MARY BAKER EDDY makes the goal of Christianity clear when she says in "Christian Science versus Pantheism" (p. 13), "Love all Christian churches for the gospel's sake; and be exceedingly glad that the churches are united in purpose, if not in method, to close the war between flesh and Spirit, and to fight the good fight till God's will be witnessed and done on earth as in heaven."
The Scriptures reveal that Spirit and flesh are opposites, that they do not really commingle, and that the flesh—the corporeal sense of life—must eventually fade out of human thought as sinless, deathless, spiritual existence is demonstrated as man's genuine being. The reluctance of some individuals to stop believing that the transitory, fleshly sense is genuine and to devote themselves exclusively to bringing spiritual life to light is not new. At the time when Christ Jesus said to the people gathered around him (John 6:63), "The flesh profiteth nothing," many of his followers "went back, and walked no more with him."
When the Master saw their defection, he asked the twelve disciples, "Will ye also go away?"
And Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."
After the victorious resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the disciples devoted their lives to spreading Christianity on the earth. The Christians in those days grasped the Master's precepts regarding the conflict between the fleshly sense and Spirit, and for nearly three hundred years Christians practiced healing as a concomitant of Christian worship, though gradually they lost that power.
Paul wrote (Gal. 5:17), "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." There is no element of compromise in the great analytical statements of Jesus and Paul; they leave one no alternative but to resist the carnal mind, the spurious mind of flesh, until divine Mind wins the victory and the war between flesh and Spirit is closed.
The consecrated Christian Scientist knows that there is no place to go but spiritually forward, no true teaching or doctrine but that found in "the words of eternal life." He wages a private war with the flesh, and this is essential to his salvation from it. But it will take the consecrated effort of the entire church body acting in spiritual unity to manifest the power which will eventually destroy universal beliefs of the physical senses, claiming to act as laws to mankind.
No war is fought faithfully unless the issues are clear. The better those engaged comprehend what they are striving for, the more fully they consecrate themselves to the task of bringing a conflict to a quick and triumphant finish. And so it is in the struggle between the flesh and Spirit. Describing the method of Christian Science healing, Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (pp. 96, 97), "It is Christ come to destroy the power of the flesh; it is Truth over error; that understood, gives man ability to rise above the evidence of the senses, take hold of the eternal energies of Truth, and destroy mortal discord with immortal harmony,—the grand verities of being."
The membership of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, which keeps in mind the healing purpose of the church and consecrates itself to demonstrating the harmony of God's sons, made in His likeness, is in a strong position. Such a membership will utilize Truth's energies of love to resist and annihilate any aggressive evil that may attempt to intrude upon and disturb the members or set them against each other.
It is good to remember that whether evil has attempted to destroy the Christ, appearing as the personal Saviour, Jesus, or in its impersonal, universal manifestation through his church, it has failed. Whether evil has attempted to destroy the Christ through misinterpretation of the Master's teachings or through desecration of the purpose of his church, the idea of Truth has survived. This idea continues to spread its power and influence. And this has been possible because there have always been consecrated Christians who realized that the warfare between flesh and Spirit must someday be brought to a close. They assumed the responsibility of warfare because they understood in some measure the meaning of the conflict.
If the conflict seems arduous at times, this is the result of our not fully understanding that the carnal mind is unreal—a supposition rather than a fact—and that it is a joy to prove this. Enlightenment through Science will keep us well reminded that there is nothing so worthy of our efforts as an understanding of "the words of eternal life" and the proof that these words not only define reality but bring the healing power of Christ, Truth, to every kind of discord. The emphasis of the Saviour's life was upon his powerful doctrine, which his church was to communicate to the world.
As the spirit of Truth, as the true idea of sonship, as the destroyer of evil, as the incorporeal and universal Saviour, as the real body, or true Church, the Christ demonstrates the presence of Spirit right where the fleshly sense claims to be.
Instead of fearing the fleshly sense or loving it, we should think of it as merely an illusive mind that is not God. Christian warfare, if it is to be effective, must obliterate from the face of the earth all that seems to negate the truth of one God, one Mind, and of man as Mind's spiritual idea.
Speaking of the effect of our confidence that we dwell in God, Mrs. Eddy says (Pulpit and Press, p. 3), "Such a heavenly assurance ends all warfare, and bids tumult cease, for the good fight we have waged is over, and divine Love gives us the true sense of victory." And she adds a little later, "No longer are we of the church militant, but of the church triumphant." Such is the reward of lives consecrated to the closing of a war destined from the beginning of time to end in the victory of the Christ-idea.
