Association references 2022
The Christian Science Association of the Students of Allison W. Phinney, Jr., C.S.B.
Title: Behold, Now is the accepted time
Guest speaker – Patricia Woodard, C.S.
April 23, 2022
(If you’d like to print, we suggest downloading the PDF version)
Section 1: Introduction
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
(Mark 8:18)
What is the model before mortal mind? ... Have you accepted the mortal model? Are you reproducing it? ... Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding it before your gaze continually.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 248:15–16 (to 1st ?), 17–18, 19–21)
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: ...
(Exodus 20:3–5 (to :))
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: ...
(Mark 9:47 (to 1st :))
Mortal mind is constantly producing on mortal body the results of false opinions; and it will continue to do so, until mortal error is deprived of its imaginary powers by Truth, which sweeps away the gossamer web of mortal illusion.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 403:16–20)
... the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. ...
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
(Isaiah 2:17 the, 18, 22)
The Revelator tells us of “a new heaven and a new earth.” Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 91:1)
... thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. ...
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
(Isaiah 45:18 thus, 19, 22)
... Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. ...
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ...
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. ...
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. ...
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. ...
And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. ...
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
(I Kings 18:21 Elijah (to 1st .), 22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39)
Mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter days.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 83:7–9)
Let us accept Science, relinquish all theories based on sense-testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing His own models of excellence.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 249:1}
Section 2: Beloved, now is the accepted time
... behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
(II Corinthians 6:2 behold)
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
(II Corinthians 9:15)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
(Ephesians 2:8)
Christmas to me is the reminder of God's great gift, — His spiritual idea, man and the universe, ...
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 262:20–21 (to 3rd ,))
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
(I Corinthians 2:12)
Remember Jesus, who nearly nineteen centuries ago demonstrated the power of Spirit and said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also,” and who also said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 93:2–7)
... now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. ...
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
(I Corinthians 15:20 now, 58)
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
(II Corinthians 3:17, 18)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. — John i. 12, 13. ...
... His sonship, referred to in the text, is his spiritual relation to Deity: it is not, then, a personal gift, but is the order of divine Science. The apostle urges upon our acceptance this great fact: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Mortals will lose their sense of mortality — disease, sickness, sin, and death — in the proportion that they gain the sense of man's spiritual preexistence as God's child; as the offspring of good, and not of God's opposite, — evil, or a fallen man.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 180:21; 181:20)
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; ...
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: ...
... Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. ...
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
(Isaiah 49:8, 10 (to :), 13, 15, 16)
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: ...
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
(Ecclesiastes 3:14 (to 2nd :), 15)
The time cometh when the spiritual origin of man, the divine Science which ushered Jesus into human presence, will be understood and demonstrated.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 325:26)
“Now,” cried the apostle, “is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,” — meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 39:18)
Hymn 197
Now sweeping down the years untold, / The day of Truth is breaking; / And sweet and fair the leaves unfold, / Of Love's immortal waking.
For flower and fruitage now are seen, / Where blight and mildew rested: / The Christ today to us has been / By word and deed attested.
His living presence we have felt, / The Word made flesh among us: / And hearts of stone before him melt, / His peace is brooding o'er us.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 197:1–3)
Section 3: Jesus’ Christianity one not two
... I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(II Corinthians 11:3 I)
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)
The great Metaphysician wrought, over and above every sense of matter, into the proper sense of the possibilities of Spirit. He established health and harmony, the perfection of mind and body, as the reality of man; while discord, as seen in disease and death, was to him the opposite of man, hence the unreality; even as in Science a chord is manifestly the reality of music, and discord the unreality. This rule of harmony must be accepted as true relative to man.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 187:4)
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ...
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43–45, 48)
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. (Luke 6:31, 32)
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
(I John 2:24)
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
(I John 3:11)
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
(Ephesians 4:6)
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(Matthew 22:36–39)
Question. — What are the demands of the Science of Soul?
... The first demand of this Science is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” ... The second is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 467:1, 3–4 The (to 1st .), 7–10)
The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? ...
Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 9:5–7, 17)
Because this age is cursed with one rancorous and lurking foe to human weal, those who are the truest friends of mankind, and conscientious in their desire to do right and to live pure and Christian lives, should be more zealous to do good, more watchful and vigilant. ...
