Chapter VI - Science, Theology, Medicine
Jesus' own practice
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to heal. When his students brought to him a case they
to heal. When his students brought to him a case they
had failed to heal, he said to them, "O faithless gen-
eration," implying that the requisite power
to heal was in Mind. He prescribed no drugs,
urged no obedience to material laws, but acted in direct
disobedience to them.
The man of anatomy and of theology
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Neither anatomy nor theology has ever described man
Neither anatomy nor theology has ever described man
as created by Spirit, – as God's man. The former ex-
plains the men of men, or the "children of
men," as created corporeally instead of spir-
itually and as emerging from the lowest, in-
stead of from the highest, conception of being. Both
anatomy and theology define man as both physical and
mental, and place mind at the mercy of matter for every
function, formation, and manifestation. Anatomy takes
up man at all points materially. It loses Spirit, drops the
true tone, and accepts the discord. Anatomy and the-
ology reject the divine Principle which produces harmo-
nious man, and deal – the one wholly, the other primarily
– with matter, calling that man which is not the counter-
part, but the counterfeit, of God's man. Then theology
tries to explain how to make this man a Christian, – how
from this basis of division and discord to produce the con-
cord and unity of Spirit and His likeness.
Physiology deficient
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Physiology exalts matter, dethrones Mind, and claims
Physiology exalts matter, dethrones Mind, and claims
to rule man by material law, instead of spiritual. When
physiology fails to give health or life by this
process, it ignores the divine Spirit as unable
or unwilling to render help in time of physical need.
When mortals sin, this ruling of the schools leaves them
to the guidance of a theology which admits God to be
the healer of sin but not of sickness, although our great
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Master demonstrated that Truth could save from sickness
Master demonstrated that Truth could save from sickness
as well as from sin.
Blunders and blunderers
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Mind as far outweighs drugs in the cure of disease as
Mind as far outweighs drugs in the cure of disease as
in the cure of sin. The more excellent way is divine
Science in every case. Is materia medica a
science or a bundle of speculative human
theories? The prescription which succeeds in one in-
stance fails in another, and this is owing to the different
mental states of the patient. These states are not com-
prehended and they are left without explanation except
in Christian Science. The rule and its perfection of opera-
tion never vary in Science. If you fail to succeed in any
case, it is because you have not demonstrated the life of
Christ, Truth, more in your own life, – because you have
not obeyed the rule and proved the Principle of divine
Science.
Old-school physician
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A physician of the old school remarked with great
A physician of the old school remarked with great
gravity: "We know that mind affects the body some-
what, and advise our patients to be hopeful
and cheerful and to take as little medicine as
possible; but mind can never cure organic difficulties."
The logic is lame, and facts contradict it. The author
has cured what is termed organic disease as readily as she
has cured purely functional disease, and with no power
but the divine Mind.
Tests in our day
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Since God, divine Mind, governs all, not partially but
Since God, divine Mind, governs all, not partially but
supremely, predicting disease does not dignify therapeutics.
Whatever guides thought spiritually benefits
mind and body. We need to understand the
affirmations of divine Science, dismiss superstition, and
demonstrate truth according to Christ. To-day there
is hardly a city, village, or hamlet, in which are not to