Miscellaneous Writings Part 13

man's _ipse dixit_ as to the stellar system is correct, this is because Science is true, and the evidence of the senses is false. Then why not submit to the affirmations of Science concerning the greater subject of human weal and woe? Every question between Truth and error, [10]

Science must and will decide. Left to the decision of Science, your query concerns a negative which the posi- tive Truth destroys; for G.o.d's universe and man are immortal. We must not consider the false side of exist- ence in order to gain the true solution of Life and its [15]

great realities.

_Have you changed your instructions as to the right way_ _of treating disease?_

I have not; and this important fact must be, and al- ready is, apprehended by those who understand my in- [20]

structions on this question. Christian Science demands both law and gospel, in order to demonstrate healing, and I have taught them both in its demonstration, and with signs following. They are a unit in restoring the equipoise of mind and body, and balancing man's ac- [25]

count with his Maker. The sequence proves that strict adherence to one is inadequate to compensate for the absence of the other, since both const.i.tute the divine law of healing.

The Jewish religion demands that "whoso sheddeth [30]

man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." But this

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law is not infallible in wisdom; and obedience thereto [1]

may be found faulty, since false testimony or mistaken evidence may cause the innocent to suffer for the guilty.

Hence the gospel that fulfils the law in righteousness, the genius whereof is displayed in the surprising wisdom [5]

of these words of the New Testament: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." No possible injustice lurks in this mandate, and no human mis- judgment can pervert it; for the offender alone suffers, and always according to divine decree. This sacred, [10]

solid precept is verified in all directions in Mind- healing, and is supported in the Scripture by parallel proof.

The law and gospel of Truth and Love teach, through divine Science, that sin is identical with suffering, and [15]

that suffering is the lighter affliction. To reach the sum- mit of Science, whence to discern G.o.d's perfect ways and means, the material sense must be controlled by the higher spiritual sense, and Truth be enthroned, while "we look not at the things which are seen, but at [20]

the things which are not seen."

Cynical critics misjudge my meaning as to the sci- entific treatment of the sick. Disease that is superin- duced by sin is not healed like the more physical ailment. The beginner in sin-healing must know this, or [25]

he never can reach the Science of Mind-healing, and so "overcome evil with good." Error in premise is met with error in practice; yea, it is "the blind leading the blind." Ignorance of the cause of disease can neither remove that cause nor its effect. [30]

I endeavor to accommodate my instructions to the present capability of the learner, and to support the

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liberated thought until its alt.i.tude reaches beyond the [1]

mere alphabet of Mind-healing. Above physical wants, lie the higher claims of the law and gospel of healing.

First is the law, which saith:-

"Thou shalt not commit adultery;" in other words, [5]

thou shalt not adulterate Life, Truth, or Love,-men- tally, morally, or physically. "Thou shalt not steal;"

that is, thou shalt not rob man of money, which is but trash, compared with his rights of mind and character.

"Thou shalt not kill;" that is, thou shalt not strike at the [10]

eternal sense of Life with a malicious aim, but shalt know that by doing thus thine own sense of Life shall be forfeited. "Thou shalt not bear false witness;" that is, thou shalt not utter a lie, either mentally or audibly, nor cause it to be thought. Obedience to these command- [15]

ments is indispensable to health, happiness, and length of days.

The gospel of healing demonstrates the law of Love.

Justice uncovers sin of every sort; and mercy demands that if you see the danger menacing others, you shall, [20]

_Deo volente_, inform them thereof. Only thus is the right practice of Mind-healing achieved, and the wrong prac- tice discerned, disarmed, and destroyed.

_Do you believe in translation?_

If your question refers to language, whereby one ex- [25]

presses the sense of words in one language by equiva- lent words in another, I do. If you refer to the removal of a person to heaven, without his subjection to death, I modify my affirmative answer. I believe in this removal being possible after all the footsteps requisite [30]

have been taken up to the very throne, up to the

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spiritual sense and fact of divine substance, intelligence, [1]

Life, and Love. This translation is not the work of mo- ments; it requires both time and eternity. It means more than mere disappearance to the human sense; it must include also man's changed appearance and diviner form [5]

visible to those beholding him here.

_The Rev. -- said in a sermon: A true Christian_ _would protest against metaphysical healing being called_ _Christian Science. He also maintained that pain and_ _disease are not illusions but realities; and that it is not_ [10]

_Christian to believe they are illusions. Is this so?_

It is unchristian to believe that pain and sickness are anything _but_ illusions. My proof of this is, that the penalty for believing in their reality is the very pain and disease. Jesus cast out a devil, and the dumb spake; [15]

hence it is right to know that the works of Satan are the illusion and error which Truth casts out.

Does the gentleman above mentioned know the meaning of divine metaphysics, or of metaphysical theology? [20]

According to Webster, metaphysics is defined thus: "The science of the conceptions and relations which are necessary to thought and knowledge; science of the mind." Worcester defines it as "the philosophy of mind, as distinguished from that of matter; a science of which [25]

the object is to explain the principles and causes of all things existing," Brande calls metaphysics "the science which regards the ultimate grounds of being, as distinguished from its phenomenal modifications." "A speculative science, which soars beyond the bounds of [30]

experience," is a further definition.

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Divine metaphysics is that which treats of the exist- [1]

ence of G.o.d, His essence, relations, and attributes. A sneer at metaphysics is a scoff at Deity; at His goodness, mercy, and might.

Christian Science is the unfolding of true metaphysics; [5]

that is, of Mind, or G.o.d, and His attributes. Science rests on Principle and demonstration. The Principle of Chris- tian Science is divine. Its rule is, that man shall utilize the divine power.

In Genesis i. 26, we read: "Let us make man in [10]

our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air."

I was once called to visit a sick man to whom the regular physicians had given three doses of Croton [15]

oil, and then had left him to die. Upon my arrival I found him barely alive, and in terrible agony. In one hour he was well, and the next day he attended to his business. I removed the stoppage, healed him of en- teritis, and neutralized the bad effects of the poison- [20]

ous oil. His physicians had failed even to move his bowels,-though the wonder was, with the means used in their effort to accomplish this result, that they had not quite killed him. According to their diagnosis, the exciting cause of the inflammation and [25]

stoppage was-eating smoked herring. The man is living yet; and I will send his address to any one who may wish to apply to him for information about his case.

Now comes the question: Had that sick man dominion [30]

over the fish in his stomach?

His want of control over "the fish of the sea" must

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have been an illusion, or else the Scriptures misstate [1]

man's power. That the Bible is true I believe, not only, but I _demonstrated_ its truth when I exercised my power over the fish, cast out the sick man's illu- sion, and healed him. Thus it was shown that the [5]

healing action of Mind upon the body has its only ex- planation in divine metaphysics. As a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." When the mortal thought, or be- lief, was removed, the man was well.

_What did Jesus mean when he said to the dying thief,_ [10]

_"__To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise__"__?_