... Thus you will grow wiser and better through every attack of your foe, and the Golden Rule will not rust for lack of use or be misinterpreted by the adverse influence of animal magnetism.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 213:8–13, 23)
I, or EGO. ...
There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 588:9 (only, to .), 11–15)
The First Commandment of the Hebrew Decalogue, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” and the Golden Rule are the all-in-all of Christian Science. They are the spiritual idealism and realism which, when realized, constitute a Christian Scientist, heal the sick, reform the sinner, and rob the grave of its victory. The spiritual understanding which demonstrates Christian Science, enables the devout Scientist to worship, not an unknown God, but Him whom, understanding even in part, he continues to love more and to serve better. (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 5:12)
Your feast days will not be in commemoration, but in recognition of His presence; your ark of the covenant will not be brought out of the city of David, but out of “the secret place of the most High,” whereof the Psalmist sang, even the omniscience of omnipotence; your tabernacle of the congregation will not be temporary, but a “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;” your oracle, under the wings of the cherubim, is Truth's evangel, enunciating, “God is Love.” ...
... As you work, the ages win; for the majesty of Christian Science teaches the majesty of man. ...
... So dear, so due, to God is obedience, that it reaches high heaven in the common walks of life, and it affords even me a perquisite of joy. ...
The government of divine Love derives its omnipotence from the love it creates in the heart of man; for love is allegiant, and there is no loyalty apart from love. ...
Christians who accept our Master as authority, regard his sayings as infallible. ...
Jesus gave his disciples (students) power over all manner of diseases; and the Bible was written in order that all peoples, in all ages, should have the same opportunity to become students of the Christ, Truth, and thus become God-endued with power (knowledge of divine law) and with “signs following.”
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 188:7, 25–26; 189:4, 15–17; 190:13–14, 22–27)
Hymn 179
Love one another,—word of revelation; / Love frees from error's thrall,—Love is liberation. / Love's way the Master trod; / He that loves shall walk with God. / Love is the royal way.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 179:1)
Section 4: The Scientific Statement of Being is now!
The great Metaphysician wrought, over and above every sense of matter, into the proper sense of the possibilities of Spirit. He established health and harmony, the perfection of mind and body, as the reality of man; while discord, as seen in disease and death, was to him the opposite of man, hence the unreality; even as in Science a chord is manifestly the reality of music, and discord the unreality. This rule of harmony must be accepted as true relative to man....
The origin, substance, and life of man are one, and that one is God, — Life, Truth, Love. The self-existent, perfect, and eternal are God; and man is their reflection and glory. Did the substance of God, Spirit, become a clod, in order to create a sick, sinning, dying man? The primal facts of being are eternal; they are never extinguished in a night of discord.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 187:4, 21)
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
(Isaiah 43:10, 11)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ...
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:1, 3)
... this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(I Corinthians 15:53 this)
It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, — of man's likeness to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 12:10)
All forms of error support the false conclusions that there is more than one Life; that material history is as real and living as spiritual history; that mortal error is as conclusively mental as immortal Truth; and that there are two separate, antagonistic entities and beings, two powers, — namely, Spirit and matter, — resulting in a third person (mortal man) who carries out the delusions of sin, sickness, and death.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 204:3)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 3:28)
He advances most in divine Science who meditates most on infinite spiritual substance and intelligence.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 309:11–13 (to 1st .))
The meek Nazarene's steadfast and true knowledge of preexistence, of the nature and the inseparability of God and man, — made him mighty. ...
