Horn Upon the band NHHHIH • If I III! Illl I liil II •■lifji iif!lll!II!l(Ilt!i' fructify and bring forth that which to the personal mind appears like the reality. The Christian Scientist's idea and endeavor is to lose sight of the evil and know only the good. In this he will be found to have everything — everything but the life! Herein lies the difference between Christian Science and truth: in truth, it is not a process of pruning or trimming the tree; but, "the ax is laid unto the root of the tree" — if you eat of it, "ye shall die." The Lord Jesus said : ' ' Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." This is the tree of life. The fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is ripened in the human mind, and dissensions arise in men's minds concerning the various brands of good and evil. But the tree of life was there, and that is what the sons of God partake of, and by partaking of it live for ever. False Basis of Christian Science 23 The disciple partakes of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at first, in order that he may learn obedi- ence by the things that he suffers; such shall die; and the dying process is indispensably necessary. It is a 1 ' dying daily ; " a dying to the selfish self ; that when the dying process is finished he may awake in newness of life. For "whosoever (said Jesus) will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life, for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it." He who was a full Representative of the life which is eternal, de- clares: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." The "cross" is an instrument of death to the personal which would circumscribe and subdivide that which is a unit and complete — "with "Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." The ' ' denial ' ' the Lord speaks about is not the denial of the Christian Scientist, whose denial is, the (so-called) good self denying the (so-called) evil self. In truth this is no denial, properly speaking. The whole self has to go! The shadow must disappear in the light of the truth. "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." The words that Jesus spake cannot be reecived by the human mind ; for ' ' the letter killeth, ' ' that is relatively, to the natural man; and the literal is all that man's mind deals with. No man can, of himself, deny him- self, nor forsake all that he has. It is evident to every disciple with experience, that the sordid self cannot for- sake itself — that is the Lord's work, which He accom- plishes for us and in us. The selfish mind of man is averse to the truth, which appears to it like the reverse of truth. The truth 's work is to take away that diminutive mind, when it has served 24 Christian Science Examined its purpose. "As it is written, I have made thee a fa- ther of many nations; before Him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." There are not two sides to the tree of life — which is the Lord Jesus Christ ; but the other tree represents the double-minded man — who is unstable in all his ways. Christian Scientists declare for the good, especially when the evil is trying to hold sway in their conscious- ness ; but that good is not the goodness which is of God ; it is from the same source, the same tree the evil is from ; and the two branches of that tree are nourished from the same root. The good of this tree would deceive more than the evil, for it comes cloaked, hiding with a smooth exterior its ulterior motives; it is self-righteousness, which con- siders itself right and judges others. That is why it is that publicans and harlots will go into the Kingdom of God before those in that condition ; for the plight of the former is open to the world, and to themselves in measure; while the one that deceives the human mind (that is already deceived) comes with a white life outwardly. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are like unto whited sepul- chres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men 's bones, and of all uncleanness. ' ' From the personal standpoint, as opposed to the spir- itual, it is "many men, of many minds," and it is their ideas of good and evil that bring about all the dissen- sions, contention, division and strife in the world. The Christian Scientist does not see the Divine pur- pose in all things, especially that which he looks upon as baneful ; for it is those very things that finally are used as means of exposing his own false idea of good. False Basis of Christian Science 25 The human mind thinks it has that which tends to edi- fication, when the good side comes with seemingly ben- evolent motives, which are hidden to itself; this shows its delusive nature, for it is deceived and being deceived. The chief characteristic of man's mind is- to set up something else, other than that which is true ; but in the truth there is no place for a lie. Truth reveals the lie by turning on its manifesting light. There is no light and darkness in the truth ; no negation with its denial or affirmation. Its light makes naught of the darkness. The personal self is that which is to be denied; but that denial is not accomplished by the human mind. That good work is brought about by the Lord. Self acts as a master of man, but it is the servant of the Lord; for it is by that self that "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. ' ' The main point, relative to the question in hand is, that the self cannot deny the self. If it could, then there would be a basis in fact for Christian Science. It is the Lord 's work, from beginning to end. We have to be put into the self before we can be taken out of it. And after it has served its purpose the Lord 's work is seen. The tree that the deceiver tells us to eat of does not lay the ax at its own root. It would lay the ax at every other root than its own. It does not deny itself, for that is the self of it. When the self is denied it is the work of the truth — in which there is no transition from one state of mind to another in the so-called good and evil. What is called the self is a denial of the Lord and that denial is only to be found in the human mind. Satan does not cast out Satan; but he comes in the guise (or the disguise) of the One who does. Satan is in his own house, in the house divided against itself, which is brought to desolation. He lives in this divided 26 Christian Science Examined house of the knowledge of good and evil — which is the personal mind of man, where all the vices and devices that are of him are hatched. The lie is impertinent to the truth, in the sense of hav- ing power, for when the truth about it is revealed its pretended power hies away. From the true basis, the evil is not culled from the mind and senses, leaving only the good (this is the Chris- tian Science method), but the evil and the good of that mind are revealed for what they are — as being a lie. The deceiver comes apparently perfect in wisdom and beauty: that is how his deception is covered to the hu- man mind. ' ' Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth ; and I have set thee so : thou wast upon the holy moun- tain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (The human