Chapter XII - Christian Science Practice
Skilful surgery
402:1
Christian Science is always the most skilful surgeon, but
Christian Science is always the most skilful surgeon, but
surgery is the branch of its healing which will be last
acknowledged. However, it is but just to say that the
author has already in her possession well-authenticated
records of the cure, by herself and her students through
mental surgery alone, of broken bones, dislocated joints,
and spinal vertebrae.
Indestructible life of man
402:8
The time approaches when mortal mind will forsake
The time approaches when mortal mind will forsake
its corporeal, structural, and material basis, when im-
mortal Mind and its formations will be appre-
hended in Science, and material beliefs will
not interfere with spiritual facts. Man is indestructible
and eternal. Sometime it will be learned that mortal
mind constructs the mortal body with this mind's own
mortal materials. In Science, no breakage nor dislocation
can really occur. You say that accidents, injuries, and
disease kill man, but this is not true. The life of man is
Mind. The material body manifests only what mortal
mind believes, whether it be a broken bone, disease, or sin.
The evil of mesmerism
402:20
We say that one human mind can influence another and
We say that one human mind can influence another and
in this way affect the body, but we rarely remember that
we govern our own bodies. The error, mes-
merism – or hypnotism, to use the recent term
– illustrates the fact just stated. The operator would
make his subjects believe that they cannot act voluntarily
and handle themselves as they should do. If they yield
to this influence, it is because their belief is not better
instructed by spiritual understanding. Hence the proof
that hypnotism is not scientific; Science cannot produce
both disorder and order. The involuntary pleasure or
pain of the person under hypnotic control is proved to be
a belief without a real cause.
Wrong-doer should suffer
403:1
So the sick through their beliefs have induced their own
So the sick through their beliefs have induced their own
diseased conditions. The great difference between vol-
untary and involuntary mesmerism is that vol-
untary mesmerism is induced consciously and
should and does cause the perpetrator to suffer, while self‑
mesmerism is induced unconsciously and by his mistake
a man is often instructed. In the first instance it is under-
stood that the difficulty is a mental illusion, while in the
second it is believed that the misfortune is a material effect.
The human mind is employed to remove the illusion in
one case, but matter is appealed to in the other. In real-
ity, both have their origin in the human mind, and can be
healed only by the divine Mind.
Error's power imaginary
403:14
You command the situation if you understand that
You command the situation if you understand that
mortal existence is a state of self-deception and not the
truth of being. Mortal mind is constantly
producing on mortal body the results of false
opinions; and it will continue to do so, until mortal
error is deprived of its imaginary powers by Truth,
which sweeps away the gossamer web of mortal illusion.
The most Christian state is one of rectitude and spir-
itual understanding, and this is best adapted for heal-
ing the sick. Never conjure up some new discovery from
dark forebodings regarding disease and then acquaint
your patient with it.
Disease-production
403:26
The mortal so-called mind produces all that is unlike
The mortal so-called mind produces all that is unlike
the immortal Mind. The human mind determines the
nature of a case, and the practitioner improves
or injures the case in proportion to the truth
or error which influences his conclusions. The mental
conception and development of disease are not under-
stood by the patient, but the physician should be familiar