Key Takeaways
1. God is Infinite Mind and the Only Reality
Science and Health reveals incontrovertibly that Mind is All-in-all, that the only realities are the divine Mind and idea.
God is infinite Mind. Christian Science posits that God is not a corporeal being but the supreme, incorporeal Principle of all existence, defined interchangeably as Life, Truth, Love, Spirit, and Soul. Because God is infinite and fills all space, there is no room for His opposite, meaning that only that which is spiritual and good possesses true reality.
The divine synonyms. To understand the nature of Deity, we must look beyond human personality to the seven synonymous terms that express His wholeness:
- Principle: The underlying, unchanging law of the universe.
- Life, Truth, and Love: The triune essence of divine being.
- Mind, Spirit, and Soul: The source of all true intelligence, substance, and consciousness.
Spiritual reflection. Man is not God, but rather His spiritual image and likeness, existing as a perfect reflection of the divine Mind. Just as a mirror reflects the form and motion of a person standing before it, man reflects the qualities of his Creator, remaining forever inseparable from his divine source.
2. Matter, Sickness, and Sin are Illusions of Mortal Mind
Sickness, sin, and death are not the fruits of Life. They are inharmonies which Truth destroys.
The unreality of evil. According to divine metaphysics, matter, sin, sickness, and death have no actual existence because they do not originate in God, who created all things and pronounced them "very good." They are classified as errors of "mortal mind" — a false, suppositional state of consciousness that believes life and intelligence can reside in sensationless matter.
Correcting the false sense. Sickness and sin are waking dream-shadows that disappear when confronted with the light of spiritual Truth. To heal these inharmonies, we must deny their reality and recognize their origin as mental illusions:
- Sickness is fear manifested on the physical body.
- Sin is the false belief that pleasure can be found in materiality.
- Death is merely another phase of the material dream of life in matter.
The power of negation. By mentally contradicting every complaint of the body and asserting the allness of Spirit, we strip disease of its assumed power. Once the fear and belief in the reality of a disease are destroyed in mortal mind, the physical manifestation vanishes, proving that health is the normal, eternal state of man.
3. True Prayer is Spiritual Understanding, Not Pleading
THE prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love.
Spiritual mathematics. True prayer is not an audible pleading with a corporeal Deity to change His perfect will, but rather a silent, desire-driven alignment with the established laws of Spirit. Just as one does not pray for the principle of mathematics to solve a problem on a blackboard, we must simply avail ourselves of God's unchanging rule of goodness to work out our own salvation.
The sanctuary of Spirit. To pray effectively, we must enter the "closet" of silent communion, shutting out the clamor of the physical senses. This process of spiritualized desire involves:
- Closing the lips and silencing material sensations.
- Actively denying the reality of sin and sickness.
- Resolving to take up the cross and live in obedience to divine Love.
Gratitude expressed in action. Audible prayers and public repetitions often foster hypocrisy, leading us to believe our sins are cancelled without being destroyed. True gratitude is expressed through daily watchfulness, self-immolation, and active reformation, which bring our thoughts and lives into perfect harmony with the Science of being.
4. Jesus Demonstrated the Christ-Principle to Overcome Death
The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.
The dual nature. Christian Science distinguishes between the human Jesus and the divine Christ, which is the eternal, spiritual idea of God. Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man to ever walk the earth, utilizing his immaculate conception and spiritual origin to demonstrate the absolute control of Mind over the flesh.
The purpose of the crucifixion. Jesus did not suffer on the cross to appease a wrathful Deity or provide a vicarious pardon for sin, but to prove that Life is deathless and indestructible. His resurrection and ascension demonstrated:
- The complete triumph of Spirit over the grave.
- The nothingness of material laws of medicine and surgery.
- The ever-present power of the Christ-healing for all mankind.
Following the Way-shower. We are called to emulate Jesus' works, not merely worship his personality. True discipleship requires us to drink his cup of self-sacrifice, take up the cross, and demonstrate the same healing power over sickness, sin, and death that he manifested throughout his earthly career.
5. The Body is Entirely Governed by Mind, Not Physiology
Mind is the grand creator, and there can be no power except that which is derived from Mind.
The fallacy of physiology. Physiology, hygiene, and anatomy are material systems that make a reality of disease by teaching that the body is self-acting and that life is governed by physical laws. Christian Science reverses this false testimony, revealing that the body is merely the subjective state of mortal mind, possessing no sensation, action, or life of its own.
The mental origin of disease. All physical functions, from the beating of the heart to the movement of a limb, are controlled by thought. Sickness is induced by the fears, beliefs, and false education broadcast by material systems:
- Contagion is a mental infection spread by fear and association.
- Heredity is a false human law that can be broken by spiritual understanding.
- Fatigue is a mental illusion that disappears when we rest in the energy of Truth.
The true medicine. Drugs have no intelligent curative properties; any seeming benefit they produce is merely the result of the patient's faith in them, backed by the general belief of the human majority. The only real medicine is the divine Mind, which restores harmony by casting out fear and replacing material illusions with spiritual facts.
6. Animal Magnetism and Hypnotism are Manipulations of Error
In Science animal magnetism, mesmerism, or hypnotism is a mere negation, possessing neither intelligence, power, nor reality, and in sense it is an unreal concept of the so-called mortal mind.
