Chapter IV - Christian Science Versus Spiritualism
Conflicting standpoints
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Science is immortal and coordinate neither with the
Science is immortal and coordinate neither with the
premises nor with the conclusions of mortal beliefs.
Scientific foreseeing
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The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a
The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a
spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing
evil and mistaking fact for fiction, – predict-
ing the future from a groundwork of corpo-
reality and human belief. When sufficiently advanced
in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men
become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not
by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit.
It is the prerogative of the ever-present, divine Mind, and
of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know
the past, the present, and the future.
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Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to
Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to
commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee
and foretell events which concern the universal welfare,
to be divinely inspired, – yea, to reach the range of fetter-
less Mind.
The Mind unbounded
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To understand that Mind is infinite, not bounded by
To understand that Mind is infinite, not bounded by
corporeality, not dependent upon the ear and eye for
sound or sight nor upon muscles and bones
for locomotion, is a step towards the Mind‑
science by which we discern man's nature and existence.
This true conception of being destroys the belief of spirit-
ualism at its very inception, for without the concession of
material personalities called spirits, spiritualism has no
basis upon which to build.
Scientific foreknowing
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All we correctly know of Spirit comes from God, divine
All we correctly know of Spirit comes from God, divine
Principle, and is learned through Christ and Christian
Science. If this Science has been thoroughly
learned and properly digested, we can know
the truth more accurately than the astronomer can read
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the stars or calculate an eclipse. This Mind-reading
the stars or calculate an eclipse. This Mind-reading
is the opposite of clairvoyance. It is the illumination of
the spiritual understanding which demonstrates the ca-
pacity of Soul, not of material sense. This Soul-sense
comes to the human mind when the latter yields to the
divine Mind.
Value of intuition
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Such intuitions reveal whatever constitutes and per-
Such intuitions reveal whatever constitutes and per-
petuates harmony, enabling one to do good, but not
evil. You will reach the perfect Science of
healing when you are able to read the human
mind after this manner and discern the error you would
destroy. The Samaritan woman said: "Come, see a
man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this
the Christ?"
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It is recorded that Jesus, as he once journeyed with his
It is recorded that Jesus, as he once journeyed with his
students, "knew their thoughts," – read them scientifi-
cally. In like manner he discerned disease and healed
the sick. After the same method, events of great mo-
ment were foretold by the Hebrew prophets. Our
Master rebuked the lack of this power when he said:
"O ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky;
but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"
Hypocrisy condemned
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Both Jew and Gentile may have had acute corporeal
Both Jew and Gentile may have had acute corporeal
senses, but mortals need spiritual sense. Jesus knew the
generation to be wicked and adulterous, seek-
ing the material more than the spiritual. His
thrusts at materialism were sharp, but needed. He never
spared hypocrisy the sternest condemnation. He said:
"These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone." The great Teacher knew both cause and
effect, knew that truth communicates itself but never
imparts error.