Science and Health - Mary Baker Eddy-1stEdition

8/3/2019 Science and Health - Mary Baker Eddy-1stEdition

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SCIENCE AND

HEALTHBY

MARY BAKER GLOVER.

BOSTON:CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST PUBLISHING

COMPANY.1875.

Entered according to Act of Congress,In the year 1875, by

MARYBAKER GLOVER,In the Office of the Librarian of

Congress at Washington


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PREFACE.

Leaning on the sustaining Infinite withloving trust, the trials of to-day arebrief, and to-morrow is big withblessings. The wakeful shepherdtending his flocks, beholds from the

mountain's top the first faint morningbeam ere cometh the risen day. Sofrom Soul's loftier summits shines thepale star to the prophet shepherd, andit traverses night, over to where theyoung child lies in cradled obscuritythat shall waken a world. Over the

night of error dawn the morning beamsand guiding star of Truth, and the wisemen are led by it to Science, to thatwhich repeats the eternal harmonyreproduced in proof of immortality andGod. The time for thinkers has come;and the time for revolutions,

ecclesiastic and social, must come. Truth, independent of doctrines ortime-honored systems, stands at thethreshold of history. Contentment withthe past, or the cold conventionality ofcustom, may no longer shut the door


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on science; though empires fall, "Hewhose right it is shall reign." Ignoranceof God should no longer be thestepping-stone to faith; understandingHim "whom to know aright is Life" isthe only guaranty of obedience.Since the hoary centuries but faintlyshadow forth the tireless Intelligence at

work for man, this volumemay not open at once a new thought,and make it familiar it has the task of apioneer to hack away at the tall oakand cut the rough granite, leavingfuture ages to declare what has beendone. We made our first discovery that

science mentally applied would healthe sick, in 1864, and since then havetested it on ourselves and hundreds ofothers, and never found it fail to provethe statement herein made of it. Thescience of man alone can make himharmonious, unfold his utmostpossibilities, and establish theperfection of man. To admit God thePrinciple of all being, and live inaccordance with this Principle, is theScience of Life, but to reproduce theharmony of being, errors of personal


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sense must be destroyed, even as thescience of music, must correct tonescaught from the ear, to give the sweetconcord of sound. There are manytheories of physic, and theology; andmany calls in each of their directionsfor the right way; but we propose tosettle the question of "What is Truth?"

on the ground of proof. Let thatmethod of healing the sick andestablishing Christianity, be adopted,that is found to give the most health,and make the best Christians, and youwill then give science a fair field; inwhich case we are assured of its

triumph over all opinions and beliefs.Sickness and sin have ever had theirdoctors, but the question is, have theybecome less because of them? Thelongevity of our antediluvians, wouldsay, no! and the criminal records of to-day utter their voices little in favor ofsuch a conclusion. Not that we woulddeny to Caesar the things that are his,but that we ask for the things that are Truth's, and safely affirm, from thedemonstrations we have been able tomake, that science would have


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eradicated sin, sickness, and death, ina less period than six thousand years.We find great difficulties in starting thiswork right: some shockingly falseclaims are already made to its practice;mesmerism (its very antipode), is one.Hitherto we have never in a singleinstance of our discovery or practice

found the slightest resemblancebetween mesmerism and the scienceof Life. No especial idiosyncrasy isrequisite for a learner; althoughspiritual sense is more adapted to itthan even the intellect; and those whowould learn this science without a high

moral standard will fail to understand ituntil they go up higher. Owing to ourexplanations constantly vibratingbetween the same points an irksomerepetition of words must occur; also,the use of capital letters, genders andtechnicalities peculiar to the science,variety of language, or beauty ofdiction, must give place to closeanalysis, and unembellished thought."Hoping all things, enduring all things:"to do good to the upright in heart, andto bless them that curse us, and bear


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to the sorrowing and the sickconsolation and healing, we committhese pages to posterity.MARY BAKER GLOVER.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I. NATURAL SCIENCE . . . . 9

II. IMPOSITION AND DEMONSTRATION . . . . 64

III. SPIRIT AND MATTER . . . . 147

IV. CREATION . . . . 221

V. PRAYER AND ATONEMENT . . . . 283

VI. MARRIAGE . . . . 314

VII. PHYSIOLOGY . . . . 327

VIII. HEALING THE SICK. . . . 368

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CHAPTER I.

NATURAL SCIENCE.

A few years since we clipped the followingfrom the reports on Science:

"At the University at Oxford, a prize of one

hundred pounds was offered for the bestEssay on Natural Science, to refute thematerialism of the present age, or thetendency to attribute physical effects tophysical causes, rather than to a finalspiritual cause." This demand formetaphysics coming from the very fount of

erudition meets the wants of the age, and isthe one question towering above all others,insomuch as it relates more intimately tothe happiness and perfection of man. Thecontrol mind holds over matter becomes nolonger a question when with mathematicalcertainty we gain its proof, and candemonstrate the facts assumed. This proof


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we claim to have gained, and reduced to itsstatement in science that furnishes a key to

the harmony of man, and reveals whatdestroys sickness, sin, and death.

Metaphysical science explains cause andeffect; removing the veil of mystery anddoubt, from Soul and body, and from manand God; it unwinds the interlaced

ambiguities of Spirit and matter, and setsfree the imprisoned Intelligence; explainsthe phenomenon man, on the basis of hisPrinciple, and how to gain his harmony inscience, which seems to us more importantmorally and physically than the discovery ofthe powers of steam, the electric telegraph,or any other advanced idea that science has

revealed. Views taken on trust causeconflicting opinions and beliefs that emit apoisonous atmosphere of mind moredestructive to the harmony of body than themiasma of matter. Understanding cools andpurifies this atmosphere, and thusinvigorates the body; but before this result

is obtained, understanding and belief, orTruth and error must meet in a war of ideas,and the thunderbolt of public opinion burstoverhead; but when this outburst of opinionis spent of its fury, like the rain-drops on theearth it will have moistened the parchedthought, whereby the rich buds and


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blossoms that come from the tree of Lifemay put forth new beauty.

Because Christendom may resist the wordscience, we shall lose no faith inChristianity, and because we shall apply thisword to Truth, Christianity will lose no holdon us. We shall let the Principle of thingsalone interpret them, and never take an

opinion or belief to steady the altar ofscience. The Principle of the universe andman embraces the understanding, andexplanation of Soul and body, and is thebasis of all science; but opinions and beliefsregarding God and man, or Soul and body,are the foundations of all error. There is nophysical science, the Principle of science is

God, Intelligence, and not matter; therefore,science is spiritual, for God is Spirit and thePrinciple of the universe and man.

We learn from science mind is universal, thefirst and only cause of all that really is; also,that the realand unreal constitute what is,

and what is not; that the real is Spirit, whichis immortality, and the unreal matter, ormortality. The real is Truth, Life, Love andIntelligence, all of which are Spirit, andSpirit is God, and God, Soul, the Principle ofthe universe and man. Spirit is the onlyimmortal basis. Matter is mortality; it has noPrinciple, but is change and decay,


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embracing what we term sickness, sin, anddeath. God is not the author of these, hence

Spirit is not the author of matter; discordsare the unreal that make up the opposite toharmony, or the real that emanates Truthand not error. Spirit never requires matterto aid it, or through which to act; nopartnership or fellowship exists betweenthem; matter cannot co-operate with Spirit,

the mortal and unreal with the real andeternal, the mutable and imperfect with theimmutable and perfect, the inharmoniousand self-destroying with the harmonious andundying. Spirit is Truth, matter its opposite;viz., error; and these two forces control manand the universe, and are the tares andwheat that never mingle, but grow side by

side until the harvest, until matter is self-destroyed; for not until then do we learnourselves Spirit, and yield up the ghost oferror, that would make substance. Life andIntelligence, matter. God and His idea are allthat is real primitively; all is mind, and mindproduces mind only, nature, reason and

revelation decide, that like produces like;matter does not produce mind, nor, viceversa. We name matter, error, it being afalse claim to Life and Intelligence, thatreturns to dust ignored by Spirit, that issupreme over all, and knows nothing ofmatter.


