THROUGHOUT the centuries in which the Bible has been so miraculously preserved for mankind, it has been generally acknowledged that the purpose of the holy Book is to prove the power of righteousness. It was not, however, until Mrs. Eddy, after years of consecrated study of its inspired pages, discovered God to be the divine Principle of righteousness that the Bible became of the highest demonstrable value to humanity.
In a single sentence in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 465, 466), Mrs. Eddy has given a statement of absolute Truth: "Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe." Christ Jesus expressed the necessity for the application of the understanding of this Principle when he said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Studying the Scriptures in the light of Christian Science, we find that the miracles recorded in them were always the result of some comprehension of divine Principle, and indicated progressive steps in spiritual growth leading up to the demonstration of the letter of absolute Science, given to mankind in the Christian Science textbook.
We find the idea of divine sonship, the perfect image, early appearing in the consciousness of Abraham, when God spoke to him, saying, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." In simple acts of kindness, in loving his neighbor as himself, Abraham demonstrated his understanding of this statement. In searching for a city "whose builder and maker is God," "not knowing whither he went," he was eliminating self-will and gaining divine guidance. In his obedient willingness to offer up Isaac, the child of promise, he proved that he was understanding that the spiritual idea, man, is not in matter; for when he sacrificed personal sense, his son was restored to him unharmed.
Abraham's consistent fidelity to his highest understanding of God, good, exemplified the first stage of unfoldment of the Christ-idea in the individual consciousness. The next stage of progress was typified by Moses, whom Mrs. Eddy designates, in part, as "moral courage; a type of moral law and the demonstration thereof" (Science and Health, p. 592). Moses discerned in a considerable degree the oneness of God, as expressed in the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." By obedience to the Ten Commandments, which God gave him, the senses are purified and human consciousness prepared for a still higher revelation of Truth. It was in Moses' ministry that the first physical healings through spiritual means were recorded, a fact well illustrating the spiritual origin and power of the moral law. Elijah, the prophet, typifies that stage of growth in which spiritual ideas are tangibly discerned and the true sense of creation begins to displace the false. It was in the period of prophecy that the demonstration of raising the dead was first made, for human consciousness was rising above the mortal belief of life in matter and beginning to comprehend life as existing only in God.
In the life of Christ Jesus we find perfected the application of absolute Truth to human needs. Because of his divine origin and consequent understanding of divine Love, he made practical the scientific sense of existence in the highest degree that had been attained. Knowing that there must be one more step of unfoldment before the destruction of all error should be accomplished, and realizing that his disciples were not ready to take this step during his ministry, Jesus said to them, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." It remained for Mrs. Eddy, in her discovery of Christian Science, to give to the world the final statement of absolute Truth.
Following the moral and spiritual purification indispensable to the reception of divine Science, the most important of all human footsteps guiding us into perfection is the necessity for maintaining in our Christianly metaphysical practice an absolute basis. If we permit an error of statement to remain, the treatment can no longer be said to be Christian Science treatment; it becomes hypnotic in its nature, limited, finite, and powerless. Treatment cannot be too radical, spiritually. When we think in perfect obedience to divine Principle, our thoughts are Godlike and express God's loving power. Wherever thought may rest, if it be imbued with the qualities of Truth, the harmony of His presence is manifested. The nature of God is thus translated into such terms as can be humanly comprehended, and the words of Jesus are fulfilled: "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
As the Master taught his disciples to separate the sheep from the goats and the tares from the wheat, so the Christian Scientist learns to distinguish between the false qualities of the so-called mortal mind and the spiritual qualities of divine Mind. The same purity which enables him mentally to detect error gives him the spiritual strength to cast it out. This ability to discern evil in thought, resting upon a radically metaphysical basis, proves Truth to be unlimited in its power in the destruction of error.
In every point we must obey the behests of Principle,—in goodness, in morality, and in spiritual qualities of thought. In this regard it is most important that we obey the Manual of The Mother Church, becoming thereby living stones in the great structure of reality. Let us remember the words of James, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
The Christian Scientist early learns that he has dominion over every false condition in the exact proportion that he has the right concept of Truth; and his success in the demonstration of Truth will depend entirely upon his ability to exchange the false beliefs of material sense for true ideas. On page 359 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy has written, "The way is absolute divine Science: walk ye in it; but remember that Science is demonstrated by degrees, and our demonstration rises only as we rise in the scale of being."
