«Разные сочинения, 1883–1896»

Разные сочинения

1883–1896

автор:

Мэри Бейкер Эдди

Первооткрыватель и основатель Христианской науки

и автор книги «Наука и здоровье с

Ключом к Священному Писанию»

Опубликовано

попечителями по завещанию Мэри Бейкер Г. Эдди

Бостон, США

Copyright, 1896

Мэри Бейкер Г. Эдди

Copyright renewed, 1924

Contents

Посвящение. Эпиграммы. Предисловие. Глава I. Введение. Проспект. Своевременный вопрос. Любите врагов ваших. Христианский теизм. Новое рождение. Глава II. Единая Причина и Следствие. Глава III. Вопросы и ответы. Глава IV. Обращения. Христианская наука в Тремонт-Темпл. Наука и чувства. Extract From My First Address In The Mother Church, May 26, 1895 Address Before The Alumni Of The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, 1895 Обращение к Ассоциации христианских ученых Массачусетского метафизического колледжа в 1893 году Communion Address, January, 1896 Message To The Annual Meeting Of The Mother Church, Boston, 1896 Глава V. Письма. Матери-Церкви. К ——, о молитве. Национальной ассоциации христианских ученых. Ассоциации колледжа. Национальной ассоциации христианских ученых. Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Бостоне. Дарителям лодки из Торонто, Канада. Обращение при закладке краеугольного камня. Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Бостоне Первым членам Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Бостоне, штат Массачусетс Отрывок из письма Матери-Церкви Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Оконто Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Скрантоне Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Денвере Первой Церкви Христа, Научной, в Лоренсе Корреспондентам Ученикам Ученику Ученику Отрывок из рождественского письма Глава VI. Проповеди. Рождественская проповедь Отрывки из проповеди, выбранные редактором Extract From A Sermon Delivered In Boston, January 18, 1885 Воскресные службы 4 июля Пасхальные службы Библейские уроки Глава VII. Пруд и цель. Глава VIII. Правило за правилом «Да будет воля Твоя» «Вложи меч свой в ножны» Научный теизм Ментальная практика Обидчивость Советы духовенству Вероломство и клевета Заражение Используйте свое время Обед в День благодарения Христианская наука Несправедливость Реформаторы Болезнь миссис Эдди «Я простудился» «Молитва и исцеление» Veritas Odium Parit (Истина порождает ненависть) Ложь Любовь Address On The Fourth Of July At Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., Before 2,500 Members Of The Mother Church, 1897 Хорошее дело — плод хорошего поступка Маленькие боги Преимущество ментального исцеления Карточка Дух и Закон Исцеление Истиной От сердца к сердцу О чем стоит задуматься Нехристианские слухи Тщеславие Соединения Закрытие Массачусетского метафизического колледжа Злонамеренные сообщения Верные христианские ученые Мартовский начальный класс Навязчивое ментальное исцеление Брак Не судите Новая заповедь A Cruce Salus (Спасение через крест) Сравнение с английскими барменшами Статут Христианской науки Советы ученикам Уведомление Ангелы Обожествление личности Карточка Переполняющие мысли Великий человек и его изречение Слова одобрения Церковь и школа Класс, кафедра, ученики учеников Мои ученики и твои ученики Невидимый грех Слово мудрым Рождество Карточка Послание Матери-Церкви Глава IX. Плод Духа Аллегория Голоса весны «Где ты?» Божественная наука Верность Истинная философия и причастие Происхождение зла Истина против заблуждения Ошибочность человеческих концепций Путь Наука и философия «Берегись!» Крик рождественской поры Слепые вожди «Христос и Рождество» Восход солнца в Плезант-Вью Глава X. Исторические намеки Глава XI. Стихотворения Приди Встреча моих усопших матери и мужа Любовь Права женщины Вечерняя молитва матери Июнь Желание и пункт Дуб на вершине горы Остров Уайт Надежда Рондо Мистеру Джеймсу Т. Уайту Осень Христос — мое прибежище «Паси овец Моих» Гимн причастия Laus Deo! (Слава Богу!) Стих Глава XII. Свидетельства Сноски

[pg v]

Посвящение.

To

Loyal Christian Scientists

In This And Every Land

I Lovingly Dedicate These Practical Teachings

Indispensable To The Culture And Achievements Which

Constitute The Success Of A Student

And Demonstrate The Ethics

Of Christian Science

Мэри Бейкер Эдди

[pg vii]

Эпиграммы.

Pray thee, take care, that tak'st my book in hand,

To read it well; that is, to understand.

Бен Джонсон: Эпиграмма 1

When I would know thee ... my thought looks

Upon thy well made choice of friends and books;

Then do I love thee, and behold thy ends

In making thy friends books, and thy books friends.

Бен Джонсон: Эпиграмма 86

If worlds were formed by matter,

And mankind from the dust;

Till time shall end more timely,

There's nothing here to trust.

Thenceforth to evolution's

Geology, we say,—

Nothing have we gained therefrom,

And nothing have to pray:

My world has sprung from Spirit,

In everlasting day;

Whereof, I've more to glory,

Wherefor, have much to pay.

Мэри Бейкер Эдди

[pg ix]

Предисловие.

[Примечание транскрибатора: Оригинальная книга содержит нумерацию строк по всему тексту для удобства ссылок на страницу и строку. Данная транскрипция сохраняет эти номера страниц и строк; цифры в [квадратных скобках] в конце строк соответствуют номерам строк оригинальной книги. Абзацы не были изменены, как это принято в электронных книгах, слова, разделенные дефисами, не были соединены, поэтому представленные ниже строки содержат те же слова, что и строки в оригинальной книге.]

A certain apothegm of a Talmudical philosopher [1]

suits my sense of doing good. It reads thus: “The

noblest charity is to prevent a man from accepting

charity; and the best alms are to show and to enable a

man to dispense with alms.” [5]

In the early history of Christian Science, among my

thousands of students few were wealthy. Now, Christian

Scientists are not indigent; and their comfortable fortunes

are acquired by healing mankind morally, physically,

spiritually. The easel of time presents pictures—once [10]

fragmentary and faint—now rejuvenated by the touch

of God's right hand. Where joy, sorrow, hope, disap-

pointment, sigh, and smile commingled, now hope sits

dove-like.

