St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-21
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST.
j. w. Jaynes Enlarges Upon a
Question of Absorbing Interest

u W. Odyu OS EnlaF&0S upon
Question of Absorbing Interest
j. w. Jaynes delivered the ser nor
yesterday before the Christian Scientists
of st. Paul in their rooms at the Hote
Barteau. He took for his text the
words:
"Search the Scriptures, for in them
ye think We have eternal life, and they
are they which testify of me-" John, ".
80. He said: The words of the text were
spoken by the Master to the multitude
on the Sabbsth day after the healing of
the lmpotent man who lay at the pool OF
Bethesda, waiting for the moving of the
waters. Scripture says that an angel
came down at certain season of the
year and troubled the waters. After the
moving of the waters, the first one
stepping in was healed. The crippled
man in question was one of many that lay
at this place waiting for some miracu-
lous intervention of divine power that
would liberate them from the bondage
Of physical disability inherent upon
them for the sins of the parents, SO said
by the Jewish rabbi.
Such, at least, was the belief of the
one under comment; for he was a Grip
pie from his birth. The belief prevalent
with this people was that the sins of the
fathers were visited upon the children
unto the third and fourth generations.
This indirect contradiction to the COM
mand of the prophet Ezekiel, wherein
he said, "What mean We that ye use
this prOverb concerning Israel? Saying.
the fathers have eaten sour grapes and
the children'S teeth are set upon edge?
LAS l live, saith the Lord God. We
shall not have occasion any more to use
orb in RAb oil
souls are mine. AS the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is
mine: the soul that Sinneth it shall die"
What is it, then, that dies? Is il not
the SHINING sense, and does not this
mortal belief of man suffer from his own
sense of sin and die as the
Penalty for Sine
Then mortal man alone sins, and not
the spiritual; and the death of the sim
ner is the result of sin, and not of Gods
law that gives life.
Is il not a self evident fact, from the
quotation and illustration given, that
the religious world has not been SWayed
by the teachings of Holy Writ, but by
the traditions and creedS that have no
foundation only i'll the mind that
aScribeS truth to them? More honor has
been given to traditions than to the
teachings of prophet and apostle.
The quotation cited illustrates only
one Of the fragrant errors that all
ChrlStendOm has fallen into by being
governed by the traditions of the
elders instead of the law of God, as
handed down by the fathers. Viewed
from literal standpoint, the setting of
the captive free from the bonds that
had so long bound him to a belief of
original sin ought to have brought re-
jOicing to thesheartS of all, instead of
enmity and hatred that resulted in the
death Ito their sense of the just man of
God.
This error has been propagated until
it has affected nthe whole Christian
world. The man that makes the wrong
right today is charged with being a dis
believer in the vicariouS atonement,
also that he has destroyed the divinity
of Christ.
Therefore the thought that has arrayed
itself against the Christ idea, viz, that
man is the spiritual creation of God,
spiritual, and not material, and that
the understanding of this truth sets the
captive free, has been opposed most
bitterly by those who make the loudest
profession of Christianity. Perfecting
man spiritually has always been said to
be the work of the devil. HE hath a
devil and is mad, why hear we him q"
But the Master said, II have not a
devil, but l honor my Father, and
Ne DO DislOnOr Me.''
From the reading of the narrative we
learn that Jesus was at Jerusalem cele-
brating the feast day, and that at this
particular time He seems to be StrOIling
around alone, and coming to this place
He is attracted by the thrOng of cripples
f.Nln s.,f, 1
this place, all in bondage to the same
thought. Looking over the woe begone
and helpless group, He selects this par
ticular one from the many, and ap-
proacheS him with a pointed question,
| saying, "Wouldst thou be made whole ?''
The answer was Just what the Master
had expected. No sooner asked, when
he began to recount the many disap-
pointmentS he had met with In placing
| his hopes upon things of the past,
and the future had no brighter
| prospects than the past had held
up to him. These had al
failed. He felt satisfied Ill his
own mind that he could never be
healed at that sanitariam, and that to
remain there longer would be useless
worse than folly. In fact, he was ready
for anything new that presented itself
he was in that condition Of mind thai
was reaching out, grasping for some
thing that the old methods and sy stem:
had not as yet brought to him.
Possibly the desire going out fol-
| something better than he now saw him
self to be, be tier realization of wha
man in reality is, had attracted the Mas
ter Thought, and brought him to hi
assistance.
1t is worthy to note just here that
Jesus said: Every tree brings fortl
after Its KIND" and may answer the
question so often asked, why did no
the Master heal others of this group
If He were God He could heal all a
we'll as this one. This is the reasonin!
of mortal man, who does not want any
thing to do with helping himself, bu
hopes TO gain eternal blessednes
through the righteousness of another
Jesus saw differently, and so do Christ
tian Scientists today. If all had beel
reaching out for the Master conscious
ness, for the spiritual understanding o
life, truth and love, all would have bee
Healed the Same.
The reasoning of mortal in regard {
the power of Christ to heal is correct
inasmuch as God, having all power
could heal all as we'll as one. Tn