Articles

In a letter to early Christian congregations the disciple Peter gave timeless advice for church members, writing ( I Pet. 5:5 ), "Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Christian Science is lived and practiced from the standpoint of the absolute allness and goodness of God and the perfection of man in His likeness. We always begin with the perfect model and consistently hold thought to it until the false beliefs of mortal mind yield to the divine facts of being and fade from human consciousness and existence.

In his prophecy of Jehovah's deliverance of Israel from exile, Isaiah began by voicing God's comfort to His people. Then in an effort to lift their thought to a higher appreciation of God's presence and power and to awaken them to a greater sense of spiritual activity he directed (40:9), "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" The Israelites had made many mistakes, yet Isaiah's unfailing trust in God had helped them to prove beyond measure God's presence and power to protect, correct, and guide.

The connotations of the word "discipline," suggesting correction, restriction, and subordination, are not always acceptable to the undisciplined. Our wise Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, recognized the human need for discipline, and she also realized the human heart's resistance to Love's correction.

The commonly accepted theory that man is a mortal, possessing a physical body and subject to so-called laws of material medicine, results in the educated belief that health is dependent upon some form of matter. As one looks about and sees the tragic effects of fear and the images of disease that are imposed upon the thinking of mankind through every means at the disposal of mortal mind, he can understand the lament of the prophet Jeremiah when he said ( 8:22 ), "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Christian Science has come to save mortals from sin and disease through the revelation that man is spiritual, the very image and likeness of God; and that God is wholly good and could never send any evil upon His children.

When Moses threw down his rod, it became a serpent. He fled from it, but God demanded ( Ex.

In the first chapter of Genesis we are told that God gave man dominion over all the earth. This man of God's creating lives by divine authority.

One who went to a Christian Science practitioner for aid in solving a problem was told, among other things, to decide what he believed or disbelieved concerning man and his relationship to God. "It is time to stop straddling," said the practitioner.

How our hearts expand with gratitude and love when we think of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and her redemptive work for the salvation of all mankind! Only gratitude to God for His everlasting goodness and love gave her the courage to share her spiritual revelation. In accord with this revelation, she gave us the true meaning of Church: the demonstrating through healing of man's eternal unity with Mind, God.

" Christians must take up arms against error at home and abroad. They must grapple with sin in themselves and in others, and continue this warfare until they have finished their course.