Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-02-27
Continued from page g.

which means conviction OF truth" And
to be convinced of truth means to know,
to understand truth. Our dictionaries
give this deeper meaning as the one u
be used in a religious sense, but our
everyday use of the word believe in the
sense of giving credence to, and of the
word faith in something of the same
sense as the word hope, tends to obscure
the larger meaning of the words.
BLIND BELIEF INSUFFICIENT.
In the eleventh chapter of the epistle
TO the Hebrews, the writer, after de-
timing faith as THE evidence of things
not seen" gives an example of how the
word is to be used when he says,
Through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word Ct
God" Now it would manifestly be inn
possible for us to perceive that the
worlds were framed by the word Of
Cod through anything less than spir-
itual understanding.
In the third vhapter of Acts. Peter,
i'll his sermon on the healing of the lame
man, describes his method by saying,
And his Christ Jesus name through
faith in his name hath made this man
strong Here the statement is made
that healing came about through faith,
spiritual understanding of the name of
Jesus, the Christ, and the word name as
used in the Scriptures had deeper sig
niiicance than it has in our modern
times. The idea of a name in the He
brew language and the Hebrew mind
was not merely that of sound by
which an object might be designated,
but that of a significant term which
should really indicate its quality or ma
ture; so that Peters statement meant
that the manifestation of Jesus nature,
the Christ, or Gods perfect man, which
he had revealed TO them, and which they
understood, had made this man whole.
The Master said in his prayer to his
Father, Il have manifested thy name
unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world and What did the Master
do but 10 manifest Gods nature to the
men that God had given him out OF the
world? Again and again it is pointed
out in the New Testament that faith in
his name. that is, understanding OF his
nature, is what heals and saves in every
instance.
Christian Science is giving us this en-
larged understanding of the nature OF
God, which is essential if we are to APP
propriate in greater and greater meas
ure the infinite blessings which INFINITE
Love has in store for us.
The Bible speaks of God as Spirit, as
Life, as Truth, and as Love. 1t also
speaks of Him, as the creator, that from
which all proceeds. This thought is ex-
pressed in Christian Science by the use
of the word Principle for God, since
Principle is that from which all pro-
ceeds and by which it exists.
Mrs Eddy has also given us the term
Father Mother, by which there is
brought to consciousness the complete
ness of the creator, the motherhood as
we'll as the fathcrhood of God, and also
a larger thought of God as Love. When
we think of God the Father, our thought
of Him is limited by Our earthly sense
CT fatherhood which, no matter how
complete, is still lacking in the fullness
of those qualities of love and tenderness
which the mother thought expresses.
The word Spirit as used in the Bible
and the word which is translated Al
mighty God both had something of this
same thought of motherhood but this
thought has been completely lost to us
in the translation.
No matter by what term we may
think of God, whether 1t be as INFINITE
Life or infinite Principle, or INFINITE
Mind, logical deduction as to the ma
ture of man and the creation VIII al
ways bring us to the same point, = that
of the eternal perfection OF all that God
has made, and the unreality OF sickness
and all that is contrary to His divine
nature.
The only way we can fail to arrive
at this conclusion is by simply saying
God is God, making no effort to un-
derstand His nature - and insisting
that the sickness and sin which we see
about us are in some way according to
His infinite perfection and holiness.
COPS QUALITIES MANIFEST
God as infinite Life cannot be made
manifest in death, nor can infinite Life
be made manifest in sickness, for sick
ness ultimates in death, and so IN a
relative sense is partial death. INFINITE
Life can only be made manifest IN IN
finite eternal health.
Cop Is MIND.
God as infinite Truth cannot be made
manifest in sickness, for every truth IS
in absolute, harmonious accord with
every other mathematical truth, and in
finite Truth can tolerate no inharmony,
even though it calls itself sickness ana
claims to be truth.
God as infinite Love cannot do less
for His children than to manifest tna'
Love and supply them with INFINITE
good. and Infinite good does not include
sickness. What earthly father as man,
hesitation of his love for his child would
bring sickness upon it, or allow 1t 10
have sickness if he could prevent 1t!
III We then, being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your Father which, is
in heaven give good things to them that
ask him."
When we consider God as Principle,
that from which all proceeds, we ind 1t
impossible to conceive of both sickness
and health proceeding from this one IN
Unite Principle; and yet there is no
other source from which anything could
como. for, as John declares, without
him was not any thing made that was
made" W. -
When we consider God as Mind we
arrive at the same conclusion, tor the
Manifestation of Mind is thought. and
s>lsAla1~~n~kwinSn Mind are not