Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
Disease-production
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with mental action and its effect in order to judge the case
with mental action and its effect in order to judge the case
according to Christian Science.
Appetites to be abandoned
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If a man is an inebriate, a slave to tobacco, or the special
If a man is an inebriate, a slave to tobacco, or the special
servant of any one of the myriad forms of sin, meet and
destroy these errors with the truth of being, –
by exhibiting to the wrong-doer the suffering
which his submission to such habits brings, and by con-
vincing him that there is no real pleasure in false appe-
tites. A corrupt mind is manifested in a corrupt body.
Lust, malice, and all sorts of evil are diseased beliefs, and
you can destroy them only by destroying the wicked
motives which produce them. If the evil is over in the
repentant mortal mind, while its effects still remain on the
individual, you can remove this disorder as God's law is
fulfilled and reformation cancels the crime. The healthy
sinner is the hardened sinner.
Temperance reform
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The temperance reform, felt all over our land, results
The temperance reform, felt all over our land, results
from metaphysical healing, which cuts down every tree
that brings not forth good fruit. This con-
viction, that there is no real pleasure in sin,
is one of the most important points in the theology of
Christian Science. Arouse the sinner to this new and
true view of sin, show him that sin confers no pleasure,
and this knowledge strengthens his moral courage and
increases his ability to master evil and to love good.
Sin or fear the root of sickness
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Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and
Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and
the same thing in Christian Science. Both cures require
the same method and are inseparable in Truth.
Hatred, envy, dishonesty, fear, and so forth,
make a man sick, and neither material medi-
cine nor Mind can help him permanently, even in body,
unless it makes him better mentally, and so delivers him
405:1
from his destroyers. The basic error is mortal mind.
from his destroyers. The basic error is mortal mind.
Hatred inflames the brutal propensities. The indulgence
of evil motives and aims makes any man, who is above the
lowest type of manhood, a hopeless sufferer.
Mental conspirators
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Christian Science commands man to master the pro-
Christian Science commands man to master the pro-
pensities, – to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness,
to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with
charity, and to overcome deceit with hon-
esty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you
would not cherish an army of conspirators against
health, happiness, and success. They will deliver you
to the judge, the arbiter of truth against error. The
judge will deliver you to justice, and the sentence of
the moral law will be executed upon mortal mind and
body. Both will be manacled until the last farthing
is paid, – until you have balanced your account with
God. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap." The good man finally can overcome his fear of
sin. This is sin's necessity, – to destroy itself. Im-
mortal man demonstrates the government of God, good,
in which is no power to sin.
Cumulative repentence
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It were better to be exposed to every plague on earth
It were better to be exposed to every plague on earth
than to endure the cumulative effects of a guilty con-
science. The abiding consciousness of wrong‑
doing tends to destroy the ability to do right.
If sin is not regretted and is not lessening, then it is
hastening on to physical and moral doom. You are con-
quered by the moral penalties you incur and the ills they
bring. The pains of sinful sense are less harmful than its
pleasures. Belief in material suffering causes mortals to
retreat from their error, to flee from body to Spirit, and
to appeal to divine sources outside of themselves.