... The Scriptures declare Life to be the infinite I AM, — not a dweller in matter. For man to know Life as it is, namely God, the eternal good, gives him not merely a sense of existence, but an accompanying consciousness of spiritual power that subordinates matter and destroys sin, disease, and death. This, Jesus demonstrated; insomuch that St. Matthew wrote, “The people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” This spiritual power, healing sin and sickness, was not confined to the first century; it extends to all time, inhabits eternity, and demonstrates Life without beginning or end.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 189:8–10, 20)
GOD. The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 587:5)
Nothing is real and eternal, — nothing is Spirit, — but God and His idea. Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 71:1)
Atomic action is Mind, not matter. It is neither the energy of matter, the result of organization, nor the outcome of life infused into matter: it is infinite Spirit, Truth, Life, defiant of error or matter. Divine Science demonstrates Mind as dispelling a false sense and giving the true sense of itself, God, and the universe; wherein the mortal evolves not the immortal, nor does the material ultimate in the spiritual; wherein man is coexistent with Mind, and is the recognized reflection of infinite Life and Love.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 190:1)
Truth is immortal; error is mortal. ... Truth is real, and error is unreal. This last statement contains the point you will most reluctantly admit, although first and last it is the most important to understand.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 466:13 (only), 15 Truth)
The great mistake of mortals is to suppose that man, God's image and likeness, is both matter and Spirit, both good and evil.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 216:18)
This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 265:10)
You can never demonstrate spirituality until you declare yourself to be immortal and understand that you are so. Christian Science is absolute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards it; it is at this point and must be practised therefrom. Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration. By this I do not mean that mortals are the children of God, — far from it. In practising Christian Science you must state its Principle correctly, or you forfeit your ability to demonstrate it.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 242)
Hymn 269
Our God is Love, unchanging Love, / And can we ask for more? / Our prayer for Love's increase is vain; / 'Twas infinite before. / Ask not the Lord with breath of praise / For more than we accept; / The open fount is free to all, / God's promises are kept.
Our God is Mind, the perfect Mind, / Intelligence divine; / Shall mortal man ask Him to change / His infinite design? / The heart that yearns for righteousness, / With longing unalloyed, / In such desire sends up a prayer / That ne'er returneth void.
O loving Father, well we know / That words alone are vain, / That those who seek Thy will to do, / The true communion gain. / Then may our deeds our pure desire / For growth in grace express, / That we may know how Love divine / Forever waits to bless.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 269:1–3)
Section 5: Love an ever-present help
Spirit teaches us to resign what we are not and to understand what we are in the unity of Spirit — in that Love which is faithful, an ever-present help in trouble, which never deserts us.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 167:7)
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. ...
Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. ...
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
(Psalms 91:1–6, 9, 10, 15, 16)
Hymn 207
O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; / O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour, / Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight! / Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight.
Love is our refuge; only with mine eye / Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall: / His habitation high is here, and nigh, / His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.
O make me glad for every scalding tear, / For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain! / Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear / No ill,—since God is good, and loss is gain.
Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing; / In that sweet secret of the narrow way, / Seeking and finding, with the angels sing: / “Lo, I am with you alway,”—watch and pray.
No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain; / No night drops down upon the troubled breast, / When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain, / And mother finds her home and heav'nly rest.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 207:1–5)
The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or “God with us,” — a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. xi:9–18)
Mentally contradict every complaint from the body, and rise to the true consciousness of Life as Love, — as all that is pure, and bearing the fruits of Spirit.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 391:29–32)
The knowledge of life, substance, or law, apart or other than God — good — is forbidden. The curse of Love and Truth was pronounced upon a lie, upon false knowledge, the fruits of the flesh not Spirit. Since knowledge of evil, of something besides God, good, brought death into the world on the basis of a lie, Love and Truth destroy this knowledge, — and Christ, Truth, demonstrated and continues to demonstrate this grand verity, saving the sinner and healing the sick.
(Message to The Mother Church for 1902, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 6:3–11)
The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ...
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37–39)
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (I John 4:16)
God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? ... Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept? ...
... Shall we ask the divine Principle of all goodness to do His own work? His work is done, and we have only to avail ourselves of God's rule in order to receive His blessing, which enables us to work out our own salvation.
The Divine Being must be reflected by man, — else man is not the image and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the One “altogether lovely;” but to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 2:23 (only, to ?), 26–28 Shall; 3:7–16)
The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough!
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 520:3–5 The (to !))
Hymn 224
O Lord, I would delight in Thee, / And on Thy care depend; / To Thee in every trouble flee, / My best, my ever Friend. / When all material streams are dried, / Thy fullness is the same; / May I with this be satisfied, / And glory in Thy name.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 224:1)
Section 6: History, mystery, and church building
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. CHAPTER 3
(Ephesians 2:19–3:0 )
At a meeting of the Christian Scientist Association, April 12, 1879, on motion of Mrs. Eddy, it was voted, — To organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.
(Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 17:8)
THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, IN BOSTON, MASS., is designed to be built on the Rock, Christ; even the understanding and demonstration of divine Truth, Life, and Love, healing and saving the world from sin and death; thus to reflect in some degree the Church Universal and Triumphant.
(Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 19:1)
Requirements for Organizing Branch Churches. Sect. 7. A branch church of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass., shall not be organized with less than sixteen loyal Christian Scientists, four of whom are members of The Mother Church.
(Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 72:25–3)
Take courage, dear reader, for any seeming mysticism surrounding realism is explained in the Scripture, “There went up a mist from the earth [matter];” and the mist of materialism will vanish as we approach spirituality, the realm of reality; cleanse our lives in Christ's righteousness; bathe in the baptism of Spirit, and awake in His likeness.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 30:26)
When downtrodden like the grass, did it make them humble, loving, obedient, full of good odor, and cause them to wait patiently on God for man's rich heritage, — “dominion over all the earth”? Thus abiding in Truth, the warmth and sunlight of prayer and praise and understanding will ripen the fruits of Spirit, and goodness will have its springtide of freedom and greatness. ...
Midst the falling leaves of old-time faiths, above the frozen crust of creed and dogma, the divine Mind-force, filling all space and having all power, upheaves the earth.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 331:4, 22–24)
An inquirer once said to the discoverer of Christian Science: “I like your explanations of truth, but I do not comprehend what you say about error.” This is the nature of error. The mark of ignorance is on its forehead, for it neither understands nor can be understood. Error would have itself received as mind, as if it were as real and God-created as truth; but Christian Science attributes to error neither entity nor power, because error is neither mind nor the outcome of Mind.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 555:6)
If God is Spirit, as the Scriptures declare, and All-in-all, matter is mythology, and its laws are mortal beliefs.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 55:26)
In proportion to a man's spiritual progress, he will indeed drink of our Master's cup, and be baptized with his baptism! be purified as by fire, — the fires of suffering; then hath he part in Love's atonement, for “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” ...
Then shall he press on to Life's long lesson, the eternal lore of Love; and learn forever the infinite meanings of these short sentences: “God is Love;” and, All that is real is divine, for God is All-in-all.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 124:32–4; 125:17)
Christian Science and Christian Scientists will, must, have a history; and if I could write the history in poor parody on Tennyson's grand verse, it would read thus: —
Traitors to right of them,
M. D.'s to left of them,
Priestcraft in front of them,
Volleyed and thundered!
Into the jaws of hate,
Out through the door of Love,
On to the blest above,
Marched the one hundred.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 106:3)
The significance of this building is not to be found in the material structure, but in the lives of those who, under the consecrated leadership of Mrs. Eddy, and following her example, are doing the works which Jesus said should mark the lives of his followers. It stands as the visible symbol of a religion which heals the sick and reforms the sinful as our Master healed and reformed them.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 28:17–23)
... I am cheered and blessed when beholding Christian healing, unity among brethren, and love to God and man; this is my crown of rejoicing, for it demonstrates Christian Science.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 274:22 I)
I am persuaded that only by the modesty and distinguishing affection illustrated in Jesus' career, can Christian Scientists aid the establishment of Christ's kingdom on the earth.
(Retrospection and Introspection, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 94:25–28)
It should seem rational that the only perfect religion is divine Science, Christianity as taught by our great Master; ... The divine Principle and rules of this Christianity being demonstrable, they are undeniable; and they must be found final, absolute, and eternal. ...
... This being the divine Science of divine Love, it would enable man to escape from idolatry of every kind, to obey the First Commandment of the Decalogue: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me;” and the command of Christ: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” On this rock Christian Science is built. ...
The spiritual sense of the Scriptures understood enables one to utilize the power of divine Love in casting out God's opposites, called evils, and in healing the sick. Not madness, but might and majesty attend every footstep of Christian Science.
(Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 4:16–17 (to ;), 19–22; 5:17–22 (to 2nd .), 27–1)
... Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31 Jesus, 32)
He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. — John xiv. 12. ...
