The so-called mortal or human mind from its very nature appears to be static, and, in consequence, is resistive of spiritual truth, in which, when waking to a sense of its own nothingness, it recognizes its destroyer. This, it will be seen, is the inevitable antagonism of opposites, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, falsity arrayed against Truth, which it presumes to counterfeit. Speaking of this antagonism, Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 345): "The apostle says: 'For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.' This thought of human, material nothingness, which Science inculcates, enrages the carnal mind and is the main cause of the carnal mind's antagonism."
While human experience furnishes many illustrations of this condition, perhaps no more striking example of it can be found than in the persistent and apparently unyielding opposition on the part of the great mass of humanity to the acceptance of Christ Jesus by "prophets long foretold," as the Savior and Way-shower. Notwithstanding the experiences of mankind during all the centuries of the Christian era, proving conclusively the great need of the redemptive Christ as an active healing agency in the lives of men, and in face of the evidence of its tremendous potency, the tendency in certain quarters apparently is still sturdily to resist the imputation that the Prophet of Nazareth could by any possibility have expressed the all-healing Christ, the redeemer of mankind from all its ills, limitations, and sorrows; and this, be it said, in spite of the convincing words uttered by the Nazarene himself. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me," would seem to be so definite and conclusive a statement that none could gainsay the import of his mission, especially since his many mighty works so completely corroborated his claims to the Messiahship.
It is probable that this resistance among the Jews may be accounted for, at least in part, by the fact that Jesus himself, knowing well its futility, manifested no desire or purpose to set up a worldly kingdom; hence, did not meet the popular concept of Israel's glory restored. Instead, his consummate desire was to prove the power and presence of God and to show the way to make His power available in meeting the needs of humankind. He assumed no kingly prerogative—took unto himself nothing of the pride and circumstance which marked the sovereign in the Orient of that day. With unprecedented humility and self-abnegation he went about doing good, ministering to the needy in the humblest walks of life, consorting with fishermen and other simple folk. He healed the sick, cleansed the leper, raised the dead, manifesting the power of God to destroy everything unlike Himself,—that is, unlike perfect good. Yet he was "rejected of men;" and the Christ continues to be denied, both by those who have denied Christ Jesus' partially divine origin, and by many others indifferent to his mission and its meaning.
Proof that this attitude of denial of the Christ has persisted throughout the centuries is not lacking. Just now it takes form in the announcement that there is about to be undertaken a movement to establish the ministry of spiritual healing without the intervention or agency of the Christ. On page 361 of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy defines the Christ in the following inimitable words: "Christ, as the true spiritual idea, is the ideal of God now and forever, here and everywhere." The Christ, then, the "ideal of God," being always and everywhere present, is the means, or agency, whereby God heals and redeems humanity. The student of Christian Science learns that Christ is the way, the only way, whereby the truth of spiritual being may reach human consciousness. Accordingly, through the utilization of the comforting and regenerative Christ, Christian Scientists gratefully undertake the ministry of spiritual healing, whereby the sick are made whole and the sinning are redeemed.
Moreover, since Christ is the divine idea of God, His full and complete expression, the truth about all things, to approach God except through His Christ is manifestly an impossibility. How, it may well be asked, can approach be had to divine intelligence, infinite Mind, except through its ideas, which comprise the Christ? Mind is known by its reflection, which expresses the qualities and attributes of its divine source. How may understanding be had even of the character of a human being, except through the thoughts which he expresses? So long as he remains silent and inactive, he remains unknown; but once his thoughts are expressed in words or deeds, the way is open to approach him, contact may be had, and acquaintance established. He may then be known and understood. Paul described the Christ to the Christians in Colosse in definite terms: "His [God's] dear Son:... who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.... For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell."
Through the teachings of our beloved Leader, Christian Scientists come to understand the mission and ministry of the Christ. They learn that Christ as the divine idea, comprising all right ideas, the full expression of perfect Principle, is never absent. How impossible, then, to disregard Christ in seeking God! Never having been absent, the ever present Christ awaits mankind's reception: it is not a stranger where it has always been. The seeming absence has been due to a failure to recognize God's loving presence. The Christ, as God's infinite expression, is as omnipresent as God Himself, is everywhere,—is, in fact, the manifestation of the "gentle presence" which Mrs. Eddy has described in enticing terms as "peace and joy and power" (Poems, p. 4). Christian Scientists by no means antagonize any honest effort to rise above the belief in matter-healing. Rather do they rejoice in the understanding of Christ as the perfect healer and redeemer of humanity.
