Arizona republican., 1917-06-26
FAITH IN GOD

The aim of Christian Science is to establish faith in God in the world. It's endeavor is not that men should be brought to merely believe in Gods ex- istence. but that they should so under stand Gods being that their faith will not be based on belief but on Knowledge which is demonstrable Mere belief is about as frail bark to set sail in over the waters of fife as can be ina gineG. It has shipwrecked many life. because 1t can be broken up so readily by the so- called material forces of doubt and fear.
 On page 297 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes: Until belief be- comes faith. and faith becomes spiritual understanding. human thought has lit tie relation to the actual or diVne.'' Now belief, faivh, and spiritual under standing are all three, mental condl- tions. Spiritual understanding should. govern the other two; for without spIr- itual understanding they are unreliable indeed they may be distinctly perni- clous Suppose a man places his faith in some one through mcre-y believing in him. the belief arising solely from purely superficial evidence: what may result? His faith may be entirely mis- placed. It has not been based on data | understandingly accumulated and eA
 
 upon instability and is therefore unre- liable. On the other hand when one has had brought before him evidenc. sufficient to establish the truthWorthi ness of man. one is justified in repos ing ones faith in the man: in which case the faith is reliable and becomes d part of ones mentai equpment
 If such reasoning is justifiable in the relationship of human beings toward each other. how much more so does it become when the question of faith in God is under consideration Mrs Eddy | herself before her discovery of Chris tian Science, exercised perhaps as pure a faith on God as human being could without that spiritual understanding 1 which it was her privilege to discover | later to the world. But pure as her faith | in the earlier period was, she recog 1 niZed that it must be grounded on the | knowledge of absolute truth before 1t | could bring forth the fruits which | Christ Jesus had said it would bear, with regularity and with certainty. l Were not these the Masters words: l Therefore I say unto you. What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe 1 that ye receive them, and ye shall have them? Surely there was some 1 thing more implied in that saying than
  | person or some doctrine or other in or der to receive the gift of God. Credu- lity could never interpret it's meaning, blind faith could never comprehend it.. | Christian Science reveals the seeming mystery of it, interpreting it out of tn; knowledge of the Mind of Christ.
 The first and great step, then, to- ward the establishing of faith in Goa is to obtain a knowledge of the truti about God And one of the most inn portant truths about God is His all ness. God is infinite Mind or spirit Nothing exists outside of. the crnscicus- ness of infinite Mind. Creation. thus, is spiritual Again. God is perfect or in finite good. Therefore all that really exists, that is to say the entire spiritua creation, is good or perfect. Wher Christian Science declares these truth: about God and His creation, 1t does SC without any intention of modifying them in any way. It knows well tha the human mind denies that they arc true. Does not this SC called lnind sas that there is q material creation an6 tha: ;uother power exists which if calls ayil%, It does. But Christian Scicnc, tells mankind that they must allow tholiSir to dwell or rho facts of siirit1 al being which cons'a2cy and be fait
 full tn the logic or the Sltualion II as sures them that it is the understanding of these spiritual facts which enables men to obtain the mastery over SO called material conditions and circum stances
 Take, for example the human be.ie that supply may be limited. Has maI to believe, it may be asked. that he ha: that which he feels he has not? Tha
 would be unreasonable. What he re quires to do is to turn away from tn contemplation of the belief that matte | is real substance to the absolute spir
 itual fact that Mind is infinite sub stance, that man is an idea in Mint supported by the substance of Mind and in proportion to his understanding of mans true relationship to Mind h' will find his problem solved. He vii have his needs met as he understand. that man, the image and likeness o God. has already all things in the tru' Consciousness of Mind. Christian fScience is the Science of real conscious