disease. Jesus cast out a devil, and the dumb spake; [15]
hence it is right to know that the works of Satan are the
illusion and error which Truth casts out.
Does the gentleman above mentioned know the
meaning of divine metaphysics, or of metaphysical
theology? [20]
According to Webster, metaphysics is defined thus:
“The science of the conceptions and relations which are
necessary to thought and knowledge; science of the
mind.” Worcester defines it as “the philosophy of mind,
as distinguished from that of matter; a science of which [25]
the object is to explain the principles and causes of
all things existing,” Brande calls metaphysics “the
science which regards the ultimate grounds of being, as
distinguished from its phenomenal modifications.” “A
speculative science, which soars beyond the bounds of [30]
experience,” is a further definition.
[pg 069]
Divine metaphysics is that which treats of the exist- [1]
ence of God, His essence, relations, and attributes. A
sneer at metaphysics is a scoff at Deity; at His goodness,
mercy, and might.
Christian Science is the unfolding of true metaphysics; [5]
that is, of Mind, or God, and His attributes. Science rests
on Principle and demonstration. The Principle of Chris-
tian Science is divine. Its rule is, that man shall utilize
the divine power.
In Genesis i. 26, we read: “Let us make man in [10]
our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air.”
I was once called to visit a sick man to whom the
regular physicians had given three doses of Croton [15]
oil, and then had left him to die. Upon my arrival I
found him barely alive, and in terrible agony. In one
hour he was well, and the next day he attended to his
business. I removed the stoppage, healed him of en-
teritis, and neutralized the bad effects of the poison- [20]
ous oil. His physicians had failed even to move his
bowels—though the wonder was, with the means
used in their effort to accomplish this result, that
they had not quite killed him. According to their
diagnosis, the exciting cause of the inflammation and [25]
stoppage was—eating smoked herring. The man is
living yet; and I will send his address to any one
who may wish to apply to him for information about
his case.
Now comes the question: Had that sick man dominion [30]
over the fish in his stomach?
His want of control over “the fish of the sea” must
[pg 070]
have been an illusion, or else the Scriptures misstate [1]
man's power. That the Bible is true I believe, not
only, but I demonstrated its truth when I exercised
my power over the fish, cast out the sick man's illu-
sion, and healed him. Thus it was shown that the [5]
healing action of Mind upon the body has its only ex-
planation in divine metaphysics. As a man “thinketh
in his heart, so is he.” When the mortal thought, or be-
lief, was removed, the man was well.
What did Jesus mean when he said to the dying thief, [10]
“To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”?
Paradisaical rest from physical agony would come to
the criminal, if the dream of dying should startle him
from the dream of suffering. The paradise of Spirit
would come to Jesus, in a spiritual sense of Life and [15]
power. Christ Jesus lived and reappeared. He was too
good to die; for goodness is immortal. The thief was
not equal to the demands of the hour; but sin was de-
stroying itself, and had already begun to die—as
the poor thief's prayer for help indicated. The dy- [20]
ing malefactor and our Lord were inevitably sepa-
rated through Mind. The thief's body, as matter,
must dissolve into its native nothingness; whereas the
body of the holy Spirit of Jesus was eternal. That
day the thief would be with Jesus only in a finite [25]
and material sense of relief; while our Lord would
soon be rising to the supremacy of Spirit, working
out, even in the silent tomb, those wonderful demon-
strations of divine power, in which none could equal his
glory. [30]
[pg 071]
Is it right for me to treat others, when I am not entirely [1]
well myself?
The late John B. Gough is said to have suffered from
an appetite for alcoholic drink until his death; yet he
saved many a drunkard from this fatal appetite. Paul [5]
had a thorn in the flesh: one writer thinks that he was
troubled with rheumatism, and another that he had sore
eyes; but this is certain, that he healed others who were
sick. It is unquestionably right to do right; and heal-
ing the sick is a very right thing to do. [10]
Does Christian Science set aside the law of transmission,
prenatal desires, and good or bad influences on the unborn
child?
Science never averts law, but supports it. All actual
causation must interpret omnipotence, the all-knowing [15]
Mind. Law brings out Truth, not error; unfolds divine
Principle—but neither human hypothesis nor matter.
Errors are based on a mortal or material formation; they
are suppositional modes, not the factors of divine presence
and power. [20]
Whatever is humanly conceived