Chapter X - Science Of Being
Wrestling of Jacob
309:1
I pray thee, thy name;" but this appellation was withheld,
I pray thee, thy name;" but this appellation was withheld,
for the messenger was not a corporeal being, but a name-
less, incorporeal impartation of divine Love to man, which,
to use the word of the Psalmist, restored his Soul, – gave
him the spiritual sense of being and rebuked his material
sense.
Israel the new name
309:7
The result of Jacob's struggle thus appeared. He had
The result of Jacob's struggle thus appeared. He had
conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit
and of spiritual power. This changed the man.
He was no longer called Jacob, but Israel, –
a prince of God, or a soldier of God, who had fought
a good fight. He was to become the father of those, who
through earnest striving followed his demonstration of the
power of Spirit over the material senses; and the children
of earth who followed his example were to be called the
children of Israel, until the Messiah should rename them.
If these children should go astray, and forget that Life
is God, good, and that good is not in elements which are
not spiritual, – thus losing the divine power which heals
the sick and sinning, – they were to be brought back
through great tribulation, to be renamed in Christian
Science and led to deny material sense, or mind in matter,
even as the gospel teaches.
Life never structural
309:24
The Science of being shows it to be impossible for in-
The Science of being shows it to be impossible for in-
finite Spirit or Soul to be in a finite body or for man to
have an intelligence separate from his Maker.
It is a self-evident error to suppose that there
can be such a reality as organic animal or vegetable life,
when such so-called life always ends in death. Life is
never for a moment extinct. Therefore it is never struc-
tural nor organic, and is never absorbed nor limited by its
own formations.
Thought seen as substance
310:1
The artist is not in his painting. The picture is the
The artist is not in his painting. The picture is the
artist's thought objectified. The human belief fancies
that it delineates thought on matter, but what
is matter? Did it exist prior to thought?
Matter is made up of supposititious mortal mind-force;
but all might is divine Mind. Thought will finally be
understood and seen in all form, substance, and color, but
without material accompaniments. The potter is not in
the clay; else the clay would have power over the potter.
God is His own infinite Mind, and expresses all.
The central intelligence
310:11
Day may decline and shadows fall, but darkness flees
Day may decline and shadows fall, but darkness flees
when the earth has again turned upon its axis. The sun
is not affected by the revolution of the earth.
So Science reveals Soul as God, untouched
by sin and death, – as the central life and intelligence
around which circle harmoniously all things in the sys-
tems of Mind.
Soul imperishable
310:18
Soul changeth not. We are commonly taught that there
Soul changeth not. We are commonly taught that there
is a human soul which sins and is spiritually lost, – that
soul may be lost, and yet be immortal. If
Soul could sin, Spirit, Soul, would be flesh in-
stead of Spirit. It is the belief of the flesh and of mate-
rial sense which sins. If Soul sinned, Soul would die.
Sin is the element of self-destruction, and spiritual death
is oblivion. If there was sin in Soul, the annihilation of
Spirit would be inevitable. The only Life is Spirit, and
if Spirit should lose Life as God, good, then Spirit, which
has no other existence, would be annihilated.
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Mind is God, and God is not seen by material sense,
Mind is God, and God is not seen by material sense,
because Mind is Spirit, which material sense cannot dis-
cern. There is neither growth, maturity, nor decay in
Soul. These changes are the mutations of material sense,
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the varying clouds of mortal belief, which hide the truth
the varying clouds of mortal belief, which hide the truth
of being.
311:3
What we term mortal mind or carnal mind, dependent
What we term mortal mind or carnal mind, dependent
on matter for manifestation, is not Mind. God is Mind:
all that Mind, God, is, or hath made, is good, and He
made all. Hence evil is not made and is not real.
Sin only of the flesh
311:7
Soul is immortal because it is Spirit, which has no ele-
Soul is immortal because it is Spirit, which has no ele-
ment of self-destruction. Is man lost spiritually? No,
he can only lose a sense material. All sin is
of the flesh. It cannot be spiritual. Sin exists
here or hereafter only so long as the illusion of mind in
matter remains. It is a sense of sin, and not a sinful soul,
which is lost. Evil is destroyed by the sense of good.
