OCR Text |
Show I DELIVERS LECTURE ON I CHRISTIAN SCIENCE H '"Mr. Bliss Knnpp, C. S. B member PH of ttao Board of'Loctureshlp of tbo PH Mother Church, The First Church of H ChrUt Scientist, In Boston,' Mass., PB epoke at Nlbley hall Thursday night. PpB lie was introduced by Mrs. Lois C. PH Uayball, who spoko as follows: PH Today as novor boforo tho world PH needs a clcaror Idea about spiritual PH things. In order to obtain a clonrcr PH preceptlon wo must start with A clour HBV concept of God. For centuries men PH have bolloved that God was cnpablo PB of bolng both good and ovil, and thoso PB two forccB were constantly wnrring PpB in His creation, bringing untold mis- PH cry to man In every age. Christian PpM Science boglns by declaring that Odd PH Is infintto Good, and that man, as u PH child of God, Inherits tho right to PH freedom, health, happiness and holl- PH noss. You will remember In tho PH book of Gcnosis, God is recorded ns PH pronouncing nil his creation good, PH . honco evil could never hnvo entered B tho world through Dlvlno power. Tho PH broad standard adopted by Christian PH Sclenco Is that found in tho book of PH Jeremiah, "For they shall nil know PH tno (God) from tho least of tliom PH unto the greatest of them," and "Am PH I n God at hand? salth (ho Lord and PpB not a God afar off? do not I fill PH heaven and earth salth tho Lord." PpB Tho ono anil only need of suffering V- humanity Is n "God at Hand." It PH is tho gracious mission of Christian PH Sclenco to reveal to all who will re- H cpivo Him a "God at Hand," a God PH who fulfills tho Scriptures, n God who PH heals tho side and tho sinning. PH Christian Sclenco teaches us how PH to lay hold or Him today, to think PH Ills thoughts, to follow Ills unorrlng PH guidance, and to rest securo In Ills PH overpresent caro and lovo. Mrs. PH Eddy writes on pago 340 of "Sclenco PH and Health With Key to tho Scrip- H , tures," "One Inflnlto God, good, unl- PpB flcs men and nations; constitutes tho PpB brotherhood of man; ends wars, ful- PpB fills tho Scrlpturo, Lovo thy neighbor PpB ns thyself; annihilates pagan and PpB Christian Idolatry whatever 13 PH '' wrong In social, civil, criminal, po- BB llticnl and religious codes; equalize.) PpB tho sexes; annuls tho curao on man BB and leaves nothing that can sin, suf- PPB fer, bo punished or destroyed. PPB Tho lecturer of the evening does PPB not appear boforo yau as a preacher, PPH but has the purpose of explaining the PPB teachings of tho only preachers of PPB Christian Sclenco, nnd of showing to PPB you ns well ns can be dono in so short PPB n tlmo somo of tho essentlnl features PPH of Christian Science and at tho same PH tlmo correct' any mtsapprehonslon PPB which may lurk In public thought. PH Continuing, Mr. Knapp spoko as PpB -q follows: B 5 During many centuries men havo PPB fj grown accustomed to think of rellgl- PPB J . on ns a hoaven of rest to thoso In PPB t some sorrow or tomptntlon. nut PPB ' while religion has thus ministered to PPH the mind, It has regarded the onfeo- PPB bled body In helpless compassion. PPB , Such helplessness contrasts strongly PH -with tho religion of Christ Jesus, who PPB made no distinction between mind PPB and body. He asked, "Whether Is PPB easier, to say, Thy sins bo forgiven PPB thee; or to say, Arlso, and walk?." PPB He set tho standard of religious PH achievement by healing sickness and1 PPB sin by tho samo prayer. It Is tho B purposo of Christian Sclenco to'ln- PPB crease tho Joy of llfo by restoring to PPB tho Inflnlto compassion of Jesus' PPH teachings tho lost element of heal- H T Tho Invalid Is not frightened nt PPB his disease. It is tho posstblo term-' PPB Inatlon of tho disease that frightens m him. Then that frightened sonso PPH 'flnda sweet consolation in tho words PPB of Jesus, "I am como that they might PPB hao life, nnd that they might havo Bi it moro abundantly." Thero followed, B,' too, tho explanation, "This Is llfo Bi eternal, that they might know then B tho dnly truo God, nnd Jesus Christ, B whom thou hast sent. "Two things nro PBBj tj thcrefaro neodful to sne ouo's life. BB I It Is not only to know tho only truo BB I God, hut also to know His Son, Christ PB I Josus. Somo there, aro who bollov BftS' I that Jesus was God. Possibly tho B! I condition or thought that would sot BB I nsldo Christian healing may not bo BH I I duo so much to a lack of faith in BB I I God, us to a complete omission from BHv ono's prayer of any