At the close of Paul's first epistle to Timothy we find this solemn warning to his young student: "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called." The master Christian himself had made it clear that the right kind of knowledge (which is always science) is indispensable to human progress; that the knowing of the truth makes free from evil of every sort, as he proved by his healing ministry for mankind, and to lose sight of the Science of being would mean the greatest misfortune which could befall the race.
Jesus once said, "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee;" and the gospel records make it very clear that his constant effort was to impart to his followers that knowledge which would enable them to repeat his wonderful works. We need not, therefore, be surprised to read of the great care taken to transmit his teachings in all their spiritual purity, that the signs which "follow them that believe" might never be lacking. Thus Paul goes on to admonish Timothy: "The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." Paul then warns him against mere discussions which profit no one, the words which "eat as doth a canker," and he refers to the teaching of those who say "that the resurrection is past already," thus, it seemed, overthrowing the faith of some weak brethren.
Now it was quite true that Jesus' resurrection, as a historical fact, was even then in the past, but it remained for each faithful follower to realize for himself the power of that resurrection and thus to have part in it, for in no other way could he attain the perfection which is a divine demand in every age. Here it will help us to understand this subject better if we read Mrs. Eddy's definition of resurrection, namely, "spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding" (Science and Health, p. 593). Now and then we hear of some students of Christian Science who imagine that they have risen above the need of any human organization, or even of studying the carefully prepared Lesson-Sermons which, in our revered Leader's judgment, mean so much to our cause (see Manual, Art. III, Sect. 1). These persons mistakenly think, as did some in Paul's day, that for them the resurrection is past already, and they do not shrink from the responsibility of meddling with the unfolding faith of others who are but entering the way of life. It were well for all such to test themselves by the definition above given, in order to learn to what extent their thoughts, words, and deeds are being spiritualized; whether they are being purged from fleshly lusts, and are following "righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart," to quote again the counsel given to Timothy.
