Chapter V - Prayer and Atonement
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enemies, showing the Love, the Life and Truth, that
enemies, showing the Love, the Life and Truth, that
is the at-one-ment with God.
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First on the list of Christian duties, he taught his
First on the list of Christian duties, he taught his
followers to heal the sick; he attached no importance to
dead ceremonies; it was the living Christ, the Truth,
that is Life, that made him the resurrection and Life to
all who follow him. Thus keeping his precious pre-
cepts and following his demonstration in its under-
standing, we shall indeed drink his cup and be baptized
with his purity, until we sit down with him anew in a
fuller understanding of the Principle of that man, Jesus.
"For as often as ye eat his bread and drink his cup, ye
do show forth the Lord's death till he come."
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A belief can never show forth the works of under-
A belief can never show forth the works of under-
standing, and has never yet followed Jesus in his
demonstration; to do this we must consecrate our lives
to the Principle for which he was crucified, and be
willing to drink of the cup it brings. "But for this
cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep."
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Rites fetter the pinions of Soul, they materialize, and
Rites fetter the pinions of Soul, they materialize, and
prevent the Spirit, by holding us to the body; for matter
separates from Spirit. We speak of the atonement of
Christ reconciling God to man; but Christ is God, and
God propitiates not Himself, and there is nothing
higher to conciliate. Again, Love and Truth are not
irreconciled to the idea of God, and man is this idea.
But man being the shadow of Almighty, cannot
exceed Him in Love; or reconcile Truth to error.
His students understood the sufferings, teachings,
and demonstration of their glorious Master better than
all this. When Jesus gave up the body material to
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be slain, and afterwards presented it to his students
be slain, and afterwards presented it to his students
unchanged, he had proved what he had taught, showing
them he was not dead, and they knew it was proof of
the Principle he had before taught, and disproved our
opinions of a future resurrection, or a spiritual body
at the change, called death; his body was a belief of
matter, as before, until he rose to Spirit above the reach
of personal sense, and triumphed over the last enemy,
death, as before he had conquered sickness and sin, and
this was what his followers were to commemorate in
their lives, so far as they understood his teachings and
demonstration; hence the saying, "The works that I
do ye shall do, and greater."
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Theology explains the crucifixion of Jesus, a pardon
Theology explains the crucifixion of Jesus, a pardon
ready for all sinners; Spiritualism finds his death neces-
sary only for the presentation, after death, of the per-
sonal Jesus; calling this "a spirit's return." We differ
from both, and while we respect all that is good in the
church, and outside of it, our later consecration to
Christ has been on the ground of demonstration, and
not profession, yea, to follow the commands he gave
to those he sent forth. For conscience's sake we dare
not cling to the old belief, insomuch as understanding
somewhat the Principle of his proof, the Life, and not
death, that Jesus showed forth, raised us from hopeless
disease, and gave us a triumph over sickness and sin,
we never had gained from our former beliefs and pro-
fession of religion.
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The efficacy of the crucifixion of Jesus is the practi-
The efficacy of the crucifixion of Jesus is the practi-
cal Truth it demonstrated for our understanding, and
that ultimately will deliver mankind from sickness, sin
and death. This Truth he had before spoken in their