Soul impeccable
311:14
Through false estimates of soul as dwelling in sense
Through false estimates of soul as dwelling in sense
and of mind as dwelling in matter, belief strays into a
sense of temporary loss or absence of soul, spir-
itual truth. This state of error is the mortal
dream of life and substance as existent in matter, and is
directly opposite to the immortal reality of being. So long
as we believe that soul can sin or that immortal Soul is in
mortal body, we can never understand the Science of be-
ing. When humanity does understand this Science, it
will become the law of Life to man, – even the higher law
of Soul, which prevails over material sense through har-
mony and immortality.
311:26
The objects cognized by the physical senses have not
The objects cognized by the physical senses have not
the reality of substance. They are only what mortal
belief calls them. Matter, sin, and mortality lose all
supposed consciousness or claim to life or existence, as
mortals lay off a false sense of life, substance, and intelli-
gence, but the spiritual, eternal man is not touched by
these phases of mortality.
Sense-dreams
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How true it is that whatever is learned through material
How true it is that whatever is learned through material
sense must be lost because such so-called knowledge is
reversed by the spiritual facts of being in
Science. That which material sense calls
intangible, is found to be substance. What to material
sense seems substance, becomes nothingness, as the sense‑
dream vanishes and reality appears.
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The senses regard a corpse, not as man, but simply as
The senses regard a corpse, not as man, but simply as
matter. People say, "Man is dead;" but this death is
the departure of a mortal's mind, not of matter. The
matter is still there. The belief of that mortal that he
must die occasioned his departure; yet you say that
matter has caused his death.
Vain ecstasies
312:14
People go into ecstasies over the sense of a corporeal
People go into ecstasies over the sense of a corporeal
Jehovah, though with scarcely a spark of love in their
hearts; yet God is love, and without Love,
God, immortality cannot appear. Mortals try
to believe without understanding Truth; yet God is
Truth. Mortals claim that death is inevitable; but man's
eternal Principle is ever-present life. Mortals believe in
a finite personal God; while God is infinite Love, which
must be unlimited.
Man-made theories
312:23
Our theories are based on finite premises, which can-
Our theories are based on finite premises, which can-
not penetrate beyond matter. A personal sense of God
and of man's capabilities necessarily limits
faith and hinders spiritual understanding. It
divides faith and understanding between matter and Spirit,
the finite and the infinite, and so turns away from the
intelligent and divine healing Principle to the inanimate
drug.
The one anointed
312:31
Jesus' spiritual origin and his demonstration of divine
Jesus' spiritual origin and his demonstration of divine
Principle richly endowed him and entitled him to sonship
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in Science. He was the son of a virgin. The term
in Science. He was the son of a virgin. The term
Christ Jesus, or Jesus the Christ (to give the full and
proper translation of the Greek), may be ren-
dered "Jesus the anointed," Jesus the God‑
crowned or the divinely royal man, as it is said of him in
the first chapter of Hebrews: –
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Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
313:9
With this agrees another passage in the same chapter,
With this agrees another passage in the same chapter,
which refers to the Son as "the brightness of His [God's]
glory, and the express [expressed] image of His person
[infinite Mind]." It is noteworthy that the phrase "ex-
press image" in the Common Version is, in the Greek
Testament, character. Using this word in its higher mean-
ing, we may assume that the author of this remarkable
epistle regarded Christ as the Son of God, the royal
reflection of the infinite; and the cause given for the ex-
altation of Jesus, Mary's son, was that he "loved right-
eousness and hated iniquity." The passage is made
even clearer in the translation of the late George R.
Noyes, D.D.: "Who, being a brightness from His glory,
and an image of His being."
