Chapter III - Marriage
64:1
Want of uniform justice is a crying evil caused by the
Want of uniform justice is a crying evil caused by the
selfishness and inhumanity of man. Our forefathers
exercised their faith in the direction taught by the Apostle
James, when he said: "Pure religion and undefiled before
God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
from the world."
Benevolence hindered
64:8
Pride, envy, or jealousy seems on most occasions to
Pride, envy, or jealousy seems on most occasions to
be the master of ceremonies, ruling out primitive Chris-
tianity. When a man lends a helping hand
to some noble woman, struggling alone with
adversity, his wife should not say, "It is never well to
interfere with your neighbor's business." A wife is
sometimes debarred by a covetous domestic tyrant from
giving the ready aid her sympathy and charity would
afford.
Progressive development
64:17
Marriage should signify a union of hearts. Further-
Marriage should signify a union of hearts. Further-
more, the time cometh of which Jesus spake, when he
declared that in the resurrection there should
be no more marrying nor giving in marriage,
but man would be as the angels. Then shall Soul re-
joice in its own, in which passion has no part. Then
white-robed purity will unite in one person masculine wis-
dom and feminine love, spiritual understanding and per-
petual peace.
64:26
Until it is learned that God is the Father of all, mar-
Until it is learned that God is the Father of all, mar-
riage will continue. Let not mortals permit a disregard
of law which might lead to a worse state of society than
now exists. Honesty and virtue ensure the stability of
the marriage covenant. Spirit will ultimately claim its
own, – all that really is, – and the voices of physical
sense will be forever hushed.
Blessing of Christ
65:1
Experience should be the school of virtue, and human
Experience should be the school of virtue, and human
happiness should proceed from man's highest nature.
May Christ, Truth, be present at every bridal
altar to turn the water into wine and to give to
human life an inspiration by which man's spiritual and
eternal existence may be discerned.
Righteous foundations
65:7
If the foundations of human affection are consistent
If the foundations of human affection are consistent
with progress, they will be strong and enduring. Divorces
should warn the age of some fundamental error
in the marriage state. The union of the sexes
suffers fearful discord. To gain Christian Science and its
harmony, life should be more metaphysically regarded.
Powerless promises
65:13
The broadcast powers of evil so conspicuous to-day
The broadcast powers of evil so conspicuous to-day
show themselves in the materialism and sensualism of
the age, struggling against the advancing
spiritual era. Beholding the world's lack of
Christianity and the powerlessness of vows to make home
happy, the human mind will at length demand a higher
affection.
Transition and reform
65:20
There will ensue a fermentation over this as over many
There will ensue a fermentation over this as over many
other reforms, until we get at last the clear straining of
truth, and impurity and error are left among
the lees. The fermentation even of fluids is
not pleasant. An unsettled, transitional stage is never
desirable on its own account. Matrimony, which was once
a fixed fact among us, must lose its present slippery foot-
ing, and man must find permanence and peace in a more
spiritual adherence.
65:29
The mental chemicalization, which has brought con-
The mental chemicalization, which has brought con-
jugal infidelity to the surface, will assuredly throw off
this evil, and marriage will become purer when the scum
is gone.