Chapter VIII - Footsteps Of Truth
House of bondage
227:1
of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of
of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of
man are fully known and acknowledged.
Higher law ends bondage
227:3
I saw that the law of mortal belief included all error,
I saw that the law of mortal belief included all error,
and that, even as oppressive laws are disputed and mor-
tals are taught their right to freedom, so the
claims of the enslaving senses must be de-
nied and superseded. The law of the divine Mind must
end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware
of man's inalienable rights and in subjection to hope-
less slavery, because some public teachers permit
an ignorance of divine power, – an ignorance that
is the foundation of continued bondage and of human
suffering.
Native freedom
227:14
Discerning the rights of man, we cannot fail to fore-
Discerning the rights of man, we cannot fail to fore-
see the doom of all oppression. Slavery is not the legiti-
mate state of man. God made man free.
Paul said, "I was free born." All men should
be free. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is lib-
erty." Love and Truth make free, but evil and error
lead into captivity.
Standard of liberty
227:21
Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and
Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and
cries: "Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sick-
ness, sin, and death!" Jesus marked out the
way. Citizens of the world, accept the "glori-
ous liberty of the children of God," and be free! This
is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not
divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs,
crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and de-
faced the tablet of your being.
227:30
If God had instituted material laws to govern man,
If God had instituted material laws to govern man,
disobedience to which would have made man ill, Jesus
would not have disregarded those laws by healing in
228:1
direct opposition to them and in defiance of all material
direct opposition to them and in defiance of all material
conditions.
No fleshly heredity
228:3
The transmission of disease or of certain idiosyncra-
The transmission of disease or of certain idiosyncra-
sies of mortal mind would be impossible if this great fact
of being were learned, – namely, that nothing
inharmonious can enter being, for Life is God.
Heredity is a prolific subject for mortal belief to pin the-
ories upon; but if we learn that nothing is real but the
right, we shall have no dangerous inheritances, and fleshly
ills will disappear.
God-given dominion
228:11
The enslavement of man is not legitimate. It will
The enslavement of man is not legitimate. It will
cease when man enters into his heritage of freedom, his
God-given dominion over the material senses.
Mortals will some day assert their freedom in
the name of Almighty God. Then they will control their
own bodies through the understanding of divine Science.
Dropping their present beliefs, they will recognize har-
mony as the spiritual reality and discord as the material
unreality.
228:20
If we follow the command of our Master, "Take no
If we follow the command of our Master, "Take no
thought for your life," we shall never depend on bodily
conditions, structure, or economy, but we shall be masters
of the body, dictate its terms, and form and control it with
Truth.
Priestly pride humbled
228:25
There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has
There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has
all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dis-
honor God. The humble Nazarene overthrew
the supposition that sin, sickness, and death
have power. He proved them powerless. It should have
humbled the pride of the priests, when they saw the dem-
onstration of Christianity excel the influence of their dead
faith and ceremonies.