Arizona republican., 1919-10-15
THECHRIST
written for The Christian Science
MOnitorl

4 man demonstrates his knowledge of
the Christ, Truth, the more nearly he
walks in the footsteps OF Jesus the
Christ: There was, is, and never can
be-" Mrs. Eddy writes on pages IA and
IS of Pulpit and Press" "but one God,
one Christ, one Jesus of Nazareth.
in any age expresses most of
the spirit of Truth and Love, the
of Gods idea, has most of the |
spirit of Christ, of that Mind which |
was inc Christ Jesus The spirit of |
Christ then, is obedience to Truth. the |
effort, in other words, to put off the |
carnal mind, ''the old man, which is |
corrupt according to the deceitful |
lusts," and to put on the Mind which
was in Christ Jesus, "the new man,
which after God is created in right
eousness and true holiness"
The mission of Jesus was to show
the world how this might be done, not
through the impossible task of spirit
ualizing matter, and converting an i'm
pure mortal into an angel, but by
realizing the nothingness of the flesh
and its lusts and so demonstrating the
allness of Spirit, and mems true self
hood or Christ, as the image and like
ness of God. "This dual personality of
thS ulAocSli anu the SeeIl, lie spiritual
and material, the eternal Christ AMI
the corporal Jesus manifest in flesh"
writes Mrs. Eddy, on page 334 of Sci
ence and Health, CONTINUED until the
Masters ascension, when the human,
material concept. or Jesus, disap-
peared, while the spiritual self, or
Christ, continues to exist in the eter-
nal order of divine Science, taking
away the sins of the world, as the
Christ has always done, even before
the human Jesus was incarnate to
mortal eyes" AS any person looks
back over the years Of the ministry of
Jesus, he will see this is exactly what
Mrs. Eddy means. Starting with all
the advantage of Mary's demonstration
of the virgin birth. he day by day, and
week by week, wrought out, before
the world, the nothingness of matter
and the supremacy of the Christ,
! Truth. But he knew that the Christ
was eternal, whereas the human Jesus
was mortal, with beginning and end
ing of days. Therefore of his spiritual
and eternal selfhood, or the Christ, be
declared, Before Abraham was, am"
| 1t is the duty of every follower of
Jesus the Christ, as it should have
been the duty of all who preceded
him, to demonstrate the Christ, Truth.
as he demonstrated it. To the extent
in which this demonstration was made,
in the centuries preceding the virgin
birth, the Old Testament is the record,
to the extent it was made in the first
century of the Christian era, the New
Testament is the record. Here then,
from Abraham to the foundation OF
the church in Greece, in Asia, and in
Rome, is the story of the demonstra-
ton of the Christ, and for this pur-
pose it matters nothing at all whether
the record in the books of the Law is
historical or purely allegorical, wheth-
er, that is to say, Abraham ever ex-
listed in the flesh, as the friend of God
Principle, or whether he was simply
the type of that consciousness capable
of realizing the Christ, Truth; whether
the sons Of Jacob were actual charac-
ters, or symbols of the human mind
exemplified in the tribes.
The Christ, consequently, is the
image and likeness Of God, as opposed
to the man of dust in the allegory o.
creation. 1t was the vision of this
Christ which brought Abraham out o.
the land Of many gods. and showed Il
him the purer monotheism of Israel;
|
Jesus himself referred, when he said
Your father Abraham rejoiced to SCI
! my day: and he saw it, and was glad
1t was his vision of the Christ that LEI
him TO substitute a ram caught by tn,
, horns for the human sacrifice on tn,
altar at jehovah jireh, Just as it wa
Isaiah's vision which put aside tn
sacrifice Of animals, and called insteat
n nd
was his vision of the Christ to whicl
Jacob chung all through the long nigh
of wrestle by the brook Jabbok, as
was to his vision that Elijah clun
/ that day, upon the slopes of Carme
when, from the morning until the hou
of the evening sacrifice, the priests o
Baal sprang upon the altar and Gu
themselves with knives as they ad
jured their gods to bring down fir
from heaven. It was Moses who's
n vision of the Christ led him TO bin
the animal propensities of the peopl
{ with the law, as it was the vision {
. the Baptist which urged him, saying
= Repent We: for the kingdom of heav
. en- is at hand"
The Baptist had baptized the peopl
z with water in token of purity, but h
declared that one coming after hill
N would baptiZe them with fire Thi
b prophecy Jesus the Christ fulfilled. H
simlle of the refiner's fire makes tn
quite clear. The dross of human ma
4 ture has to be disposed of, whetht
4 painfully or painlessly it is for the ir
4 dividual to decide. Most people elet
for suffering because they place IL
& pursuit Of material ease and pleasul
< before that of the Christ; yet the roa
to harmony is traced for them in Il
footsteps Of Jesus the Christ. Ever
miracle or demonstration which
performed brought him nearer to
realization of the absolute, and so d.
stroyed something in his conscious
ness divorced from Principle. He cou
not heal the sick, and continue to b
lieve in sickness; he could not raj
the dead, and continue to believe
death; he could not feed the multitu6
and continue to believe in Limitation
he could not walk on the water, al
continue to believe in matter, or st
the tempest, whilst believing in di
cord. Every one of the demonstrate
emphasized the Christ, and depict
the Jesus, so that after his final vi
tory in the ascension, the image Al
likeness of God, Principle, the Chri
so over Swallowed the human jest
that neither the Roman guards nor t
scribes and Pharisees were able to di
Germ the Christ-man. AS Mrs Ed
n writes, on page BIG of Science a
Health, 1.-THE Christ-idea, or the Chri.
man, rose higher to human view b
B cause Of the crucifixion, and tn
n proved that Truth was the master
81 DEATH