No other religious teacher has ever used such compelling parables as did Christ Jesus in the elucidation of his doctrines. The house built upon the sand, the mustard seed, the unfaithful steward, the fig tree, the sower, the strong man, and many other illustrations used by him drove home the point at issue with telling effect. In each instance he was presenting some important metaphysical teaching, and the concrete example far exceeded in effect the mere statement of an abstract truth.
The figure of the strong man guarding his material possessions, who must be overcome before he could be despoiled of his goods, contains an important teaching set forth in a graphic use of metaphor, the meaning of which is greatly clarified in the light of Christian Science. In discussing this parable on page 400 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says, "Mortal mind is 'the strong man,' which must be held in subjection before its influence upon health and morals can be removed." And on the preceding page she asks this pertinent question: "How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called mortal mind, which directly controls the body?" In these words, our Leader sets before us the necessity of controlling "the strong man," so-called mortal mind, in order to free it of its seeming possessions, the beliefs of life inherent in matter and of sin, sickness, and mortality,—that is to say, in order to despoil it of its goods. In the light of this explanation, what deep significance attaches to Jesus' words! The Christian Scientist learns, indeed, that so-called mortal mind claims to be the "strong man"—a very strong man, it would appear. But he also learns that this mind is but a seeming, and its claim to power is not valid, for, of itself, it possesses no reality; it is in no wise related to God, the only divine Mind, infinite and omnipotent. Manifestly, then, another than the one Mind, which claims to be strong or even to exist, is an impostor, a pretender, worthy of no consideration and deserving of no recognition. How to bind this so-called mortal or carnal mind in order to rid it of its false beliefs is the great blessing conferred on mankind by our revered Leader.
Christ Jesus established for all time the fact of the nonexistence of this false claim of intelligence called mortal mind, and to Mrs. Eddy has been revealed the Science and art whereby Jesus' teachings become available and effective for the use of all. When one first examines the situation, it seems incredible that a nonentity, a counterfeit, should have been, seemingly, endowed with so much power as mortal mind claims to possess; but the evidence of its nothingness is complete, for all of its claims are destroyed by knowing the all-power of the one Mind, which is infinite. Of this situation Mrs. Eddy says on page 469 of Science and Health: "The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind, and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind—called devil or evil—is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality." And later in the same paragraph she declares, "We can have but one Mind, if that one is infinite." To gain understanding of this truth, to grasp its meaning and make it one's own, to become aware of the divine presence as all, is mankind's great need.
