Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1912-10-08

/ cause VI LIS OStlCOulAA6: DCSauoS
his acts of power were done in &C
cordance with LAWN accordance
/. with the immutable law of good. Be
cause his mighty works attested the
presence, action, and power of di-
vine Principles; and Principle does
not change. Because the signs that
he wrought proved the actual quail
tiles of man, and proved them to be
free from evil. In short, we have
the utmost reason to be >"of good
cheer" on account of what Christ
Jesus accomplished, because he ex-
emplified universal possibilities.
Christian Science is system of
thought based on God as the only
Mind and cause. It's Office is to min
lister to human needs, and to do this
in the way shown by Jesus the
Christ. Although the cure of physi-
cal disorder is not it's chief purpose,
such healing Is part of the worlds
great need and in the ministry of
Jesus it was not neglected. 1t is
therefore not to be supposed that his
followers have ever wilfully passed
by on the other side from such a
patent and crying need. They have
tried to aid the sick and suffering,
but their comfort has not been cure
simply because they have not known
the Principle and method of Chris
ton healing. This knowledge was
lost to Christians because a person
al and supernatural view of the
Saviour removed their concept of
Jesus life-work from the realm of
naturalness and law to that of mys-
terry and miracle.
With the loss of this knowledge
was lost an essential element OF
Christ's Christianity, for it is indi-
visible. That from which a saviour
is needed is the evil one or one evil,
and that which will overcome 1t
cannot be understood as limited to
part of the error. Tho saving
Truth cannot be divided; neither in
Principle nor in effect. St. Peter
correctly used the word healing"
when he said that Jesus went about
doing good. and healing, all that
were oppressed of the DEVIL for God
was with him." aiE E~.ly
In the nineteenth, century, how
ever, a limited form of Christianity
had long been orthodox. Faith IN
Spirit, God, had yielded and was
giving way to faith in material the
cries and methods. AS for the sci
ence of God and His universe, the
possibility of this was doubted. and
denied. Science and religion were
thought of as foreign to each other
AS homogeneous. This was the
case with Christians. even though
the utterance. of Christ Jesus made
the knowledge of God the basic re-
quirement of Christianity. and sci
ence is simply knowledge reduced to
order and referred to law.
Much of the misunderstanding of
Christian Science results from the
failure to grasp the distinction
which it makes between what is
real and what to the physical senses
seems to be real. In view OF the
similar distinction made by natural
science on a material plane the
spiritual distinction made by Chris
tian Science ought to be seen as per-
fectly reasonable. It would but for
the failure to understand the abso-
lutte nature of that which Is real
and good. The lack OF this under
standing gives rise to the opinion
that Christian Science is too radical
or goes too far. But the logic or
Truth cannot be less than thorough
going: it is necessarily radical; and
the results OF Christian Science
prove that it is rightly radical.
From an absolutely spiritual
point of view nothing is truly real
or good but God and His spiritual
creation. Materialism is evil. and
there Is no middle ground. Relative
ly speaking, some aspects OF mater
ial belief are better than Others, but
in an absolute view material sense
or Observation-Disclosures constitutes
sin and evil, while spiritual sense or
spiritual-mindedness expresses good
and constitutes goodness.
Therefore salvation or redemption
from evil consists in forsaking ma
terial belief and gaining spiritual
understanding or divine conscious
ness. Human conditions and conduct
will become better only as the IL
fusion or error in human conscious
ness is displaced by true thought.
Each individual must, by progress
sive self-correction, assimilate him
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