To preserve a long course of years still and uniform, [15]

amid the uniform darkness of storm and cloud and

tempest, requires strength from above,—deep draughts

from the fount of divine Love. Truly may it be said:

There is an old age of the heart, and a youth that never

grows old; a Love that is a boy, and a Psyche who is [20]

ever a girl. The fleeting freshness of youth, however,

is not the evergreen of Soul; the coloring glory of

[pg x]

perpetual bloom; the spiritual glow and grandeur of [1]

a consecrated life wherein dwelleth peace, sacred and

sincere in trial or in triumph.

The opportunity has at length offered itself for me to

comply with an oft-repeated request; namely, to collect [5]

my miscellaneous writings published in The Christian

Science Journal, since April, 1883, and republish them

in book form,—accessible as reference, and reliable as

old landmarks. Owing to the manifold demands on my

time in the early pioneer days, most of these articles [10]

were originally written in haste, without due preparation.

To those heretofore in print, a few articles are herein

appended. To some articles are affixed data, where these

are most requisite, to serve as mile-stones measuring the

distance,—or the difference between then and now,— [15]

in the opinions of men and the progress of our Cause.

My signature has been slightly changed from my

Christian name, Mary Morse Baker. Timidity in early

years caused me, as an author, to assume various noms

de plume. After my first marriage, to Colonel Glover [20]

of Charleston, South Carolina, I dropped the name of

Morse to retain my maiden name,—thinking that other-

wise the name would be too long.

In 1894, I received from the Daughters of the American

Revolution a certificate of membership made out to Mary [25]

Baker Eddy, and thereafter adopted that form of signature,

except in connection with my published works.

[pg xi]

The first edition of Science and Health having been [1]

copyrighted at the date of its issue, 1875, in my name

of Glover, caused me to retain the initial “G” on my

subsequent books.

These pages, although a reproduction of what has [5]

been written, are still in advance of their time; and are

richly rewarded by what they have hitherto achieved for

the race. While no offering can liquidate one's debt of

gratitude to God, the fervent heart and willing hand are

not unknown to nor unrewarded by Him. [10]

May this volume be to the reader a graphic guide-

book, pointing the path, dating the unseen, and enabling

him to walk the untrodden in the hitherto unexplored

fields of Science. At each recurring holiday the Christian

Scientist will find herein a “canny” crumb; and thus [15]

may time's pastimes become footsteps to joys eternal.

Realism will at length be found to surpass imagination,

and to suit and savor all literature. The shuttlecock of

religious intolerance will fall to the ground, if there be

no battledores to fling it back and forth. It is reason for [20]

rejoicing that the vox populi is inclined to grant us peace,

together with pardon for the preliminary battles that

purchased it.

With tender tread, thought sometimes walks in memory,

through the dim corridors of years, on to old battle- [25]

grounds, there sadly to survey the fields of the slain and

the enemy's losses. In compiling this work, I have tried

[pg xii]

to remove the pioneer signs and ensigns of war, and to [1]

retain at this date the privileged armaments of peace.

With armor on, I continue the march, command and

countermand; meantime interluding with loving thought

this afterpiece of battle. Supported, cheered, I take my [5]

pen and pruning-hook, to “learn war no more,” and with

strong wing to lift my readers above the smoke of conflict

into light and liberty.

Мэри Бейкер Эдди

Concord, N.H.

January, 1897

[pg 001]

Глава I. Введение.

Проспект.

The ancient Greek looked longingly for the Olym- [1]

piad. The Chaldee watched the appearing of a

star; to him, no higher destiny dawned on the dome

of being than that foreshadowed by signs in the heav- [5]

ens. The meek Nazarene, the scoffed of all scoffers,

said, “Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye

not discern the signs of the times?”—for he forefelt

and foresaw the ordeal of a perfect Christianity, hated

by sinners. [10]

To kindle all minds with a gleam of gratitude, the

new idea that comes welling up from infinite Truth needs

to be understood. The seer of this age should be a

sage.

Humility is the stepping-stone to a higher recognition [15]

of Deity. The mounting sense gathers fresh forms and

strange fire from the ashes of dissolving self, and drops

the world. Meekness heightens immortal attributes

only by removing the dust that dims them. Goodness

reveals another scene and another self seemingly rolled [20]

up in shades, but brought to light by the evolutions of

[pg 002]

advancing thought, whereby we discern the power of [1]

Truth and Love to heal the sick.

Pride is ignorance; those assume most who have the

least wisdom or experience; and they steal from their

neighbor, because they have so little of their own. [5]

The signs of these times portend a long and strong

determination of mankind to cleave to the world, the

flesh, and evil, causing great obscuration of Spirit.

When we remember that God is just, and admit the

total depravity of mortals, alias mortal mind,—and that [10]

this Adam legacy must first be seen, and then must be

subdued and recompensed by justice, the eternal attri-

bute of Truth,—the outlook demands labor, and the

laborers seem few. To-day we behold but the first

faint view of a more spiritual Christianity, that embraces [15]

a deeper and broader philosophy and a more rational and

divine healing. The time approaches when divine Life,

Truth, and Love will be found alone the remedy for sin,

sickness, and death; when God, man's saving Principle,

and Christ, the spiritual idea of God, will be revealed. [20]

Man's probation after death is the necessity of his

immortality; for good dies not and evil is self-destruc-

tive, therefore evil must be mortal and self-destroyed.

If man should not progress after death, but should re-

main in error, he would be inevitably self-annihilated. [25]

Those upon whom “the second death hath no power”

are those who progress here and hereafter out of evil,

their mortal element, and into good that is immortal;

thus laying off the material beliefs that war against

Spirit, and putting on the spiritual elements in divine [30]

Science.