Unmasking the mental foe. Animal magnetism, recently termed hypnotism or mesmerism, is the specific term for the false belief that one human mind can control another or that mind resides in matter. It is a dangerous manipulation of mortal mind-forces that uses one error to destroy another, ultimately leaving the subject in a worse state of mental and physical bondage.
The deceptive nature of hypnotism. Unlike Christian Science, which relies on the divine Mind to heal, hypnotism operates through human will-power and suggestion. Its aggressive features include:
- The exercise of despotic control over another's thoughts and actions.
- The perpetuation of moral and physical apathy.
- The reliance on esoteric magic and illusion rather than spiritual Truth.
Liberation through Science. Christian Science despoils the kingdom of evil by unmasking animal magnetism as a mere negation, a phase of nothingness. True self-government is attained only when we are guided by our Maker, divine Truth and Love, which shields us from mental malpractice and restores our inalienable rights of reason and conscience.
7. Spiritualism is a False Belief in Material Spirits
The so-called dead and living cannot commune together, for they are in separate states of existence or consciousness.
The bridge of consciousness. Spiritualism is based on the material theory that finite, corporeal spirits can return to earth to communicate with the living through mediums or physical phenomena. Christian Science exposes this as a grave mistake, asserting that there is only one Spirit, which is God, and that the departed exist in a different state of consciousness that cannot commune with matter.
The impossibility of return. Just as an insect transformed from a caterpillar cannot return to its worm-like state, those who have passed through the transition of death cannot return to a material condition. The gulf between these states is impassable because:
- The departed have outgrown their material beliefs and organic bodies.
- Material senses cannot take cognizance of spiritual realities.
- True communication is always from God to His ideas, not between human personalities.
The path to immortality. Seeking oracles from the departed only prolongs the illusion of life in matter and hinders our spiritual progress. Immortality is not gained by dying, but by overcoming death through the understanding of Life as God, which reveals man as an individual, spiritual consciousness coexistent with his Creator.
8. Marriage is a Temporal Step Toward Spiritual Completeness
The scientific morale of marriage is spiritual unity.
A temporary provision. Marriage is a legal and moral provision for the preservation and moral regulation of the human species until the spiritual creation is fully discerned. While it continues, it must be protected by absolute fidelity, chastity, and mutual respect, serving as a barrier against vice and a center for the unselfish affections.
The union of qualities. True companionship is found in the blending of the masculine and feminine qualities of thought, which find their completeness in spiritual oneness. This relationship requires:
- Mutual compromises and tender solicitude for each other's happiness.
- The preservation of moral freedom and individual mental growth.
- The cultivation of kindred tastes, noble life-motives, and purity.
The ultimate spiritual state. Jesus declared that in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, pointing to the ultimate state where passion has no part. In this advanced spiritual understanding, masculine wisdom and feminine love will be united in one perfect, spiritual individuality, and God will be recognized as the only Creator.
9. Genesis Reveals Two Opposing Accounts of Creation
The Science of the first record proves the falsity of the second.
The Elohistic record. The first chapter of Genesis (the Elohistic document) presents the true, spiritual history of creation, wherein God, Mind, creates all things perfect, harmonious, and eternal by His word alone. In this record, there is no matter, no rain, and no man to till the ground, for all creation consists of the unfolding of spiritual ideas.
The Jehovistic myth. The second chapter of Genesis (the Jehovistic document) introduces the false, material view of creation, starting with a mist that rises from the earth. This narrative is a picture of error that reverses the true creation by claiming:
- Man was formed from the dust of the ground (Adam).
- Life and intelligence were breathed into a material body.
- Woman was created from a rib, initiating material generation and its curse.
The lesson of the allegory. The story of Adam, Eve, and the talking serpent is a mythological object-lesson designed to show the falsity of life in matter. By spiritually interpreting these scriptures, we learn that the material man is a counterfeit, and that we must return to the first record to find our true, unfallen, and immortal selfhood.
10. The Apocalypse Foretells the Ultimate Triumph of Spirit over Materiality
This sacred city, described in the Apocalypse (xxi. 16) as one that "lieth foursquare" and cometh "down from God, out of heaven," represents the light and glory of divine Science.
The woman and the dragon. The twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse symbolizes the great conflict between the spiritual idea of God (the woman clothed with the sun) and the sum total of material error (the great red dragon). The dragon stands watch to devour the spiritual offspring of Truth, but the child is caught up unto God, proving that Spirit is always out of the reach of human wrath.
The city foursquare. St. John's vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven represents the ultimate revelation of divine Science. This city has no need of sun, moon, or material temple, because God and the Lamb are the light and temple thereof, signifying:
- The complete disappearance of the material body and its limitations.
- The reign of absolute harmony, where there is no more pain, sorrow, or death.
- The four equal sides of the city: the Word, Christ, Christianity, and divine Science.
The present possibility. This heavenly state of consciousness is not a remote locality to be reached after death, but a present possibility for all who understand Christian Science. By substituting the spiritual sense of Scripture for the material, we can enter the "holiest" here and now, dwelling forever in the consciousness of divine Love.
