Christian Science teaches that God is Mind. Since God is All, then Mind is All, and there can be no other mind. This is the truth, a divine fact. However, we must deal with the belief that there is a material creation, as described in the allegory in the second chapter of Genesis. From the acceptance of the false belief of a material creation comes the equally false conclusion that there is a mind apart from God.
Mortal mind claims to be something which it is not. It claims that it has intelligence, that there is substance in matter, that evil is as powerful as good, and that sin and disease, accidents and calamities, are inevitable. As long as one concedes that he has a mind of his own, he subjects himself to the limitations and abuses of the carnal mind and seems to suffer in consequence. When he recognizes man's dominion by acknowledging that God is the only Mind and therefore the only Mind that he has, he finds that there is in reality no mortal mind that can use or abuse him.
Christ Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of being in league with Satan when he healed a man who was blind and dumb. Jesus replied (Matt. 12:26–29): "If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? . . . But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house."
Mrs. Eddy explains this passage in Science and Health. She says (pp. 399, 400): "In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thoroughly cured. Mortal mind is 'the strong man,' which must be held in subjection before its influence upon health and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we can despoil 'the strong man' of his goods,— namely, of sin and disease."
The only place the evils of material sense exist is in this so-called mind, which in reality has no existence, no place to occupy, and no power to exert. Mind, being infinite, cannot be confined in a skull, but must be entirely outside that which is called a material body. As one recognizes this fact, he rids himself of the impositions of a so-called mind apart from God.
It was Jesus' full recognition of the divine fact of the one Mind that made it possible for him to heal instantaneously. As we gain a clear comprehension of Mind's control of the universe and man, we too shall emulate the healings that Jesus accomplished, for the same Mind that unfolded Truth to Jesus is unfolding Truth to us.
Paul wrote to the Romans (8:6,7): "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Anything that is not under the law of God has no law to sustain it. Certainly everyone who wants life and peace and who knows that God's law is always good is willing to be under the law of God. Thus, in order to maintain his spiritual-mindedness, he endeavors to let divine Mind govern him at all times.
It is, however, necessary to take cognizance of what mortal mind claims to be able to do in order to refute this testimony and defeat its aims. It would assail mankind in many ways. It may seem to come in the guise of disasters—earthquakes, floods, famines, hurricanes, epidemics. This is mortal mind on the rampage. This is how it tries to prove a power greater than God's. Elijah discovered that God is not in the earthquake, the wind, or the fire. Then he heard a still small voice.
Only that which is good is from God, and anything that God did not create has no power in it. Jesus said (John 14:12), "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."
Mortal mind also tries to assume reality in material personalities. It attaches disagreeable and unlovely traits to oneself or to another and says these are his characteristics. When one succeeds in separating another individual or himself from the belief in a mind apart from God, he is better able to release himself or another from the suggestion that there is a mortal man with unlovely or objectionable characteristics and to see through this false concept to the perfect man of God's creating.
It is well to remember that whatever deliberately annoys or whatever can be annoyed is one and the same—mortal mind. As one holds to the fact that the one Mind, God, is guiding, governing, directing, and controlling all, he is in a far better position to evaluate situations correctly. He will refute the testimony of mortal mind and find himself relieved of its pressures.
Because there is but one Mind, there is no mortal mind to use us to achieve its selfish and destructive ends. We can prove this to be true if we are alert to the fact that "the basic error is mortal mind" (Science and Health, p. 405). Every erroneous condition, including sin, sickness, and death, is a secondary belief which stems from the belief in the reality of a mind apart from God. Mortal mind would make us believe that we are material. It claims that we are powerless against the onslaughts of material limitations and the temptations of the flesh. It doesn't know any better, but we do! As students of Christian Science we know that man is made in God's image and likeness.
The definition of Mind as given in the Glossary of Science and Health includes the following (p. 591): "The only I, or Us; the only Spirit, Soul, divine Principle, substance, Life, Truth, Love; the one God; not that which is in man, but the divine Principle, or God, of whom man is the full and perfect expression." Understanding that man is "the full and perfect expression" of God, that he is not subject to or controlled by any power but God, Principle, we are able to overcome the claims of the carnal mind. Man exists entirely outside the realm where mortal mind seems to operate. He cannot be found in matter. He does not think with a brain or a mind inside of a material body. He reflects the one Mind.
Every time one uses good judgment, expresses Truth, employs wisdom, acts intelligently, is loving, kind, and generous he is thinking and acting according to Mind. Every loving act, every harmonious action, stems from Mind. Any erroneous concept that tries to enter consciousness is not actually a true thought but only a suggestion of so-called mortal mind. With this understanding one is in a position to refuse to take in any erroneous suggestion as part of his own thinking or to consider it. As he maintains his right to the expression of Mind in all his activities, he will find his life more constructive and his actions more loving and helpful.
Paul wrote (Phil. 3:15), "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." Let us, therefore, maintain that the one Mind, God, is our only Mind, and mortal mind will then be despoiled of its goods.
