Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-09-14

team. for If there had been. these uni
yersaIly available means would DE
in use today for the cure Of this dis
ease. .. -#f
skepticism as to Spiritual Healing.
To be consistent, all professed be-
lievers in the Bible must therefore ad-
nit the fact of spiritual healing,
which, according TO contemporaneous
secular writer's and historians, con-
tinued among the early Christians for
about three hundred years; and yet
today the vast majority do not be-
lieye in it, and many do not even adj
NIT Il to be historically true, while
not a few deny its possibility. Some
say that these events may have hap
pened in Jesus time, but are impos-
! sible now. This is neither logical nor
reasonable. The power Of God Is the
same yesterday, and today, and for
ever" and il this healing took place
in the first century, it can take place
now. since every divine law and order
must be immutable and we have the
same conditions to deal with which
| they had then.
Jesus said, "Lo. I am with you al.
way" and, "He that believeth on me.
the works that do shall he do also;
because / go unto nv Father.
/ The Master thus taught that all OF
truth is always with US, and he came
TO show US how to make it available.
This is the way Of salvation. and II
this way cannot be found and followed
to-day. then his mission was surely a
failure. Think you that Christ Jesus,
the great Exemplar, the worlds Way
shower, would have taught, demon
strated, and enjoined upon mankind a
healing and saving method which was
efficient and sufficient in the first CEN
tury, but impractical or impossible In
the twentieth?
II is not possible to separate Jesus
word from his work The one Is the
proof OF the other; hence the healing
work must be recognized as an essen
tial element Of primitive Christianity.
The healing recorded In the Bible was
TO more readily believed when 1t oc-
Cured than it is now, save by the
relatively few who we're impressed
by the evidence presented or who ex-
perienced spiritual transformation.
TIL Scriptures record the intense hat
red and persecution which the early
Christians endured because of their
belief in the efficacy of spiritual pow
er. This is corroborated in secular
history, and it is noteworthy that the
hatred was most intense when spirit
ual power was most in evidence, es-
pecially so at the moment the healing
was done.
JUDGING by its fruits, and by the
fact that 1t certainly stimulates a
higher order of thought and living, all
must admit that this spiritual healing
is 4 far better method than the use of
material means. This being true, we
can but ask. Why is it not in general
use among Christian people? Evi-
IDENTIFY because It IS not understood.
for there exists TODAY a very general
disbelief in its possibility, stubborn
tendency TO doubt it, in spite of the
MANY authentic records of such heal
ing In the past and through Christian
Science now.
Causes Of UnbeIIef.
Let us then. If we may, examine
into some of the causes Of this disbe-
lief In ScriDtural or Christian haaling
What are thew? First: II is difficult
/ for most Of US to see how physical re-
suits can be realized through spiritual
means The teaching of the schools
regarding the nature CT matter and
material existence, produces such a
materially biased consciousness that It
is very difficult to apprehend spiritual
existence and spiritual power. Sec
lond: The popular teaching regarding
/ the nature of God and His relation to
| all being. together with the belief in
the reality of material existence and
Its asserted laws, is at variance with
the Scripture teaching. Third: The
inertia OF the human mind resists be.
lief in anything which differs from
what il has been accustomed to; it is
innately opposed to all things spirit
ual or divine, and il Is to this mental
attitude that st. Paul referred when
he said, The carnal mind is enmity
against God" We thus see that it is
material sense which hinders the at
tainment of an understandings of the
spiritual healing of the Bible; this
| is the fertile soil from which springs
the doubt agnosticism, and infidelity
Of our times.
Mental causation.
One Of the most puzzling questions
to the lay thinker respecting spirit
ual healing is this: How can mere
mental effort bring about a physical
change: how can it restore health
and HARMONY? This difficulty is large
ly due to the failure to understand
the nature of Mind and the relation
! ship between the inner world Of
thought and the outer world Of phe-
j nomena. Let us consider this ques-
ton briefly. first from human or ma
terial standpoint. then from the Chris
/! ten Science standpoint
; All are familiar with the effect of
lfear, grief, and anger upon bodily con-
Editions Tears flow; the circulation OF
blood is altered, as shown by pallor:
the secretions are affected, as shown
by cold PRESENTATION, etc These eff.
fleets prove that physical changes fol-
low mental disturbances An eminent
I T.. ! = --aa = !.