While we entertain decided views as to the best method

[pg 003]

for elevating the race physically, morally, and spiritually, [1]

and shall express these views as duty demands, we

shall claim no especial gift from our divine origin, no

supernatural power. If we regard good as more natural

than evil, and spiritual understanding—the true knowl- [5]

edge of God—as imparting the only power to heal the

sick and the sinner, we shall demonstrate in our lives the

power of Truth and Love.

The lessons we learn in divine Science are applica-

ble to all the needs of man. Jesus taught them for this [10]

very purpose; and his demonstration hath taught us

that “through his stripes”—his life-experience—and

divine Science, brought to the understanding through

Christ, the Spirit-revelator, is man healed and saved.

No opinions of mortals nor human hypotheses enter this [15]

line of thought or action. Drugs, inert matter, never are

needed to aid spiritual power. Hygiene, manipulation,

and mesmerism are not Mind's medicine. The Principle

of all cure is God, unerring and immortal Mind.

We have learned that the erring or mortal thought holds [20]

in itself all sin, sickness, and death, and imparts these

states to the body; while the supreme and perfect Mind,

as seen in the truth of being, antidotes and destroys these

material elements of sin and death.

Because God is supreme and omnipotent, materia [25]

medica, hygiene, and animal magnetism are impotent;

and their only supposed efficacy is in apparently delud-

ing reason, denying revelation, and dethroning Deity.

The tendency of mental healing is to uplift mankind; but

this method perverted, is “Satan let loose.” Hence the [30]

deep demand for the Science of psychology to meet sin,

and uncover it; thus to annihilate hallucination.

[pg 004]

Thought imbued with purity, Truth, and Love, in- [1]

structed in the Science of metaphysical healing, is the

most potent and desirable remedial agent on the earth.

At this period there is a marked tendency of mortal

mind to plant mental healing on the basis of hypnotism, [5]

calling this method “mental science.” All Science is

Christian Science; the Science of the Mind that is God,

and of the universe as His idea, and their relation to each

other. Its only power to heal is its power to do good,

not evil.

Своевременный вопрос.

At this date, 1883, a newspaper edited and published

by the Christian Scientists has become a necessity. Many

questions important to be disposed of come to the Col-

lege and to the practising students, yet but little time [15]

has been devoted to their answer. Further enlight-

enment is necessary for the age, and a periodical de-

voted to this work seems alone adequate to meet the

requirement. Much interest is awakened and expressed

on the subject of metaphysical healing, but in many [20]

minds it is confounded with isms, and even infidelity, so

that its religious specialty and the vastness of its worth

are not understood.

It is often said, “You must have a very strong will-

power to heal,” or, “It must require a great deal of faith [25]

to make your demonstrations.” When it is answered

that there is no will-power required, and that something

more than faith is necessary, we meet with an expression

of incredulity. It is not alone the mission of Christian

Science to heal the sick, but to destroy sin in mortal [30]

[pg 005]

thought. This work well done will elevate and purify [1]

the race. It cannot fail to do this if we devote our best

energies to the work.

Science reveals man as spiritual, harmonious, and eter-

nal. This should be understood. Our College should [5]

be crowded with students who are willing to consecrate

themselves to this Christian work. Mothers should be

able to produce perfect health and perfect morals in their

children—and ministers, to heal the sick—by study-

ing this scientific method of practising Christianity. [10]

Many say, “I should like to study, but have not suffi-

cient faith that I have the power to heal.” The healing

power is Truth and Love, and these do not fail in the

greatest emergencies.

Materia medica says, “I can do no more. I have [15]

done all that can be done. There is nothing to build

upon. There is no longer any reason for hope.” Then

metaphysics comes in, armed with the power of Spirit,

not matter, takes up the case hopefully and builds on

the stone that the builders have rejected, and is suc- [20]

cessful.

Metaphysical therapeutics can seem a miracle and a

mystery to those only who do not understand the grand

reality that Mind controls the body. They acknowledge

an erring or mortal mind, but believe it to be brain mat- [25]

ter. That man is the idea of infinite Mind, always perfect

in God, in Truth, Life, and Love, is something not easily

accepted, weighed down as is mortal thought with mate-

rial beliefs. That which never existed, can seem solid

substance to this thought. It is much easier for people [30]

to believe that the body affects the mind, than that the

mind affects the body.

[pg 006]

We hear from the pulpits that sickness is sent as a [1]

discipline to bring man nearer to God,—even though

sickness often leaves mortals but little time free from

complaints and fretfulness, and Jesus cast out disease as

evil. [5]

The most of our Christian Science practitioners have

plenty to do, and many more are needed for the ad-

vancement of the age. At present the majority of the

acute cases are given to the M. D.'s, and only those

cases that are pronounced incurable are passed over to [10]

the Scientist. The healing of such cases should cer-

tainly prove to all minds the power of metaphysics over

physics; and it surely does, to many thinkers, as the

rapid growth of the work shows. At no distant day,

Christian healing will rank far in advance of allopathy [15]

and homœopathy; for Truth must ultimately succeed

where error fails.

Mind governs all. That we exist in God, perfect,

there is no doubt, for the conceptions of Life, Truth, and

Love must be perfect; and with that basic truth we con- [20]

quer sickness, sin, and death. Frequently it requires

time to overcome the patient's faith in drugs and mate-

rial hygiene; but when once convinced of the uselessness

of such material methods, the gain is rapid.

It is a noticeable fact, that in families where laws [25]

of health are strictly enforced, great caution is observed

in regard to diet, and the conversation chiefly confined

to the ailments of the body, there is the most sickness.

Take a large family of children where the mother has

all that she can attend to in keeping them clothed and

fed, and health is generally the rule; whereas, in small

families of one or two children, sickness is by no means

[pg 007]

the exception. These children must not be allowed to [1]

eat certain food, nor to breathe the cold air, because

there is danger in it; when they perspire, they must be

loaded down with coverings until their bodies become

dry,—and the mother of one child is often busier than [5]

the mother of eight.

Great charity and humility is necessary in this work

of healing. The loving patience of Jesus, we must

strive to emulate. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as

thyself” has daily to be exemplified; and, although [10]

skepticism and incredulity prevail in places where

one would least expect it, it harms not; for if serving

Christ, Truth, of what can mortal opinion avail? Cast

not your pearls before swine; but if you cannot bring

peace to all, you can to many, if faithful laborers in His [15]

vineyard.

Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally

reflects that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease

seems the very air. These descriptions carry fears to

many minds, to be depicted in some future time upon [20]

the body. A periodical of our own will counteract to

some extent this public nuisance; for through our paper,

at the price at which we shall issue it, we shall be able

to reach many homes with healing, purifying thought.

A great work already has been done, and a greater work [25]

yet remains to be done. Oftentimes we are denied the

results of our labors because people do not understand

the nature and power of metaphysics, and they think

that health and strength would have returned natu-

rally without any assistance. This is not so much from [30]

a lack of justice, as it is that the mens populi is not suffi-

ciently enlightened on this great subject. More thought

[pg 008]

is given to material illusions than to spiritual facts. If [1]

we can aid in abating suffering and diminishing sin,

we shall have accomplished much; but if we can bring

to the general thought this great fact that drugs do not,

cannot, produce health and harmony, since “in Him [5]

[Mind] we live, and move, and have our being,” we shall

have done more.”

Любите врагов ваших.

Who is thine enemy that thou shouldst love him? Is

it a creature or a thing outside thine own creation? [10]

Can you see an enemy, except you first formulate this

enemy and then look upon the object of your own conception?

What is it that harms you? Can height, or

depth, or any other creature separate you from the

Love that is omnipresent good,—that blesses infinitely [15]

one and all?

Simply count your enemy to be that which defiles,

defaces, and dethrones the Christ-image that you should

reflect. Whatever purifies, sanctifies, and consecrates

human life, is not an enemy, however much we suffer in [20]

the process. Shakespeare writes: “Sweet are the uses

of adversity.” Jesus said: “Blessed are ye, when men

shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all

manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; ... for

so persecuted they the prophets which were before [25]

you.”

The Hebrew law with its “Thou shalt not,” its de-

mand and sentence, can only be fulfilled through the

gospel's benediction. Then, “Blessed are ye,” inso-

[pg 009]

much as the consciousness of good, grace, and peace, [1]

comes through affliction rightly understood, as sanctified

by the purification it brings to the flesh,—to pride, self-

ignorance, self-will, self-love, self-justification. Sweet,

indeed, are these uses of His rod! Well is it that the [5]

Shepherd of Israel passes all His flock under His rod

into His fold; thereby numbering them, and giving them

refuge at last from the elements of earth.

“Love thine enemies” is identical with “Thou hast

no enemies.” Wherein is this conclusion relative to [10]

those who have hated thee without a cause? Simply, in

that those unfortunate individuals are virtually thy best

friends. Primarily and ultimately, they are doing thee

good far beyond the present sense which thou canst entertain

of good. [15]

Whom we call friends seem to sweeten life's cup and

to fill it with the nectar of the gods. We lift this cup

to our lips; but it slips from our grasp, to fall in frag-

ments before our eyes. Perchance, having tasted its

tempting wine, we become intoxicated; become lethar- [20]

gic, dreamy objects of self-satisfaction; else, the con-

tents of this cup of selfish human enjoyment having lost

its flavor, we voluntarily set it aside as tasteless and

unworthy of human aims.

And wherefore our failure longer to relish this fleet- [25]

ing sense, with its delicious forms of friendship,

wherewith mortals become educated to gratification in

personal pleasure and trained in treacherous peace?

Because it is the great and only danger in the path

that winds upward. A false sense of what consti- [30]

tutes happiness is more disastrous to human progress

than all that an enemy or enmity can obtrude upon

[pg 010]

the mind or engraft upon its purposes and achievements [1]

wherewith to obstruct life's joys and enhance its sor-

rows.

We have no enemies. Whatever envy, hatred, revenge

—the most remorseless motives that govern mortal mind [5]

—whatever these try to do, shall “work together for good

to them that love God.”

Why?

Because He has called His own, armed them, equipped

them, and furnished them defenses impregnable. Their [10]

God will not let them be lost; and if they fall they shall

rise again, stronger than before the stumble. The good

cannot lose their God, their help in times of trouble.

If they mistake the divine command, they will recover

it, countermand their order, retrace their steps, and [15]

reinstate His orders, more assured to press on safely.

The best lesson of their lives is gained by crossing

swords with temptation, with fear and the besetments

of evil; insomuch as they thereby have tried their

strength and proven it; insomuch as they have found [20]

their strength made perfect in weakness, and their fear

is self-immolated.

This destruction is a moral chemicalization, wherein

old things pass away and all things become new. The

worldly or material tendencies of human affections and [25]

pursuits are thus annihilated; and this is the advent of

spiritualization. Heaven comes down to earth, and

mortals learn at last the lesson, “I have no enemies.”

Even in belief you have but one (that, not in reality),

and this one enemy is yourself—your erroneous belief [30]

that you have enemies; that evil is real; that aught but

good exists in Science. Soon or late, your enemy will

[pg 011]

wake from his delusion to suffer for his evil intent; to [1]

find that, though thwarted, its punishment is tenfold.

Love is the fulfilling of the law: it is grace, mercy,

and justice. I used to think it sufficiently just to abide

by our State statutes; that if a man should aim a ball at [5]

my heart, and I by firing first could kill him and save

my own life, that this was right. I thought, also, that

if I taught indigent students gratuitously, afterwards

assisting them pecuniarily, and did not cease teachi

ing the wayward ones at close of the class term, but [10]

followed them with precept upon precept; that if my

instructions had healed them and shown them the sure way

of salvation,—I had done my whole duty to students.

Love metes not out human justice, but divine mercy.

