friendly terms with the firm of Personal Sense, Error, &
 
      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            439

 1	Co., receiving pay from them and introducing their goods
  	into the market. Also, be it known that False Belief, the
 3	counsel for the plaintiff, Personal Sense, is a buyer for this
  	firm. He manufactures for it, keeps a furnishing store,
  	and advertises largely for his employers. 
 6	  Death testified that he was absent from the Province of
  	Body, when a message came from False Belief, command-
  	ing him to take part in the homicide. At this request
 9	Death repaired to the spot where the liver-complaint was
  	in process, frightening away Materia Medica, who was then
  	manacling the prisoner in the attempt to save him. True,
12	Materia Medica was a misguided participant in the misdeed
  	for which the Health-officer had Mortal Man in custody,
  	though Mortal Man was innocent. 

15	    Christian Science turned from the abashed witnesses,
  	his words flashing as lightning in the perturbed faces
  	of these worthies, Scholastic Theology, Materia Medica,
18	Physiology, the blind Hypnotism, and the masked Per-
  	sonal Sense, and said: —  

  	  God will smite you, O whited walls, for injuring in your
21	ignorance the unfortunate Mortal Man who sought your
  	aid in his struggles against liver-complaint and Death. 
  	You came to his rescue, only to fasten upon him an offence
24	of which he was innocent. You aided and abetted Fear
  	and Health-laws. You betrayed Mortal Man, meanwhile
  	declaring Disease to be God's servant and the righteous
27	executor of His laws. Our higher statutes declare you all,
  	witnesses, jurors, and judges, to be offenders, awaiting the
  	sentence which General Progress and Divine Love will
30	pronounce. 
  	  We send our best detectives to whatever locality is re-
  	ported to be haunted by Disease, but on visiting the spot,
33	they learn that Disease was never there, for he could not

      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            440

 1	possibly elude their search. Your Material Court of Errors,
  	when it condemned Mortal Man on the ground of hygienic
 3	disobedience, was manipulated by the oleaginous machina-
  	tions of the counsel, False Belief, whom Truth arraigns
  	before the supreme bar of Spirit to answer for his crime. 
 6	Morbid Secretion is taught how to make sleep befool reason
  	before sacrificing mortals to their false gods. 
  	  Mortal Minds were deceived by your attorney, False Be-
 9	lief, and were influenced to give a verdict delivering Mortal
  	Man to Death. Good deeds are transformed into crimes,
  	to which you attach penalties; but no warping of justice
12	can render disobedience to the so-called laws of Matter
  	disobedience to God, or an act of homicide. Even penal
  	law holds homicide, under stress of circumstances, to be
15	justifiable. Now what greater justification can any deed
  	have, than that it is for the good of one's neighbor? Where-
  	fore, then, in the name of outraged justice, do you sentence
18	Mortal Man for ministering to the wants of his fellow-man
  	in obedience to divine law? You cannot trample upon the
  	decree of the Supreme Bench. Mortal Man has his appeal
21	to Spirit, God, who sentences only for sin. 
  	  The false and unjust beliefs of your human mental legis-
  	lators compel them to enact wicked laws of sickness and so
24	forth, and then render obedience to these laws punishable
  	as crime. In the presence of the Supreme Lawgiver, stand-
  	ing at the bar of Truth, and in accordance with the divine
27	statutes, I repudiate the false testimony of Personal Sense. 
  	I ask that he be forbidden to enter against Mortal Man
  	any more suits to be tried at the Court of Material Error. 
30	I appeal to the just and equitable decisions of divine Spirit
  	to restore to Mortal Man the rights of which he has been
  	deprived. 

33	    Here the counsel for the defence closed, and the Chief
  	Justice of the Supreme Court, with benign and imposing
 
      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            441

 1	presence, comprehending and defining all law and evi-
  	dence, explained from his statute-book, the	Charge of the
 3	Bible, that any so-called law, which under-	Chief Justice 
  	takes to punish aught but sin, is null and void. 
  	    He also decided that the plaintiff, Personal Sense, be
 6	not permitted to enter any suits at the bar of Soul, but
  	be enjoined to keep perpetual silence, and in case of
  	temptation, to give heavy bonds for good behavior. He
 9	concluded his charge thus: —  

  	  The plea of False Belief we deem unworthy of a hearing. 
  	Let what False Belief utters, now and forever, fall into
12	oblivion, "unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown." Accord-
  	ing to our statute, Material Law is a liar who cannot bear
  	witness against Mortal Man, neither can Fear arrest Mortal
15	Man nor can Disease cast him into prison. Our law refuses
  	to recognize Man as sick or dying, but holds him to be for-
  	ever in the image and likeness of his Maker. Reversing the
18	testimony of Personal Sense and the decrees of the Court of
  	Error in favor of Matter, Spirit decides in favor of Man
  	and against Matter. We further recommend that Materia
21	Medica adopt Christian Science and that Health-laws,
  	Mesmerism, Hypnotism, Oriental Witchcraft, and Esoteric
  	Magic be publicly executed at the hands of our sheriff,
24	Progress. 
  	  The Supreme Bench decides in favor of intelligence, that
  	no law outside of divine Mind can punish or reward Mortal
27	Man.  Your personal jurors in the Court of Error are
  	myths. Your attorney, False Belief, is an impostor, per-
  	suading Mortal Minds to return a verdict contrary to law
30	and gospel. The plaintiff, Personal Sense, is recorded in
  	our Book of books as a liar. Our great Teacher of mental
  	jurisprudence speaks of him also as "a murderer from the
33	beginning." We have no trials for sickness before the tri-
 

      Science and Health – Christian Science Practice                            442


 1	bunal of divine Spirit. There, Man is adjudged innocent
  	of transgressing physical laws, because there are no such
 3	laws. Our statute is spiritual, our Government is divine. 
  	"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 

  	    The Jury of Spiritual Senses agreed at once upon a
 6	verdict, and there resounded throughout the vast audience-
  	chamber of Spirit the cry, Not guilty. Then	Divine
  	the prisoner rose up regenerated, strong, free. 	verdict 
 9	We noticed, as he shook hands with his counsel, Chris-
  	tian Science, that all sallowness and debility had dis-
  	appeared. His form was erect and commanding, his
12	countenance beaming with health and happiness. Divine
  	Love had cast out fear. Mortal Man, no longer sick
  	and in prison, walked forth, his feet "beautiful upon the
15	mountains," as of one "that bringeth good tidings." 
  	    Neither animal magnetism nor hypnotism enters into
  	the practice of Christian Science, in which truth cannot
18	be reversed, but the reverse of error is true. 	Christ
  	An improved belief cannot retrograde. When	the great
  	Christ changes a belief of sin or of sickness into	physician 
21	a better belief, then belief melts into spiritual understand-
  	ing, and sin, disease, and death disappear. Christ, Truth,
  	gives mortals temporary food and clothing until the ma-
24	terial, transformed with the ideal, disappears, and man
  	is clothed and fed spiritually. St. Paul says, "Work
  	out your own salvation with fear and trembling:" Jesus
27	said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good
  	pleasure to give you the kingdom." This truth is
  	Christian Science. 
30	    Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental
  	malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when
         awake.SHOW ALL