Jesus the Scientist
313:23
Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that
Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that
ever trod the globe. He plunged beneath the material
surface of things, and found the spiritual
cause. To accommodate himself to imma-
ture ideas of spiritual power, – for spirituality was pos
sessed only in a limited degree even by his disciples, –
Jesus called the body, which by spiritual power he
raised from the grave, "flesh and bones." To show
that the substance of himself was Spirit and the body
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no more perfect because of death and no less material
no more perfect because of death and no less material
until the ascension (his further spiritual exaltation),
Jesus waited until the mortal or fleshly sense had re-
linquished the belief of substance-matter, and spiritual
sense had quenched all earthly yearnings. Thus he found
the eternal Ego, and proved that he and the Father were
inseparable as God and His reflection or spiritual man.
Our Master gained the solution of being, demonstrating
the existence of but one Mind without a second or equal.
The bodily resurrection
314:10
The Jews, who sought to kill this man of God, showed
The Jews, who sought to kill this man of God, showed
plainly that their material views were the parents of their
wicked deeds. When Jesus spoke of repro-
ducing his body, – knowing, as he did, that
Mind was the builder, – and said, "Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up," they thought that he
meant their material temple instead of his body. To such
materialists, the real man seemed a spectre, unseen and
unfamiliar, and the body, which they laid in a sepulchre,
seemed to be substance. This materialism lost sight of
the true Jesus; but the faithful Mary saw him, and he
presented to her, more than ever before, the true idea of
Life and substance.
Opposition of materialists
314:23
Because of mortals' material and sinful belief, the
Because of mortals' material and sinful belief, the
spiritual Jesus was imperceptible to them. The higher
his demonstration of divine Science carried
the problem of being, and the more dis-
tinctly he uttered the demands of its divine Principle,
Truth and Love, the more odious he became to sinners
and to those who, depending on doctrines and material
laws to save them from sin and sickness, were submis-
sive to death as being in supposed accord with the
inevitable law of life. Jesus proved them wrong by
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his resurrection, and said: "Whosoever liveth and be-
his resurrection, and said: "Whosoever liveth and be-
lieveth in me shall never die."
Hebrew theology
315:3
That saying of our Master, "I and my Father are one,"
That saying of our Master, "I and my Father are one,"
separated him from the scholastic theology of the rabbis.
His better understanding of God was a rebuke
to them. He knew of but one Mind and laid
no claim to any other. He knew that the Ego was Mind
instead of body and that matter, sin, and evil were not
Mind; and his understanding of this divine Science
brought upon him the anathemas of the age.
The true sonship
315:11
The opposite and false views of the people hid from
The opposite and false views of the people hid from
their sense Christ's sonship with God. They could not
discern his spiritual existence. Their carnal
minds were at enmity with it. Their thoughts
were filled with mortal error, instead of with God's spirit-
ual idea as presented by Christ Jesus. The likeness of
God we lose sight of through sin, which beclouds the spir-
itual sense of Truth; and we realize this likeness only
when we subdue sin and prove man's heritage, the liberty
of the sons of God.
Immaculate conception
315:21
Jesus' spiritual origin and understanding enabled him
Jesus' spiritual origin and understanding enabled him
to demonstrate the facts of being, – to prove irrefutably
how spiritual Truth destroys material error,
heals sickness, and overcomes death. The
divine conception of Jesus pointed to this truth and pre-
sented an illustration of creation. The history of Jesus
shows him to have been more spiritual than all other
earthly personalities.
Jesus as mediator
315:29
Wearing in part a human form (that is, as it seemed
Wearing in part a human form (that is, as it seemed
to mortal view), being conceived by a human mother,
Jesus was the mediator between Spirit and the flesh,
between Truth and error. Explaining and demonstrat-
316:1
ing the way of divine Science, he became the way of
ing the way of divine Science, he became the way of
salvation to all who accepted his word. From him mor-
tals may learn how to escape from evil. The
real man being linked by Science to his Maker,
mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal
selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to
God, and to recognize the divine sonship. Christ, Truth,
was demonstrated through Jesus to prove the power of
Spirit over the flesh, – to show that Truth is made
manifest by its effects upon the human mind and body,
healing sickness and destroying sin.