If one's life were attacked, and one could save it only [15]

in accordance with common law, by taking another's,

would one sooner give up his own? We must love our

enemies in all the manifestations wherein and whereby

we love our friends; must even try not to expose their

faults, but to do them good whenever opportunity [20]

occurs. To mete out human justice to those who per-

secure and despitefully use one, is not leaving all retribu-

tion to God and returning blessing for cursing. If special

opportunity for doing good to one's enemies occur not,

one can include them in his general effort to benefit the [25]

race. Because I can do much general good to such as

hate me, I do it with earnest, special care—since they

permit me no other way, though with tears have I striven

for it. When smitten on one cheek, I have turned the

other: I have but two to present. [30]

I would enjoy taking by the hand all who love me not,

and saying to them, “I love you, and would not know-

[pg 012]

ingly harm you.” Because I thus feel, I say to others: [1]

Hate no one; for hatred is a plague-spot that spreads

its virus and kills at last. If indulged, it masters us;

brings suffering upon suffering to its possessor, through-

out time and beyond the grave. If you have been badly [5]

wronged, forgive and forget: God will recompense this

wrong, and punish, more severely than you could, him

who has striven to injure you. Never return evil for evil;

and, above all, do not fancy that you have been wronged

when you have not been. [10]

The present is ours; the future, big with events.

Every man and woman should be to-day a law to him-

self, herself,—a law of loyalty to Jesus' Sermon on the

Mount. The means for sinning unseen and unpunished

have so increased that, unless one be watchful and stead- [15]

fast in Love, one's temptations to sin are increased a

hundredfold. Mortal mind at this period mutely works

in the interest of both good and evil in a manner least

understood; hence the need of watching, and the danger

of yielding to temptation from causes that at former [20]

periods in human history were not existent. The action

and effects of this so-called human mind in its silent argu-

ments, are yet to be uncovered and summarily dealt with

by divine justice.

In Christian Science, the law of Love rejoices the heart; [25]

and Love is Life and Truth. Whatever manifests aught

else in its effects upon mankind, demonstrably is not Love.

We should measure our love for God by our love for man;

and our sense of Science will be measured by our obedience

to God,—fulfilling the law of Love, doing good to all; [30]

imparting, so far as we reflect them, Truth, Life, and Love

to all within the radius of our atmosphere of thought.

[pg 013]

The only justice of which I feel at present capable, [1]

is mercy and charity toward every one,—just so far as

one and all permit me to exercise these sentiments toward

them,—taking special care to mind my own business.

The falsehood, ingratitude, misjudgment, and sharp [5]

return of evil for good—yea, the real wrongs (if wrong

can be real) which I have long endured at the hands of

others—have most happily wrought out for me the law

of loving mine enemies. This law I now urge upon the

solemn consideration of all Christian Scientists. Jesus [10]

said, “If ye love them which love you, what thank have

ye? for sinners also love those that love them.”

Христианский теизм.

Scholastic theology elaborates the proposition that

evil is a factor of good, and that to believe in the reality [15]

of evil is essential to a rounded sense of the existence of

good.

This frail hypothesis is founded upon the basis of mate-

rial and mortal evidence—only upon what the shifting

mortal senses confirm and frail human reason accepts. [20]

The Science of Soul reverses this proposition, overturns

the testimony of the five erring senses, and reveals in

clearer divinity the existence of good only; that is, of

God and His idea.

This postulate of divine Science only needs to be con- [25]

ceded, to afford opportunity for proof of its correctness

and the clearer discernment of good.

Seek the Anglo-Saxon term for God, and you will

find it to be good; then define good as God, and you

will find that good is omnipotence, has all power; it fills [30]

[pg 014]

all space, being omnipresent; hence, there is neither place [1]

nor power left for evil. Divest your thought, then, of

the mortal and material view which contradicts the ever-

presence and all-power of good; take in only the immor-

tal facts which include these, and where will you see or [5]

feel evil, or find its existence necessary either to the origin

or ultimate of good?

It is urged that, from his original state of perfec-

tion, man has fallen into the imperfection that requires

evil through which to develop good. Were we to [10]

admit this vague proposition, the Science of man could

never be learned; for in order to learn Science, we

begin with the correct statement, with harmony and

its Principle; and if man has lost his Principle and

its harmony, from evidences before him he is inca- [15]

pable of knowing the facts of existence and its con-

comitants: therefore to him evil is as real and eternal

as good, God! This awful deception is evil's umpire

and empire, that good, God, understood, forcibly

destroys. [20]

What appears to mortals from their standpoint to be

the necessity for evil, is proven by the law of opposites

to be without necessity. Good is the primitive Princi-

ple of man; and evil, good's opposite, has no Principle,

and is not, and cannot be, the derivative of good. [25]

Thus evil is neither a primitive nor a derivative, but

is suppositional; in other words, a lie that is incapable

of proof—therefore, wholly problematical.

The Science of Truth annihilates error, deprives evil

of all power, and thereby destroys all error, sin, sickness, [30]

disease, and death. But the sinner is not sheltered from

suffering from sin: he makes a great reality of evil, iden-

[pg 015]

tifies himself with it, fancies he finds pleasure in it, and [1]

will reap what he sows; hence the sinner must endure

the effects of his delusion until he awakes from it.

Новое рождение.

St. Paul speaks of the new birth as “waiting for the [5]

adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” The

great Nazarene Prophet said, “Blessed are the pure in

heart: for they shall see God.” Nothing aside from the

spiritualization—yea, the highest Christianization—of

thought and desire, can give the true perception of God [10]

and divine Science, that results in health, happiness, and

holiness.

The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins

with moments, and goes on with years; moments of sur-

render to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption [15]

of good; moments of self-abnegation, self-consecration,

heaven-born hope, and spiritual love.

