WHEN, after his resurrection, Christ Jesus declared to the doubting disciple, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed," he pointed out the desirability of possessing a state of understanding that rests upon a spiritual basis. His words have been interpreted as showing forth his commendation of the quality known as faith, and in this respect Christian Science gives assent. But, inasmuch as Jesus' promise to his followers was that if they obeyed his teachings they should know the truth and demonstrate it, it is clear that such faith must rest, not on blind belief, but upon spiritual understanding.
The Scriptures declare that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," or spiritual evidence. Paul says that "the things of the Spirit of God" must be "spiritually discerned." And Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 23), "Faith, advanced to spiritual understanding, is the evidence gained from Spirit, which rebukes sin of every kind and establishes the claims of God." In the light of these statements we may conclude that spiritual discernment, or the discernment of spiritual reality, is the essence of true faith. Since Jesus' rebuke in his statement to Thomas was directed at the material sense of perception, it must be admitted that he urged the attainment of spiritual consciousness, in other words, the exercise of the true senses of Spirit.
A remarkable instance of spiritual discernment is narrated in the eighteenth chapter of I Kings. It is stated that after a period without rain, during which the people suffered great privations, Elijah declared that there was "a sound of abundance of rain." Apparently there was no visible evidence to indicate approaching rain, for when the prophet ascended Mount Carmel with his servant, the latter, who had been instructed to look towards the sea, reported no sign. Elijah in the meantime, with his head bowed between his knees, was leaving it to his servant to judge of the material evidence. Undisconcerted by the servant's report, the prophet bade him look again, even seven times; and at the seventh time a tiny cloud was seen arising from the sea. This was sufficient for Elijah, who thereupon sent word to the king, advising him to seek shelter. And we read, "It came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain."