The fulfilment of the grand verities of Christian healing belongs to every period; as the above Scripture plainly declares, and as primitive Christianity confirms.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 192:10, 22–24)
Since 1877, these special “signs of the times” have increased year by year. My book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” was published in 1875. Note, if you please, that many points in theology and materia medica, at that date undisturbed, are now agitated, modified, and disappearing, and the more spiritual modes and significations are adopted.
... Nothing can be correct and continue forever which is not divinely scientific, for Science is the law of the Mind that is God, who is the originator of all that really is. The Scripture reads: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” Here let us remember that God is not the Alpha and Omega of man and the universe; He is supreme, infinite, the great forever, the eternal Mind that hath no beginning and no end, no Alpha and no Omega.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 266:22; 267:3)
All loyal Christian Scientists hail with joy this proposed type of universal Love; ...
Of our first church in Boston, O recording angel! write: God is in the midst of her: how beautiful are her feet! how beautiful are her garments! how hath He enlarged her borders! how hath He made her wildernesses to bud and blossom as the rose!
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 141:10–11 (to ;), 31)
Hymn 554
One by one, pure thoughts and holy / Lift us out of self and sin; / One by one, bright gleams of glory / Show the goal we all will win. / One by one, our trusts are strengthened, / As our lives to God we give; / One by one, our days are lengthened, / While in Love we move and live.
One by one, our aims grow purer, / As our deeds reflect our God; / One by one, our path grows clearer, / Guided by Love's staff and rod. / One by one, our thoughts move forward / To the time by prophets told; / One by one, our lives move homeward / Singing of one Lord, one fold.
Then within Love's ever-presence / We shall live amid its light, / Knowing well that holy brilliance / Which is called the Infinite. / Know the glories of God's kingdom, / Hear the music Spirit sings, / Be at one with that great Wisdom / From which all creation springs.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 554:1–3)
This was an emphatic rule of St. Paul: “Behold, now is the accepted time.” ... We own no past, no future, we possess only now. ... Whatever needs to be done which cannot be done now, God prepares the way for doing; while that which can be done now, but is not, increases our indebtedness to God. Faith in divine Love supplies the ever-present help and now, and gives the power to “act in the living present.”
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 12:17–18, 20–21, 22)
Section 7: Mary Baker Eddy the ambassador of Christ’s teachings
As the ambassador of Christ's teachings, I admonish you: Delay not longer to commence building our church in Boston; ...
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 141:25–27 (to ;))
Give us, dear God, again on earth the lost chord of Christ; solace us with the song of angels rejoicing with them that rejoice; ...
... and follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ.
(Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 34:16–18 (to ;), 25–26 and)
I hope, dear reader, I am leading you into the understanding of your divine rights, your heaven-bestowed harmony, — that, as you read, you see there is no cause (outside of erring, mortal, material sense which is not power) able to make you sick or sinful; and I hope that you are conquering this false sense.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 253:9–14)
What is the Principle and rule of Christian Science?
Infinite query! ...
Faith illumined by works; the spiritual understanding which cannot choose but to labor and love; hope holding steadfastly to good in the midst of seething evil; charity that suffereth long and is kind, but cancels not sin until it be destroyed, — these afford the only rule I have found which demonstrates Christian Science.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 337:7–8; 338:9)
Scientific Christianity works out the rule of spiritual love; it makes man active, it prompts perpetual goodness, for the ego, or I, goes to the Father, whereby man is Godlike. ...
Jesus commanded, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead;” in other words, Let the world, popularity, pride, and ease concern you less, and love thou. ... Every condition implied by the great Master, every promise fulfilled, was loving and spiritual, urging a state of consciousness that leaves the minor tones of so-called material life and abides in Christlikeness.
(Message to The Mother Church for 1902, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 8:21–24; 9:5–7, 14)
In order to apprehend more, we must practise what we already know of the Golden Rule, which is to all mankind a light emitting light.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 282:13)
Bear in mind always that Christianity is not alone a gift, but that it is a growth Christward; it is not a creed or dogma, — a philosophical phantasm, — nor the opinions of a sect struggling to gain power over contending sects and scourging the sect in advance of it. Christianity is the summons of divine Love for man to be Christlike — to emulate the words and the works of our great Master. To attain to these works, men must know somewhat of the divine Principle of Jesus' life-work, and must prove their knowledge by doing as he bade: “Go, and do thou likewise.”