Time may commence, but it cannot complete, the

new birth: eternity does this; for progress is the law

of infinity. Only through the sore travail of mortal mind [20]

shall soul as sense be satisfied, and man awake in His

likeness. What a faith-lighted thought is this! that

mortals can lay off the “old man,” until man is found

to be the image of the infinite good that we name God,

and the fulness of the stature of man in Christ appears. [25]

In mortal and material man, goodness seems in em-

bryo. By suffering for sin, and the gradual fading out

of the mortal and material sense of man, thought is de-

veloped into an infant Christianity; and, feeding at first

on the milk of the Word, it drinks in the sweet revealings [30]

[pg 016]

of a new and more spiritual Life and Love. These nourish [1]

the hungry hope, satisfy more the cravings for immor-

tality, and so comfort, cheer, and bless one, that he saith:

In mine infancy, this is enough of heaven to come down

to earth. [5]

But, as one grows into the manhood or womanhood

of Christianity, one finds so much lacking, and so very

much requisite to become wholly Christlike, that one

saith: The Principle of Christianity is infinite: it is

indeed God; and this infinite Principle hath infinite [10]

claims on man, and these claims are divine, not human;

and man's ability to meet them is from God; for, being

His likeness and image, man must reflect the full

dominion of Spirit—even its supremacy over sin, sick-

ness, and death. [15]

Here, then, is the awakening from the dream of life

in matter, to the great fact that God is the only Life;

that, therefore, we must entertain a higher sense of both

God and man. We must learn that God is infinitely

more than a person, or finite form, can contain; that [20]

God is a divine Whole, and All, an all-pervading in-

telligence and Love, a divine, infinite Principle; and

that Christianity is a divine Science. This newly

awakened consciousness is wholly spiritual; it emanates

from Soul instead of body, and is the new birth begun [25]

in Christian Science.

Now, dear reader, pause for a moment with me, earn-

estly to contemplate this new-born spiritual altitude; for

this statement demands demonstration.

Here you stand face to face with the laws of infinite [30]

Spirit, and behold for the first time the irresistible con-

flict between the flesh and Spirit. You stand before the

[pg 017]

awful detonations of Sinai. You hear and record the [1]

thunderings of the spiritual law of Life, as opposed to

the material law of death; the spiritual law of Love, as

opposed to the material sense of love; the law of om-

nipotent harmony and good, as opposed to any supposi- [5]

titious law of sin, sickness, or death. And, before the

flames have died away on this mount of revelation, like

the patriarch of old, you take off your shoes—lay aside

your material appendages, human opinions and doc-

trines, give up your more material religion with its rites [10]

and ceremonies, put off your materia medica and hygiene

as worse than useless—to sit at the feet of Jesus. Then,

you meekly bow before the Christ, the spiritual idea

that our great Master gave of the power of God to heal

and to save. Then it is that you behold for the first [15]

time the divine Principle that redeems man from under

the curse of materialism,—sin, disease, and death.

This spiritual birth opens to the enraptured understand-

ing a much higher and holier conception of the supremacy

of Spirit, and of man as His likeness, whereby man reflects [20]

the divine power to heal the sick.

A material or human birth is the appearing of a mor-

tal, not the immortal man. This birth is more or less

prolonged and painful, according to the timely or un-

timely circumstances, the normal or abnormal material [25]

conditions attending it.

With the spiritual birth, man's primitive, sinless,

spiritual existence dawns on human thought,—through

the travail of mortal mind, hope deferred, the perishing

pleasure and accumulating pains of sense,—by which [30]

one loses himself as matter, and gains a truer sense of

Spirit and spiritual man.

[pg 018]

The purification or baptismals that come from Spirit, [1]

develop, step by step, the original likeness of perfect man,

and efface the mark of the beast. “Whom the Lord

loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom

He receiveth;” therefore rejoice in tribulation, and wel- [5]

come these spiritual signs of the new birth under the law

and gospel of Christ, Truth.

The prominent laws which forward birth in the divine

order of Science, are these: “Thou shalt have no other

gods before me;” “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” [10]

These commands of infinite wisdom, translated into

the new tongue, their spiritual meaning, signify: Thou

shalt love Spirit only, not its opposite, in every God-

quality, even in substance; thou shalt recognize thy-

self as God's spiritual child only, and the true man [15]

and true woman, the all-harmonious “male and female,”

as of spiritual origin, God's reflection,—thus as chil-

dren of one common Parent,—wherein and whereby

Father, Mother, and child are the divine Principle and

divine idea, even the divine “Us”—one in good, and [20]

good in One.

With this recognition man could never separate him-

self from good, God; and he would necessarily entertain

habitual love for his fellow-man. Only by admitting

evil as a reality, and entering into a state of evil [25]

thoughts, can we in belief separate one man's interests

from those of the whole human family, or thus attempt

to separate Life from God. This is the mistake that

causes much that must be repented of and overcome.

Not to know what is blessing you, but to believe that [30]

aught that God sends is unjust,—or that those whom

He commissions bring to you at His demand that which

[pg 019]

is unjust,—is wrong and cruel. Envy, evil thinking, [1]

evil speaking, covetousness, lust, hatred, malice, are

always wrong, and will break the rule of Christian

Science and prevent its demonstration; but the rod of

God, and the obedience demanded of His servants in [5]

carrying out what He teaches them,—these are never

unmerciful, never unwise.

The task of healing the sick is far lighter than that

of so teaching the divine Principle and rules of Chris-

tian Science as to lift the affections and motives of men [10]

to adopt them and bring them out in human lives. He

who has named the name of Christ, who has virtually

accepted the divine claims of Truth and Love in divine

Science, is daily departing from evil; and all the wicked

endeavors of suppositional demons can never change the [15]

current of that life from steadfastly flowing on to God,

its divine source.

But, taking the livery of heaven wherewith to cover

iniquity, is the most fearful sin that mortals can commit.

I should have more faith in an honest drugging-doctor, [20]

one who abides by his statements and works upon as

high a basis as he understands, healing me, than I could

or would have in a smooth-tongued hypocrite or mental

malpractitioner.

Between the centripetal and centrifugal mental forces [25]

of material and spiritual gravitations, we go into or we

go out of materialism or sin, and choose our course and

its results. Which, then, shall be our choice,—the sin-

ful, material, and perishable, or the spiritual, joy-giving,

and eternal? [30]

The spiritual sense of Life and its grand pursuits is

of itself a bliss, health-giving and joy-inspiring. This

[pg 020]

sense of Life illumes our pathway with the radiance of [1]

divine Love; heals man spontaneously, morally and

physically,—exhaling the aroma of Jesus' own words,

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.” [5]

[pg 021]

Глава II. Единая Причина и Следствие.

