Prof. Hermann S. Hering, C.S.B., of Concord, New
Hampshire
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother
Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
What is the cause of the marvelous growth of the Christian Science movement, whose effects are felt in all civilized communities? Why are there so many new churches being organized and beautiful edifices being erected? Why the generous outpouring of love and labor which has made this church building possible? What is there back of this unselfish, loving devotion to our cause and the many happy, healthful countenances radiant with joy and gladness to be seen at Christian Science gatherings?
It is gratitude for the healing which has been accomplished — the healing of sin, sorrow, suffering, sickness; gratitude to God, the Giver of all good, for the bestowal of these manifold blessings, gratitude to Christ Jesus for his wondrous work as teacher and Wayshower; gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for her discovery of the Christ Science which has again made Christian healing possible.
It is the healing which is being so universally accomplished through Christian Science which is the cause of this growth, of the establishment of its many churches and societies throughout the world, and which is perhaps the most misunderstood feature of its work. We shall therefore devote our especial attention to a consideration of this healing work, for there is probably no question of such general interest to mankind as the one of healing — the healing of sin, sorrow, suffering, sickness — the attainment of health, harmony, success and peace. The whole world is in need of healing, and it is very evident that there is a great demand for some better means of healing the ills of the world, both sin and disease, than is in general use today.
From the Gospels we learn that Christ Jesus, our Savior, was the great-physician, who has for all time set the standard of perfect healing before humanity. That many do not believe in his Gospel, is due to the fact that they do not fully understand his teaching, especially the true nature and philosophy of the so-called miracles which he performed. The records of his spiritual healing work as a part of his divine mission meet with dissent from many of the thoughtful people of today; although his ethical teachings are in a measure quite generally accepted even by agnostics.
The Gospels record many instances of the healing of physical disease by Christ Jesus. He restored a withered hand; he healed a cripple and a man born blind; he healed cases of paralysis, leprosy, dropsy, hemorrhage, epilepsy, violent insanity, and he raised the dead; although these modern terms are not always used in the Bible, as in St. Matthew's we read:
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them."
"And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
Furthermore, he specifically commanded his disciples that they should continue the healing work, counseling them:
"And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give."
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do."
Peter, Philip, Paul and other followers healed paralysis, lameness, deformity, insanity and even raised the dead in connection with their missionary work. Indeed, healing was very generally practiced among the early Christians.
Many have always believed these teachings and works, but they have not presumed to understand them, much less have they thought even to attempt to repeat them. They have accepted the Bible, but have not apprehended practically much of its inspiring truth. Yet even a partial recognition of the demands made by our Master's teaching upon our lives and conduct reveals their supreme importance and their redemptive greatness. Hence, these questions must appeal to all thoughtful Christians: Is it possible for Jesus' teachings to be obeyed today? Are they true or not? If not true, where is the basis of Christianity? If true, why are not their healing demands fulfilled? May it not be because they are not understood?
Believers in the Bible cannot ignore the fact that spiritual healing was accomplished during Jesus' time by himself and by his disciples, and later by his followers for several centuries. Admitting that this healing occurred, we can but see that it must have been effected through the operation of some law, and that there must have been a Principle and a Science back of it. Moreover, it is very evident that if this divine Principle and Science were known and applied today, the same healing results would follow.
Non-believers in the Bible and in what are called miracles are confronted with the fact that this healing is taking place today, in their very midst and through purely spiritual means, which fact can be determined by any sincere investigator; yet they deny the availability of spiritual power over material things because they do not understand spiritual law and the Principle which operates in Christian healing.
Let us then consider this Science of Christian healing, its Principle and rule, and see how these may be applied today. At the outset we should recognize the fact that a careful study of the Gospel record shows that Christian healing was effected through spiritual and not material means; therefore, it can be explained, understood and practiced only spiritually. This is a point which should be clearly seen, for there are many who disbelieve in Christian healing as well as in Christian Science healing, because such healing cannot be explained on the basis of physical or medical science. These opposite methods have nothing in common, and it is manifest that spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. Since this healing is accomplished spiritually, no other means being used, it can be discerned and demonstrated only spiritually, that is, on a spiritual basis, which means a metaphysical basis, a basis beyond physics, and therefore apart from matter. Here is where the trouble lies, for it is very difficult for most of us to see how physical results can be obtained through spiritual means. To the materially minded, matter and material law are supreme, and they have little belief in any power beyond physics, or apart from matter, and yet less understanding of it. Metaphysical or spiritual power is thought of as belonging to the supernatural, which many people reject, associating it as they do with mysticism and superstition. They do not believe in the efficacy of prayer, for they fail to understand how a mere mental effort can bring about a change. They either deny the spiritual healing of the early church or declare it to have been a mere phenomenal exhibition of divine or superhuman power, and they therefore make little effort to relate spiritual power to present human needs.