Spiritual government
316:12
Jesus represented Christ, the true idea of God. Hence
Jesus represented Christ, the true idea of God. Hence
the warfare between this spiritual idea and perfunctory
religion, between spiritual clear-sightedness
and the blindness of popular belief, which led
to the conclusion that the spiritual idea could be killed
by crucifying the flesh. The Christ-idea, or the Christ‑
man, rose higher to human view because of the crucifixion,
and thus proved that truth was the master of death.
Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit cre-
ates, constitutes, and governs. Christ illustrates that
blending with God, his divine Principle, which gives man
dominion over all the earth.
Deadness in sin
316:24
The spiritual idea of God, as presented by Jesus, was
The spiritual idea of God, as presented by Jesus, was
scourged in person, and its Principle was rejected. That
man was accounted a criminal who could
prove God's divine power by healing the
sick, casting out evils, spiritualizing materialistic beliefs,
and raising the dead, – those dead in trespasses and
sins, satisfied with the flesh, resting on the basis of mat-
ter, blind to the possibilities of Spirit and its correla-
tive truth.
317:1
Jesus uttered things which had been "secret from the
Jesus uttered things which had been "secret from the
foundation of the world," – since material knowledge
usurped the throne of the creative divine Principle, insisted
on the might of matter, the force of falsity, the insignifi-
cance of spirit, and proclaimed an anthropomorphic God.
The cup of Jesus
317:6
Whosoever lives most the life of Jesus in this age
Whosoever lives most the life of Jesus in this age
and declares best the power of Christian Science, will
drink of his Master's cup. Resistance to
Truth will haunt his steps, and he will in-
cur the hatred of sinners, till "wisdom is justified of
her children." These blessed benedictions rest upon
Jesus' followers: "If the world hate you, ye know that
it hated me before it hated you;" "Lo, I am with you
alway," – that is, not only in all time, but in all ways
and conditions.
317:16
The individuality of man is no less tangible because
The individuality of man is no less tangible because
it is spiritual and because his life is not at the mercy of
matter. The understanding of his spiritual individuality
makes man more real, more formidable in truth, and en-
ables him to conquer sin, disease, and death. Our Lord
and Master presented himself to his disciples after his
resurrection from the grave, as the self-same Jesus whom
they had loved before the tragedy on Calvary.
Material skepticism
317:24
To the materialistic Thomas, looking for the ideal
To the materialistic Thomas, looking for the ideal
Saviour in matter instead of in Spirit and to the testi-
mony of the material senses and the body,
more than to Soul, for an earnest of immor-
tality, – to him Jesus furnished the proof that he was
unchanged by the crucifixion. To this dull and doubt-
ing disciple Jesus remained a fleshly reality, so long as
the Master remained an inhabitant of the earth. Noth-
ing but a display of matter could make existence real
318:1
to Thomas. For him to believe in matter was no task,
to Thomas. For him to believe in matter was no task,
but for him to conceive of the substantiality of Spirit –
to know that nothing can efface Mind and immortality, in
which Spirit reigns – was more difficult.
What the senses originate
318:5
Corporeal senses define diseases as realities; but the
Corporeal senses define diseases as realities; but the
Scriptures declare that God made all, even while the cor-
poreal senses are saying that matter causes
disease and the divine Mind cannot or will
not heal it. The material senses originate and
support all that is material, untrue, selfish, or debased.
They would put soul into soil, life into limbo, and doom
all things to decay. We must silence this lie of material
sense with the truth of spiritual sense. We must cause
the error to cease that brought the belief of sin and death
and would efface the pure sense of omnipotence.
Sickness as discord
318:16
Is the sick man sinful above all others? No! but
Is the sick man sinful above all others? No! but
so far as he is discordant, he is not the image of God.