Christian Science begins with the First Com- [1]

mandment of the Hebrew Decalogue, “Thou

shalt have no other gods before me.” It goes on in

perfect unity with Christ's Sermon on the Mount, and

in that age culminates in the Revelation of St. John, [5]

who, while on earth and in the flesh, like ourselves,

beheld “a new heaven and a new earth,”—the spiritual

universe, whereof Christian Science now bears testimony.

Our Master said, “The works that I do shall ye do

also;” and, “The kingdom of God is within you.” This [10]

makes practical all his words and works. As the ages

advance in spirituality, Christian Science will be seen

to depart from the trend of other Christian denomina-

tions in no wise except by increase of spirituality.

My first plank in the platform of Christian Science [15]

is as follows: “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor

substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite

manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal

Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and

eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is [20]

God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man

is not material; he is spiritual.”1

[pg 022]

I am strictly a theist—believe in one God, one Christ [1]

or Messiah.

Science is neither a law of matter nor of man. It is

the unerring manifesto of Mind, the law of God, its

divine Principle. Who dare say that matter or [5]

mortals can evolve Science? Whence, then, is it, if not

from the divine source, and what, but the contempor-

ary of Christianity, so far in advance of human knowl-

edge that mortals must work for the discovery of even a

portion of it? Christian Science translates Mind, God, [10]

to mortals. It is the infinite calculus defining the line,

plane, space, and fourth dimension of Spirit. It abso-

lutely refutes the amalgamation, transmigration, absorp-

tion, or annihilation of individuality. It shows the

impossibility of transmitting human ills, or evil, from one [15]

individual to another; that all true thoughts revolve

in God's orbits: they come from God and return to

Him,—and untruths belong not to His creation, there-

fore these are null and void. It hath no peer, no comp-

petitor, for it dwelleth in Him besides whom “there is [20]

none other.”

That Christian Science is Christian, those who have

demonstrated it, according to the rules of its divine

Principle,—together with the sick, the lame, the deaf, and

the blind, healed by it,—have proven to a waiting world. [25]

He who has not tested it, is incompetent to condemn it;

and he who is a willing sinner, cannot demonstrate it.

A falling apple suggested to Newton more than the

simple fact cognized by the senses, to which it seemed

to fall by reason of its own ponderosity; but the primal [30]

cause, or Mind-force, invisible to material sense, lay

concealed in the treasure-troves of Science. True,

[pg 023]

Newton named it gravitation, having learned so much; [1]

but Science, demanding more, pushes the question:

Whence or what is the power back of gravitation,—the

intelligence that manifests power? Is pantheism true?

Does mind “sleep in the mineral, or dream in the [5]

animal, and wake in man”? Christianity answers this

question. The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, demon-

strated a divine intelligence that subordinates so-called

material laws; and disease, death, winds, and waves,

obey this intelligence. Was it Mind or matter that spake [10]

in creation, “and it was done”? The answer is self-

evident, and the command remains, “Thou shalt have

no other gods before me.”

It is plain that the Me spoken of in the First Com-

mandment, must be Mind; for matter is not the Chris- [15]

tian's God, and is not intelligent. Matter cannot even

talk; and the serpent, Satan, the first talker in its behalf,

lied. Reason and revelation declare that God is both

noumenon and phenomena,—the first and only cause.

The universe, including man, is not a result of atomic [20]

action, material force or energy; it is not organized dust.

God, Spirit, Mind, are terms synonymous for the one

God, whose reflection is creation, and man is His image

and likeness. Few there are who comprehend what Chris-

tian Science means by the word reflection. God is seen [25]

only in that which reflects good, Life, Truth, Love—

yea, which manifests all His attributes and power, even

as the human likeness thrown upon the mirror repeats

precisely the looks and actions of the object in front of it.

All must be Mind and Mind's ideas; since, according to [30]

natural science, God, Spirit, could not change its species

and evolve matter.

[pg 024]

These facts enjoin the First Commandment; and [1]

knowledge of them makes man spiritually minded. St.

Paul writes: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to

be spiritually minded is life and peace.” This knowl-

edge came to me in an hour of great need; and I give it [5]

to you as death-bed testimony to the daystar that dawned

on the night of material sense. This knowledge is

practical, for it wrought my immediate recovery from

an injury caused by an accident, and pronounced fatal

by the physicians. On the third day thereafter, I called [10]

for my Bible, and opened it at Matthew ix. 2. As I

read, the healing Truth dawned upon my sense; and

the result was that I rose, dressed myself, and ever after

was in better health than I had before enjoyed. That

short experience included a glimpse of the great fact [15]

that I have since tried to make plain to others, namely,

Life in and of Spirit; this Life being the sole reality of

existence. I learned that mortal thought evolves a sub-

jective state which it names matter, thereby shutting

out the true sense of Spirit. Per contra, Mind and man [20]

are immortal; and knowledge gained from mortal sense

is illusion, error, the opposite of Truth; therefore it

cannot be true. A knowledge of both good and evil

(when good is God, and God is All) is impossible. Speak-

ing of the origin of evil, the Master said: “When he [25]

speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,

and the father of it.” God warned man not to believe

the talking serpent, or rather the allegory describing

it. The Nazarene Prophet declared that his followers

should handle serpents; that is, put down all subtle falsi- [30]

ties or illusions, and thus destroy any supposed effect

arising from false claims exercising their supposed power

[pg 025]

on the mind and body of man against his holiness and [1]

health.

That there is but one God or Life, one cause and

one effect, is the multum in parvo of Christian Science;

and to my understanding it is the heart of Christianity, [5]

the religion that Jesus taught and demonstrated. In

divine Science it is found that matter is a phase of

error, and that neither one really exists, since God is

Truth, and All-in-all. Christ's Sermon on the Mount,

in its direct application to human needs, confirms this [10]

conclusion.