One cause for this difficulty is the failure to apprehend the relationship between the inner world of thought and the outer world of phenomena and thus to grasp the mental nature of existence. This is due mainly to the prevailing belief in matter, which is conceded to be the greatest stumbling block to an understanding of Christian healing and to belief in the Bible itself. Let us then consider this question, though very briefly, with the hope of overcoming this stumbling block, and let us do so first from the viewpoint of the physical sciences.
To human sense there is a creative, governing, controlling power or influence called force, and a substance called matter, in which this force seems to inhere and through which it acts. Yet matter has always been believed to be an indestructible stuff, substance or entity separate and apart from force or energy.
Recent research and discovery in the physical sciences, however, have rendered this view untenable, for the unit of matter, called the atom, which always has been supposed to be the smallest possible division of matter substance, is now affirmed by physicists to be itself composed of thousands of what are called electrons. These electrons are infinitesimal centers of electrical energy composed of positive and negative charges of electricity vibrating with great velocity. It is thus disclosed that this atom, the basis of physical substance, is in fact a manifestation of force, and, therefore, atomic aggregation, or what is called material structure and growth, is a form or manifestation of energy or force.
To illustrate: If we take any material object and reduce it by means of mechanical and chemical processes to its ultimate theoretical limits, we first destroy what seems to be the object, then we destroy the residue called organized matter, reducing it to molecules, then to atoms; then if we separate the atoms into their constituent electrons, there remains nothing of our material object but a form of energy, a theoretical manifestation of force in which every vestige of the characteristics of matter and of the object has completely disappeared. What may be the nature and history of a separated, a freed electron which is all that remains, is something for the physicist to puzzle over; and he is puzzling over it, for the solution is not to be found in physics but in metaphysics.
Thus from the physical standpoint, matter is seen to be the appearance, externalization or projection of force or energy, and consequently what we touch, hear, see, smell, or taste, is in fact, force. To illustrate: What we touch or feel is a form of pressure which is force; what we hear is the vibration called sound, which is force; what we see is the vibration called light, which is force; what we smell and taste is a form of chemical energy or vibration, which is force. Thus matter is a manifestation of force, and not what it has been supposed to be.
This, then, brings us to the viewpoint of materialistic philosophy and psychology, from which it further appears that the mental faculties which we call sight, hearing, and the rest are also but different forms of vibration: consequently, so-called material sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell are themselves mental impressions superinduced by force or energy in some form. In every case it is not matter or an object which cognizes or is cognized, but a mental phenomenon experienced in consciousness. We are conscious of existence mentally and the things we are conscious of are mental impressions objectified — sense phenomena. Thus, existence, together with all its activities, appearances and phenomena, is in fact wholly mental. Christ Jesus assuredly proved the mental nature of matter and existence when he walked on the water, stilled the tempest, multiplied the loaves and fishes, healed the sick, raised the dead and overcame other material conditions.
When we concede the mental nature of existence, we take one of the first steps in the understanding and practice of Christian healing, for we have overcome one of the greatest stumbling blocks. We can see that whatever enters our existence, enters it mentally, as a state of consciousness and consequently disease, disaster and death are but experiences in consciousness. What else can they be? Where else can they be? The consciousness which has a finite dimensional concept of existence, which cognizes materiality, evil and discord, St. Paul called the "carnal mind," which he said "is enmity against God," in other words is God's opposite. Since sin, disease and death are its inevitable products, Mrs. Eddy further defines it as "mortal mind," thus distinguishing it from the immortal divine Mind. She also says, "physical force and mortal mind are one." (Science and Health, p. 484.)
We thus see that all discordant conditions of whatever name and nature exist solely as phenomena and experiences of the carnal, mortal mind, as states of mortal consciousness. Therefore they are wholly mental, and not only can, but should, be dealt with mentally. Hence, in order that they may be healed, it is very evident that a change must be brought about in the human consciousness, a transformation by the renewing of the mind, as St. Paul puts it. How can this be done?
