The basic teaching of Christian Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, the only Mind, and therefore the Mind of man. Perhaps one of the first things grasped by the beginner in the study of this Science is the fact that man has not a personal, private mind of his own, but, in his real being, is coexistent with and a reflection of the one infinite Mind, God, as sunbeams, individually and collectively, are a reflection of the sun. Nothing is more vital to the student of Christian Science than to understand that God is cause, and His idea, man, is effect; and, further, that the eternal coexistence of God and man, cause and effect, constitutes perfect spiritual being.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 467, 468): "Reasoning from cause to effect in the Science of Mind, we begin with Mind, which must be understood through the idea which expresses it and cannot be learned from its opposite, matter. Thus we arrive at Truth, or intelligence, which evolves its own unerring idea and never can be coordinate with human illusions."
It is only an unreal, supposititious mortal consciousness that posits two bases of being, two points of view, matter and Mind. One who understands in Christian Science that Mind, Spirit, Truth, alone is real endeavors consistently to claim this one Mind as his only source of intelligence and perception. Acknowledging the premise that Mind, God, is the center and circumference, the within and without, of being, he also sees the impossibility of a supposed opposite, matter, having presence or actuality.
With patient firmness does Mrs. Eddy direct the student ever away from the illusions of mortal mind and matter to the spiritual, substantial objects of Mind. For instance, she writes (ibid., p. 264): "Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things. Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearchable realm of Mind?" And she continues, "As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible." What progressive Christian Scientist, searching in the realm of pure Spirit, has not become increasingly aware of broader views revealing ideas or objects of Mind which are distinct, individual, useful, beautiful, indestructible?
The nature of real creation, the universe and man, is not discernible from the standpoint of matter, which is the fiction, not the fact, of being. However, by reversing false concepts and their so-called attributes, we arrive at reality, or true substance.
Only from the altitude of spiritual understanding can we cognize the unblemished, immortal forms of real creation. Says Mrs. Eddy (ibid., p. 123). "Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas." The deflections of materiality must be replaced by the spiritual ideas or reflections of Mind which they counterfeit, and in proportion as matter is excluded, a fictitious material basis forsaken, and existence viewed from the spiritual standpoint, will the unreal objects of sense appear less real and troublesome and the realities of Spirit stand forth as they are in truth—harmonious, perfect, satisfying, and eternal.
In the realm of the real there is no mortal mind to reverse, pervert, counterfeit, or ape the ideas and attributes of Mind, God. The so-called mortal or carnal mind, in all its aspects, is but a supposititious opposite of the one infinite divine Mind, or Spirit, and its perfect manifestation. We need not be deceived if matter, the supposed objectification of unreal mortal consciousness, seems to present the properties of substance, form, outline, color, quality, quantity, activity, law, and so on. These spiritual qualities, which characterize the ideas of God, do not characterize mindless matter. The contrary deceptive appearance or inversion is real only to unreal mortal mind, and constitutes the self-deception of mortal existence.
The understanding of Christian Science reveals Spirit as the eternal substance, or reality of being, even while to the material senses matter appears real and substantial, occupying space and existing in time. Ideas, or creations of Spirit, exist in Mind, act in Mind, and continue in Mind, and never in three-dimensional space or time limits. Knowing this enables one to overcome in human experience various bodily and other disorders.
In dealing with the problem of human existence, Christ Jesus found fundamental spiritual reasoning to be pre-eminently practical. He said, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Equipped with this knowledge or understanding of God and His perfect reflection, man, he healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, walked on the water, transported himself without aid of time or vehicle, passed through closed doors, and presented himself alive after three days in a sealed tomb. In like manner Christian Scientists, faithfully acknowledging the basic, spiritual realities of being and consistently denying unreal materiality with its unhealthy concomitants, can lift their own lives and the lives of others above mortal limitations, and, in the degree of their genuine spiritual understanding, overcome sickness, sin, and death, and bring hitherto unknown satisfaction and usefulness into present human experience.
The following is an illustration of this from the writer's own experience. She awoke early one morning to find that not only was it impossible for her to arise, but the least movement caused almost unbearable pain. Retiring mentally to "the secret place of the most High," she reasoned that since her real being was spiritual rather than physical, a perfect reflection of the one infinite Spirit, God, it must now be harmonious and unhampered. After several hours of similar clear thinking the conviction became established that she was not subject to what appeared to be a material body, but could assert her dominion over this false concept. She arose, though with some difficulty, dressed herself, and within a comparatively short time was entirely free, being at her post of duty at the usual time and experiencing a happy day, with no untoward aftereffects.
Christian Science is proving daily that spiritual vision is not illusory and impracticable, but that alone with which mortals can ever hope to gain their dominion over the enslaving material senses. It is the revealed truth which empowered the Master and our Leader to do many mighty works, some of which are being repeated today by Christian Scientists. This promised Comforter unites the idea of God's fatherhood, taught and demonstrated by Christ Jesus, to the idea of God's motherhood revealed by Mrs. Eddy. Thus through God's two witnesses is the whole garment of Christ, Truth, restored to mankind. It was from this spiritual point of view that the Revelator, while still sojourning on earth, could discern the substance of spiritual being, and write, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away."
