Arizona republican., 1920-02-08

1 tf-dL 0nrlfIldn science OOeS TOT the real truthseeker is that it gives him back his Bible So many people have let their Bibles go in exchange for the more speculative and uninspired writ | iEgs Of would-be leaders of thought. They have wandered far into theories about health, government, human na- ture, death and the hereafter, in many cases only to return by the same door they went in saying as old Omar said: 1 There was the door to which found | no key:
 There was the veil through which might not see"
 And just as we may hear nowadays the call of 'back to the land.' reminding rlen of the essentials of existence, lost sight of in the anxieties of the war or the rush and speculation of the city, 50 in Christian Science the cry is back ! to the Bible-" There you will find the I door you seek to open, and here in Christian Science is the key to it. The very first of the tenets of Christian | Science is As adherents of Truth. we | take the inspired Word of the Bible as OUT sufficient guide to enternal life" It may be asked how one is to know which parts of the Bible are inspired l Word and which are not. What about ! the talking serpent, Noah and his ark, the whale that swallowed Jonah, and | a hundred other things either unin- | telligible or unbelievable? Well. these things do not have to be regarded as actual material occurrences, but rather | as word pictures or illustrations to show what takes place in the human consciousness when the truth begins to enlighten it. Suppose that someone were to take you into a large room | filled with furniture, books, pictures and other curios but dimly lighted | that you could barely distinguish the various objects and certainly could make nothing of them, and then he should begin to tell you of their great | interest and priceless value. You might say to him "all that you say about these things may be perfectly true, but it hardly interests me because I can't see them in this dim light"
 But if the light were turned up II would all be quite different. You could see the things then. study them and form your own estimate of them. That is what Christian Science does for the Bible. It turns up the light, so that all can see for themselves.
 Text book Commentary
 The commentary which the Christian Science text book supplies to the Bible brings a power of discernment hitherto unsuspected, so that one is released from the old fossilised theories that have neither Science nor common sense to support them and learn to think learly, connectedly and authoritatively. first on the Scriptures themselves. and then on every phase of human experi- ence. In this way one finds selfgov- ernment, and self-government brings authority with 1.-the authority which comes from right thinking. It was of this kind of authority as illustrated in the life of the Master. that il was writ ten on one occasion that the spectators were amazed" and questioned among themselves, saying, What thing Is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits and they do obey him.
 Christian Science explains that in the life of Jesus the Mind which ere ated the Universe was become articu- late in human experience, so that all false belief and materialism knowing its hour was come, literally quailed before it. The divine Principle, which holds all things in its orderly grasp. was expressing itself in the thoughts and actions of a man.
 Christian Science reveals to us that this same Mind. or Principle, is today omnipresent and in God. Many people nowadays are using vague terms such as Providence. fate. luck, destiny. and so on, to denote their sense of God. but these terms have not been found 10 satisfy in times of stress, any more than the gods of mythology satisfied the ancients. The gods of mythology
 
 on the part of mankind to personalise their sense of deity, and to make each ina aginary personality the highest and most perfect expression of a given hu- man attribute, which they then pro- ceeded to worship. This is called poly theism. The Israelites repudiated the notion of many personalities and con Centrated their worship on the one in visible personality. This is called monotheism, but it must be remem bered that to some extent God still ap- peared to them to be the glorified ex- pression of human attributes, and even today Christendom awaits release from this limited and corporeal sense of God
 God
 In Christian Science it becomes ap- parent that not human attributes. even the best of them, constitute God but that. on the contrary, the divine Mind is self-existent. and the human mind knows noting truly about life until it begins to discard its own material limi- tations to acquaint itself intelligently with this divine Mind or Spirit.
 God is Spirit said the great Way shower. and they that worship Him mrst worship Him in spirit and in truth" Now, Spirit is one of the seven synonymous terms used to denote God, and Christian Science shows that there is scriptural authority for these seven terms.
 
 gem, not requiring any setting in which to- be exhibited, but revealing itself more and more as a complete idea sat isfying while yet unfathomabie. simple, yet profound
 Mind. Spirit. Soul. Principle, Life, Truth. Love" If we take each one of these terms and study it thoughtfully. we find ourselves being lifted into a nearer and truer sense of God. The ef- fort to gain this clearer vision. looking away from the human to the divine. is the prayer of faith in Christian Science, and this prayer is answered in the harmony, health, and peace that it brings. We can see then that we do not need another human being, whether in the guise of priest or doctor, to take care of our physical welfare for us. Indeed they cannot do so. We must work out our own salvation.
 Vision Opening
 1t may be asked "In what way is this statement about God going to help me when I am struggling with disease or temptation2