recognition of the j 1 God and Father to whom Josus BBb i prayed. BBB Jesus Sot God. . BBBi It was tho day of tho resurrection, BBV '' early In tho morning, that Jesus np- BBB peared to Mary and sent hnr with n BBB message, saying, "Go to my brethren, b BBBBJhVBBJaVBBBBbBjhb bbbbbbbbbbMBbbbbbbbbbHbbbbbbB and say unto them, I ascend (into my Fatherland your Father; and to my God, and your God.' Now If Josus were God, as so many bellevo, and there la ono God, how could God have brethren? Inasmuch as he recognized recog-nized himself to bo, not God, but the Son of God, bo could have, brethren and could truthfully Bay, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend as-cend unto my Father, and your Father; Fath-er; and to my God, and your God." When Jesus was before the tomb of Lazarus, it is recorded that ho "lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank theo that thou hast heard roe. And I know thnt thou nearest mo always." al-ways." Thero wo havo n record wbero ho prayed to God, oven as you or I may pray to tho samo God, and suroly It cannot bo said ho was praying pray-ing to himself on that occasion. Previously Pre-viously ho had said to the woman of Samaria at tho well, "God Is Spirit." When, theroforo, tho disciples gath ered around to examine tho spear wound and tho nnll prints, ho tool: occnslon to remind them that "Spirit hath not flesh nnd bones, ns yo soo mo havo." From that the disciples at least know thnt tho human form of Jesus was not God. Indeed, to worship nny fleshly form would bo In conflict with tho second commandment command-ment of the Decalogue, which forbids for-bids tho worship of any graven Imago. Im-ago. Jesus recognized, moreover, that tho power ho employed was not of himself; for ho snld , "I can of mlno own soir do nothing: becauso I seek not mlno own will, but tho will of tho Fathor which hath sent me." Again ho said, referring re-ferring to himself, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what ho seeth the Father do." ('(hI'h llt-iillng Nnturo. In tho fnco of so much popular misconception about what God really Is, Jesus endeavored to portray a right apprehension or God by malting tho people familiar with tho effect dlvlno power has on humanity. By their familiarity with the dlvlno of-tect of-tect they might thereby learn to know tho real nnturo of tho divine cnuse. Inasmuch as causo nnd effect cannot bo unllko. For oxamplo, tho popular boiler prevailed then ns'now that God sends slcknoss to discipline mortals nnd thus to bring them to God. But when Jesus portrayed tho nnturo of God ns Ho actually Is, it had the effect of healing tho sick In every caso nnd thereby proved, In a mannor that admitted of no doubt or controversy, that sickness is no pnrt of God's nature. Another popular belief adhered to then as now was that God knows, or at least permits, sin. That too was disposed of by showing tho effect dlvlno power had In cleansing sinners even ns light always al-ways dlspols darkness. Moreover, peoplo believed then as now that God takes away our lovod ones for some Inscrutable purposo; and this belief has unquestionably thrust moro peoplo peo-plo Into Intldellty nnd ngnostlclsm than havo over been rescued therefrom. there-from. But when Jesus declared tho truth about God as Ho actually Is, It destroyed death and tho grave, and theroby proved tho naturo of God to bo Lifo, Ho said: "I am como that they might havo llfo, and that they might hnvo it more abundnntly;" also "This Is lifo eternal, that they might know theo, the only truo God, and Jesus Christ, whom" thou hnst sent." Peoplo could seo tho physical changes wrought by Jesus readily onough, but tho natural question to follow Is this, Could It bo taught to othora? It is said that no ono really understands a thing for himself until he can tench It to another. That Josus nindo disciples. who could ro-peat ro-peat his hoallng ministry was tho proof that tho healing power could bo taught to others, and that ho understood un-derstood it. Indeed tho early Christians Chris-tians proved tho samo thing by continuing con-tinuing thoso works of healing for 300 cara after tho tlmo of Josus. Hven so tho Christian Scientist Is today to-day perpetuating that healing ministry minis-try Just to tho degreo that ho galn3 a coirect understanding "of Him whom to know aright is Llfo eternal" (Sclenco nnd Health, Prof. p. vll), an understanding of tho God nnd Father to whom Jesus prayed. lleulliiK l.nu. Tho