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Natural history presents the mineral,vegetable and animal kingdoms preserving

their original species in reproduction; amineral is not produced by a vegetable, andvice versa; throughout the entire round ofuniversal nature, this rule relating to genusand species holds good; this therefore isscience. But error claims the very opposite,viz., that Spirit produces matter; making

Spirit, or God, the author of evil as well asgood, and harmony the author of discord,evil presenting as much of God as good,which contradicts self-evident Truth. In thescience of being we learn all discord, suchas sickness, sin or death, is distinct fromSpirit, and not produced by God; also, thatGod is the Soul, or Principle of man, the

Truth, unerring and eternal; again, thatmatter claiming mind, or making itself thebasis of mind, is error, and this error, the so-called intelligent body named man, withintelligent nerves, brain, stomach, and soforth. The only reality of being is the Truthof it, and that Life and Intelligence are in

matter, is not Truth but its opposite, error;therefore, illusion. Mind and matter areopposites; that mind is in matter, or thatmatter is the medium through which mind ismade manifest is not more real than that atree embraces a rock in the heart of it, andis the natural medium through which therock grows, and is identified. Nature and


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revelation afford no grounds for the beliefthat Spirit, God, created, or is in a body of

sickness, sin, and death, and the onlyexcuse for such a belief is, that the falsity ofthis opinion of Life is not seen until we beginto learn the science of Life, and enter intoour God-being, wherein we learn that Spiritand matter no more commingle, than lightand darkness, than God and His opposite,

called devil, which reduced to theirstatement in science, are Truth and error; inother words, Spirit and matter, foreverdistinct, one possessing immortality, theother mortality. Said the Apostle, "The fleshwarreth against the Spirit and the Spiritagainst the flesh."

Mind, the basis of all things, cannot cross itsspecies, and produce matter. But in order toclassify mind that is real, from belief or theunreal, we name one mind, and the othermatter; but recollect matter is but a belief,and mind the only reality. Error can only bedefined as belief, which is not mind but

illusion. The belief, that Life, Substance, andIntelligence are where and what they arenot, is error. Spirit is the understanding andpossession of Truth, Life and Intelligence.Belief and understanding never mingle,more than matter and Spirit; one is error,the other Truth. All discord is what we termmatter, and discord is mortal, nothingness;


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harmony is real and immortal, for it belongsto Spirit, is produced by it and proceeds

from it. Immortal mind is Spirit, an utteranceof Soul proceeding from harmony andimmortality. The mind, that we namematter, is the so-called mind of the body,and what is termed sinful and mortal man;but this man is a myth, neither mind normatter, but a belief that embraces all error.

God, Truth, never produced error; Soul andIntelligence never originated inharmony;and at some future data we shall learn allthat is mortal or discordant bath no origin,existence or reality, but is the absence ofthe real; yea, native nothingness, the chaosand night out of which error would simulatethe creations of Truth, from dust instead of

Deity. Error pre-supposes man both mindand matter, but this is not the science ofbeing, but science disputing personal sensebeards so relentlessly our belief, wenaturally ask what are we, and what is man?We are Spirit, Soul, and not body, and all isgood that is Spirit; God and the idea of God

are real, and nothing else is real. Harmonyand its results are real, but discord andwhat comes of it are the unreal. It were wellto begin from this hour, as you read thesepages, to reckon Life only in what is goodand true; putting aside evil as unreal, notthe offspring of God, and unworthy to benamed man, him whom Spirit produces "the


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image and likeness of God," but whommatter claims to create in sin.

Admitting error, produces it; but who orwhat is it that admits error? Not God, Spirit,for error is not the result of Intelligence;error is a self-admission, and admission ofself-hood where man is not, and this is allthere is to it; admitting a temptation is the

only danger in it. To believe in thepossibility of pleasurable sin, makes all thatis sin; say then to the whole liturgy ofintelligent matter, as Jesus said, "You were aliar from thebeginning."

Mind is Spirit, outside of matter, and this isthe only mind or understanding; the mind

called brains, or matter, is belief only;hence, the more material man is thestronger belief, and the weakermanifestation of Soul, or understanding.Belief is what we term personal sense, andpersonal sense is a belief. That matter isintelligent, that nerves feel, brains think,

and sin, that a stomach makes man cross,limbs cripple him, and matter kills him, is abelief, and this belief, error, opposed to the Truth of being. Sin, sickness and deathproceed from the so-called five personalsenses that we are taught to revere andcultivate, but which Truth at lengthdestroys, through age, experience or


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spiritual growth, and in place of sentientbodies, we find sensationless bodies, and

immortal Soul, as the recognition of beingharmonious and eternal. The body mortal isnot man, for man is immortal; but withsensation in the body he is not immortal,and cannot be Spirit, which is Soul,

To admit physical effects is to conclude

matter cause and effect, whence it followsthere are two causes, viz., mind and matter,else that mind produces matter, or matterproduces mind, which contradicts thescience of Life in its demonstration, and islike saying dust originated man, and aserpent a dove. Soul is Intelligence, but theso-called mind of body is belief only, the

limited and mortal that embraces not theboundless and eternal, for such isIntelligence. Hence we learn that Soul,therefore Spirit, which is God, is not in man,and that man is idea, and Soul the Principle,Life, substance and Intelligence of man.

Having drawn the line between immortalman, or the reality of being, and the unrealor mortal, that is but a personalrecognizance of Life, God, which isimpossible, we also learn that pain orpleasure in matter is equally impossible.Things, as they appear from the stand-pointof personal sense, are diametrically


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opposite to science, or immortal man seenfrom the standpoint of Soul; hence the

difficulty sensuous man has to understandthis science, and his opposition to it, for "thecarnal man is at enmity with God." Mortalman and personal sense are not mind butbelief; mind is understanding, belief isignorance, even the error that Truthconsigns to oblivion.

What is deemed Life in vegetable andanimal becomes a self-evident falsehood,when all that is left of it is death. Thescience of being alone reveals Life orPrinciple, that reverses every position ofpersonal sense; showing, also that sickness,sin and death disappear with the

understanding of being and our realexistence, for in this alone are weharmonious, sinless, and eternal.

Will man lose his identity in consciousinfinitude of being? It is impossible that heshould lose aught that tends to his

completeness, in a state through which hegains all; matter, embracing sickness, sinand death, is all that will ever be lost. Life isnot structural and organic, for Life is Spirit,Soul, and not sense, and without beginningand without end. Life is Principle, and notperson; joy and not sorrow; holiness, notsin, and harmony, without a tone of discord.


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In science we learn there is but one God,also that God is Spirit; hence there is but

one Spirit, for there is not an evil God. Togain the harmony of being, and be perfecteven as the Father, God must beunderstood, which means, the Principle ofman must be understood; believing in Godnever made a Christian.

The only immortal basis of man is Soul;hence the importance to plant one's self onthe basis of being, and work from this togain our ultimate harmony. Soul and notsense reveals the glorious possibilities ofman, even the circumference of his beingunlimited by a belief of Life in matter;getting out of material nutshells we get out

of error, whereby we learn the last shall befirst, and the first last; that which was firstin matter will be last, alias, nothing in Spirit.Science puts not new wine into old bottles;we cannot adhere to a belief regarding asubject, and at the same time grasp theTruth of it; we must yield the old, or the new

is spilled.

Doctrines and opinions based on a personalGod are nothing more or less than beliefs ofintelligent matter, that we must yield, orspill the inspiration and wine of Truth thatenables man to demonstrate Life higher,


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and to reach practical Christianity that castsout devils and heals the sick.

We will now consider more minutely thePrinciple, or Soul of man, named God; learnwhat it is, and how man is harmonious andimmortal. The Scriptures inform us, "God isLove," "Truth and Life," and these certainlyimply He is Principle, not person. Again,

Principle explains person, but person cannotexplain Principle. God interprets man, butman cannot explain God, Spirit explainsmatter, but matter cannot define Spirit, Soulexplains body, but body cannot interpretSoul. We must commence with God toexplain immortal man, remembering God isSpirit, and Spirit the only substance,

because it is Intelligence; holding the earthin equipoise, marking out the pathway ofthe stars, forming the minutia of identity,and comprehending the universe and manin the harmony of being. Spirit believesnothing, because it understands all, and isLife, not subject to death because it is

exempt from matter.

It is mind alone that embraces sensation,therefore, the senses are Spirit and notmatter, and belong to Soul instead of body;they are not personal but Spiritual;Intelligence passes from mind to body, thatis, from Principle to its idea, but cannot pass


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from body to mind, for matter is neithercognizant of evil or good; of pain or

pleasure. Soul is not in body, it is theunlimited Intelligence, impossible to limit,and the immortality that mingles not withmortality; as light and darkness areopposites, so are Spirit and matter, withoutthe least affinity; light dwelling in darknesswould destroy the darkness; thus would the

sinless and immortal destroy the sinningand mortal; but darkness extinguishes notlight, and matter cannot destroy Spirit, bodycannot destroy Soul, but Soul can and doesdestroy matter. Man is not matter, brainsare not Intelligence, they are not the organof the infinite. Life and Intelligence are notin matter, nor do they act by means of

organization; matter is a creation of belief, achimera of personal sense that reversesscience, as we shall hereafter show.

