Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
No perversion of Mind-science
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sum is fifty, and then calling the process mathematics.
sum is fifty, and then calling the process mathematics.
Wiser than his persecutors, Jesus said: "If I by Beelze-
bub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them
out?"
Effect of this book
422:5
If the reader of this book observes a great stir through-
If the reader of this book observes a great stir through-
out his whole system, and certain moral and physical
symptoms seem aggravated, these indications
are favorable. Continue to read, and the book
will become the physician, allaying the tremor which
Truth often brings to error when destroying it.
Disease neutralized
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Patients, unfamiliar with the cause of this commotion
Patients, unfamiliar with the cause of this commotion
and ignorant that it is a favorable omen, may be alarmed.
If such be the case, explain to them the law
of this action. As when an acid and alkali
meet and bring out a third quality, so mental and moral
chemistry changes the material base of thought, giving
more spirituality to consciousness and causing it to depend
less on material evidence. These changes which go on
in mortal mind serve to reconstruct the body. Thus
Christian Science, by the alchemy of Spirit, destroys sin
and death.
Bone-healing by surgery
422:22
Let us suppose two parallel cases of bone-disease, both
Let us suppose two parallel cases of bone-disease, both
similarly produced and attended by the same symptoms.
A surgeon is employed in one case, and a
Christian Scientist in the other. The sur-
geon, holding that matter forms its own conditions and
renders them fatal at certain points, entertains fears and
doubts as to the ultimate outcome of the injury. Not
holding the reins of government in his own hands, he
believes that something stronger than Mind – namely,
matter – governs the case. His treatment is therefore
tentative. This mental state invites defeat. The belief
423:1
that he has met his master in matter and may not be
that he has met his master in matter and may not be
able to mend the bone, increases his fear; yet this belief
should not be communicated to the patient, either ver-
bally or otherwise, for this fear greatly diminishes the
tendency towards a favorable result. Remember that the
unexpressed belief oftentimes affects a sensitive patient
more strongly than the expressed thought.
Scientific corrective
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The Christian Scientist, understanding scientifically
The Christian Scientist, understanding scientifically
that all is Mind, commences with mental causation, the
truth of being, to destroy the error. This cor-
rective is an alterative, reaching to every part
of the human system. According to Scripture, it searches
"the joints and marrow," and it restores the harmony of
man.
Coping with difficulties
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The matter-physician deals with matter as both his foe
The matter-physician deals with matter as both his foe
and his remedy. He regards the ailment as weakened or
strengthened according to the evidence which
matter presents. The metaphysician, making
Mind his basis of operation irrespective of matter and
regarding the truth and harmony of being as superior to
error and discord, has rendered himself strong, instead
of weak, to cope with the case; and he proportionately
strengthens his patient with the stimulus of courage and
conscious power. Both Science and consciousness are
now at work in the economy of being according to the law
of Mind, which ultimately asserts its absolute supremacy.
Formation from thought
423:27
Ossification or any abnormal condition or derange-
Ossification or any abnormal condition or derange-
ment of the body is as directly the action of mortal
mind as is dementia or insanity. Bones have
only the substance of thought which forms
them. They are only phenomena of the mind of mor-
tals. The so-called substance of bone is formed first