Chapter III - Spirit and Matter
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by his belief, and only because the method is more
by his belief, and only because the method is more
common to let limbs, lips, and ears express the mind's
volition, and sound to sense, other methods we call mir-
acles. As a man thinketh, so is he in error; but as a
man understandeth, so is he in Truth. A belief of sick-
ness, coming in contact with another belief of health, is
sometimes negatived, and the sick feel better, and this
is the only point of science that the mal-practitioner
adheres to. The supposed sensations of body are the
impressions of one's own mind, or that another mind
produces, in no case do they proceed from matter; at
length they may become a belief of inflammation, sup-
puration, paralysis, stiffness, etc.; but in no instance do
they originate in matter.
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Again, one mind coming in contact with the grief of
Again, one mind coming in contact with the grief of
another is depressed, and a tear starts; now has not
mind in this instance produced an effect on the body,
upon the lachrymal glands? and not more readily, or
distinctly on the eyes, than an internal organ. Mind
produces diseased bones, and governs alone the entire
internal viscera, and this is the explanation of all disease.
The excellent author, John Young of Edinburgh, says,
"God is the father of minds, and of nothing else;"
surely this is the voice of Truth, crying in the wilder-
ness, prepare ye the way of moral science, even the reign
of Spirit over matter. Scourging Truth out of syna-
gogues will not hide it forever. The signs of to-day
point to the era when all that really is, will be under-
stood Spirit and its phenomena; and already the shadow
of this right hand rests upon the hour.
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The inquiry should no longer be, can mind produce
The inquiry should no longer be, can mind produce
sounds, faces and forms? but what is the best method
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of training mind here, to produce good instead of evil,
of training mind here, to produce good instead of evil,
that materialism, which depends wholly on mechanical
construction and matter conditions for cause and effect,
and the evil results from mediumship, may cease for-
ever.
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The Jews' determination to recognize God only as
The Jews' determination to recognize God only as
person and a king, has not forsaken this age; nor have
our creeds and ritualism in other respects quite washed
their hands of Rabbinical error. To-day echoes back
the cry of bygone centuries: "Crucify him that maketh
himself as God," Spirit, and let matter have dominion
over man.
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Because Jesus understood God better than did the
Because Jesus understood God better than did the
Rabbis, he arrived at the conclusion in advance of them
he was Spirit and not matter, and that these never
blend; also, that there is but one Spirit, or Intelli-
gence, therefore but one God, one Life, Love and Truth.
All forms of belief deny this in the main, and contend
that Intelligence is both God and man, that there are
two separate entities or beings exercising antagonistic
powers; also, that matter controls Spirit, that man is
both matter and Spirit, and the supreme Being is God
and man; also, that a third person named devil, is
another Intelligence and power, and that these three
different personages, viz., God, man, and devil blend in
one person. When we possess a true sense of our one-
ness with God, and learn we are Spirit alone, and not
matter, we shall have no such opinions as these, but
will triumph over all sickness, sin, and death, thus
proving our God-being. That we are Spirit, and Spirit
is God, is undeniably true, and judging by its fruits,
(the rule our Master gave) we should say this is not