This human mind is that quality of consciousness which embraces error and yet which can begin to know divine Truth. It is the plane on which the real can reach the unreal. It is a kind of clearing house where Truth can be known, where error can be corrected and where harmony can be established. It is a transitional stage of experience in which transformation takes place, through the renewal of the mind. It is an imperfect consciousness, still influenced by error, but one to which the saving Christ can come, healing it of its erroneous beliefs and renewing it with the mind of Christ. Mortal mind or the carnal mind is wholly evil and erroneous, but the human mind, although containing much error, possesses also some good. It is this element of good which is quickened and enlarged through the appearance of the Christ in consciousness, and which will eventually be so transformed that all error will be destroyed and the perfect, spiritual, harmonious consciousness of the real man be established. It thus becomes necessary to consider the nature of absolute Truth and to distinguish between what is real and what is unreal.
Truth is defined as actuality, that which is, that which constitutes real, as distinguished from phenomenal being. Therefore, by its very nature, Truth is infinite, without dimensions or limitations: infinitely intelligent, omniscient; infinitely powerful, omnipotent; infinitely present, omnipresent; it is indestructible, eternal. This infinite Truth is absolute, fundamental, self-existing, harmonious and perfect, the source of all real being. Thus it is the infinite divine Principle and is identified in Christian Science as Spirit, the indestructible substance; as Mind, the infinite consciousness; as Soul, including all spiritual identity and individuality; as Life, the creating and sustaining power of all activity and continuity; as the supreme Ego, the great I AM, the Being who was and is and shall be: and thus the one infinite and only true God; the God of Truth whom St. John defines as Love, saying, "God is love."
The universe which is created and forever sustained by God, must be like its Creator, since like begets like; hence man, the real man, as defined in the first chapter of Genesis, is not material, but spiritual consciousness; not evil, but good; not mortal, but immortal. Thus we see that all reality, every expression of the divine activity, is infinite, indestructible, unchanging, perfect, harmonious, spiritual; consequently whatever has not these qualities is no part of Truth, not real. Hence, matter, mortal mind and all the phenomena of material sense, being unlike this divine reality, are unreal. On this basis of infinite Truth we are enabled to distinguish at any time between what is absolute, divine, real: and what is relative, human, unreal.
Rightly apprehending the distinction between the real and the unreal, we are in a position to grasp the fact that all discord, disease, disaster and death are the products of false sense, and that they are to be healed, as Jesus said, by knowing the truth. They certainly can not be healed spiritually so long as they are believed to be physical or mental realities. We cannot correct a mistake until it is recognized as such. Even as we are accustomed to do in physical science, so we must do in metaphysical science, for only in this way can be begin to separate the wheat from the tares, distinguish between the actual and the seeming, the real and the unreal, in human consciousness, without which step Christian healing cannot be scientifically or successfully achieved.
The Christian Scientist recognizes and knows the unreality of the appearance called a sick man, as well as of any other discord. In precisely the same way as a mathematician knows that two times two do not make five, even though he sees it written out; for he knows they make four, regardless of the appearance. It is his business to know this as a mathematician, so the Christian Scientist knows that there is really no sick man there to be healed, but merely an erroneous concept or state of consciousness to be corrected, and it is his business to know this as a Christian Scientist, for Jesus said very plainly, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment," which means the judgment of Truth. Christian Science makes it possible for us to begin to do this and we have never been able to do it before, for until Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science, we did not know the nature of the divine reality and of the human consciousness that we might differentiate accurately between the appearance and the actuality. Christian Scientists are frequently criticized for not believing all they see. They happen to know better, even as the astronomer who does not believe, in all celestial appearances since he knows better.
Because of their limitations, Truth cannot be perceived through the five physical senses. Truth is discerned only through the understanding, which is a faculty entirely apart from physical sense. To illustrate: We do not see the truth of a mathematical problem through the sense of sight, or by merely looking at the figures used. The truth lies back of the figures and is discernible only through mathematical understanding. So, too, the real God, the real man, the real universe, are perceived only through spiritual understanding. This understanding, the perception and apprehension of divine Truth, Christian Science now makes possible to all.