Idea is inseparable from its Principle; man isidea, and Soul the Principle that produces it,therefore man and his maker are

inseparable. Opinions and beliefs have noPrinciple, they are erring and mortal, neitherexpressing God nor immortal man; but theoffspring of personal sense, embracing sin,sickness and death, yes, the dream of Life inmatter. Materia medica, physiology,mesmerism, etc., are opinions and beliefs,predicated on intelligent matter, which is


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error; and the discord and doubt attendingthem are owing to the false position they

occupy. Ideas, like numbers and notes,admit no opinions or beliefs regarding them,when once their Principle is understood;beliefs are theories that change, and arefalsely stated, because they are notunderstood. The identity of every idea is inits Principle where it is learned; immortal

man is harmonious and eternal; matter isthe offspring of mortal belief; Soul orunderstanding, has no part in it.

Philosophy in general, finds cause in effect,Soul in body, Principle in idea, and Life andIntelligence in matter. Materia medicaseeking cause in effect, would learn of

matter what are the conditions of man,examining the liver, heart, lungs, etc., toascertain how much harmony they arepermitting man; thus admitting matterinstead of mind, causation, and producingLife or death, pain or pleasure, action orstagnation, without the mind's consent; this

would place man and God, or body andSoul, at the disposal and control of matter.Physiology finds mind unequal to matter,cause not master of effect, the so-calledlaws of nature failing in their fulfillment togive health to man; making the Infiniteinsufficient to govern the finite, Principle notcontrolling its idea, and the Intelligence, or


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Soul of man, unable to govern the body. Toprevent disease, or the effects of damp

atmospheres, violent exertions, a heavymeal, etc., destroying man; we say, laws ofmatter are our only hope, leaving Spiritpowerless.

Mesmerism, placing Life and Intelligence inelectricity, finds matter superior to God, and

the governing Principle of man, an aura ofbrains, the lack or excess, quality orquantity of which, determines his discord orharmony.

Theology would make the supreme Being aperson, in other words, matter embracingSpirit; God dwelling in man, Life in the

things it creates, cause in effect, Soul inbody, the infinite and limitless, within limits.

With this theory, to be omnipresent, Godmust paw in personal identity over earth; orpossess a body that encompassethuniversal space; in which ewe, what would

be the personality of God? Spirit is notmatter; nor is it both within and withoutmatter; if such were the case, they would beone in substance and Intelligence, elselimited to the range of personal sense, orpersonal sense raised to the capacity ofomnipresence, which is again impossible.Our beliefs of a personal Deity place infinite


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Life and Love within the stature of a man;make man God, or put God into matter,

which is atheism. Error is the basis of allbelief; we need, instead, the true idea,based on the understanding of God theimpersonal Principle, Truth, and Life of man,which is not body, but Soul.

The artist is not in his painting; the picture

is a thought of his, an emanation of Spirit,not matter; the Creator is not what hecreates. The potter is not in the clay, buthas power over the clay; God produces hisown personality, and cannot get into it,because it is in Him the circumference andinfinite Soul outside of matter and man. Thefive personal senses are beliefs of Life,

substance, and Intelligence in matter, eventhe fount of error; all discord proceeds fromthis false source; in reality, there is nopersonal sense, for matter is not intelligent. The line of demarkation between thePrinciple that is Intelligence and Life, andthe belief of Life and Intelligence in person,

is the boundary between belief and science,otherwise, between error and truth. Sciencecontradicts personal sense in everyinstance, as we shall hereafter show.Understanding is the only admissibleevidence of Truth; conclusions drawn frompersonal sense are foundationless;understanding is a portion of the infinite


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Principle embracing every idea of Truth.Belief has no Principle; it is a mortal and

finite sense of things called knowledge, a lieof limits that would place Soul in body, Lifeand Intelligence in matter to evolve matter,and call this germination, or nature, seedreproducing itself; not only denying to Godthe things that are His, but limiting theInfinite, and thinking to fasten Wisdom to

discord and decay.

To learn the Truth of things, they must beexplained from the basis of Soul, and notsense; personal sense is knowledge,obtained from opinions and beliefs. Whenour interpretations proceed from thePrinciple of things, we have them right; but

if from observation, or the deductions ofpersonal sense, they are wrong, and beliefsbased on the supposition of Life andIntelligence in matter, that are error.

Impressions supposed to proceed from thehearing of the ear, the observations of the

eye, from touch, taste, or smell, are thesebeliefs, but not the ideas of God. Every ideaproceeds from Principle, gained throughunderstanding, whereby we arrive atdemonstrable Truth. Belief constitutesmistakes, understanding never errs, henceit is necessary to the harmony of mind andbody. Inasmuch as belief starts from person,


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instead of Principle, it is not the Truth ofbeing, but the error called mortal man.

Knowledge is power, even the force thatdepends on organizations for strength, it isneither moral suasion, moral might, idea,nor Principle; but a faith, supposition, orbelief. Repulsion, attraction, cohesion, andpower supposed to belong to matter, are

constituents of mind; knowledge gives theseproperties to matter, but science gives themto Intelligence, the Principle of all; to findinherent properties in matter that actindependent of mind is impossible. There isno inertia in Intelligence; but science alonedetermines whence cometh action, from itsharmonious Principle, i. e., from Soul to

body, or from belief prolific of error.

Science reveals all action proceeding fromGod, the universal cause that producesharmony only; and that discord, sickness,sin, and death, are neither action, nor being,but beliefs, or error. The absence of Truth,

we name error, but whence cometh error,from God? No; "the same fountain sendethnot forth sweet and bitter water." Error isnot an idea, it has neither Principle, noridentity; it is not definable as a person,place, or thing; as an agent, or actor; andbeing without substance, Life, orIntelligence, and neither Principle nor


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identity, we learn it came not! but is illusion.Again, what is belief? Nothing real or true,

and to understand this is the only factconcerning it. Sickness, sin, and death, allthat is the opposite and absence of God, isbelief and error presupposing good and evilin matter and man. But is the questionanswered, whence cometh belief? It has noorigin, it is neither Principle nor idea; but

illusion, without any real cause or creation.

We say disease is a reality, and identity, butscience finds it a belief only; disappearingwith mortality, and cognizant only topersonal sense; not to Soul. "God made allthat was made;" there is but one Principleand its infinite idea; harmony and

immortality that belong to man, areperceived through spiritual sense, but notpersonal. Belief has no Intelligence, havingneither Principle nor understanding,therefore it is error, and error is the so-called mind of mortal man! totally depraved,sinning, suffering, and dying; this is the

absence of God. Man has no mind in matter;the belief that he has, is error. There is butone Intelligence, even God, the infinite Love,Truth, and Life; and God is not man. Matteris not intelligent; brains are not mind; andman is not Soul, a separate God orIntelligence. Jesus laid much stress on thispoint: "Thou shall have no other gods before


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Me;" while we daily behold in belief the zealof error to gain the opposite point, viz.: "I

will make ye as gods."

Science informs us immortal mind is Spirit;but personal sense would have mind bothSpirit and matter; a moral impossibility.Spirit cannot act through matter, they arediametrically opposed to each other, and

never mingle; personal sense is the onlyfoundation for the theory that Spirit andmatter mingle, and time and eternity arewearing away this support. Mind is notconfined to organization, nor limited bymateriality.

Immortal mind is the atmosphere of Soul

pervading all space; and regarding even"the sparrow's fall;" no power can compressit within a skull-bone! matter confines it not,the strongest barrier opposed to Intelligenceis as nothing; the only clog, or limit givenmind, is mortal belief, error's synonym;understanding constructs not, and has no

cognizance of limits; it is finite belief thatwould limit mind; and there is no finiteIntelligence. There is finite error, that pre-supposes mind in matter; but this is the eviland not the good, the belief and not thereality; yea, the error, and not the Truth ofman.


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Spiritual sense belongs to Soul, and is theonly real sense; it takes no cognizance of

substance in matter, of suffering, sin, ordeath; Spiritual sense recognizes all that isTruth, Life, and Love; hence there is nothingleft personal sense to enjoy or suffer.Personal sense is the dream of Life inmatter, a supposition only of reality andsubstance, of Life and Intelligence, of good

and evil, that would limit Soul, and doom allthings to decay. Sensation in matter is oneof its beliefs, and belief is the opinion,personal, that supports only what is untrue,selfish, or debased; all these mistakes arebut the error we name mortal man. God andman will never be understood, until welisten alone to the senses attached to

Principle instead of person, to Soul insteadof body.

Personal sense being error, all evidenceobtained therefrom is belief withoutPrinciple, or immortal proof. Spiritual, incontradistinction to personal sense, reveals

man idea; not substance; his Life andIntelligence, God, in other words, Soul, andnot body; and thus secure from chance andchange be is harmonious and eternal. Thedemonstration of this statement will destroysickness, sin and death, and because of this,it is important to understand at present aswell as hereafter, the great Truth which


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must displace the opposite error thatbrought sin and death into the world,

shutting out the pure sense of immortality;and which ought to be learned to-day.