first man In Blblo history to know God woll enought to heal slcl -noss and sin wns Moses, and It cam about by his recognition that tho dlvlno dl-vlno power oporntcs through law. Before that ho know God only ns tho "great "I AM," but that was not suffi cient to win confidence In himself as the messenger of God. The necessity necessi-ty for him to speak tho truth about God so convincingly that the people would actually bellevo what he said, was tho occasion for God td reveal His healing nature by two distinct signs. Tho first was with the rod by which was proved tho divine supremacy suprem-acy over personified evil. The second sec-ond waB tho healing of leprosy. Perhaps Per-haps those two were jjelectod becauso none but tho power of God has aver been known to dosroy leprosy and sin. But that exhibition of divine power over sickness and sin revealed to Moses the existence of a well defined de-fined law of healing which enabled him thereafter to employ the dlvlno power, guided by tho Intelligence of a well defined law, in healing leprosy and serpent bites. It revealed to him tho existence of certain facts concerning the healing nature of God In which no variation has ever been perceived. It marked tho existence of an unchanging law of healing with which human beings had been hitherto hith-erto unacquainted. It revealed something some-thing so definite and tangible about tho naturo of.God that tho peoplo believed be-lieved him Just as God said they would. (3)d Is Truth. Now that wrlch Moses saw In tha healing power of God was the truth; wheroupon ho declared, "Ho Is a God of truth." David later declared In the psalms, "Thy law Is tho truth." And Jesus Indicated the Intimate relation re-lation that exists between Truth nnd tho healing law, when he said , "Yo shall know tho truth, and tho truth shall make you free.' That Is, a knowledgo of God, not as a human rorm, but as Truth hns a healing effect. ef-fect. Mrs. Eddy has therefore accepted ac-cepted that Scriptural definition that God Is Truth, and nlso Its Intimate relation to law; for sho has written In Sclenco and Health, "Not personal Intercommunion but dlvlno, and harmony har-mony to earth and humanity" (Science and Health, p. 72). It Is truo that every system of religion re-ligion known to men claims to bo tho promulgation of revealed truth; but that which differentiates tho demonstrable demon-strable revelation of Christ Jesus from nil others Is Its power to give llfo nnd to restore health. It is tho llfe-glvlng power In Christian truth which makes It demonstrable In healing heal-ing slcknoss and sn. God Is Principle. As tho naturo of God continued to unfold before the vision of St. John, It was revealed to him that "God Is love." Paul aescrlbed tho Intimate relation that exists between Love and Truth when ho said, "Lovo is tho fulfilling of tho law." Other Scriptural Scrip-tural names used to define the naturo of God aro Soul and Mind. Christian Sclenco nccepts nil thoso descriptive definitions of Deity and adds ono more. Slnco thero Is a dlvlno law to oxprcss tho healing, It Is reasonable reasona-ble to suppose it must havo a Principle. Prin-ciple. That Is, the naturo of God must lncludo Principle as a descriptive descrip-tive definition. But far from expressing express-ing any of tho coldness of an Inanimate Inani-mate law, tho dlvlno Principle comprehends com-prehends all intelligence, gentleness, peace, nnd power to heal and save mankind through law. If ono were to stand at the base of tho great pyramid and gaze Jn wonder at Its vast dimensions, ho could not see Its wholo structure from that single vlowpotnt. Ho must seo 'it from tho north and the south, tho east and tho west. He must explore ex-plore Its passages and chambers within. with-in. Not until ho has seen it from every anglo, and learned the meaning of Its structure- and design, could It bd said that he has actually seen tho pyramid. . In like manner the various vari-ous Scriptural names which nro employed em-ployed to detlno tho naturo of God nro all essentlnl to a complete understanding un-derstanding "of Him whom to know aright is Liro eternal." Tint Intelligence. The Christian Scientist becomes familiar fa-miliar with God's wajs in -a most practical manner. Josus referred to God na "my God," nnd "your God." He Is theroforo my Mind nnd your Mind. Tho principal operation o that Wns proved to mo when I wns n atudont In tho clomentnry schools. For a month I was tiouhlcd with