Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📖

to its native nothingness, the 91:12 sooner man’s great reality will appear and his

genuine being will be understood. The destruction of

error is by no means the destruction of Truth or Life, but 91:15 is the acknowledgment of them.

 

Absorbed in material selfhood we discern and reflect

but faintly the substance of Life or Mind. The denial of 91:18 material selfhood aids the discernment of man’s spiritual and eternal individuality, and destroys the erroneous

knowledge gained from matter or through what are termed 91:21 the material senses.

 

Erroneous postulates

 

Certain erroneous postulates should be here considered

in order that the spiritual facts may be better 91:24 apprehended.

 

The first erroneous postulate of belief is, that substance,

life, and intelligence are something apart from God. 91:27 The second erroneous postulate is, that man is both

mental and material.

 

The third erroneous postulate is, that mind is both evil 91:30 and good; whereas the real Mind cannot be evil nor the

medium of evil, for Mind is God.

 

The fourth erroneous postulate is, that matter is in-92:1 telligent, and that man has a material body which is part

of himself.

92:3 The fifth erroneous postulate is, that matter holds in

itself the issues of life and death, - that matter is not

only capable of experiencing pleasure and pain, but also 92:6 capable of imparting these sensations. From the illusion

implied in this last postulate arises the decomposition of

mortal bodies in what is termed death. 92:9 Mind is not an entity within the cranium with the power

of sinning now and forever.

 

Knowledge of good and evil

 

In old Scriptural pictures we see a serpent coiled around 92:12 the tree of knowledge and speaking to Adam and Eve.

This represents the serpent in the act of

commending to our first parents the knowl-92:15 edge of good and evil, a knowledge gained from matter,

or evil, instead of from Spirit. The portrayal is still

graphically accurate, for the common conception of mor-92:18 tal man - a burlesque of God’s man - is an outgrowth

of human knowledge or sensuality, a mere offshoot of

material sense.

 

Opposing power

92:21 Uncover error, and it turns the lie upon you. Until

the fact concerning error - namely, its nothingness -

appears, the moral demand will not be met, 92:24 and the ability to make nothing of error will

be wanting. We should blush to call that real which is

only a mistake. The foundation of evil is laid on a belief 92:27 in something besides God. This belief tends to support

two opposite powers, instead of urging the claims of Truth

alone. The mistake of thinking that error can be real, 92:30 when it is merely the absence of truth, leads to belief in

the superiority of error.

 

The age’s privilege

 

Do you say the time has not yet come in which to 93:1 recognize Soul as substantial and able to control the

body? Remember Jesus, who nearly nineteen centuries 93:3 ago demonstrated the power of Spirit and said,

“He that believeth on me, the works that I

do shall he do also,” and who also said, “But the hour 93:6 cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall

worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” “Behold,

now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of sal-93:9 vation,” said Paul.

 

Logic and revelation

 

Divine logic and revelation coincide. If we believe

otherwise, we may be sure that either our 93:12 logic is at fault or that we have misinterpreted

revelation. Good never causes evil, nor creates aught

that can cause evil.

93:15 Good does not create a mind susceptible of causing

evil, for evil is the opposing error and not the truth of

creation. Destructive electricity is not the offspring of in-93:18 finite good. Whatever contradicts the real nature of the

divine Esse, though human faith may clothe it with angelic

vestments, is without foundation.

 

Derivatives of spirit

93:21 The belief that Spirit is finite as well as infinite has

darkened all history. In Christian Science, Spirit, as a

proper noun, is the name of the Supreme Being. 93:24 It means quantity and quality, and applies ex—

clusively to God. The modifying derivatives of the word

spirit refer only to quality, not to God. Man is spiritual. 93:27 He is not God, Spirit. If man were Spirit, then men

would be spirits, gods. Finite spirit would be mortal,

and this is the error embodied in the belief that the infi-93:30 nite can be contained in the finite. This belief tends to

becloud our apprehension of the kingdom of heaven and

of the reign of harmony in the Science of being.

 

Scientific man

94:1 Jesus taught but one God, one Spirit, who makes man

in the image and likeness of Himself, - of Spirit, not of 94:3 matter. Man reflects infinite Truth, Life, and

Love. The nature of man, thus understood,

includes all that is implied by the terms “image” and 94:6 “likeness” as used in Scripture. The truly Christian

and scientific statement of personality and of the relation

of man to God, with the demonstration which accompa-94:9 nied it, incensed the rabbis, and they said: “Crucify him,

crucify him … by our law he ought to die, because he

made himself the Son of God.”

94:12 The eastern empires and nations owe their false government to the misconceptions of Deity there prevalent.

Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, 94:15 arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the

pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse.