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 148:24)
The rule of divinity is golden; to be wise and true rejoices every heart. ... No personal considerations should allow any root of bitterness to spring up between Christian Scientists, nor cause any misapprehension as to the motives of others. We must love our enemies, and continue to do so unto the end. By the love of God we can cancel error in our own hearts, and blot it out of others. ...
We should endeavor to be long-suffering, faithful, and charitable with all. To this small effort let us add one more privilege — namely, silence whenever it can substitute censure. Avoid voicing error; but utter the truth of God and the beauty of holiness, the joy of Love and “the peace of God, that passeth all understanding,” recommending to all men fellowship in the bonds of Christ. ...
I enjoin it upon my students to hold no controversy or enmity over doctrines and traditions, or over the misconceptions of Christian Science, but to work, watch, and pray for the amelioration of sin, sickness, and death.
(No and Yes, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 7:2–3, 4; 8:3–9, 19–22)
Beloved Brethren: — Love and unity are hieroglyphs of goodness, ... Christian Science is the full idea of its divine Principle, God; it is forever based on Love, and it is demonstrated by perfect rules; ...
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 205:15–16 (to 1st ,), 25–28 (to ;))
Speak the truth to every form of error. Tumors, ulcers, tubercles, inflammation, pain, deformed joints, are waking dream-shadows, dark images of mortal thought, which flee before the light of Truth.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 418:28)
Science saith to fear, “You are the cause of all sickness; but you are a self-constituted falsity, — you are darkness, nothingness. You are without ‘hope, and without God in the world.' You do not exist, and have no right to exist, for ‘perfect Love casteth out fear.'”
God is everywhere. “There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard;” and this voice is Truth that destroys error and Love that casts out fear.
(Retrospection and Introspection, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 61:13–20)
Science and Health, the book that cast the first stone, is still at work, deep down in human consciousness, laying the axe at the root of error.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 285:17)
Nevertheless, though I thus speak, and from my heart of hearts, it is due both to Christian Science and myself to make also the following statement: When I have most clearly seen and most sensibly felt that the infinite recognizes no disease, this has not separated me from God, but has so bound me to Him as to enable me instantaneously to heal a cancer which had eaten its way to the jugular vein.
In the same spiritual condition I have been able to replace dislocated joints and raise the dying to instantaneous health. ...
Certain self-proved propositions pour into my waiting thought in connection with these experiences; and here is one such conviction: that an acknowledgment of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can. An incontestable point in divine Science is, that because God is All, a realization of this fact dispels even the sense or consciousness of sin, and brings us nearer to God, bringing out the highest phenomena of the All-Mind.
(Unity of Good, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 7:6–15, 18)
Finally, brethren, wait patiently on God; return blessing for cursing; be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good; be steadfast, abide and abound in faith, understanding, and good works; study the Bible and the textbook of our denomination; obey strictly the laws that be, and follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ.
(Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 34:20–26)
Man has a noble destiny; and the full-orbed significance of this destiny has dawned on the sick-bound and sin-enslaved. For the unfolding of this upward tendency to health, greatness, and goodness, I shall continue to labor and wait.
(No and Yes, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 46:19)
Hymn 324
Take my life, and let it be / Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. / Take my moments and my days, / Let them flow in ceaseless praise. / Take my hands, and let them move / At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be / Swift and beautiful for Thee. / Take my voice, and let me sing / Always, only, for my King. / Take my lips, and let them be / Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my every thought, to use / In the way that Thou shalt choose. / Take my love; O Lord, I pour / At Thy feet its treasure store. / I am Thine, and I will be / Ever, only, all for Thee.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 324:1–3)
Section 8: The world has need of you
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
(II Corinthians 10:3–5)
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 18:1–4)
Beloved children, the world has need of you, — and more as children than as men and women: it needs your innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontaminated lives. You need also to watch, and pray that you preserve these virtues unstained, and lose them not through contact with the world. What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved, and to know that your example, more than words, makes morals for mankind!
