IT may not be a long journey from so-called orthodoxy to Christian Science, but it is always a radical one. To journey east the west-bound traveler must face about. Such a complete change is the original and historic meaning of repentance. It is self-evident that a sharp turn must precede advance in the opposite direction. The Greek New Testament verb amartano is translated "to sin," that is, to fall short of perfection. False thinking and false living result in diseased beliefs and diseased bodies. Fundamentally, both conditions are sinful; they must be repented of before truth and health are realized. The deletion of sin is sin's forgiveness; after that one begins to ascend the mount.
To make mankind godlike is the legitimate and inevitable purpose of Christianity. Jesus was the most godlike man that ever lived, but no more so than each one of us may become. The Christ-spirit filled and ruled the thought of Jesus, and consequently his words and acts. To follow him, that is, to awaken to that Mind which was in Christ Jesus, is to become godlike. To look with intelligent and loving desire upon a type of perfect excellence is the sure way to assimilate that excellence. Men must have the pattern clearly in thought before they can fashion the likeness. "See," Moses was admonished of God, "that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount."
God is Spirit, intelligence, all presence, all-power, goodness, Truth,Love, and Life. All these qualities Jesus reflected to such a degree that he was justified in declaring, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." To reflect God's qualities, in other words, to put these qualities into active operation in consciousness, is to be godlike, and nothing else is.