Since Christian healing is accomplished through a transformation or change of consciousness, it must be done mentally and must require some action of thought. Therefore, we need to consider what thinking is, in order that we may think aright, for we know that a wrong belief cannot be corrected with a wrong thought. Truth alone corrects error, and we must learn to think truth if we wish to heal spiritually, for God is Truth and is Spirit, hence Truth is Spirit and spiritual.
All will admit that thinking is the exercise of intelligence or mind, and that real thinking is the activity of real mind. Real mind, as we have seen, is the divine consciousness, the infinite intelligence or Truth. Therefore real thinking is the activity of divine Truth in consciousness, the activity involved in being conscious of the truth; in other words, in knowing the Truth; consequently real thinking is right knowing, the knowing of Truth. Obviously we can know only Truth, we can never know error. For example: We can never know that two times two make five, because they do not; we can only believe that they do. Thus we can never know anything that is wrong, evil or material; we can never know sin, disease, death; we can only believe them.
Since disease is an untrue experience in the human mind, in order that it may be healed, the erroneous concept must be corrected, and to do this divine Truth must be brought to bear upon the error in consciousness. How is this to be done? Whenever we think rightly of any truth, that truth is present with us in consciousness, becomes active in thought by virtue of that thinking. For example, when we think rightly of the multiplication table, the truth of mathematics is present with us in our thought and becomes active there in consequence. This is not the case, however, when we do not think rightly of it. In a similar way, when we think rightly of divine Truth — Life, Spirit, Love, God — this Truth is present with us in consciousness and becomes active there.
You will recall that St. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians regarding the one God and Father, said, "He is through all, and in you all," which means everywhere present. Being infinite, God is infinitely present, present in His infinity everywhere. Thus He is already present, "a very present help in trouble." He has only to be known. We have but to become conscious of Him. As by knowing any truth we reflect that truth and become conscious of it, so by knowing God we reflect Him and become conscious of Him. Thus it is through the right knowing of God, which Christian Science makes possible today, that divine Truth and Love are reflected in the human consciousness, brought into action there, and so are brought to bear upon our human errors and problems. Thus a change of consciousness takes place and healing results. As physical darkness disappears when light is brought to bear upon it, so the mental darkness of despair, disease and death disappears when the light of the Christ, Truth, the light that lighteth the world, is brought to bear upon it by being reflected in consciousness through right, spiritual knowing.
This knowing of Truth is real consciousness, the consciousness of the real man, God's man. It is communion with our heavenly Father-Mother God, infinite Love. It is true Christian prayer. "Not my will, but thine, be done," is the almost constant prayer of the Christian Scientist, and such prayer in his name is answered in healing the sick, reforming the sinner and supplying all our human needs.
This scientific Christian healing is Christian Science healing and involves the knowing of spiritual Truth, the recognition of material error as error, and the application to the error of the specific, antidoting divine truth which corrects and heals it. Therefore this healing is not hypnotism, not mental suggestion, not the mere influence of one human mind over another, not mental domination, or the exercise of the human will, commonly called willpower and for a right apprehension of Christian Science healing this fact must be clearly seen. I will illustrate: When a mathematician corrects an error in computation it is not his will which makes this correction, but the mathematical truth which he knows and applies to the error through mathematical understanding. The correcting power is inherent in the truth itself, not in the will of the mathematician. Willpower has nothing to do with the result, and would stand in the way if it were used. So, when a sin or an ill is healed through Christian Science it is not the will of the Christian Scientist that does the healing, but the divine Truth which he knows and applies to the human error through his understanding of Christian Science. The correcting and healing power is inherent in the truth itself, not in the will of the Christian Scientist. Willpower has nothing to do with the healing; it would stand in the way if it were used.
Jesus said: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"; for by knowing the truth we reflect Truth and bring it into action in thought. This definitely distinguishes Christian Science healing from hypnotism, magnetism, occultism, or mental suggestion in any form. The mental manipulator endeavors to secure control of the patient's mentality, to dominate it and superimpose upon it or inject into it his own thought, will, purpose or desire; be it good or evil, right or wrong. This shows the great danger of that method. Whereas the Christian Scientist, knowing the nature of God and the real man to be spiritual and perfect, recognizes the diseased and sinful conditions as false, mesmeric states of consciousness; and he applies his understanding of divine Truth and Love as the healing remedy; which is always safe and can never injure, for divine Truth and Love can only bless. Surely this infinite Love is adequate, is intelligent enough, loving enough and powerful enough to supply all our needs; we have but to know it in order to reflect it.
