Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-02-16
A LECTURE ON CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE.
continued from DE llrst page.

SCIENCE.
Continued from the first page.
plies any of the harshness of the Mosaic
law with its thou shalt and thou
shalt not" we must remember that the
divine Principle manifests all wisdom,
intelligence and goodness. Indeed il
includes the all of divine Love which
binds up the broken hearted and seis
the captive free.
METHOD IN JESUS TEACHING
Recognizing how essential il is, at
some time, for all to claim their tod
given right To be free; II may be- in
teresting to observe the method which
jesus adopted in teaching this healing
power to his disciples. Not gifted in
learning, these disciples manifested an
average intelligence, and certain
familiarity with the Mosaic law
Doubtless they were as familiar with
the Old Testament writings as the
average individual of 10 day. How
ever, we may read in LHkes's Gospel
how that Jesus reproved them for their
unbelief Then opened he their I'M
derstanding, that they might under
SlftUu lfit Htu Que might
be thoroughly familiar with the Scrip
ture lessons, and in his unbelief fail 10
understand them. For example: When
Jesus healed the man with the withered
hand all that he said was, Stretch
forth thine hand. And it was restored
whole like as the other We all are
familiar with those words, bat suppose
any one to-day repeated those same
words TO one suffering from a withered
hand, could the mere repetition OF those
words heal him. 1t must be evident
to you that not the words, bnt the
spiritual understanding OF the Master
healed the sick Why one might COM
nit to memory the whole Bible, from
Genesis to Revelation, and be unable
to heal a single disease, for il is the
spiritual understanding that needs TO
be opened. The letter killeth," says
the Scripture, but the spirit giveth
life
To present this spiritual understand
ing it was necessary for Jesus 10 begin
on their plane of thought, where they
could grasp the meaning of his teach
ings He began with parallels, and
without a parable spake he not unto
them" A little later be said, 81 shall
no more speak unto you in proverbs,
4
Father
In this he did precisely what the
mother does when she teaches her
child that two and two make four. The
child does not understand it at first
for the reason that it is mental. He sees
nothing but physical forms. Therefore
the mother begins with something as
tangible as red apples. They mean
something directly, and he can under
stand that two red apples in one hand
placed with two red apples in the other
make four red apples. The mental
character of the problem, however, has
thus far escaped the child'S notice. For
his second lesson, the apples are re-
moved, and he must learn by thinking
red apples that two and two are fonr.
Then for his third lesson he is ready to
grasp the mental problem without the
physical forms. In like manner Jesus
taught the disciples first in parallels,
using the things OF common experience
which they could readily understand
Gradually in this way he turned their
thoughts away from the physical 10 q
more spiritual sense of things until
they began to apprehend degree of
realty in spiritual things. Indeed
their faith was strengthened by visible
Master. TO watch others solve these
problems, however, was insufficient.
For their second lesson, they were sent
out in pairs to heal the sick, and thus
prove their slight understanding. and
behold they returned saying, Even the
devils are subject unto us through thy
name" The great mental Principle
which underlies all being and action
was unfolding to them and they grasped
the spirit of it all by the actual demons
tration of healing so that Jesus could
say as ~ opening TO his third LESSON,
II shall no more speak unto You in
proverbs but | shall show you plainly
of the Father" That is, he conld then
teach them spiritual things in spiritual
terms and they could understand
spiritually From that time their heal
ing was even more remarkable than
before in proof of their positive under
standing of spiritual law.
Some there are who believe that the
healing works of Jesus are not in
obedience to a teachablc law. averring
that the disciples gained their under
standing through the personal inspra-
ton of the great Master III this were
| true what shall we say of Paul and the
early Christians? Paul was not a per-
sonal disciple of Jesus but he under
stood how to heal the sick and raise the
| dead. lie was at first a prosecutor OF
the Christians, actively engaged in
opposing their teachings but the
moment he gained n spiritual sense OF
this divine Principle, he gave to the
world the proof of his understanding
| by the healing works Ii was no longer
unreasonable to him. He had learned
that the carnal mind is no lit standard
| by which to Judge the spiritual facts of
being. For three hundred years this
same Christian healing continued TO be
exercised by the church.
DISEASE MENTAL.
When one turns to God for comfort
| or consolation it is commonly through
| prayer Christians are taught to pray
for deliverance from sickness and from
| sin They continue their preaching
| against sin, but the Christian healing OF
| sickness is apparently apathetie from
unbeief. The reason may lie in the
| physical appearance of sickness, for II
/ sickness were known to be rs mental
as sin, then it could be seen how a
mental prayer conld control both. II
| disease were purely physical and could
| be reached only by drugs or material
means, there could be no such thing as
Christian healing. One of the leading
points in the theology of Christian
Science, and one which physicians are
now admitting to be true, is the mental
| nature of disease.
We should look beyond the physical
effects 10 their mental cause just rs
Moses did, for when he withdrew his
/ hand from his bosom white with leprosy
| he woke TO the mental nature OF leprosy
( Again when he returned his hand 10 his
| bosom. in obedience To the word of God,
! and withdrew it free from that dread
| disease, he learned of its mental cure,
and that the divine Mind is the healer.
| Ii follows therefore that Christian
| prayer should be just as efficaeious in
| healing disease which is mental as in
casting out the belief in mental sin.