Weary of their material beliefs, from which
comes so much suffering, invalids grow more
spiritual, as the error – or belief that life is in matter –
yields to the reality of spiritual Life.
318:22
The Science of Mind denies the error of sensation in
The Science of Mind denies the error of sensation in
matter, and heals with Truth. Medical science treats
disease as though disease were real, therefore right, and
attempts to heal it with matter. If disease is right it is
wrong to heal it. Material methods are temporary, and
are not adapted to elevate mankind.
318:28
The governor is not subjected to the governed. In
The governor is not subjected to the governed. In
Science man is governed by God, divine Principle, as
numbers are controlled and proved by His laws. Intelli-
gence does not originate in numbers, but is manifested
through them. The body does not include soul, but man-
319:1
ifests mortality, a false sense of soul. The delusion that
ifests mortality, a false sense of soul. The delusion that
there is life in matter has no kinship with the Life supernal.
Unscientific introspection
319:3
Science depicts disease as error, as matter versus
Science depicts disease as error, as matter versus
Mind, and error reversed as subserving the facts of
health. To calculate one's life-prospects
from a material basis, would infringe upon
spiritual law and misguide human hope. Having faith
in the divine Principle of Health and spiritually under-
standing God, sustains man under all circumstances;
whereas the lower appeal to the general faith in material
means (commonly called nature) must yield to the all‑
might of infinite Spirit.
319:13
Throughout the infinite cycles of eternal existence,
Throughout the infinite cycles of eternal existence,
Spirit and matter neither concur in man nor in the universe.
God the only Mind
319:15
The varied doctrines and theories which presuppose
The varied doctrines and theories which presuppose
life and intelligence to exist in matter are so many ancient
and modern mythologies. Mystery, miracle,
sin, and death will disappear when it becomes
fairly understood that the divine Mind controls man and
man has no Mind but God.
Scriptures misinterpreted
319:21
The divine Science taught in the original language
The divine Science taught in the original language
of the Bible came through inspiration, and needs inspi-
ration to be understood. Hence the misappre-
hension of the spiritual meaning of the Bible,
and the misinterpretation of the Word in
some instances by uninspired writers, who only wrote
down what an inspired teacher had said. A misplaced
word changes the sense and misstates the Science of
the Scriptures, as, for instance, to name Love as merely
an attribute of God; but we can by special and proper
capitalization speak of the love of Love, meaning by that
what the beloved disciple meant in one of his epistles,
320:1
when he said, "God is love." Likewise we can speak of
when he said, "God is love." Likewise we can speak of
the truth of Truth and of the life of Life, for Christ plainly
declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
Interior meaning
320:4
Metaphors abound in the Bible, and names are often
Metaphors abound in the Bible, and names are often
expressive of spiritual ideas. The most distinguished
theologians in Europe and America agree that
the Scriptures have both a spiritual and lit-
eral meaning. In Smith's Bible Dictionary it is said:
"The spiritual interpretation of Scripture must rest
upon both the literal and moral;" and in the learned
article on Noah in the same work, the familiar text,
Genesis vi. 3, "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not
always strive with man, for that he also is flesh," is quoted
as follows, from the original Hebrew: "And Jehovah
said, My spirit shall not forever rule [or be humbled] in
men, seeing that they are [or, in their error they are]
but flesh." Here the original text declares plainly the
spiritual fact of being, even man's eternal and harmo-
nious existence as image, idea, instead of matter (how-
ever transcendental such a thought appears), and avers
that this fact is not forever to be humbled by the belief
that man is flesh and matter, for according to that error
man is mortal.
Job, on the resurrection
320:24
The one important interpretation of Scripture is the
The one important interpretation of Scripture is the
spiritual. For example, the text, "In my flesh shall I
see God," gives a profound idea of the di-
vine power to heal the ills of the flesh, and
encourages mortals to hope in Him who healeth all our
diseases; whereas this passage is continually quoted
as if Job intended to declare that even if disease and
worms destroyed his body, yet in the latter days he should
stand in celestial perfection before Elohim, still clad
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in material flesh, – an interpretation which is just the op-
in material flesh, – an interpretation which is just the op-
posite of the true, as may be seen by studying the book
of Job. As Paul says, in his first epistle to the Corin-
thians, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God."
