Chapter XI - Some Objections Answered
Truth a present help
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religion which sprang from half-hidden Israelitish history
religion which sprang from half-hidden Israelitish history
was pedantic and void of healing power. When we lose
faith in God's power to heal, we distrust the
divine Principle which demonstrates Christian
Science, and then we cannot heal the sick. Neither can
we heal through the help of Spirit, if we plant ourselves
on a material basis.
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The author became a member of the orthodox Con-
The author became a member of the orthodox Con-
gregational Church in early years. Later she learned
that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers
of her devout parents and the church; but when the
spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science
of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a present help. It
was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which
healed the sick.
Fatal premises
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We cannot bring out the practical proof of Christianity,
We cannot bring out the practical proof of Christianity,
which Jesus required, while error seems as potent and
real to us as Truth, and while we make a per-
sonal devil and an anthropomorphic God our
starting-points, – especially if we consider Satan as a
being coequal in power with Deity, if not superior to Him.
Because such starting-points are neither spiritual nor
scientific, they cannot work out the Spirit-rule of Christian
healing, which proves the nothingness of error, discord,
by demonstrating the all-inclusiveness of harmonious
Truth.
Fruitless worship
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The Israelites centred their thoughts on the material
The Israelites centred their thoughts on the material
in their attempted worship of the spiritual. To them
matter was substance, and Spirit was shadow.
They thought to worship Spirit from a ma-
terial standpoint, but this was impossible. They might
appeal to Jehovah, but their prayer brought down no
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proof that it was heard, because they did not sufficiently
proof that it was heard, because they did not sufficiently
understand God to be able to demonstrate His power
to heal, – to make harmony the reality and discord the
unreality.
Spirit the tangible
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Our Master declared that his material body was not
Our Master declared that his material body was not
spirit, evidently considering it a mortal and material be-
lief of flesh and bones, whereas the Jews took
a diametrically opposite view. To Jesus, not
materiality, but spirituality, was the reality of man's ex-
istence, while to the rabbis the spiritual was the intangi-
ble and uncertain, if not the unreal.
Ghosts not realities
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Would a mother say to her child, who is frightened at
Would a mother say to her child, who is frightened at
imaginary ghosts and sick in consequence of the fear:
"I know that ghosts are real. They exist,
and are to be feared; but you must not be
afraid of them"?
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Children, like adults, ought to fear a reality which
Children, like adults, ought to fear a reality which
can harm them and which they do not understand, for
at any moment they may become its helpless victims;
but instead of increasing children's fears by declaring
ghosts to be real, merciless, and powerful, thus water-
ing the very roots of childish timidity, children should
be assured that their fears are groundless, that ghosts
are not realities, but traditional beliefs, erroneous and
man-made.
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In short, children should be told not to believe in ghosts,
In short, children should be told not to believe in ghosts,
because there are no such things. If belief in their reality
is destroyed, terror of ghosts will depart and health be re-
stored. The objects of alarm will then vanish into noth-
ingness, no longer seeming worthy of fear or honor. To
accomplish a good result, it is certainly not irrational to
tell the truth about ghosts.