 

Ingratitude and denial

 

The progress of truth confirms its claims, and our 94:18 Master confirmed his words by his works. His healing—

power evoked denial, ingratitude, and betrayal, arising from sensuality. Of the ten 94:21 lepers whom Jesus healed, but one returned to give God

thanks, - that is, to acknowledge the divine Principle

which had healed him.

 

Spiritual insight

94:24 Our Master easily read the thoughts of mankind, and

this insight better enabled him to direct those thoughts

aright; but what would be said at this period of an in-94:27 fidel blasphemer who should hint that Jesus used his incisive power injuriously? Our Master read mortal mind

on a scientific basis, that of the omnipresence of Mind. 94:30 An approximation of this discernment indicates spiritual

growth and union with the infinite capacities of the one

Mind. Jesus could injure no one by his Mind-reading. 95:1 The effect of his Mind was always to heal and to save,

and this is the only genuine Science of reading mortal 95:3 mind. His holy motives and aims were tra—

duced by the sinners of that period, as they

would be to-day if Jesus were personally present. Paul 95:6 said, “To be spiritually minded is life.” We approach

God, or Life, in proportion to our spirituality, our fidelity to Truth and Love; and in that ratio we know all 95:9 human need and are able to discern the thought of the

sick and the sinning for the purpose of healing them.

Error of any kind cannot hide from the law of God.

95:12 Whoever reaches this point of moral culture and goodness cannot injure others, and must do them good. The

greater or lesser ability of a Christian Scientist to discern 95:15 thought scientifically, depends upon his genuine spirituality. This kind of mind-reading is not clairvoyance,

but it is important to success in healing, and is one of the 95:18 special characteristics thereof.

 

Christ’s reappearance

 

We welcome the increase of knowledge and the end

of error, because even human invention must have its 95:21 day, and we want that day to be succeeded

by Christian Science, by divine reality. Midnight foretells the dawn. Led by a solitary star amid 95:24 the darkness, the Magi of old foretold the Messiahship

of Truth. Is the wise man of to-day believed, when he

beholds the light which heralds Christ’s eternal dawn 95:27 and describes its effulgence?

 

Spiritual awakening

 

Lulled by stupefying illusions, the world is asleep

in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours. 95:30 Material sense does not unfold the facts of

existence; but spiritual sense lifts human

consciousness into eternal Truth. Humanity advances 96:1 slowly out of sinning sense into spiritual understanding;

unwillingness to learn all things rightly, binds Christen-96:3 dom with chains.

 

The darkest hours of all

 

Love will finally mark the hour of harmony, and spiritualization will follow, for Love is Spirit. Before error 96:6 is wholly destroyed, there will be interrup—

tions of the general material routine. Earth

will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, 96:9 seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will

continue unto the end, - until the final spiritualization of

all things. “The darkest hour precedes the dawn.”

 

Arena of contest

96:12 This material world is even now becoming the arena

for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord

and dismay; on the other side there will be 96:15 Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want

and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new 96:18 phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all

discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth. 96:21 Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization.

This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue

until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is 96:24 changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.

 

Millennial glory

 

As this consummation draws nearer, he who has

shaped his course in accordance with divine Science 96:27 will endure to the end. As material knowledge diminishes and spiritual understanding

increases, real objects will be apprehended mentally 96:30 instead of materially.

 

During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor

to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but 97:1 those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in

check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They 97:3 will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the

certainty of ultimate perfection.

 

Dangerous resemblances

 

In reality, the more closely error simulates truth and 97:6 so-called matter resembles its essence, mortal mind, the

more impotent error becomes as a belief. According to human belief, the lightning is fierce 97:9 and the electric current swift, yet in Christian Science

the flight of one and the blow of the other will become

harmless. The more destructive matter becomes, the 97:12 more its nothingness will appear, until matter reaches

its mortal zenith in illusion and forever disappears. The

nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing 97:15 the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine

Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes

for destruction. The more material the belief, the more 97:18 obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being.

97:21 The broadest facts array the most falsities against

themselves, for they bring error from under cover. It

requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth 97:24 lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its in—

articulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion.

 

“He uttered His voice, the earth melted.” This Scrip-97:27 ture indicates that all matter will disappear before the

supremacy of Spirit.

 

Christianity still rejected

 

Christianity is again demonstrating the Life that is 97:30 Truth, and the Truth that is Life, by the apostolic work of casting out error and healing the

sick. Earth has no repayment for the persecutions which 98:1 attend a new step in Christianity; but the spiritual recompense of the persecuted is assured in the elevation of ex-98:3 istence above mortal discord and in the gift of divine Love.

 

Spiritual foreshadowings

 

The