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 110:4)
To my sense, the most imminent dangers confronting the coming century are: the robbing of people of life and liberty under the warrant of the Scriptures; the claims of politics and of human power, industrial slavery, and insufficient freedom of honest competition; and ritual, creed, and trusts in place of the Golden Rule, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” ...
... Nothing can be correct and continue forever which is not divinely scientific, for Science is the law of the Mind that is God, who is the originator of all that really is. The Scripture reads: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” Here let us remember that God is not the Alpha and Omega of man and the universe; He is supreme, infinite, the great forever, the eternal Mind that hath no beginning and no end, no Alpha and no Omega.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 266:3; 267:3)
This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 96:12–15)
On which side are we fighting?
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 216:9 On)
When we come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man, then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing the sick and destroying error.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 368:14)
The pride of circumstance or power is the prince of this world that has nothing in Christ. All power and happiness are spiritual, and proceed from goodness. ... Forget self in laboring for mankind; then will you woo the weary wanderer to your door, win the pilgrim and stranger to your church, and find access to the heart of humanity. While pressing meekly on, be faithful, be valiant in the Christian's warfare, and peace will crown your joy.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 155:3–5, 7)
But what of ourselves, and our times and obligations? ...
Never was there a more solemn and imperious call than God makes to us all, right here, for fervent devotion and an absolute consecration to the greatest and holiest of all causes. The hour is come. The great battle of Armageddon is upon us. ...
What will you do about it? Will you be equally in earnest for the truth? Will you doff your lavender-kid zeal, and become real and consecrated warriors? Will you give yourselves wholly and irrevocably to the great work of establishing the truth, the gospel, and the Science which are necessary to the salvation of the world from error, sin, disease, and death? Answer at once and practically, and answer aright!
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 176:25 (only); 177:1–5, 13)
Hymn 476
Fearful heart, put all your cares / Completely in your dear God's hands; / Love feeds you with Her great strength / And your faith will always stand. / Now as you go safely forward, / Walk securely in Love's grace. / Give to God the praise and glory; / Fear and doubt have no more place.
Longing heart, don't give up hope / When threats of evil overwhelm. / Love now keeps Her promise true, / God's sure hand is at the helm. / Bringing joy when all seems darkness— / God will keep you safe, secure. / You go forward, loved and peaceful: / Victory is always sure.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 476:1, 2)
As mortals awake from their dream of material sensation, this adorable, all-inclusive God, and all earth's hieroglyphics of Love, are understood; and infinite Mind is seen kindling the stars, rolling the worlds, reflecting all space and Life, — but not life in matter. Wisely governing, informing the universe, this Mind is Truth, — not laws of matter. Infinitely just, merciful, and wise, this Mind is Love, — but not fallible love.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 331:29)
“Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.”
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 338:26)
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
(Matthew 5:9)
“The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” ... Sin will submit to Christian Science when, in place of modes and forms, the power of God is understood and demonstrated in the healing of mortals, both mind and body. “Perfect Love casteth out fear.”
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 406:1–2 3rd The, 6)
When Christian Science has melted away the cloud of false witnesses; and the dews of divine grace, falling upon the blighted flowers of fleeting joys, shall lift every thought-leaflet Spiritward; and “Israel after the flesh,” who partaketh of its own altars, shall be no more, — then, “the Israel according to Spirit” shall fill earth with the divine energies, understanding, and ever-flowing tides of spiritual sensation and consciousness.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 360:16)
Hymn 290
Press on, press on, ye sons of light, / Untiring in your holy fight, / Still treading each temptation down, / And battling for a brighter crown.
Press on, press on, and fear no foe, / With calm resolve to triumph go; / Victorious over every ill, / Press on to higher glory still.
Press on, press on, still look in faith / To Him who conquers sin and death; / Then shall ye hear His word, Well done! / True to the last, press on, press on.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 290:1–3)
Truth's immortal idea is sweeping down the centuries, gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as himself, — when he shall realize God's omnipotence and the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done and is doing for mankind. The promises will be fulfilled.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 55:15–22)
Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and cries: “Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!” Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the “glorious liberty of the children of God,” and be free! This is your divine right.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 227:21–26)