God is, and was, and ever will be; and if thisIntelligence exists, there is also the idea ofit, named man, that cannot be separated fora single moment from this, its principle and

Soul. We look on a corpse, or the bodycalled man, but is it man? No! Is Soul in it?certainly not; has Soul escaped? No! wherewas the outside, infinite Spirit, if Spirit wasin man? Can Soul be lost? impossible, forthe immortal is without end; and Soul isSpirit, and Spirit, God. Is man lost? not ifSoul be left! for Soul is Principle, and man

its idea, and these forever inseparable; Godwould be lost, if man was blotted out, forentity signifies the particular nature ofbeing; and God, without the idea, image,and likeness of Himself, would be anonentity! Man is the complex idea of God,hence, they cannot be separated.

Contemplating a corpse, we behold thegoing out of a belief; we have beenaccustomed to this belief of mind in matter,but not the Truth of man, whose Soul is Godand his body the harmonious idea of Him.The belief of Life in matter is all that dies.The Principle, Soul, and Life of man, is not in


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the body, and cannot die. When Paul'soptical sense yielded to science, the vision

of Soul, he realized nothing could separatehim from God; understanding as he did thatthe real man is never separated from thesweet sense and presence of Life and Love.

A sick man is not a sinner above all others;and yet he is not the idea of God; weary of

matter that claims so much suffering, thesick become more spiritually inclined,inasmuch as the belief of Life in matterbegins to give up its ghosts; all error mustfinally yield to the Truth of man.

A wicked man is not an idea of God; he isnothing more than the belief that hatred,

malice, pride, envy, hypocrisy, etc., arecoupled with Life, God! but Life, Love, andTruth, never made a sick man, nor a sinner!the same fountain sendeth not forth sweetand bitter water. Life and its idea, areneither sick, nor sinning, but eternal andharmonious; never mingling with mortal

man. The Scripture saith mortal man "isconceived in sin and brought forth ininiquity;" his origin is error, then, is it not?and this error the belief that man is anIntelligence, and creator, after "all wasmade that was made!" If all that worketh alie is ultimately destroyed, this man mustperish.


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The understanding of Truth, and itsdemonstration, is eternal Life; a belief can

never attain this. Contradicting all acceptedtheories on this subject, and diametricallyopposing the evidences of personal sense,science comes "laying the axe at the root ofthe tree," and cutting down all that bringsnot forth good fruit; thence healing the sick,and casting out error. There is no escape

from sin, sickness, and death, except on thePrinciple that God is the only Life andIntelligence of man. So long as we admitLife, sensation, and Intelligence in matter,man will be governed by his body, and atthe mercy of death, sickness, and sin.

Harmony is not at the mercy of matter; nor

happiness at the disposal of sense; nor Lifeat the command of death. Do you ask whatproof have you there is no sensation inmatter, or in other words, no personalsense? We have tested this statement inhealing the sick sufficiently to find itsPrinciple invariable. Our position is taken

from proofs obtained through our owndemonstration; and allowing their Principleto point higher, and acknowledging therelationship between the lower and higherdemonstrations with the same logic, we say,three and three trillions are six trillions; inthat we prove with smaller numbers thatthree added to three, make six. Because we


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believe sensation is nerves, it by no meansproves this to be the case; the inebriate

believes he finds pleasure in alcoholicdrinks, and the sinner in sin. The thiefbelieves he has made a gain in stealing; andthe hypocrite in hiding himself; but thescience of Life contradicts these falsepositions, and names them simply belief anderror; thence, inferring, belief is error, and

to understand God and man would destroyall belief, and give us the understanding ofwhat constitutes being.

That pain and pleasure belong to the body isthe error of earth, that never enters heavenwhere nothing is found that worketh a lie.Soul is the only living consciousness, and

Soul neither sins, nor suffers; it is immortal,and error is mortal; but sin, sorrow, andsickness, are mortal, destroying themselves,because they are error. sickness and deathare not the manifestations of Soul, Truth, orLife, hence they are not of God, and there isno other causation. The tares and wheat

must be separated, the real and unrealblend not; happiness is real, and Truth isreal, but error is unreal; sin and holiness,sickness and health, Life and death, proceednot from the same source. Life, health, andholiness, together with all harmonies, areTruth; sin, sickness, and death, are error,


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the opposite of Truth, harmony and Life, andthese opposites never blend.

Electricity is not a vital fluid; but an elementof mind, the higher link between the grosserstrata of mind, named matter, and the morerarified called mind. The so-calleddestructive forces of matter, and theferocity of man and beast are animal

beliefs, that admit evil because theyunderstand not good. All that is good isSoul; and its opposite is personal sense; theemanations of Soul are purity, harmony, andimmortality; those of personal sense,impurity, discord, and death. Science bringsto light Truth, and its supremacy, universalharmony, God's entirety, and matter's

nothingness.

Doctrines, theories, and knowledge, are butopinions and beliefs, the impressions andobservations of personal sense, based on noPrinciple or fundamental Truth by which towork out harmony. When we reach

immortality, we shall all learn Life is God,that matter is mortal, and that Spirit alonesurvives the wreck of time. Personal sensewill make war on science, until Truthdetermines the conquest on the side ofimmutable right. Science reveals Truth;whereas, personal sense takes nocognizance of it; also, it reverses all the


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positions of sense, and tears away itsfoundations; hence, the enmity of mankind

towards science, until it battles its way upby putting beliefs down. Deductions from amatter-basis are necessarily error; butscience taking its positions fromIntelligence, reaches man with harmony,and bears the reports only of Truth. Thesedifferent causes are appreciated better

when witnessing the effects of both, andtaking science to heal the sick incontradistinction to drugs, electricity, etc.,we learn the opposite results of Truth andError. Systems of medicine, like narcotics,leave man worse, for the stupor theyinduce; while science demandingdemonstration for its proof invites progress,

and uses the understanding like a two-edged sword, to amputate error on all sides.After this surgery, mankind will findthemselves better.

Doctrines, opinions and belief are the "treeof knowledge" against which Wisdom

warned man; knowledge is obtained fromfalse premises, from personal sense, thataffords only the mortal evidences of man,presupposing Soul's audience-chamber thebrain, falsely claiming the prerogatives ofIntelligence, God. Reasoning from suchstand-points produces all the discords ofmind and body, that must eventually go


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down, obedient to the mandate, "Thou shaltsurely die." Researches after Truth ought to

leave matter for Principle, and bring thecontemplation of Life outside of sense, thusgathering us nearer harmony andimmortality, and proportionately away fromsickness, sin, and death.

Soul is not in the body. The belief that

Intelligence is in matter is error in thepremises and conclusions of man. Life,Intelligence, or substance, is not in or ofmatter, neither can they be aught but Soul,and because we shall ultimately prove thisscience to individual consciousness, weshould begin its first lessons to-clay. Inorder to gain the understanding of God and

man, Soul and body, harmony andimmortality, we must base all ourconclusions of man on Principle instead ofperson, on Soul instead of body, or we shallnever reach the science of being.

Truth, Life, and Love are God, the Soul of

the universe and man, and the onlysubstance and Intelligence: these are notmixed with change, sin, or death, nor withmatter, the body mortal; the erring,changing and dying blend not with thatwhich is the same yesterday, to-day, andforever. Life is Intelligence, the Principlethat is Soul or Spirit, and there is but one


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Spirit or Soul of the universe and man. If Lifewas in man, matter would govern itself, and

Spirit would be a portion of matter;therefore, God would be Spirit and matter.No portion of the Infinite can enter thefinite; Life and Intelligence that are infiniteare not mortal man. But may there not be aportion of God in man and matter? This isequally impossible, for the least part of

Spirit would destroy matter, for matter isnon-Intelligence, not a power matchedagainst Spirit; it is mortality only, and theimmortal is Spirit.

God is Principle, --the Truth, and Soul ofman, and man is "the image and likeness ofGod." Again, God is substance and Life,

hence man is but the image and likeness ofthese; man is not Truth, Life, or Love. God isSpirit, and man the image and likeness ofHim; therefore, man is not matter, but idea,and idea no more contains its Principle thanfigures embrace the rule of mathematics.We have no resort but to reduce God to a

level with man, or look away from man forhis Substance, Life, and Intelligence, all ofwhich must be outside of matter, or at themercy of sin, sickness, and death. Darknessmay hide the sun, but cannot put it out.Sickness, sin, and death are darkness, ormoral ignorance that hide Truth, Life, andLove, but cannot extinguish them, or their


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idea cannot destroy God or man. The stand-point whence to reckon man is not matter,

but Spirit. The Soul of man is never lost,insomuch as it is God, Principle, and man itsidea, and both are eternal; hence theimmortality of Soul and body. Infinite Soulembraces perfect understanding, the lightthat neither diminishes nor increases, for"no night is there." Day declines, and

shadows hide the sun, but darkness fleeswhen the earth has turned on its axis;because the solar centre is the same. Thusthe darkness of belief hides, but cannot putout the light of science.