Christian Science healing reaches the individual in three fundamental ways. First, through reading of Christian Science, or hearing it spoken. This healing is accomplished when the truth of the written or spoken word enters a receptive consciousness and brings about a change in the quality of thought, by correcting some erroneous concept, removing fear, destroying some sin, establishing an uplifted sense and thus a more harmonious consciousness. This improved consciousness is then externalized in improved bodily conditions, and health and harmony are expressed.
I know of cases of organic, structural, malignant and functional disease as well as of sin, which were healed in this manner, many of these during the reading of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," written by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. Any one can learn of such healing; it is occurring constantly throughout the world wherever Christian Science literature is read or the truth of Christian Science is voiced.
Second, healing is effected through the effort of a person to apply the Principle and rule of Christian Science to his own problem. This is accomplished by the study of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, which is the key to the Bible, and by the application of the spiritual teachings in a scientific way, whether the problem be a case of sin, disease or other discord. This healing likewise results from the destruction of the erroneous concepts through the increased presence of divine Truth and Love in consciousness, which is then externalized in better health and morals.
Much healing is being accomplished in this manner and anyone can help himself by applying the teachings of Christian Science accurately and patiently. I emphasize the words accurately and patiently because some have been disappointed that they have not obtained the desired results immediately; but if they had been as inaccurate and impatient in the study and application of mathematical science, for example, as in their attempted use of Christian Science, they would have obtained correspondingly unsatisfactory mathematical results. Christian Science is an exact Science, based upon absolute Principle which requires perfect application to secure perfect results.
Third, healing is effected through the effort made by one person to apply the truth of Christian Science to the problems of another. The possibility of one person healing another through mental endeavor has often been misunderstood and doubted, especially in Christian Science healing, where there is no transfer of mortal thought. A problem in healing presented to a practitioner for solution, and accepted, becomes, for the time being, the practitioner's problem and it is affected by his thoughts of Truth. When one thinks of Truth, knows Truth, and reflects Truth, consciousness becomes more spiritual, more illuminated with divine light, and everything included in it and to which it is directed is benefited thereby.
In Christian Science treatment there is no effort at mental manipulation, for the carnal, mortal mind is not a factor in the healing work. The healing mind is the divine Mind, and this being infinite and omnipresent, the knowing of the truth regarding the real man, together with the denial of the errors of mortal mind, brings the truth to bear upon the case, no matter whether the person is near by or far away. Jesus healed the Centurion's servant and the nobleman's son without being present with them, thus demonstrating this truth. In like manner Christian Scientists are healing many patients who are at a distance from them, in obedience to their Master's commands. Christian Science healing results from an awakened consciousness produced by the Christ-mind, and neither time, distance, matter nor evil enters into it, nor can they interfere with it.
Christian Science heals sin in the same manner that it heals sickness, by knowing the truth of perfect God and perfect man and thereby recognizing the fact (1) that evil is the opposite of good, the absence of good, and thus a negative condition without principle or power; (2) that it is no part of God's creation since in the infinity of good there can he no place for evil; (3) that it is a lie, "a liar, and the father of it," as Jesus termed it; consequently it exists in human consciousness only as a false belief of good. When Christian Science reaches the consciousness of the sinner, it shows him the deceptive character of evil and awakens him from the mesmeric dream in the bondage of which he has been held. He is thus set free and evil no longer appeals to him. He ceases indulging in it because the desire for it has been destroyed by the presence and power of the Christ, Truth, the only healer of sin. The sinner does not lose anything when he is healed except an illusion. He gains what is worthwhile, real manhood, the "liberty of the children of God," the joys of Spirit, than which there is no other real satisfaction.
In his epistle to the Romans, St. Paul writes: "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Note the distinction, if you please, which St. Paul makes between the man and the sin. In conformity with this statement of the great Apostle, Christian Science teaches that the evil is not the man and the man is never the evil, that evil is always apart from man and exists only in the degree that it is believed to be real by the deceived human sense. Thus it seems to dwell in us. When this separation can be made, when it can be seen that God, divine Love is not the author of sin, disease and death, and therefore that they are no part of man, our healing, whether of sin or disease, inevitably begins.
