IN reading the Bible, particularly the four Gospels, one realizes that there is a definite relationship between holiness and health. Christ Jesus proved this and left undeniable evidence that a life dedicated to holiness has power over illnesses and defects, whether they be mental, moral, or physical.
No one can read of Jesus' outstanding success in healing all kinds of physical ills without realizing that he had a remedy which enabled him to heal with a word even what seemed to be incurable diseases and that this remedy was wholly spiritual.
It is also evident that the Master was able to share this remedy with others, for it is recorded in Matthew (10:1), "When he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease."
His method of healing has not been more universally adopted because it has not been understood. From earliest times men have entertained a divided sense of themselves, the sense that they are material as well as spiritual. Instead of rejecting this false sense as the influence of the evil one, even devout religionists have exalted it until it is almost universally accepted.
Material sense has impelled men to devote themselves to the task of trying to find the explanation of their being apart from Spirit. This has led them either to ignore Spirit as cause or to attempt to find an impossible partnership between Spirit and matter.
The second account of creation in Genesis in which it is recorded that "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (2:7) must be in the Bible for a reason. This concept of creation is to be either accepted or rejected. If it is to be accepted, why did Isaiah declare (2:22), "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"
The Bible is a compilation of teachings and experiences designed to set before human thought, vividly and in an ever-progressive manner, what to accept and what to reject, what to do and what not to do. The Biblical teachings show us how to overcome evil with good and error with Truth. In other words, they show us the way to holiness and health, which has always been there for all students of the Bible. But not until Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science was the way made clear. Because the discovery of this Science was in fulfillment of the Master's prophecy of the coming of the Comforter (see John 14:16, 17,26; 16:13, 14), Scriptural teaching and prophecy are brought to a focus in Christian Science.
This is why Christian Scientists believe that the purpose of the Bible is to be fulfilled in Science. So while they are modest about their present accomplishments and realize that they have much to overcome and attain before they can live and heal as Jesus did, they would not withhold from Science its place in the unfoldment of Scriptural prophecy merely because they are not at present demonstrating all of its limitless possibilities.
There is one thing we can do and in a measure are doing: we can consecrate our lives to the sacred purpose of putting off as rapidly as possible the concept of "man, whose breath is in his nostrils" and growing into the stature of man that we see exemplified in Christ Jesus.
Two aspects of this consecration confront each individual who is willing to undergo the spiritual discipline required for this transformation. One aspect has to do with his silent communion with God, the constant effort to embody in his consciousness spiritual ideas, which bring him into unity with the divine source of his being. The other is that of showing forth in his living the qualities of being, in which good overcomes evil, Truth overcomes error, and order and harmony bring into his daily life a foretaste of heaven.
It is only as this spiritualizing of one's thinking and living brings to light God's perfect government of man and the universe that material sense, which would relate man to natural physical processes, is overcome and the infinitude of immortal Mind is seen to include even that which appears to be the physical realm. In fact, Mrs. Eddy shows that it is necessary for us to understand this truth, for she writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 427), "Immortal Mind, governing all, must be acknowledged as supreme in the physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual."
When one reaches a point in his spiritual development where he is willing to depend wholly upon the power of Spirit, or immortal Mind, to heal him and keep him well, he sees how closely related are holiness and health. And it is interesting to note that the word "holy" is derived from the same root as "hale," which means "free from disease or infirmity."
Holiness is not, therefore, sanctimoniousness. That is, it is not a pretense or affectation. It is the normal state of being, not of the "man, whose breath is in his nostrils," but of man, who is the image and likeness of God. These are not two men; they are two concepts of man, the false and the true.
As we accept the true concept and reject the false, we demonstrate holiness. We free ourselves and others from disease and infirmity. We find that the very acknowledgment of our unity with God is healing, so powerful is Truth.
No greater purpose can impel us than to be the man we really are in God's likeness, the man to whom was given dominion over the earth. Every instance of yielding the false sense of ourselves to the true brings our human experience into accord with the spiritual realities of being—health, holiness, immortality, freedom, assurance, peace.