Fear of the serpent overcome
321:6
The Hebrew Lawgiver, slow of speech, despaired of
The Hebrew Lawgiver, slow of speech, despaired of
making the people understand what should be revealed
to him. When, led by wisdom to cast down his
rod, he saw it become a serpent, Moses fled be-
fore it; but wisdom bade him come back and
handle the serpent, and then Moses' fear departed. In
this incident was seen the actuality of Science. Matter
was shown to be a belief only. The serpent, evil, under
wisdom's bidding, was destroyed through understanding
divine Science, and this proof was a staff upon which to
lean. The illusion of Moses lost its power to alarm him,
when he discovered that what he apparently saw was really
but a phase of mortal belief.
Leprosy healed
321:19
It was scientifically demonstrated that leprosy was a
It was scientifically demonstrated that leprosy was a
creation of mortal mind and not a condition of matter,
when Moses first put his hand into his bosom
and drew it forth white as snow with the dread
disease, and presently restored his hand to its natural con-
dition by the same simple process. God had lessened
Moses' fear by this proof in divine Science, and the in-
ward voice became to him the voice of God, which said:
"It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither
hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe
the voice of the latter sign." And so it was in the coming
centuries, when the Science of being was demonstrated
by Jesus, who showed his students the power of Mind by
changing water into wine, and taught them how to handle
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serpents unharmed, to heal the sick and cast out evils in
serpents unharmed, to heal the sick and cast out evils in
proof of the supremacy of Mind.
Standpoints changed
322:3
When understanding changes the standpoints of life and
When understanding changes the standpoints of life and
intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall
gain the reality of Life, the control of Soul over
sense, and we shall perceive Christianity, or
Truth, in its divine Principle. This must be the climax
before harmonious and immortal man is obtained and his
capabilities revealed. It is highly important – in view
of the immense work to be accomplished before this recog-
nition of divine Science can come – to turn our thoughts
towards divine Principle, that finite belief may be pre-
pared to relinquish its error.
Saving the inebriate
322:14
Man's wisdom finds no satisfaction in sin, since God
Man's wisdom finds no satisfaction in sin, since God
has sentenced sin to suffer. The necromancy of yester-
day foreshadowed the mesmerism and hypno-
tism of to-day. The drunkard thinks he enjoys
drunkenness, and you cannot make the inebriate leave
his besottedness, until his physical sense of pleasure yields
to a higher sense. Then he turns from his cups, as
the startled dreamer who wakens from an incubus in-
curred through the pains of distorted sense. A man who
likes to do wrong – finding pleasure in it and refraining
from it only through fear of consequences – is neither
a temperate man nor a reliable religionist.
Uses of suffering
322:26
The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life
The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life
of matter, as well as our disappointments and ceaseless
woes, turn us like tired children to the arms
of divine Love. Then we begin to learn Life
in divine Science. Without this process of weaning,
"Canst thou by searching find out God?" It is easier
to desire Truth than to rid one's self of error. Mortals
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may seek the understanding of Christian Science, but they
may seek the understanding of Christian Science, but they
will not be able to glean from Christian Science the facts
of being without striving for them. This strife consists
in the endeavor to forsake error of every kind and to pos-
sess no other consciousness but good.
A bright outlook
323:6
Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we
Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we
are helped onward in the march towards righteousness,
peace, and purity, which are the landmarks
of Science. Beholding the infinite tasks of
truth, we pause, – wait on God. Then we push onward,
until boundless thought walks enraptured, and concep-
tion unconfined is winged to reach the divine glory.
Need and supply
323:13
In order to apprehend more, we must put into prac-
In order to apprehend more, we must put into prac-
tice what we already know. We must recollect that
Truth is demonstrable when understood, and
that good is not understood until demonstrated.