It should be clearly seen, however, that Christian Science healing is not a mere mental method or mental process involving simply the entertainment and repetition of certain thoughts. Being scientific it demands accurate, intelligent, metaphysical discernment and analysis and a correct application of its divine Principle, which must be done mentally. But above all it requires a clear consciousness of the allness of God, Spirit, and His ideas, and the nothingness of His opposite, evil, matter and their beliefs, which constitute the carnal mind.
This illumined consciousness, this healing consciousness, which may be acquired in a degree by anyone today, divine Love alone makes possible, for divine Love, reflected through right knowing and right living, is the real healer in Christian Science, the only one named by Mrs. Eddy, and the only one recognized by Christian Scientists.
The fact that Christian Scientists have not yet done all the wonderful works Jesus and his disciples did, nor have done all that they know is possible through Christian Science, may be cause for regret but never for discouragement or criticism. They rejoice that Jesus' works prove Christian Science to be true, and they are grateful that Mrs. Eddy discovered the Science of Christian healing and gave it to the world for all to demonstrate in the degree that they understand it.
The love and gratitude which Christian Scientists feel toward Mrs. Eddy is not to be wondered at when one takes into account the great good which has come into their lives as the result of her teachings. People are grateful to one who has helped them out of a serious difficulty, supplied some great need or rescued them from some disaster. How much more grateful should they naturally be to one who has made it possible for them to be healed of so-called incurable disease, hopeless sorrow, the bondage of degrading sin, and who also healed them of agnosticism and atheism by revealing to them the naturalness, simplicity and truth of the Bible teachings and the possibility of their fulfillment.
The whole world is indebted to her for her scientific and spiritual interpretation of the Bible, especially the words and works of the Master, and for her demonstration of the truth of his teachings. In the face of the so-called higher criticism, the doubt respecting the correctness of much Scripture teaching and the denial of the possibility of obeying Christ Jesus' commands, Mrs. Eddy's proof that the Bible is true stands out as the greatest, most significant achievement of this age, for thereby the truth of Christianity and the rightness of its basis is scientifically established. This has never been done before.
Mrs. Eddy early learned that the Bible is the word of God, the spiritual teacher of the ages. She turned to it for light and leading when human ways and means failed to give health and hope, and she was healed. In its inspired pages she found Christian Science, the spiritual fulfillment of Jesus' teaching and practice, and discovered the science of Christianity.
Mrs. Eddy did not leave her work here until it was so established as to remain intact and inviolate. With wisdom and foresight she insured the safety of the Christian Science organization and the preservation of the purity of her teachings by establishing the Mother Church in Boston as the anchor of the Christian Science movement and by providing a manual for the government of the Church and a board of directors to administer its affairs in accordance with this manual, and in obedience to her instructions.
To Christian Scientists Mrs. Eddy is a living example of the triumph of faith in God, a faith deep and vital because rooted in spiritual experience. She knew God aright. She looked to divine intelligence and proved that God is Mind. She was governed by spiritual law and proved that God is Principle. She looked to God for health and proved Him to be Life. She loved all mankind and proved that God is Love. She gave her all for the "pearl of great price," the knowledge of God, and offered it to all the world. I knew Mrs. Eddy personally, and was associated with her on many occasions, and I know whereof I speak.
Christian Science is the renaissance of Christianity, the rebirth and re-establishment on a scientific, demonstrable basis of the Christianity which Christ Jesus taught and practiced. It is the fulfillment of his mission of bringing to the world salvation from sin, sickness and death. Its modest achievements of today prove the truth of its Principle and rule and enable any sincere seeker to begin to live it and be benefited by it. It is a clarion call to every aspiring heart to awaken to the present privilege of freedom and spiritual authority over human ills and to demonstrate that the day of human redemption is at hand.
Mrs. Eddy writes:
"When will Jesus' professed followers learn to emulate him in all his ways and to imitate his mighty works? * * * It is possible, — yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman, — to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness. Christians claim to be his followers, but do they follow him in the way that he commanded? Hear these imperative commands: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!' 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!' 'Heal the sick!'" (Science and Health, p. 37.)
Would Jesus have given these commands unless he had known them to be the demands of truth and possible of fulfillment? Have you ever realized that an understanding of Jesus' teachings and strict adherence thereto would remove from this world all sin, sickness, sorrow and suffering? Think of this, if you will, the next time you read the gospels and Christian Science will show you the way.
[Delivered June 3, 1917, at Stone Opera House in Binghamton, New York, and published in The Binghamton Press, June 5, 1917.]