Chapter XIV - Recapitulation
Possibilities of Life
489:1
The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.
The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.
When the unthinking lobster loses its claw, the claw grows
again. If the Science of Life were understood,
it would be found that the senses of Mind are
never lost and that matter has no sensation. Then the
human limb would be replaced as readily as the lobster's
claw, – not with an artificial limb, but with the genuine
one. Any hypothesis which supposes life to be in matter
is an educated belief. In infancy this belief is not equal
to guiding the hand to the mouth; and as consciousness
develops, this belief goes out, – yields to the reality of
everlasting Life.
Decalogue disregarded
489:13
Corporeal sense defrauds and lies; it breaks all the
Corporeal sense defrauds and lies; it breaks all the
commands of the Mosaic Decalogue to meet its own de-
mands. How then can this sense be the God‑
given channel to man of divine blessings or
understanding? How can man, reflecting God, be de-
pendent on material means for knowing, hearing, seeing?
Who dares to say that the senses of man can be at one time
the medium for sinning against God, at another the me-
dium for obeying God? An affirmative reply would con-
tradict the Scripture, for the same fountain sendeth not
forth sweet waters and bitter.
Organic construction valueless
489:24
The corporeal senses are the only source of evil or
The corporeal senses are the only source of evil or
error. Christian Science shows them to be false, be-
cause matter has no sensation, and no organic
construction can give it hearing and sight nor
make it the medium of Mind. Outside the
material sense of things, all is harmony. A wrong sense
of God, man, and creation is non-sense, want of sense.
Mortal belief would have the material senses sometimes
good and sometimes bad. It assures mortals that there
490:1
is real pleasure in sin; but the grand truths of Christian
is real pleasure in sin; but the grand truths of Christian
Science dispute this error.
Will-power an animal propensity
490:3
Will-power is but a product of belief, and this belief
Will-power is but a product of belief, and this belief
commits depredations on harmony. Human will is an
animal propensity, not a faculty of Soul.
Hence it cannot govern man aright. Chris-
tian Science reveals Truth and Love as the
motive-powers of man. Will – blind, stubborn, and head-
long – cooperates with appetite and passion. From this
cooperation arises its evil. From this also comes its pow-
erlessness, since all power belongs to God, good.
Theories helpless
490:12
The Science of Mind needs to be understood. Until
The Science of Mind needs to be understood. Until
it is understood, mortals are more or less deprived of
Truth. Human theories are helpless to make
man harmonious or immortal, since he is so
already, according to Christian Science. Our only need
is to know this and reduce to practice the real man's di-
vine Principle, Love
True nature and origin
490:19
"Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings."
"Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings."
Human belief – or knowledge gained from the so-called
material senses – would, by fair logic, anni-
hilate man along with the dissolving elements
of clay. The scientifically Christian explanations of the
nature and origin of man destroy all material sense with
immortal testimony. This immortal testimony ushers
in the spiritual sense of being, which can be obtained
in no other way.
Sleep an illusion
490:28
Sleep and mesmerism explain the mythical nature of
Sleep and mesmerism explain the mythical nature of
material sense. Sleep shows material sense as either
oblivion, nothingness, or an illusion or dream.
Under the mesmeric illusion of belief, a man
will think that he is freezing when he is warm, and that he