THE term purity, as understood in Christian Science, includes and involves a great deal more than the mere avoidance of vice. Doubtless the pharisaical in all ages have believed themselves pure according to the letter of the Mosaic law, but the fact remains that a man who is believing in the reality of matter, because of his belief in a dual nature, cannot be designated as truly pure-minded. An error in premise will come out in character and daily life. A spiritually enlightened sense of purity would reject the notion of a dual nature in which good and evil are supposed to blend, for this blend would effect an adulteration, a compound of opposites. The infinite spiritual substance which purity claims for God Himself, and for His reflection, cannot be debased.
Purity means consistency. It insists upon regarding God, man, and the universe as entirely spiritual, perfect, and imperishable, as free from any such thing as sickness, sin, sorrow, or death. As a general rule, mortals have accepted without question the prevalent belief in a creation and a creature compounded of both Spirit and matter; but every manifestation of Spirit is eternal, whereas every belief pertaining to matter and evil is temporal. Mrs. Eddy adheres strictly to the teaching of the Scriptures when on page 116 of Science and Health she includes purity in the final category of "reality," or "spiritual understanding."
The human footsteps leading up to the full realization of purity can only be taken one by one; yet each step is of necessity higher than the last, since all progress is made in conformity to law, and the standard of purity which is set by the Master is requisite from the very first. This standard cannot be dispensed with at any stage, since it alone points the way of advance to that realization of spiritual truth whereby perfection is demonstrated. Honoring this standard, Jesus was raised from the dead, from the belief of life in matter, and finally lifted above the belief in matter itself, until he ascended beyond the cognizance of corporeal sense. The moment when his vision of Spirit obliterated all sense of material corporeality was the moment when the onlookers lost sight of him, though they still heard the promise of the Christ ringing in their ears: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end."
