The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-01-08
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ

"nothingness," therefore It holds that
man was made of nothing, is nothing
and returns to nothing. The Psalm
ist says, My substance was not hid
from Thee, when | was made in Sc
cret, and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts OF the earth. The word
translated substance" in its primi-
tive form signifies bone or body"
The meaning, therefore, that the
Psalmist intended to convey is that
this body so "fearfully and wonder
fully made" by God is substance. AS
this substance was dust, and dust is
neither soul nor spirit, then it fol
lows that this substance is something
apart from spirit. That which is not
spirit is what is known as matter,
hence We conclude that the body Of
men is material. This the Bible
teaches. Christian Science denies
that it is true, Which of the two
should be accepted?
After having laid down the propo-
sition that matter does not exist,
Christian Science does not hesitate
even in the presence of the most fear
full sickness and ravaging disease
boldly to deny them both. Note the
following quotation: You say a
boil is painful; but that is impossi-
BILE. The boil simply manifests your
belief in pain" Associated with the
power of belief is the power of
choice, therefore, according to your
belief, it may be the pain of boil,
appendicitis, pleurisy or toothache;
the character of the disease depends
upon the individual will. You can
have any sort of disease or pain that
you choose by simply believing that
YOU have it, Suppose a man should
believe that he has stuck nail in
his foot, does his belief produce the
same effect that the nail itself would
produce if actually thrust into the
flesh? Does that belief cause his
foot to swell or does it produce blood
poison or lockjaw? Hear the evi-
dence of Christian Science: A mans
belief produces disease and all its
symptoms
If disease and pain exist only in
the belief that they are real, then of
course it follows that if that belief
be destroyed, disease and pain or
any manifestation of them must nee
essarily disappear. But what is be-
lief? 1t is defined as being the AS
sent to a proposition or affirmation,
or the acceptance of fact, opinion
or assertion as real or true, without
immediate personal knowledge Be
lief, therefore, is process which
takes place in the mind, and the act
of believing is such that it must re-
qure use of the reasoning faculties
of the mind. The tiny infant is GER
tainly not possessed with the power
to believe as the term is used and is
incapable of formulating an opinion
concerning the reality or unreality of
pain or disease. But what is it that
causes the baby to cry out in agony
when it is pricked with a pin in the
mothers dress or when it has been
given poisonous and unwholesome
food? What is it that causes the in
nocent little creature to succumb TO
the dreaded diphtheria, scarlet fever,
membranous Group or infantile par
alyss? There is no belief in the
mind of the child and yet there is
the awful effect of some cause star
ing us in the face and mocking him
who says that disease and pain eX-
list only in the belief of their exist
ence. Since the infant is incapable
of entertaining a belief of any kind
relative to disease or pain and yet
often presents the very best evidence
that they do exist, what becomes of
the proposition that they are unreal
and have no existence save in the
belief of their existence?
sickness is an illusion" Sickness
is always hallucination." The sick,
through belief, have induced their
own stiff joints and cramped mus
cles." Some time it will be learned
that mind constructs the body, and
with its own materials. Hence no
breakage or dislocation can really oc-
cur" If this be true, man might
fall a thousand feet upon a stone
pavement and he would not expert
ence the slightest inconvenience
from dislocations or broken bones.
All he would need to do would be to
have faith and believe that he had