Mary Baker Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 172), "Intrepid, self-oblivious Protestants in a higher sense than ever before, let us meet and defeat the claims of sense and sin, regardless of the bans or clans pouring in their fire upon us."
One definition of "protestant" is "one who protests." And one definition of "protest" is "to make a solemn declaration or affirmation of." The earnest student of Christian Science protests or affirms the reality of good and the unreality of evil; his protestations of Truth are solemn, sincere, and strong; his protests against evil in all forms are impersonal, powerful, and effective.
His ability to make effective protest is the outgrowth of his spiritual understanding of the true nature of God, infinite Spirit, and of man made in His likeness. The student is convinced of his God-given ability to prove through spiritual inspiration the practical nature of divine metaphysics in solving problems of daily living.
Spiritual understanding of the nature of God as divine Principle, Love, and of man, expressing the Christlike nature, enables the student to make protestations of Truth, which operate to forward human progress. He emphasizes spiritual causation, recognizing divine Mind, God, as the only creator and man as His likeness, spiritual not material. He knows that a humanly circumscribed God, a manlike God, is not the basis of divine metaphysics.
Through the study of Christian Science, one can understand and demonstrate the reality of good and the illusive nature of evil. The positive and negative of this Science are evidenced in one's demonstrating divine Principle, Love, through firm protestations of Truth and through rejections of the claims of evil, expressed as sin, sensuality, disease, and limitations.
It is sometimes stated that one need never make specific protests against evil, since affirmations of Truth imply and include rejection of evil. But according to Science, mistaken concepts should be specifically detected and rejected. If one makes a mistake in his bank balance, he must do more than declare that man is accurate and orderly. He must detect and reject the specific mistake and replace it with the correction.
Error operates subtly, like the serpent in the garden of Eden, to fool and confuse men with mistaken concepts of life, substance, and intelligence in matter. These must give place in consciousness to spiritual concepts. In proportion as this is done, discord is overcome, whether it appears as sin, sickness, limitation, or disaster in either individual or universal experience.
Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 252), "A knowledge of error and of its operations must precede that understanding of Truth which destroys error, until the entire mortal, material error finally disappears, and the eternal verity, man created by and of Spirit, is understood and recognized as the true likeness of his Maker."
The Bible affirms that we shall recognize man as the likeness of God, divine Love. The following passage, which makes this point especially clear, is read at every Sunday service in Churches of Christ, Scientist (I John 3:2, 3): "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Our progress Spiritward is coincident with our recognition of God as He is, coincident with the spiritual discernment of His nature and the nature of His universe, including man.
Daily living affords continual opportunity for us to make firm protestations of Truth. Limitations in our own experience and in the experience of our neighbors, far and near, of every color, race, and creed, demand spiritually directed thought and action on the part of spiritually minded thinkers. Does the student of Christian Science ignore the challenge? No! Christian Scientists protest; in their sincere protestations, they reject evil and accept Christ, the true idea of God, as the force ensuring success. They see the seeming evidence of evil as a challenge to affirm Truth specifically, firmly, and effectively.
Firm rejection of the belief of life, substance, and intelligence in matter becomes habitual in the experience of the earnest student of Christian Science. Also he protests or affirms frequently and firmly that divine Mind and its manifestations constitute all reality, that Mind expresses itself in spiritual ideas, true concepts of health, peace, and freedom.
An incident in the experience of the writer illustrates the importance of prompt protests of Truth. While on her way to attend an important meeting of Christian Scientists, she was involved in an accident so serious that the car in which she rode was damaged beyond repair. She immediately insisted that man is spiritual and not vulnerable. After being pulled out from under the wreckage by kind travelers, she was able to maintain her joyous protestation of safety and to smile in answer to questions and incredulous glances.
Mentally she insisted that man is God's likeness, spiritual not material; he is never involved in an accident, never injured, never having his right activity obstructed or delayed. Holding her spiritual identity firmly in thought, she was soon free from discomfort, and in a few hours she was able to continue the journey by train.
In connection with the above experience, it became necessary for her to protest against the supposed necessity of using drugs, sedatives, and stimulants, which were kindly offered. Christian Scientists reject firmly the belief that material remedies, drugs, manipulation, hypnotism, therapy, stimulants, or any materially mental means can heal the sick. They utilize divine Science, the medicine of Mind, which is the effective and reliable healer in every case.
Christ Jesus gave proof of the value of protesting against error, as we see in the study of his words and works. His ability to protest effectively was evidence of his abundant expression of the divine nature of Christ. To the man sick of the palsy, he said (Mark 2:11), "I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." So effective was the Master's protest that the man immediately arose, to the amazement of the onlookers. Jesus protested against and overcame beliefs of sin, disease, and death. He even protested against extremes of weather that threatened to obstruct normal activity.
Christian Scientists strive earnestly to follow the example of the Master, to be more Christlike, to be honest, just, and pure. Through sincere affirmations of Truth and the rejection of error in thought, word, and act, they prove themselves to be "intrepid, self-oblivious Protestants."