Soul is self-existent and eternal; thatimmortal man is tributary to Soul instead of

body, is the science of being, but we shallnever understand it, believing Soul is in thebody, or that matter embraces Intelligenceand Life. If we understood the Truth of beingit would prove Principle and its idea, that is,Soul and body immortal; and instead ofrequiring laws of health that never yet made

man immortal, to save Life, we should be alaw of Life and Truth to our own bodies,even that higher law of Soul that prevailsover sense, and gives harmony andimmortality to all it controls. "Man hathsought out many inventions," but none ofthem can solve a problem without itsPrinciple; numbers are harmonious only


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when governed by Intelligence, outside thefigures; but ignorance might deny this fact

did not self-evident proof force theconclusion. Understanding the science ofLife, we gain unfailing evidence of itscorrectness in healing, etc. Those whoobtain even glimpses of it are convinced ofits Truth, and those who advance higher aremore undoubting than of other proofs.

How can a belief of Life in matter find Life,God? This is not more possible than "for acamel to go through the eye of a needle."To inquire of our bodies what prospect wehave for health or Life, is taking the thingout of the hands of God altogether.

To suppose we find pleasure or pain,happiness or misery, Life or death in thebody, is not finding God our Life, and "apresent help in times of trouble;" also, toadmit the same fountain sendeth forthsweet and bitter water, is contrary to ourMaster's teachings. Life supposed to

originate in soil and seed, in animality, orthe earth, is a belief of Life only, and not thePrinciple that is Life, without beginning orend of days. Belief is mortality's self,nothing whatever but illusion; we have nodoubt but belief could make its mortal manan amphibious animal. Phenomenaillustrative of our views will appear as the


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ages waken from the dream of Life inmatter: belief can adopt any position,

strange and new, but Life will be found lessat the mercy of matter, as belief gives upthe ghost, and the science of Life issufficiently understood to be fairlydemonstrated; then man will be foundimmortal.

Spirit controls matter; when this is fairlyunderstood, phenomena at present sounaccountable to a belief holding Soul pentup in body, will be explained, and mysteryand miracle fast disappear. A belief of Life inmatter leaves man at the mercy of death,for if this belief should change to one ofdeath he is supposed to die, but the fact

remains that man is immortal, and if deathin matter or the body, be proved false, Lifein matter or the body is proved false also.

The true relation of Soul to body is that ofGod to man; in other words, of Principle toits idea; these are forever inseparable; and

when the true idea, which is the immortalbody, is perceptible, we shall have becomeacquainted with its Principle; "therefore,acquaint now thyself with God."

A sweet combination of sounds informs manthis is not governed by chance; thatharmony is not accident; we have


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undeniable proof that the Intelligenceproducing music, separating light from

darkness, etc., guides and controls all. Thebelief that man is the Intelligence thatgoverns sound, would destroy harmony; formusic left to personal sense is at the mercyof misapprehension and discord; controlledby belief instead of the understanding, itwould be lost; even thus man would be

discord and death without a governingPrinciple, or left to personal sense. God andman are Principle and idea, and God is the Truth, Life and Love controlling this idea.Then what can separate man from harmonyand immortality? St. Paul says: "Neitherheight nor depth nor any other creature canseparate me from the love of God." Love

cannot be debarred a manifestation, and isjoy and not sorrow, good and not evil, Lifeand not death; hence the perfect idea Godgave of Himself in immortal man, the objectof divine affections.

Soul and body are Principle and idea, or God

and man united indissolubly, but the man ofGod is the good and perfect idea of Himgoverned by Soul instead of sense. This ideaexpresses the sinless and infinite; not thefinite and dying.

Anatomy and theology never defined theman of God; the first, explains the man of


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man; the second, bow to make this man aChristian, whose life held in matter is

separated from God. These are some of thebeliefs that serve as mile-stones to point outthe rough places science must makesmooth. The man of sin, sickness, and deathis not, "the image and likeness" of Love, Truth and Life; and all the vanity of theGentiles, and doctrines preached under the

sun, can never make that man immortal, orthe image of God. Science lays the axe atthe root of error and cutting down the beliefof Life in matter, of Soul in body, and God inman, exchanges fable for fact, turns thoughtinto new channels away from personality toPrinciple, through which alone man is ableto reach Life.

For Life to be eternal, it must be self-existent, therefore independent of matter;even the "I am" that was, and is, and thatnothing can efface. Christ said, "I am theresurrection and Life." Man is not saved inmatter, but out of it in God. Denying

personal sense, having but one God, takingup the cross and following Christ, Truth, isthe only Christianity, but doctrines andcreeds have little to do with this.

Life, substance, and Intelligence are Souloutside of personal sense; what appears tobe these in man, is simply a belief and


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dream of Life in matter; the unreal, that isthe opposite of the real. The figurative "Tree

of Life" was the Principle of man bringingforth fruits of immortality. Sin, sickness, anddeath are the fruits of the "tree ofknowledge;" and the Scripture instructs usto judge of the tree by its fruits.

The resistance to metaphysical science will

yield slowly but surely; we had sanguinehopes of its present prosperity until welearned its vastness, the fixedness of folly,and man's hatred of Truth. Not through thefootsteps of personal sense do we gainWisdom; the infinite is achieved only as weturn from the finite, and from the personalerror to the impersonal Truth of being. Until

the scientific relationship between God andman is perceived, and its radical pointsadmitted, we cannot reach thedemonstration of which it is capable.Exchange our stand-point of Intelligenceand Life, from matter to Spirit, and we shallgain the perfect Life; and the control that

Soul holds over body, and receive Christ, Truth, in Principle and not person, andthrough the understanding and not belief. This is the difficult point, but it must beachieved before man is harmonious andimmortal, and to gather our thoughts in thisdirection to-day is highly important, in viewof the vast amount to be accomplished


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before the final recognition of Life outside ofmatter. If we make no progress toward the

science of Life here, the hereafter will stripoff our rags of error, leaving us naked, untilwe are clothed upon by Truth, theimmortality of man.

Not understanding the Principle of being, weshall seek in another world happiness in

sense, and then, as now, receive sorrowinstead of gladness; because of this error;pain, sickness, sin, and death, will continueso long as the belief remains of Life,happiness, and Intelligence in the body. Ifthe change called death dispossessed manof the belief of pleasure and pain in thebody, universal happiness were secure at

the moment of dissolution; but this is not so:"they that are filthy shall be filthy still";every sin and error we possess at themoment of death, remains after it the sameas before, and our only redemption is inGod, the Principle of man that destroys thebelief of intelligent bodies. When we gain

the freedom of the Sons of God, we shallmaster sense with Soul. As progresscompels this ripening process through whichman resigns the belief of Life andIntelligence in matter, there will be greattribulation such as has not been since thebeginning.


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When pleasures of sense perish, they aretaken away through anguish, even the

amputation of right hands, and plucking outof right eyes. Man at ease in error, whenstricken suddenly down by death, cannotunderstand Life. Mortal man knows nothingabout Life that is learned by relinquishingpleasure and pain of sense; and how longthe pangs necessary for errors amputation

continue, depends on the tenacity of thebelief of happiness in personal sense. Whenremembering God is our only Life, andcontemplating our present adherence to thebelief of Life in matter, we may well tremblefor the days in which we shall say, "I haveno pleasure in them." The false viewsentertained of pardoned sin, or universal

and immediate happiness in the midst ofsin, or, that we are changed in a momentfrom sin to holiness, are grave mistakes. Tosuddenly drop our earthly character, andbecome partakers of eternal Life, withoutthe pangs of a new birth, is morallyimpossible. We know, "all will be changed in

the twinkling of an eye when the last trumpshall sound," but the last call of Wisdom isnot the first call in the growth of Christiancharacter; while man is selfish, unjust,hypocritical and sensual, to conclude thelast call of Wisdom has been heard thatawakens him to glorified being, ispreposterous! Science forbids such feats of


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imagination, and looks us in the face withreason and revelation.

