The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1919-10-09

of The Mother Church The First
Church of Christ Scientist
in Boston Massachusetts.
The Christian world has recognized
| for centuries three great verities Of
| Spirit that God is omnipotent omni-
scient and omnipresent meaning by
this that God has all power is ever
present and is the creator and source
Of all knowledge. These immortal
| fundamentals of Deity have been ac-
copied by Christians because on no
| other basis can we conceive God as
| infinite and supreme a God of love
who sends only good gifts to His chill
| dren.
But while men and women have ac-
| copied theoretically these eternal at
tributes of God they have not as a
matter of fact actually understood
them nor have they ordered their lives
according to them. Christians have
accepted in theory the proposition that
God is good and all powerful but they
have lived on the basis that there are
other powers to be feared avoided or
! propitiated. Now God is good, the
source of all power. That fact elm
mates at once and forever any other
| power of goodness. Therefore, if we
fear disease, are avaricious, hate our
neighbor, or find pleasure in any sin,
| we are denying the omnipotence of
| God-no matter what our pretensions
| to the contrary may be.
| "Tis in deeds we serve the Master
Words are idle empty prayer;
All our Christian life pretense,
| If the deeds are wanting there"
says the we'll known hymn.
Now, Christian Science corrects this
discrepancy between reality and prac-
tice. No matter what the testimony
of the material senses may be as to the
! seeming reality of evil, Christian
Science holds firmly, logically, and
consistently, to the eternal fact of the
omnipotent goodness Of God, which
overrules all power of sickness and sin.
The writer of the Apocalypse had a
demonstrable knowledge Of this when
he declared: "The Lord God omnipo-
tent reigneth.'
Christian Science, in teaching re.
lance on the omnipotent goodness of
God, has reinstated primitive Chris
tianity. The great Bible characters
proved that right understanding of
God destroys fear, heals disease, and
frees the sinner. There is nothing
| mysterious about Christian Science
nor it's practice. Christian Science is
simple, natural, and scientific. Chris
! tian Scientists do not fear disease, be-
cause they know God never sent it and
| that right understanding Of Him
completely destroys it.; and they can
see clearly that it is useless to talk
about disease, because it has no basis
except human fears and false mental
pictures. They do not study medical
| works because they do not reason from
the basis Of physical man. They see
no value in acquiring knowledge Of
that which is not true. They agree
with the statement of Josh Billings,
who is reported to have said, whats
! the use of KNOWN SO much if what
YOU know amt so?"
Healing of Sickness Not the Ultimate.
The healing of the sick bv spiritual
means is not an end in itself. Chris
tian Science probes to the bottom all
| human ills and destroys their cause
sin. Christian Science is law of an
Inhalation to everything that ratards
or obstructs mans advance Spiritward.
even all human beliefs of pleasure and
main. and brings to light the fact that
Spirit and the spiritual universe, in
| Guiding man, are the only realities of
being Man lives because God lives,
for mans life is derived from Coz
| Man does not exist merely to keep
himself in repair or to satisfy his hu-
| man desires. A mans real business in
life is to know and understand God.
| The function of an automobile is to
carry it's occupants. not to undergo
repairs, although its owner may at
! times be led to believe that the ex-
pense bill is the objective. Repairs
| must be made of course, if the machine
does not run. So man. when sick or
sinful, must be healed before he is pre-
pared to realize his sonship with God.
But the healings Of sin and disease are
only the preliminary steps by which q
| man comes to see that his real duty,
his ideal, is to understand God and to
| live according to His eternal laws.
"Fear Cod" said the writer of Eccles-
tastes, "and keep His commandments:
| for this is the whole duty Of man."
And so mans regeneration has mere
! w commenced when he is healed Of
physical ills by Christian Science. He
| begins to see vision Of perfect
model of manhood based on mans eter-
nal sonship with God. He finds that a
Transformation Of his character must
take place it he is ever to attain this
ideal, and that his former habits and
1 ideals no longer satisfy him. He be-
gins to measure himself bv the model
Of perfect God and perfect man, and
to grow to that perfection Of thought
which the Psalmist saw when he said:
81 shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with Thy likeness" and this process
Of regeneration requires the undivided
attention Of every man.
4 Christian Science and the War.
/ Christian Scientists, who entered Tie
war and those who remained at home.
calmly trusted in the protecting power
Of everpresent Love. and their conf
dence was not found wanting. 1hsy
proved during the great war that God
] is the only power and that evil is-pow-
erless. and so Christian Science sol
4 diers have returned to tell ~ that they
escaped scathless when menaced BY
I shalls bullets. gas. and submarines,
opd %hou ascanod <hoso Hsnonp~ M.