Chapter 8
_Is it necessary to study your Science in order to be healed_ [25]
_by it and keep well?_
It is not necessary to make each patient a student in order to cure his present disease, if this is what you mean. Were it so, the Science would be of less
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practical value. Many who apply for help are not [1]
prepared to take a course of instruction in Christian Science.
To avoid being _subject_ to disease, would require the understanding of how you are healed. In 1885, this [5]
knowledge can be obtained in its genuineness at the Ma.s.sachusetts Metaphysical College. There are abroad at this early date some grossly incorrect and false teachers of what they term Christian Science; of such beware. They have risen up in a day to make this claim; [10]
whereas the Founder of genuine Christian Science has been all her years in giving it birth.
_Can you take care of yourself?_
G.o.d giveth to every one this _puissance_; and I have faith in His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway"- [15]
_all the way_. Unlike the M. D.'s, Christian Scientists are not afraid to take their own medicine, for this medicine is divine Mind; and from this saving, ex- haustless source they intend to fill the human mind with enough of the leaven of Truth to leaven the whole lump. [20]
There may be exceptional cases, where one Christian Scientist who has more to meet than others needs support at times; then, it is right to bear "one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
_In what way is a Christian Scientist an instrument by_ [25]
_which G.o.d reaches others to heal them, and what most_ _obstructs the way?_
A Christian, or a Christian Scientist, a.s.sumes no more when claiming to work with G.o.d in healing the sick, than in converting the sinner. Divine help is as neces-
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sary in the one case as in the other. The scientific Prin- [1]
ciple of healing demands such cooperation; but this unison and its power would be arrested if one were to mix material methods with the spiritual,-were to min- gle hygienic rules, drugs, and prayers in the same pro- [5]
cess,-and thus serve "other G.o.ds." Truth is as effectual in destroying sickness as in the destruction of sin.
It is often asked, "If Christian Science is the same method of healing that Jesus and the apostles used, [10]
why do not its students perform as instantaneous cures as did those in the first century of the Christian era?"
In some instances the students of Christian Science equal the ancient prophets as healers. All true healing is governed by, and demonstrated on, the same Princi- [15]
ple as theirs; namely, the action of the divine Spirit, through the power of Truth to destroy error, discord of whatever sort. The reason that the same results fol- low not in every ease, is that the student does not in every case possess sufficiently the Christ-spirit and its [20]
power to cast out the disease. The Founder of Chris- tian Science teaches her students that they must possess the spirit of Truth and Love, must gain the power over sin in themselves, or they cannot be instantaneous healers. [25]
In this Christian warfare the student or pract.i.tioner has to master those elements of evil too common to other minds. If it is hate that is holding the
the disease itself or the ignorance by which one unin- tentionally harms himself or another. An element of
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brute-force that only the cruel and evil can send forth, is [1]
given vent in the diabolical practice of one who, having learned the power of liberated thought to do good, per- verts it, and uses it to accomplish an evil purpose. This mental malpractice would disgrace Mind-healing, were it [5]
not that G.o.d overrules it, and causes "the wrath of man"
to praise Him. It deprives those who practise it of the power to heal, and destroys their own possibility of progressing.
The honest student of Christian Science is purged [10]
through Christ, Truth, and thus is ready for victory in the enn.o.bling strife. The good fight must be fought by those who keep the faith and finish their course. Mental purgation must go on: it promotes spiritual growth, scales the mountain of human endeavor, and gains the [15]
summit in Science that otherwise could not be reached, -where the struggle with sin is forever done.
_Can all cla.s.ses of disease be healed by your method?_
We answer, Yes. Mind is the architect that builds its own idea, and produces all harmony that appears. [20]
There is no other healer in the case. If mortal mind, through the action of fear, manifests inflammation and a belief of chronic or acute disease, by removing the cause in that so-called mind the effect or disease will disappear and health will be restored; for health, _alias_ harmony, [25]
is the normal manifestation of man in Science. The divine Principle which governs the universe, including man, if demonstrated, is sufficient for all emergencies.
But the pract.i.tioner may not always prove equal to bringing out the result of the Principle that he knows to [30]
be true.
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_After the change called death takes place, do we meet_ [1]
_those gone before?-or does life continue in thought only_ _as in a dream?_
Man is not annihilated, nor does he lose his ident.i.ty, by pa.s.sing through the belief called death. After the [5]
momentary belief of dying pa.s.ses from mortal mind, this mind is still in a conscious state of existence; and the in- dividual has but pa.s.sed through a moment of extreme mortal fear, to awaken with thoughts, and being, as material as before. Science and Health clearly states [10]
that spiritualization of thought is not attained by the death of the body, but by a conscious union with G.o.d. When we shall have pa.s.sed the ordeal called death, or destroyed this last enemy, and shall have come upon the same plane of conscious existence with those gone before, then we [15]
shall be able to communicate with and to recognize them.
If, before the change whereby we meet the dear de- parted, our life-work proves to have been well done, we shall not have to repeat it; but our joys and means of ad- vancing will be proportionately increased. [20]
The difference between a belief of material existence and the spiritual fact of Life is, that the former is a dream and unreal, while the latter is real and eternal. Only as we understand G.o.d, and learn that good, not evil, lives and is immortal, that immortality exists only in [25]
spiritual perfection, shall we drop our false sense of Life in sin or sense material, and recognize a better state of existence.
_Can I be treated without being present during treatment?_
Mind is not confined to limits; and nothing but our [30]
own false admissions prevent us from demonstrating this
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great fact. Christian Science, recognizing the capabili- [1]
ties of Mind to act of itself, and independent of matter, enables one to heal cases without even having seen the individual,-or simply after having been made ac- quainted with the mental condition of the patient. [5]
_Do all who at present claim to be teaching Christian_ _Science, teach it correctly?_
By no means: Christian Science is not sufficiently un- derstood for that. The student of this Science who under- stands it best, is the one least likely to pour into other [10]
minds a trifling sense of it as being adequate to make safe and successful pract.i.tioners. The simple sense one gains of this Science through careful, unbiased, contemplative reading of my books, is far more advantageous to the sick and to the learner than is or can be the spurious [15]
teaching of those who are spiritually unqualified. The sad fact at this early writing is, that the letter is gained sooner than the spirit of Christian Science: time is re- quired thoroughly to qualify students for the great ordeal of this century. [20]
If one student tries to undermine another, such sinister rivalry does a vast amount of injury to the Cause. To fill one's pocket at the expense of his conscience, or to build on the downfall of others, incapacitates one to practise or teach Christian Science. The occasional tem- [25]
porary success of such an one is owing, in part, to the im- possibility for those unacquainted with the mighty Truth of _Christian_ Science to recognize, as such, the barefaced errors that are taught-and the damaging effects these leave on the practice of the learner, on the Cause, and [30]
on the health of the community.
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Honest students speak the truth "according to the [1]
pattern showed to thee in the mount," and live it: these are not working for emoluments, and may profitably teach people, who are ready to investigate this subject, the rudiments of Christian Science. [5]