Science is effectual in treating moral ailments. Sin is
not the master of divine Science, but vice versa; and
when Science in a single instance decides the conflict,
the patient is better both morally and physically. [20]
If God made all that was made, and it was good, where
did evil originate?
It never originated or existed as an entity. It is but a
false belief; even the belief that God is not what the
Scriptures imply Him to be, All-in-all, but that there [25]
is an opposite intelligence or mind termed evil. This
error of belief is idolatry, having “other gods before me.”
In John i. 3 we read, “All things were made by Him;
and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
[pg 046]
The admission of the reality of evil perpetuates the belief [1]
or faith in evil. The Scriptures declare, “To whom ye
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.”
The leading self-evident proposition of Christian Science
is: good being real, evil, good's opposite, is unreal. This [5]
truism needs only to be tested scientifically to be found
true, and adapted to destroy the appearance of evil to an
extent beyond the power of any doctrine previously
entertained.
Do you teach that you are equal with God? [10]
A reader of my writings would not present this ques-
tion. There are no such indications in the premises or
conclusions of Christian Science, and such a misconcep-
tion of Truth is not scientific. Man is not equal with
his Maker; that which is formed is not cause, but effect, [15]
and has no power underived from its creator. It is pos-
sible, and it is man's duty, so to throw the weight of his
thoughts and acts on the side of Truth, that he be ever
found in the scale with his creator; not weighing
equally with Him, but comprehending at every point, in [20]
divine Science, the full significance of what the apostle
meant by the declaration, “The Spirit itself beareth wit-
ness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ.” In Science, man represents his divine Prin- [25]
ciple—the Life and Love that are God—even as the
idea of sound, in tones, represents harmony; but thought
has not yet wholly attained unto the Science of being,
wherein man is perfect even as the Father, his divine
Principle, is perfect. [30]
[pg 047]
How can I believe that there is no such thing as matter, [1]
when I weigh over two hundred pounds and carry about
this weight daily?
By learning that matter is but manifest mortal mind.
You entertain an adipose belief of yourself as substance; [5]
whereas, substance means more than matter: it is the
glory and permanence of Spirit: it is that which is
hoped for but unseen, that which the material senses
cannot take in. Have you never been so preoccupied in
thought when moving your body, that you did this with- [10]
out consciousness of its weight? If never in your waking
hours, you have been in your night-dreams; and these
tend to elucidate your day-dream, or the mythical nature
of matter, and the possibilities of mind when let loose
from its own beliefs. In sleep, a sense of the body ac- [15]
companies thought with less impediment than when
awake, which is the truer sense of being. In Science,
body is the servant of Mind, not its master: Mind is
supreme. Science reverses the evidence of material
sense with the spiritual sense that God, Spirit, is the only [20]
substance; and that man, His image and likeness, is
spiritual, not material. This great Truth does not de-
stroy but substantiates man's identity—together with
his immortality and preexistence, or his spiritual co-
existence with his Maker. That which has a beginning [25]
must have an ending.
What should one conclude as to Professor Carpenter's
exhibitions of mesmerism?
That largely depends upon what one accepts as either
useful or true. I have no knowledge of mesmerism, [30]
[pg 048]
practically or theoretically, save as I measure its demon- [1]
strations as a false belief, and avoid all that works ill. If
mesmerism has the power attributed to it by the gentle-
man referred to, it should neither be taught nor practised,
but should be conscientiously condemned. One thing [5]
is quite apparent; namely, that its so-called power is
despotic, and Mr. Carpenter deserves praise for his public
exposure of it. If such be its power, I am opposed to it,
as to every form of error—whether of ignorance or
fanaticism, prompted by money-making or malice. It [10]
is enough for me to know that animal magnetism is neither
of God nor Science.
It is alleged that at one of his recent lectures in Bos-
ton Mr. Carpenter made a man drunk on water, and
then informed his audience that he could produce the [15]
effect of alcohol, or of any drug, on the human system,
through the action of mind alone. This honest declara-
tion as to the animus of animal magnetism and the pos-
sible purpose to which it can be devoted, has, we trust,
been made in season to open the eyes of the people to the [20]
hidden nature of some tragic events and sudden deaths
at this period.
Was ever a person made insane by studying meta-
physics?
Such an occurrence would be impossible, for the [25]
proper