"As the tree falleth, so shall it lie;" as mangoeth to sleep so shall he waken; when thebelief of death closes our eyes on this phaseof the dream of Life in matter, we shallwaken, not to a final judgment orresurrection, not with a single change in

character, but for the same judgment ofWisdom to go on in process of purificationas before, until Truth finally destroys error.When the final triumph of Soul over sense isachieved, the last trump has sounded, andnot until then; this hour "no manknoweth,not the son but the Father;" here prophecysteps and proof is wanting; but science sees

beyond the grave the certainty ofimmortality. The science of Life is the onlycertainty of existence. Truth is harmony andimmortality. Universal salvation holds itsgrounds on the basis of progression, inwhich case man cannot commence too soonthe severest lessons of science, whereby to

gain happiness and immortality. Heaven isnot a local habitation, but the harmony ofmind and body; and we obtain this not ofbelief, but understanding, not of sense, butscience. From the sudden surprise of findingall that is mortal, unreal, a belief only,without creation or Truth, the questionarises, who or what is it that believes. We


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have before said God is the only Intelligenceand cannot believe because He

understands. There is neither substance norIntelligence, in the mountain mirage thatseemeth what it is not, and such is mortalman; nor in a face reflected from the mirror;but such is not immortal man the image ofGod. Intelligence is Soul and not sense,Spirit and not matter, and God is the only

Intelligence, and there is but one God,hence there are no believers! So far as thisstatement is understood will it be admitted,and the true idea of God, which is the onlyreal man, will appear to the understanding,and the old belief of Intelligence and Life inmatter, named by Paul "the old man," willdisappear or "be put off," for "dust thou art

and unto dust shalt thou return;" man neverdies, it is only a belief of man.

Apprehending God the only Life andIntelligence of man, is the foundation ofharmony, but to gain this understanding ofSoul, the Principle that gave man dominion

over earth, 'tis necessary to understandone's-self Spirit, and not matter. Jesusestablished his demonstration in healing thesick, etc., on this very basis, thereby holdingall being and prerogative Soul, and notpersonal sense. Reason is right only whenstarting from cause instead of effect, fromSoul instead of sense; conclusions based on


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the evidences of personal sense are drawnfrom mortality.

'Ology and 'ism tend to the conviction thatGod who is universal cause, is effect also,insomuch as they all make Intelligencemoral and physical, or mind and matter. Thetime has come to separate the belief ofpersonal sense on the one hand, from

science on the other; hitherto man hascalled on man to interpret God, and onmatter and its supposed laws, to heal thesick; but as progress compels the change,we shall seek outside of personal sense inthe Principle of things, their trueinterpretation and remedy. To seek Truththrough belief is to ask the changing and

erring for the immutable and immortal; or tocall belief Truth, is ignorance of God. Welearn from the Scripture "God is Love," andthis certainly is Principle instead of aperson; hence God should be understoodand demonstrated: belief can neitherexplain Principle nor demonstrate God. To

understand, instead of believe, what mostconcerns our happiness, is essential, and toknow we are right cannot be construedirreverence to Truth.

Our Master ventured to say he was "Truthand Life, and no man cometh unto theFather" (the Principle of his being) "except


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through me," Truth. Principle is the Father ofman, and science alone reveals Principle,

hence it is the "Comforter" that leads into all Truth. Jesus regarded himself Principleinstead of person: hear his words: "I am theway, the Truth, and Life."

God is the Soul of man and the onlyIntelligence, Life or Substance: and man is

the reflex shadow of God. Belief is error, andmortal man is a belief: understanding isIntelligence; belief is personal sense, the so-called mind of matter; understanding isSoul, which is Spirit, belief is knowledge andthat which said, "I will make ye as gods," ismortal error, alias mortal man. Wisdom saidof knowledge, "In the clay thou eatest

thereof thou shalt surely die." Christianity isGod understood and demonstrated. There isno death in Truth, and vice versa. Error ismortal; the very opposite of Truth and itsidea which is the perfect and immortal manand universe. Doctrines and theories placingGod in man, Soul in body, are founded on

belief, and are the offspring of personalsense. We entertain no belief with regard towhat we understand, and cannotdemonstrate what is not understood. WhenSoul is accepted as the only Intelligence, weshall depend on this ever-present Truth tocontrol its own body; and to understand thisPrinciple of man, is indispensable to his


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harmony; to know we are Soul and not bodyis starting right.

Matter is not substance, if God is substance;for matter and Spirit are not one. Whichshall be substance, the erring, mutable andmortal, or the change-less, unerring andimmortal. Soul is Spirit and Spirit the onlysubstance, insomuch as it is the Principle of

man, and the universe. To regard matter alaw of itself, or produced by Intelligence iserror. Matter is change, decay, and death,and Principle is not in decay, Life is not indeath, Soul is not in body. God is not in thethings He hath made, and all that he hathmade is "good." If Soul was in body, Spiritand matter were one; but Soul is not

personal sense, and vice versa. God is thePrinciple, or Soul of all that is real, andnothing is real that does not express Himand is controlled by Him, and immortal. Soulis lost sight of by personal sense, but cannotbe lost in science. There is neither growth,maturity, nor decay to Soul: these are the

mutations of sense, the clouds before Soulthat we call substance, but they are onlyvapor. Metaphysically speaking, a belief ofLife in matter is what might be termed aloss of Soul; for seeking Life and happinessin error, we lose right of Truth. The idea ofGod, is the heaven, earth, and immortalman that is unerring, and eternal, because


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they are controlled by Principle, that is, bySoul, and not sense, by understanding and

not belief. That which is mortal, is a dreamof Life, Intelligence and substance in matter;a belief that idea creates Principle, andshadow substance! In this error Truth is lost;in other words, error loses sight of Soul orthe Principle of man, and a belief ofintelligent matter takes the place of the

science of man. Soul is self-existent, theforever "I am," that enters not into sin andmortality. The parent of all discord is thisstrange hypothesis, that Soul is in body, andLife in matter; this error spreads its tablewith sickness, sin and death, and partakesof its own bounty. In the resurrection ofunderstanding, Life, Soul, and substance will

be recognized one and outside of matter,and the Intelligence of all that is immortal.The idea of Life is embraced in Soul and notsense, in the immortal and not the mortal.

The most scientific man of whom we haveany record, Jesus of Nazareth, called the

mortal body that we suppose substance,"ghost"; and his body that others calledspirit, "flesh and bones"; showing thatsubstance to his understanding was thedeathless Principle that embraces man andis forever inseparable from Soul. But theJews, strongly material, called the real ideaof God, even the body that was not matter,


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a spirit or ghost; and the body they laid in asepulchre, substance. By this error they lost

logic and Truth, therefore lost sight of Jesusat the very moment when he presentedmore then ever the real idea of God, andbecause of this belief, the idea was takenfrom them. The higher he wrought theproblem of being through spiritual science,the more odious he became to the

materialistic world that understood him not.Life, Intelligence and substance to themwere matter, but to him they were God, theTruth of man; therefore he reckoned himselfnot matter but Spirit; not sense, but Soul.Said he, "Spirit hath not flesh and bones asye see me have," but this be said three daysafter his burial, before relinquishing the

belief of substance-matter; after that, hisdisciples even could not see him. Jesus said,"I and the Father are one," and thisseparated him from theology and theRabbis: understanding himself Soul insteadof body, and that Soul was God, broughtdown upon him the anathemas of a world.

This statement of himself understood inscience, was, that Life, substance, andIntelligence, are not man, but God, notbody, but Soul; reversing this, belief couldnot see the idea of Truth or harmoniousman; and the sinning, sick and mortal errorthat crucified Jesus, occupied the place ofGod's idea. Mortal and sinful man is not the


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product of God; sin and death neverproceeded from Life, Love and Truth.

Matter being unintelligent, there is nomaterial law governing man and theuniverse, and Spirit is free by divine right.Soul is the master of man and matter. Truthis not learned through laws of matter; forthere are no such laws: matter is not a law-

giver. Wisdom demanded man "to holddominion over earth," and all things therein,making him obedient only to higher law. TheTruth of man saith be is superior to matter;but the opposite error says, he is inferior toit. Truth says: "I give you power over allthings, that nothing shall by any meansharm you;" "power to handle serpents, to

take deadly drugs," etc. But while ourmissionaries are carrying the Bible toHindustan, and explaining it according to abelief, hundreds are dying annually of thebite of serpents. Creeds and ritualism neverenable us to follow Jesus' example, and givethe demonstration he gave of God. Life

cannot be separated from its idea; thereforeSoul and body, God and man, areinseparable. All good proceeds from God inthe order and harmony of science; evil is itsopposite, or knowledge, that proceeds frompersonal sense, and usurps the place ofWisdom.