a difficulty that may ho describod In tho words of Paul, "Tho good that I would I do not; hut tho evil which I would not, that I do." With mo It was a difficulty In nnsworlng my school problems correctly. Though I might know tho correct answer, I would Invariably say tho wrong thing Instead of excusing that on tho basis of stupidity, Tnul saw In such conditions con-ditions tho warring of tho fleshly mind, nnd so did my parents, who were Christian Scientists. My mother proceeded to hen mo of thnt difficulty diffi-culty according to tho teachings of Christian Science. With wonderful i patience sho 'explained to me, In language lan-guage I could easily understand, tho renson why children, go to school. It Is not bo much to assimilate a largo mass of facts as It Is to dovelop cor-taln cor-taln faculties; such for cxamplo as perception, reason, memory, and application. ap-plication. Then she explained to me 'that they are faculties of tho divine Mind, nnd as such must be reflected 'through all alike. It concedes tho right to every ono to achtevo the mental might of a genius. Inasmuch as God is my mind and my Intelligence, Intelli-gence, Is wns any Tight and duty to claim and exercise that Intelligence which knows nil that Is necessary to know. So clear was my relation to dlvlno Intelligence established, that I ceased to limit my mental .capacity by the size of a brain. Its scope was broadened to that larger. , view "of divine di-vine Intelligence which transcends brain. Tho explanation was continued contin-ued until I could realize to a degree my true relation to God, who Is the' only Mind and intelligence. When I could reallzo this, it became a reality to me, with the result that I was completely healed of the difficulty. Tho truth about God and my rolatlon, to Him had set me free. Therein K tho proof that no "human intelligence has any validity If contrary to thr dlvlno faculties; and such, of tho human hu-man faculties must derlvo their validity va-lidity from tho dlvlno. Mind of Christ. Wo have no record In tho four gos-i pels thnt Jesus over permitted lilni-seir lilni-seir to be deceived or taken ndvantJ ago ot In any way. Had ho been victimized, It would havo boon by renson ot n lack of Intelligence. But ha claimed and oxerclsed tho dlvlno intelligence tlyit knows nil that I'i necessary to know, nnd theieby set tho standard for all mankind. It was! tho Mind which was In Christ Jesui thnt ennblod him to heal tho sick, even when they were absent from him, as In tho cases of tho centurion's centuri-on's servant and tho Syrophoonlclr an's daughter. It was tho Mind which was In Christ Jesus that enabled en-abled him to heal leprosy nnd raise tho dead, oven to tho raising ot himself him-self from tho tomb. It wns this Mind which constituted his divinity, and enabled him to say, "I and my Fattier aro one," and also tho correlative cor-relative statement, "My Father Is greater than I." It was the dlylno Mind which was in Christ Jesus that enabled him to say,, "Before Abraham was, I am," nnd "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Wo are moreover enjoined by tho Scriptures, "Let this mind be In you, which was also In Christ Josus" nnd "Bo ye therefore perfect oven ns your Father which is In heaven hea-ven is perfect." Tho Ctimfortcr. Before Jesus wont away he promised prom-ised us another Comforter. That no misconception might arise, he took tho precaution to explain the nature ot this promised Comforter. It should not Co a man, nor a person, but rather' the, impersonal "Spirit of truth.", He explained further that the "Spirit of truth" would lead mankind' Into all truth, oven, to the - I very source of truth which Is God, and it would testify ot him. Sometimes It occurs thnt ono is so completely overwhelmed , by sorrow sor-row and g,rlef that all the comfort and consolation of human affection seems helpless to brlghton tho thought. Then wo need to remember thero la a sorrow that purines, and another sorrow that works evil. It will sweeten or sour tho disposition according to tho direction It takes. Bui in the apparent helplessness of Insurmountable' grief, there Is the consolation that the power of ono's right deslro can steer Its course unerringly un-erringly into repentance and purification. purifi-cation. In the momentum of that directed di-rected experience no harm can overtake over-take us. Only good can come out of It. Such an assurance removes the (Continued on page lovon) i |