If "faithful over a few things," we shall be made rulers
over many; but the one unused talent decays and is lost.
When the sick or the sinning awake to realize their need
of what they have not, they will be receptive of divine
Science, which gravitates towards Soul and away from
material sense, removes thought from the body, and ele-
vates even mortal mind to the contemplation of some-
thing better than disease or sin. The true idea of God
gives the true understanding of Life and Love, robs the
grave of victory, takes away all sin and the delusion that
there are other minds, and destroys mortality.
Childlike receptivity
323:28
The effects of Christian Science are not so much seen
The effects of Christian Science are not so much seen
as felt. It is the "still, small voice" of Truth
uttering itself. We are either turning away
from this utterance, or we are listening to it and going
up higher. Willingness to become as a little child and
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to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of
to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of
the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks
and joy to see them disappear, – this disposition helps
to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification
of sense and self is a proof of progress. "Blessed are the
pure in heart: for they shall see God."
Narrow pathway
324:7
Unless the harmony and immortality of man are be-
Unless the harmony and immortality of man are be-
coming more apparent, we are not gaining the true idea
of God; and the body will reflect what gov-
erns it, whether it be Truth or error,
understanding or belief, Spirit or matter. Therefore
"acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace."
Be watchful, sober, and vigilant. The way is straight
and narrow, which leads to the understanding that God
is the only Life. It is a warfare with the flesh, in which
we must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here
or hereafter, – certainly before we can reach the goal
of Spirit, or life in God.
Paul's enlightenment
324:19
Paul was not at first a disciple of Jesus but a perse-
Paul was not at first a disciple of Jesus but a perse-
cutor of Jesus' followers. When the truth first appeared
to him in Science, Paul was made blind,
and his blindness was felt; but spiritual
light soon enabled him to follow the example and teach-
ings of Jesus, healing the sick and preaching Christian-
ity throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and even in imperial
Rome.
324:27
Paul writes, "If Christ [Truth] be not risen, then is
Paul writes, "If Christ [Truth] be not risen, then is
our preaching vain." That is, if the idea of the suprem-
acy of Spirit, which is the true conception of being,
come not to your thought, you cannot be benefited by
what I say.
Abiding in Life
324:32
Jesus said substantially, "He that believeth in me
Jesus said substantially, "He that believeth in me
325:1
shall not see death." That is, he who perceives the
shall not see death." That is, he who perceives the
true idea of Life loses his belief in death. He who has
the true idea of good loses all sense of evil,
and by reason of this is being ushered into the
undying realities of Spirit. Such a one abideth in Life, –
life obtained not of the body incapable of supporting life,
but of Truth, unfolding its own immortal idea. Jesus
gave the true idea of being, which results in infinite bless-
ings to mortals.
Indestructible being
325:10
In Colossians (iii. 4) Paul writes: "When Christ, who
In Colossians (iii. 4) Paul writes: "When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear [be manifested], then shall ye also
appear [be manifested] with him in glory."
When spiritual being is understood in all its
perfection, continuity, and might, then shall man be found
in God's image. The absolute meaning of the apostolic
words is this: Then shall man be found, in His likeness,
perfect as the Father, indestructible in Life, "hid with
Christ in God," – with Truth in divine Love, where
human sense hath not seen man.
Consecration required
325:20
Paul had a clear sense of the demands of Truth upon
Paul had a clear sense of the demands of Truth upon
mortals physically and spiritually, when he said: "Pre-
sent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac-
ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service." But he, who is begotten of the beliefs of the
flesh and serves them, can never reach in this world the
divine heights of our Lord. The time cometh when
the spiritual origin of man, the divine Science which
ushered Jesus into human presence, will be understood
and demonstrated.
325:30
When first spoken in any age, Truth, like the light,
When first spoken in any age, Truth, like the light,
"shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not." A false sense of life, substance, and mind