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The thirty thousand different readings giventhe Old, and the three hundred thousand

the New Testament, account for thediscrepancies that sometimes appear in theScriptures. The science of the Bible ismanifest from Genesis to Revelations, andthe demonstration that Jesus gave,conclusive evidence of its entire Truth. Theopposite of sickness, sin, and death, Jesus

knew was alone able to destroy them, andbring to light immortality. This was theplatform on which he labored, and cast outdevils, viz.; destroy the belief of Intelligenceand Life in matter, and it caste out all error,and heals the sick. This was Truth, and "thestone the builders rejected," while yet itmust become the head of the comer, this

the rock on which Christ, Truth, built itschurch, that the gates of bell (the beliefs ofman) cannot prevail against.

"The image and likeness of God" was lostsight of through belief, and is regained onlythrough understanding. To suppose laws of

matter control man, is the error it would beto say that figures govern numbers, whenwe should find examples wrought on thisplan would cause the figures to be erasedthat the Principle might be allowed toreproduce its own idea. Harmonious man isthe immortal idea of God; but theinharmonious is mortal belief. The voice of


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Truth, calls: "Man, where art thou?" and whowill meet this inquiry today, with the answer

of science? Man is safe in Soul, the Principleof being, but out of this he is "a reed shakenwith the wind," the ignis fatuus of belief,tossed about with every wind of doctrine;until the body is sensationless throughscience, man is not safe; every feeling therebetrays where he holds himself; every pain

and pleasure of sense, every hope,ambition, and joy that has its foundation inmatter, reckons against the science of ourcourse, and must be destroyed. Man,

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where art thou? is met with reply from the

head, the heart, stomach, blood, nerves,etc.; "Lo! here thou art;" looking forhappiness and Life in matter, but findingpain and death.

To conclude Life, Love, and Truth areattributes of a personal Deity, implies there

is something in person superior to Principle.But nothing is wiser than Wisdom, or truerthan Truth; and Life, and Love, have nosuperlatives, they are primitives and notderivatives. Person is not the Principle ofgoodness, and the reality, or Spirit, is oursonly as we are good. Jesus sought Wisdomof no man, and said: "Call no man Father,


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for one is your Father, even God," thusregarding man begotten of Soul, and not

sense; and controlling matter andtriumphing over disease and death, hebrought to light his Principle and theimmortality of man.

To test our understanding is to put it inpractice; if we possess Truth, we shall live

truly, but personal sense never aids man inthis direction, but wars against spirituality.'Tis not in all the vanity of the Gentiles tosend a drop of rain, or to make a mortalbody the idea of God. The example Jesuspresented for us to follow, and the Principlehe demonstrated in healing, etc. wasbeyond question, science; but the error of

past and present ages is our wronginterpretation, of Jesus and Christ, or manand God. Taught by some doctrine, or belief,that Principle is in person, and Soul in body,we have "gods many," and our standard ofTruth changes hands. Our Master taught hisstudents the demonstration of Christianity

was not alone in the beatitudes of theMount, but in healing the sick, also.

When Moses, the ancient law giver ofWisdom,

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despaired of making the people understandwhat God, through science, said to him, the

supreme Soul bade him cast down his rod,and it became a serpent, and be fled at firstbefore the serpent, but afterwards took itup, proving his power over it. And "the handthat was made leprous as snow," lie put intohis bosom again and plucked it out, andbehold it was as his other flesh, and Wisdom

said: "It shall come to pass if they will nothear thee, neither harken to the voice of thefirst sign, that they will believe the voice ofthe latter;" that is, they will listen to itsinterpretation, when they see itsdemonstration in healing. Jesus also said inhis answer to John's inquiry, "Art then bethat should come?" "Go and show John

again these things ye see and hear; theblind receive their sight, the lame walk, etc.,and blessed is he who shall not be offendedin me; " in other words, who shall not denythat this is the demonstration of Truth. Jesussaid to his followers: "Go ye into all theworld, heal the sick," etc., and this was

enjoined not on his disciples alone, but onall Christendom; wherefore, said he:"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them,who shall understand through the word." "Inthe beginning was the Word, and the Wordwas God," the Principle of all being; hence itwas not a person, to be understood, or thathealed the sick, neither mediumship,


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mesmerism, nor drugs, but the Principle,that is, Life and Truth.

In the original Scriptures, metaphorabounded, and proper names weresignificant of spiritual ideas, The authors ofSmith's Bible Dictionary say, "The spiritualinterpretation of the Scripture must restupon both the literal and moral." In the

original it was written: "Je-

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hovah said, my spirit shall not forever behumbled in man, seeing that they are, or inerror they are but flesh." The science ofman was not forever to be cast aside in

explaining him, seeing that man in error wasmortal. But how are we to escape fromflesh, or mortality, except through thechange called death? By understanding wenever were flesh, that we are Spirit and notmatter.

When the belief that we inhabit a body isdestroyed, we shall live, but our body willhave no sensation. We shall find God in God,that is, Spirit in Spirit, and Intelligence initself, there will be no loss of science as inmixing different species; and not until thebelief that Soul is in body, and Intelligencein matter, is destroyed, will man be found


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immortal. The so-called man that is mortal,is a compound error made up of many

beliefs, and while the science of being ismastering one, another presents itself. Inthese chemical changes we find it not soeasy to overcome sin as sickness, for thedream continues of pleasure in personalsense, when the belief of pain is willinglyrelinquished, and vice versa. Thus the way

is straight and narrow that leads to Life,inasmuch as it is a warfare with the flesh.

The science of the original word not beingapprehended by the age in which theScriptures were written, was not explained;a single misplaced preposition wouldchange its scientific meaning from Principle

to person; e. g., wisdom the principle ofGod; instead of Wisdom, the Principle, God.From the original quotations, it appears theScriptures were not understood by thosewho re-read and re-wrote them. The truerendering was their spiritual sense. Beforeknowledge increased

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some of the Soul-inspired patriarchs gavegood proofs of understanding God. Jacobwrestled with a man, that is, strove againstthe belief of Life and Intelligence in matter,"until day-break;" until the light of science


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shone upon his understanding, enabling himto restore the shrank sinew; this was the

spiritual sense; the literal-- the hour ofdawn. The shrank sinew he restored,understanding simply that he possessedcontrol over matter, and that man isimmortal, the image and likeness of God,that cannot lose one jot of its completeness.When Jacob became the demonstrator, even

in a limited capacity of this Truth, he wasnamed Israel, the chosen of Wisdom, andthereafter those building on this foundation,were of the house of Israel.

Why Jesus of Nazareth stood higher in thescale of being, and rose proportionatelybeyond other men in demonstrating God,

we impute to his spiritual origin. He was theoffspring of Soul, and not sense; yea, theSon of God. The science of being wasrevealed to the virgin mother, who, in partproved the great Truth, that God is the onlyorigin of man. The conception of Jesusillustrated this Truth, and finished the

example of creation. Jesus was the idea ofthis Principle, but born of woman, that is,having in part a personal origin, he blendedthe idea of Life, that is God, with the beliefof Life in matter, and became theconnecting link between science andpersonal sense; "and took upon himselfflesh," became apparent as the half-way


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position of positive science; thus to mediatebetween God and man; in other words, to

present the idea of God that revealed Lifeoutsideof matter, in contradistinc-

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tion to the belief of Life in matter, anddemonstrated the Truth that man is idea

and not substance, that God is all and in all,and the Principle of man that controlsmatter. Jesus walked the wave, stilled thetempest, and yet, this idea of God was notcomprehended by those who deemed God aperson, and Life in matter, and mansubstance and Intelligence.

Paul said: --"And if Christ (Truth) be notrisen, then is my preaching vain;" that is, ifit be not understood that God is the onlyLife, then are the explanations of Jesus vain.Again, the Scriptures saith, "I am theresurrection and Life, he that believeth inme shall not see death;" in other words, he

that understands Soul is God, the only Lifeand Intelligence of man, that the body hasnot a separate being, but hath Life abidingonly in Spirit, shall never die. This idea ofTruth was literally scourged by the Rabbis,over eighteen centuries ago; "despised andrejected of men," while yet it bore theirinfirmities, healed their sicknesses, raised


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the dead, and sat down at the right hand ofthe Father, was embraced in the Principle of

man, that wrought out the harmony of theuniverse. As of old, the Pharisees thrust thisidea from their synagogues, and the learnedJews sought to kill Jesus; so to-day, churchand state unconscious of the re-appearingof this idea of Truth, would silence whatcometh, as of old, doing good to its

enemies, casting out error, healing the sickand bringing freedom and salvation to man.Prophesying its rejection, Christ said, "whenI come again, shall I find faith on earth? "

To control our bodies, Paul said, was ouronly reasonable service, but who canpresume to reach the

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sublime bights of our Master, who isbegotten of sense, or a servant to it? Thetime cometh when the true origin of manwill be regained, being understood. Truth,

like the light, shineth on darkness, that is,first on belief and opinions, and thedarkness (or belief) comprehendeth it not,then on the advanced thought, etc., until itis understood. Truth is ruled out by belief,inasmuch as it rules out a personal God, andLife, and Intelligence in matter, and restoresthe scientific origin of man, and the only


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true demonstration of God; it is ruled out bymateria medica, insomuch as it rules out

drugs, one of the errors that saith,Intelligence and Life are in matter. Thescience of man and the universeunderstood, would divest drugs of allefficacy, control matter, and bear man overthe wave despite the fable of solids andfluids; but alas! who can test the Principle of

this saying today; this Truth is the strangerwithin our gates that is not remembered,while its elevating proof is ready to showpractically its honest merit.

