Chapter XVI - The Apocalypse
Pure religion enthroned
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high only those who have washed their robes white in
high only those who have washed their robes white in
obedience and suffering.
Native nothingness of sin
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Thus we see, in both the first and last books of the
Thus we see, in both the first and last books of the
Bible, – in Genesis and in the Apocalypse, – that sin
is to be Christianly and scientifically reduced
to its native nothingness. "Love one an-
other" (I John, iii. 23), is the most simple and profound
counsel of the inspired writer. In Science we are chil-
dren of God; but whatever is of material sense, or mor-
tal, belongs not to His children, for materiality is the
inverted image of spirituality.
Fulfilment of the Law
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Love fulfils the law of Christian Science, and nothing
Love fulfils the law of Christian Science, and nothing
short of this divine Principle, understood and demon-
strated, can ever furnish the vision of the
Apocalypse, open the seven seals of error with
Truth, or uncover the myriad illusions of sin, sickness,
and death. Under the supremacy of Spirit, it will be seen
and acknowledged that matter must disappear.
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In Revelation xxi. 1 we read: –
In Revelation xxi. 1 we read: –
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And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea.
Man's present possibilities
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The Revelator had not yet passed the transitional
The Revelator had not yet passed the transitional
stage in human experience called death, but he already
saw a new heaven and a new earth. Through
what sense came this vision to St. John? Not
through the material visual organs for seeing, for optics
are inadequate to take in so wonderful a scene. Were this
new heaven and new earth terrestrial or celestial, mate-
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rial or spiritual? They could not be the former, for the
rial or spiritual? They could not be the former, for the
human sense of space is unable to grasp such a view.
The Revelator was on our plane of existence, while yet
beholding what the eye cannot see, – that which is in-
visible to the uninspired thought. This testimony of Holy
Writ sustains the fact in Science, that the heavens and
earth to one human consciousness, that consciousness
which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the
unillumined human mind, the vision is material. This
shows unmistakably that what the human mind terms
matter and spirit indicates states and stages of con-
sciousness.
Nearness of Deity
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Accompanying this scientific consciousness was an-
Accompanying this scientific consciousness was an-
other revelation, even the declaration from heaven, su-
preme harmony, that God, the divine Principle
of harmony, is ever with men, and they are
His people. Thus man was no longer regarded as a mis-
erable sinner, but as the blessed child of God. Why?
Because St. John's corporeal sense of the heavens and
earth had vanished, and in place of this false sense was
the spiritual sense, the subjective state by which he could
see the new heaven and new earth, which involve the
spiritual idea and consciousness of reality. This is Scrip-
tural authority for concluding that such a recognition of
being is, and has been, possible to men in this present
state of existence, – that we can become conscious,
here and now, of a cessation of death, sorrow, and pain.
This is indeed a foretaste of absolute Christian Science.
Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will
surely appear sometime and in some way. There will
be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When
you read this, remember Jesus' words, "The kingdom of