Science, understood, translates matter into Mind,

rejects all other theories of causation, restores the spir-

itual and original meaning of the Scriptures, and ex-

plains the teachings and life of our Lord. It is religion's [15]

“new tongue,” with “signs following,” spoken of by

St. Mark. It gives God's infinite meaning to mankind,

healing the sick, casting out evil, and raising the spirit-

ually dead. Christianity is Christlike only as it re-

iterates the word, repeats the works, and manifests the [20]

spirit of Christ.

Jesus' only medicine was omnipotent and omniscient

Mind. As omni is from the Latin word meaning all,

this medicine is all-power; and omniscience means as

well, all-science. The sick are more deplorably situated [25]

than the sinful, if the sick cannot trust God for help and

the sinful can. If God created drugs good, they cannot be

harmful; if He could create them otherwise, then they

are bad and unfit for man; and if He created drugs for

healing the sick, why did not Jesus employ them and [30]

recommend them for that purpose?

No human hypotheses, whether in philosophy, medi-

[pg 026]

cine, or religion, can survive the wreck of time; but [1]

whatever is of God, hath life abiding in it, and ulti-

mately will be known as self-evident truth, as demonstra-

ble as mathematics. Each successive period of progress

is a period more humane and spiritual. The only logical [5]

conclusion is that all is Mind and its manifestation, from

the rolling of worlds, in the most subtle ether, to a potato-

patch.

The agriculturist ponders the history of a seed, and

believes that his crops come from the seedling and the [10]

loam; even while the Scripture declares He made “every

plant of the field before it was in the earth.” The Scien-

tist asks, Whence came the first seed, and what made

the soil? Was it molecules, or material atoms? Whence

came the infinitesimals,—from infinite Mind, or from [15]

matter? If from matter, how did matter originate? Was

it self-existent? Matter is not intelligent, and thus able

to evolve or create itself: it is the very opposite of Spirit,

intelligent, self-creative, and infinite Mind. The belief

of mind in matter is pantheism. Natural history shows [20]

that neither a genus nor a species produces its opposite.

God is All, in all. What can be more than All? Noth-

ing: and this is just what I call matter, nothing. Spirit,

God, has no antecedent; and God's consequent is the

spiritual cosmos. The phrase, “express image,” in the [25]

common version of Hebrews i. 3, is, in the Greek Tes-

tament, character.

The Scriptures name God as good, and the Saxon

term for God is also good. From this premise comes

the logical conclusion that God is naturally and divinely [30]

infinite good. How, then, can this conclusion change,

or be changed, to mean that good is evil, or the creator

[pg 027]

of evil? What can there be besides infinity? Nothing! [1]

Therefore the Science of good calls evil nothing. In

divine Science the terms God and good, as Spirit, are

synonymous. That God, good, creates evil, or aught

that can result in evil,—or that Spirit creates its oppo- [5]

site, named matter,—are conclusions that destroy their

premise and prove themselves invalid. Here is where

Christian Science sticks to its text, and other systems

of religion abandon their own logic. Here also is found

the pith of the basal statement, the cardinal point in [10]

Christian Science, that matter and evil (including all

inharmony, sin, disease, death) are unreal. Mortals

accept natural science, wherein no species ever pro-

duces its opposite. Then why not accept divine Sci-

ence on this ground? since the Scriptures maintain [15]

this fact by parable and proof, asking, “Do men

gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” “Doth a

fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and

bitter?”

According to reason and revelation, evil and matter [20]

are negation: for evil signifies the absence of good, God,

though God is ever present; and matter claims some-

thing besides God, when God is really All. Creation,

evolution, or manifestation,—being in and of Spirit,

Mind, and all that really is,—must be spiritual and [25]

mental. This is Science, and is susceptible of proof.

But, say you, is a stone spiritual?

To erring material sense, No! but to unerring spiritual

sense, it is a small manifestation of Mind, a type of spirit-

ual substance, “the substance of things hoped for.” [30]

Mortals can know a stone as substance, only by first ad-

mitting that it is substantial. Take away the mortal sense

[pg 028]

of substance, and the stone itself would disappear, only [1]

to reappear in the spiritual sense thereof. Matter can

neither see, hear, feel, taste, nor smell; having no sen-

sation of its own. Perception by the five personal senses

is mental, and dependent on the beliefs that mortals [5]

entertain. Destroy the belief that you can walk, and

volition ceases; for muscles cannot move without mind.

Matter takes no cognizance of matter. In dreams, things

are only what mortal mind makes them; and the phe-

nomena of mortal life are as dreams; and this so-called [10]

life is a dream soon told. In proportion as mortals turn

from this mortal and material dream, to the true sense

of reality, everlasting Life will be found to be the only

Life. That death does not destroy the beliefs of the flesh,

our Master proved to his doubting disciple, Thomas. Also, [15]

he demonstrated that divine Science alone can overbear

materiality and mortality; and this great truth was shown

is by his ascension after death, whereby he arose above

the illusion of matter.

The First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other [20]

gods before me,” suggests the inquiry, What meaneth

this Me,—Spirit, or matter? It certainly does not

signify a graven idol, and must mean Spirit. Then

the commandment means, Thou shalt recognize no

intelligence nor life in matter; and find neither pleasure [25]

nor pain therein. The Master's practical knowledge

of this grand verity, together with his divine Love,

healed the sick and raised the dead. He literally

annulled the claims of physique and of physical law,

by the superiority of the higher law; hence his decla- [30]

ration, “These signs shall follow them that believe;...

if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;

[pg 029]

they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” [1]

Do you believe his words? I do, and that his prom-

ise is perpetual. Had it been applicable only to his

immediate disciples, the pronoun would be you, not them. [5]

The purpose of his life-work touches universal human-

ity. At another time he prayed, not for the twelve

only, but “for them also which shall believe on me through

their word.”

The Christ-healing was practised even before the Christ- [10]

ian era; “the Word was with God, and the Word was

God.” There is, however, no analogy between Christian

Science and spiritualism, or between it and any specu-

lative theory.

In 1867, I taught the first student in Christian Science. [15]

Since that date I have known of but fourteen deaths

in the ranks of my about five thousand students. The

census since 1875 (the date of the first publication of

my work, “Science and Health with Key to the Scrip-