Jesus never spake of disease as difficult ordangerous, but of having authority over it.He recommended not obedience to the so-

called laws of matter, and in his oppositeteachings the Scripture saith: --"He utteredthings that had been secret from thefoundation of the world," unperceived sinceknowledge had usurped man's government;hence, Truth cometh to-day bringing notpeace, but a sword. Our master forbore not

to declare the whole Truth; even theimpersonal God, though it severelyamputated error, set households atvariance, etc. Whosoever, therefore, shalldeclare what he taught, must accept thehatred of error, and find peace andconfidence in the realization that Wisdom is


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acknowledged only by her children.Realizing all this, the Master said, "If theworld hate you, ye may know that it hatedme before it hated you." This was theblessed test, benediction and consolation heoffered his followers.

Doctrines, opinions and beliefs, the so-calledlaws of matter, remedies for Soul and body,physiology, theology, materia medica, etc.are error, the very opposites of what Jesustaught and demonstrated, regarding Souland body, or God and man. This may seemsevere, but is said with honest convictionsof its Truth, with reverence for God and love

for man. The door to the sheep-fold throughwhich we gain God shuts them all out.Those who would follow Christ, Truth, healthe sick, etc., through doctrines and beliefs,or matter remedies, are climbing up anotherway, and unconsciously, though it be,robbing God. Life, Love, and Truth, our

Father which art in heaven, teaches manhealth, happiness, and immortality. Our onlyrightful law-giver is God, fulfilling all law inrighteousness, and visiting not on man thepenalty of sin, except for moraltransgression; but destroying sin, anddeath, and triumphing over the grave.


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Materia medica, anatomy, and physiology,together with every belief that spake from

"the tree of knowledge," would give deathand the grave victory over man. But Jesussaid to his followers: --"I give you powerover all things, that nothing shall by anymeans harm you;" the true idea of God tookaway the sting of death, mastered sicknessand sin, and caused the lion to lie down with

the lamb, even the beliefs that would robGod, to fall at the feet of Love.

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If man tarries in the storm until the body befrozen; or rushes into the flames and it bedevoured; this is Dot obedience to the

Wisdom that gave him "dominion overearth;" unless we understand how to avoidsuch results, we should keep from theiroccasion; to do otherwise is the blunder apupil in addition would make to attempt tosolve a problem of Euclid, and because hehas not reached this point in mathematics,

to fail in his demonstration, and othersperceiving this, to deny the Principle of theproblem. Jesus taught Truth, anddemonstrated it, and the result of this was,it healed the sick, and cast out error.

Christ is God, the Principle and Soul of theman Jesus; constituting Christ-Jesus, that is,


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Principle and idea. But the person of ourMaster was not less tangible or real,

because "his Life was hid with Christ inGod," that is, because he held Life, Soul,and not sense; this put all things under hisfeet, giving him triumph over matter, andthe body, over sin, sickness, and death.Holding himself in science, death was lost toHim in infinite Life, and Jesus the idea of

Christ, Truth, was as deathless as this itsPrinciple. This scientific understanding ofbeing gave him control over matter,enabling him to heal the sick and cast outthe opposite belief that makes matter, orthe body, the master of man turned thewater into wine; fed the multitude, etc. andfinally triumphed over death, and presented

to his students the body they thought buriedin a sepulchre; that body, however, had notrisen, which was their dead belief of him. The print of the nails and spear aloneconvinced Thomas, who would lean onpersonal sense instead of Soul, for proofs ofimmortality;

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but when partially aroused from the error,or dream of Life in matter, to the scientificunderstanding of Soul and body, or God andman, exclaimed, in awe, "My Lord, and myGod!"


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Man is the idea of his Principle, and only asthe image and likeness of Intelligence and

Life, substance and Spirit, is he beyond thereach of death, in the science of being,where nothing can harm or destroy him; ofthat which is materialized it can only besaid, "dust thou art and unto dust shalt thoureturn."

When the sharp experiences of supposedLife in matter, its disappointments, andceaseless woes, turn us from it as a tiredchild to a home in the bosom of Love, thenare we fit to understand Life apart fromvanity and lies; but without this weaningprocess, "who by searching can find outGod?" If through the wholesome discipline

of chastisement we become His children,understanding in part, righteousness andpurity, we behold the Truth of spiritualscience, where enraptured thought walksboundless, and conception unconfined haswings to reach its glory. But to gain Truthand Life, we must not only seek, but "strive

to enter in;" and the strife consists indestroying the error of personal sense; buthere we learn 'tis easier to desire Truth thanto get rid of error.

Theories of a personal God, based on thefalse premises of Life and Intelligence inmatter, must yield to science; and the


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dream of sense, to the Life that is Soul. Wemust leave the foundations of time-honored

systems, to gain Christ, Truth; come outfrom the world and be separate, or we haveno part and lot in this matter. The so-calledlaws material, presuppose body and

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Soul one for a period, until separated by atemporary law of divorcement to cometogether again at some uncertain future,and in a manner wholly unknown; which iseven less logical than annihilation.

To be sure, the Sadducees reasoned falselyon the resurrection, but not more so than

the Pharisees! When we admit theimmortality of Soul, we have admitted theimmortal body, also, for if Soul can beseparated from man, Principle can besevered from its idea, which is fatal to aself-existent Intelligence, and equal tosaying there may be a time when God is

without a single expression of Himself. Weask instinctively for something beyond thethings of personal sense, and whencecometh these unsatisfied cravings forimmortality?

Pleasures of sense are broken reeds, thatpierce us to the heart; but the joys of Soul


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are imperishable, and attainable even here,for the hereafter commences here; to-

morrow grows out of to-day. We cannotrealize the Truth of being in a moment; butwe can let go somewhat the belief thatwould fasten immortal Soul within a mortalbody. The motive to realize Life andhappiness apart from sense, may be gainedto-day, and this point won, we have started

light to admit a greater influx of light. Therealization of Truth is sometimes suddenand severe, as it came of old to Saul ofTarsus, when personal sense was blind hebeheld the vision of Soul, "what eye hathnot seen or car heard."

We will specify three of the footsteps that

enter in by the door, or enable us to becomereceptive of Truth. First. To become as alittle child in that we are willing toleavetheold for the new, and look beyond land-

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marks, theories, doctrines, and beliefs,pleasures or pains of sense; but here wemust watch that we receive not Truth fromperson, but Principle; the test being, thatwhatever cometh from Truth isdemonstrable, and brings forth good fruits;our lives must testify to this. Secondly.Purity is the foundation of the science of


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Life; "None but the pure in heart shall seeGod." Inspiration is the highest means to

convey messages from Principle to idea, i.e., from God to man; but these messagesare never borne into matter, therefore to berecipient of Truth, we must begin torecognize ourselves Soul, and not body, andreceive and impart the teachings of Spirit.Such messages are angels, but not winged

messengers; they are the aroma of Soulpassing to man, the impressions that guidehim aright, and are demonstrable whenunderstood, and not understood unlessdemonstrated. Thirdly. To rightly apprehendand receive more Truth, we must put intopractice what we already possess. Thishigher understanding of the relationship

between God and man will not berecognized by the opposite belief of Life andIntelligence in matter. And the explanationsor the wholesome rebukes of our Father,even Wisdom and Love, will often bedeemed severity; but we must avoid theyielding to error demanded by error;

remembering Love often moves the sinnerto hate, in that it stirs this opposite elementbefore destroying it; and not until the sinnerand the sick feel their need of Truth to savethem from sickness or sin, will they becomereceptive of it.


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It will be seen in scientific statement thatgender belongs to Principle, and not person;

that all formation is

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through Intelligence, because Life is Souloutside of sense. This is the stepping-stoneto the understanding of Soul which, to know

aright is eternal Life; man is immortal onlyas the idea of God, and not as a belief ofLife or Soul in the body. Love is God; buterror would couple Love and hate together;vainly thinking to mingle good and evil.Soul's attraction is Truth; but the attractionof sense is error. The former elevates andimmortalizes man, the latter debases and

makes mortal. The two cannot blend; onerules out the other as light shuts outdarkness and darkness light. God is no

Science and Health - Mary Baker Eddy-1stEdition

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