Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-10-08


ease by simply thinking about it?"
This expresses the attitude of NOR
tai thought, and in answer to it's
questions it is well to bear in mind
that the marvellous healing recorded
in the Bible, much of which is en-
tirely above and beyond any possible
achievement of medical or surgical
practice, was actually accomplished
through mental or spiritual activity
alone, and that Christian Science has
in the same way healed every known
disease. Admitting these facts. we
are the better prepared to discuss
the manner in which this healing is
accomplished.
Nature of Existence.
In the first place, it is necessary
for us to consider what existence is,
and the relation between mind and
body. All will admit that to exist
means to be conscious. Then indi-
vidual existence is individual con-
sciousness, and since consciousness is
mental, existence is mental. From
this it follows that the character Of
existence depends upon the character
of consciousness. 1t is also evident
that hereditary tendency and educat-
ed bias largely determine the charac-
ter of consciousness, and since our
mental makeup and parceptive fac
ulties vary greatly, it is manifest that
no two people can have the same con-
sciousness or even see the same OBJ
ject alike. For example, an aeroplane
viewed by civilized person and by
a savage awakens altogether differ
ent concepts. A flower is very diff
ferent thing to botanist from what
it is to an engineer. The impression
received of the shape and size of an
object depends upon the shape and
size of the lens of the eye, and indi-
vidual lenses are manifestly as differ
ent as individual physiognomies.
Again, since human consciousness
Is acquired largely through the five
physical senses, it partakes of the ma
ture of material sense. This sense
testimony is always relative and
never absolute. It is dimensional,
finite, variable, inexact. Echoes do
not locate sound correctly. Distant
objects are not small because they
appear so. Astronomical phenomena
are not what they seem to be. The
sun does not move across the sky and
the earth is not stationary. Color is
not absolute, neither are the reports
made to us by the senses of taste,
smell and touch.
Matter Mental Concept.
According to recent discoveries in
physical science, matter is form of
energy, instead of the indestructible
stuff or entity it has been believed to
be. It's unit, the atom, is found to
be composed of positive and negative
electrical corpuscles, called electrons
or ions. Through mechanical and
chemical processes a material object
may be reduced to its ultimate theo-
retical limit, called atoms. Further
separation of these atoms into their
constituent electrons or ions leaves
nothing of our material object but a
form of energy, a theoretical mani
festation of force in which every YES
tige of the characteristics of matter
or the object has disappeared. What
the nature and history of a separated,
freed electron may be, is something
for the physicist to puzzle over.
Idealistic philosophy and psychol-
ogy teach that material objects are
but objectified mental impressions or
concepts, and not substantive entities
exterior to consciousness. For eX-
ample: When we look at what we
call a material thing we experience
an impression made. upon conscious
ness by light, which is all we ever
see. Light, according to physics, is
~ nf inh
impresses itself upon consciousness,
and this impression we have been
educated to objectify. We have in
herited and cultivated the habit of
believing it to be matter, or an object
which we see, whereas it is merely
the experience of a mental impression
we have unconsciously objectified;
and this is true also of the phenom-
ma of hearing, taste, touch and smell.
We never really see, hear, feel,
taste or smell matter or objects, but
merely experience sense-phenomena
which we call matter. What we
think we see Is rot an object exterior
to consciousness, but only an impress
sion in consciousness due to what is
assumed to be some form of vibra-
NiOh' VI bhSl hiOlC dtNOl uluS W poS
chology and philosophy, there is no
evidence of any existence external to
consciousness; hence existence is
measured by consciousness. We thus
see that matter must be defined as
mirage, as an appearance of sub
stance rather than substance itself,
and 1t is therefore wholly mental,
state of mortal consciousness.
These are not the teachings OF
Christian Science, but the conclusions
reached through research and dis
covery In the domain of physical sci=
ence, psychology and philosophy, and
they show that even from physical
standpoint what we term matter is
not what 1t is generally believed to
be, but Is wholly a mental phenome-
non, and has not been and cannot be
accounted for in any other way.
Christ Jesus proved what is called
matter to be wholly mental when he
walked on the water, stilled the tenn
pest and overcame other so-called
material conditions.
Material Mentality.
Having seen the mental nature OF
matter, let us now consider the ma
ture of the mind which perceives. ma
terial things and of which matter is
the objectifiel concept or externali-
zation, the mind which largely con-
stitutes human consciousness. This
mind Is a consciousness of which the
factors are dimensional, variable, de-