Part 48 (2/2)
Jesus' promise is perpetual. Had it been given only to his immediate disciples, the Scriptural pa.s.sage would 328:30 read you, not _they_. The purpose of his great life-work extends through time and includes universal humanity.
Its Principle is infinite, reaching beyond the pale of a 329:1 single period or of a limited following. As time moves on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly 329:3 dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow in all the grandeur of universal goodness.
Imitation of Jesus
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little under- 329:6 standing of Christian Science proves the truth of all that I say of it. Because you cannot walk on the water and raise the dead, you have no right to 329:9 question the great might of divine Science in these direc- tions. Be thankful that Jesus, who was the true demon- strator of Science, did these things, and left his example for 329:12 us. In Science we can use only what we understand. We must prove our faith by demonstration.
One should not tarry in the storm if the body is freez- 329:15 ing, nor should he remain in the devouring flames. Un- til one is able to prevent bad results, he should avoid their occasion. To be discouraged, is to resemble a pupil in 329:18 addition, who attempts to solve a problem of Euclid, and denies the rule of the problem because he fails in his first effort.
Error destroyed, not pardoned
329:21 There is no hypocrisy in Science. Principle is impera- tive. You cannot mock it by human will. Science is a divine demand, not a human. Always right, 329:24 its divine Principle never repents, but main- tains the claim of Truth by quenching error.
The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction of error. If 329:27 men understood their real spiritual source to be all bless- edness, they would struggle for recourse to the spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mor- 329:30 tal mind is plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to Truth.
The hopeful outlook
Human resistance to divine Science weakens in pro- 330:1 portion as mortals give up error for Truth and the un- derstanding of being supersedes mere belief. Until the 330:3 author of this book learned the vastness of Christian Science, the fixedness of mortal illu- sions, and the human hatred of Truth, she cherished 330:6 sanguine hopes that Christian Science would meet with immiediate and universal acceptance.
When the following platform is understood and the 330:9 letter and the spirit bear witness, the infallibility of divine metaphysics will be demonstrated.
The deific supremacy
I. G.o.d is infinite, the only Life, substance, Spirit, or 330:12 Soul, the only intelligence of the universe, including man.
Eye hath neither seen G.o.d nor His image and likeness. Neither G.o.d nor the perfect man 330:15 can be discerned by the material senses. The individ- uality of Spirit, or the infinite, is unknown, and thus a knowledge of it is left either to human conjecture or to the 330:18 revelation of divine Science.
The deific definitions
II. G.o.d is what the Scriptures declare Him to be, - Life, Truth, Love. Spirit is divine Principle, and divine 330:21 Principle is Love, and Love is Mind, and Mind is not both good and bad, for G.o.d is Mind; therefore there is in reality one Mind only, be- 330:24 cause there is one G.o.d.
Evil obsolete
III. The notion that both evil and good are real is a delusion of material sense, which Science annihilates.
330:27 Evil is nothing, no thing, mind, nor power.
As manifested by mankind it stands for a lie, nothing claiming to be something, - for l.u.s.t, dishonesty, 330:30 selfishness, envy, hypocrisy, slander, hate, theft, adultery, murder, dementia, insanity, inanity, devil, h.e.l.l, with all the etceteras that word includes.
Life the creator
331:1 IV. G.o.d is divine Life, and Life is no more confined to the forms which reflect it than substance is in its 331:3 shadow. If life were in mortal man or mate- rial things, it would be subject to their limi- tations and would end in death. Life is Mind, the creator 331:6 reflected in His creations. If He dwelt within what He creates, G.o.d would not be reflected but absorbed, and the Science of being would be forever lost through a mortal 331:9 sense, which falsely testifies to a beginning and an end.
Allness of Spirit
V. The Scriptures imply that G.o.d is All-in-all. From 331:12 this it follows that nothing possesses reality nor existence except the divine Mind and His ideas. The Scriptures also declare that G.o.d is Spirit.
331:15 Therefore in Spirit all is harmony, and there can be no discord; all is Life, and there is no death. Everything in G.o.d's universe expresses Him.
The universal cause
331:18 VI. G.o.d is individual, incorporeal. He is divine Prin- ciple, Love, the universal cause, the only creator, and there is no other self-existence. He is all- 331:21 inclusive, and is reflected by all that is real and eternal and by nothing else. He fills all s.p.a.ce, and it is impossible to conceive of such omnipresence and in- 331:24 dividuality except as infinite Spirit or Mind. Hence all is Spirit and spiritual.
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