IN the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says (p. 207), "The Science of being repudiates self-evident impossibilities, such as the amalgamation of Truth and error in cause or effect." On the same page she continues: "There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause." From this luminous statement of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science at least three conclusions may be deduced, namely, that the Science of being separates Truth from error, that it rejects impossibilities, and that it reveals the unity of cause and effect.
Let us examine these to see what light they throw on the problems of our daily life. In the first place, we are taught by Christian Science how to separate Truth from error by a proper understanding of cause and effect. When we come to see all cause and effect as mental, not physical, as Christian Science shows them to be, we shall also see that it is only as false consciousness that evil claims to exist, and that it is therefore wholly problematical. In other words, evil can be stated only in terms of mortal mind, so called; it has no existence in divine Mind. We shall also see that a change of thought will free human consciousness through the truth, destroying error, sin, and death. Truth, Spirit, Life, God, and His idea, are distinct from the human concept of them.
It is self-evident that Truth and its so-called opposite, error, cannot both be primal, any more than both of them can be true. We see, then, from the operation of the simple law of the oneness of cause, that Truth must of necessity exist; and that from the very necessity of its existence, Truth must be primal. If error were primal, then there would be no way of proving it false. Happily for our peace of mind, as well as for our logic, a negative never can be the primal. There must be first that of which error is the negation, or opposite; in other words, that about which it tells the lie.
Because Truth is primal it follows that its opposite, error, must be the lie; and this fact invalidates its testimony, for a lie cannot testify to the truth. From primal Truth, then, necessarily comes all that is true and real. Stated reversely, the proposition is equally self-evident. That is to say, if error be not primal but supposedly derivative, it must have been derived from something outside of Truth, that is, from Truth's suppositional opposite. So, we arrive at the same conclusion, that error is neither primal nor derivative. It is a lie about Truth. It is only a supposition.
What a glorious conclusion we have here; for once this proposition is clearly seen, it empowers us to start destroying the false beliefs which have so long enslaved the so-called human mind. On this basis we can see that sin, sickness, and death are to be handled as mortal mental phenomena, that is, as states of wrong thinking, and not, primarily, as physical conditions which must conform to the action of so-called laws of matter. In the light of this discovery we are presented with the situation in which, according to Christian Science, cause and effect are at work in the healing of the sick, in solving all problems for mankind and reducing them to the one common denomination of nothingness.
Now we come to the second conclusion, namely, that the Science of being rejects impossibilities on the basis of the same illuminating truth, that there is only one cause, and therefore only one effect. We have seen that Truth is primal and everywhere present; that its supposititious opposite, error, appears to counterfeit its activity; that the age-long troubles of humanity have arisen from general confusion as to cause and effect and the futile attempt to accept both Truth and error as equally real and causative. Having arrived at this point, we can now see that every effect is included in primal cause, and since this cause is good, no other effect but good can follow.
In the Science of Christianity, as expounded by our revered Leader, is to be found the revelation that God is good. Here, again, the fact of the oneness of cause enables us to accept good as the evidence of the presence and power of God. As God exists through all space, it is impossible that anything but good can exist as effect. This revelation of Christian Science has come with new hope and fresh courage to revive the drooping spirits of countless thousands in the world of our own day. A proof of this statement was furnished the writer in a most convincing illustration supplied by an incident in the world war.
One night in the spring of 1918 during an air raid on London, a Christian Science lecture was being delivered in a church there. The lecture proceeded to its close without undue disturbance. The same night three Zeppelins came down in France, one of which was captured by American troops stationed there. The commander of this airship expressed his utter astonishment at his schedule being upset, being under the impression that he was making a landing in Switzerland, where he would be free from arrest. To several students of Christian Science, acquainted with the facts in the case, the truth was brought home through this event and its sequel. This remarkable happening reminded them of many things for which they could be grateful,—such things as are included in the great truths of our religion,—the fatherhood and motherhood of God, and the Love that is ever present to protect and deliver when understood.
During that eventful night there was no loss of human life from the happenings in the air. On the other hand, men were drawn together in bonds of intimacy unknown before, and the sense of protection through the operation of divine Principle was brought into realization. Here was convincing evidence of the omnipotence of good. Even so, the truth regarding spiritual causation is adequate to solve all our seemingly complex problems; for problems only imply that human thought has not arrived at a proper understanding of the real situation. The slightest perception of Truth contains within itself the demand for its demonstration. The solution of a mathematical problem comes instantly when we know the truth regarding it.
So, in the test of demonstration mortal beliefs and opinions melt away, and Truth brings to light the coincidence of cause and effect. Christian Science is restoring the mission of Christ Jesus. It is making us more familiar every day with the divine Principle of his wonderful works. His mission was concerned most of all with this question of cause and effect. Did not he sum it all up on one occasion with startling completeness when he said in answer to an inquirer, "There is none good but one, that is, God"?
We have already seen that the Science of being rejects impossibilities, and reveals the unity of cause and effect. And now from this we draw the only possible conclusion, namely, that God, good, is indeed our very Life. We learn in Christian Science that He cannot be deprived of His manifestation, spiritual man, or man in His image and likeness, spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis. Hence, all who seek God may confidently wrestle with the error of mortal thought until they clearly know its nothingness and overcome it, as did Jacob at Peniel. Blinded by self-mesmerism and steeped in material beliefs, the human mind accepts and yields to the error that asserts its antagonism to Truth until its own destruction is complete.
Through the consciousness of good which knows only one cause and one effect, the shafts of pity, self-righteousness, and self-condemnation fall away from us, and impatience, fear, and resentment urge their foolish claims in vain. A child coming home from a Christian Science Sunday School, on one occasion, said he had been taught that error was wrong thinking and wrong acting. Error thus defined is robbed of its tenacity. We see its utter foolishness. Then, with childlike intensity we can set about its destruction, for the constant activity of right thinking will lift thought above the strife of mortal existence into the peace of God. To-day a suffering world is summing up its conclusions in regard to the error of the ages, and is losing faith in the religious systems that divorce the healing of the sick from the practice of Christ's Christianity. It is coming to see that the realization and utilization of the truth works wonders in our daily experience, according to the law of God, or good. This law is revealed in the unity of cause and effect, wherein impossibilities never occur, and Truth is found forever entirely separate from error. The perception of this has brought satisfaction, even to the point of solid conviction, and has given us a sense of joy undimmed by the seeming shadows of a fleeting world.
As we face this situation we are filled with gratitude at the recollection of all that our beloved Leader accomplished for mankind through her discovery of and devotion to absolute Christian Science. We are ready and willing to follow her even as she followed Christ; and we give thanks for that clear, comprehensive statement on page 25 of her book "Miscellaneous Writings," where she declares: "That there is but one God or Life, one cause and one effect, is the multum in parvo of Christian Science; and to my understanding it is the heart of Christianity, the religion that Jesus taught and demonstrated."