mind, with its in- creased knowledge, is deceived by that very knowledge.) " Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness : I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee." The Christian Scientist speaks of "declaring the truth," The truth is not a declaration; it is over all. Truisms, in the form of declarations from man's senses, are turned into a lie by calling them the truth; for by that method something less than the truth is set up in place of the truth — which is spiritual. The truth does not require the approbation of the hu- man mind. That mind always misapplies the sayings of truth. It would make that literal which is spiritual. Ergo: it is in the application where the human mind fails. False Basis of Christian Science 27 The question will arise in man's mind: "But does not the truth come step by step ; and by degrees ? ' ' Yes ; but only by taking the first step first, the rest being concatenated in regular order. All a man's doings are subject to the Lord, whether the man is cognizant of it or not. He can only go so far in his own imagination, until a halt is called. 1 1 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered ' ' ; and the sparrows are subject unto Him, so that not one can fall unless it is let fall! " Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." The law of the mind of man, which is under the super- vision of the Lord over all, is the law of the schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ. But we are to graduate from it, to go through with it, and thereby come out of it. The self is denied in this, through the ministration of the Lord. The suffering is ' * the cross ' ' that the human mind puts on one by perwAssion. It is hard to bear, for it is an in- strument of death to self. It is a daily dying to the lie ; &nd, consequently, an awakening to the knowledge of the truth. Paul said : " I die daily, ' ' referring to this very point. This he said while he was yet in his tabernacle. The cross is an incubus to the human mind ; therefore a man wants to get around it, instead of under it — by talking of the Lord's footsteps, in place of walking in them. No man can of himself deny himself, rather, he denies the cross ; and that is not the way to gain life. What man calls his life is his personal idea of life — a form of life. This is how the man gets his "form" of "godliness"; and denies the "power" of the Lord of lords and King of kings. A disciple is saved in that life which is eternal. 28 Christian Science Examined What is called "human life" is but an evanescent form of life. This life is lost by taking up the cross daily. It is to die to the personal form of life, and awake to newness of life, while yet in this temple, arid sojourning with the brethren. When the subject of life is broached, the human mind takes it that it means the life of a physical body only, but the physical body is not life, and Jesus re- ferred to that when He said : ' ' Follow Me ; and let the dead bury their dead. ' ' Taking up one 7 s cross, with the suffering it entails, is what weans a man from temporal things, and causes him to "look unto the Rock whence ye are hewn. ■ ' " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- eth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ' ' (The mind of man, in its self -righteousness, condemns that which does not meet with its approbation.) ' ' For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." (The personal mind cannot believe in that which is its converse.) ' ' And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, be- cause their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ' ' The Lord Jesus is ' ' lifted up ' ' above the wilderness of the human mind, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness; it is a looking beyond the mind and senses of man. The human mind does not think of that which False Basis of Christian Science 29 is beyond; but the illimitable law of cause is beyond (back of) the effect — the impressionable mind. "The head is Christ" ; but the carnal mind apparently travels in a circle of its own. "And He is the head of the body the church: Who is the beginning the first- born from the dead: that in all things He might have the pre-eminence." The senses can only contact things without ; they sim- ply get the appearance, and not the very image, of what they see. The visualization from that basis is entirely according to what is already in the mind and senses. All that the senses see is of their own nature, and never the cause of things, which is invisible to the senses ; that is, visible within the disciple's understanding. The senses of man regard the things that are seen, which are temporal, occupying themselves with effects; they look at the effect, instead of through it, for the cause, which is spiritual and intangible to the senses, hence invisible to them. We here see, and it is evident to all those who can re- ceive it, that the things that are made are a sign of the reality back of them, which are indiscernible to the senses, i. e., are seen not by those senses ; but by looking beyond them in understanding of what the sign stands for, to comprehend that which is invisible to the senses but tangible in understanding. In this, the hearer is enabled to arrive at the spiritual. From the basis of the human mind a man is not a free moral agent, as the leaders of the various denomina- tions teach their followers he is. If he were then would Christian Science has some ground for its teaching in fact ; but he is not. (We are speaking of him that does the studying in Christian Science, and is seemingly free to make choice between the good and the evil.) The man 30 Christian Science Examined is a bound agent, from that standpoint; for the good that he makes choice of is from the same tree that pro- duces the evil, and it is only another relative term for the same thing. Man is not made free by declaring he is, nor by deny- ing one thing and affirming another; he is "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" by that means. Following is a statement Christian Science interposes in reply to certain critics insofar as discussion is con- cerned : ' ' It is not the purpose of Christian Science to 'educate the Idea of God, or treat it for disease,' as is alleged by one critic. I regret that such criticism con- founds man with Adam. When man is spoken of as made in God's image, it is not sinful and sickly mortal man who is referred to, but the ideal man, reflecting God's likeness. ' ' It is not a question of the truth, or falsity, of the above expressed statement, and others, made by Christian Sci- ence, that is under consideration : the salient feature is : From what foundation is the declaration made — the Di- vine, or the human ? The fruit shows that it is the latter ; and the falsity of the foundation is shown in the Chris- tian Science method of acquiring knowledge — studying with the human mind. The Christian Scientist shows, by implication, to him able to receive it, that by his denying and affirming he cannot reach up to the saying, "created in God's im- age ' ' ; because the incongruity is in the human mind, and not in the saying. Man will never gain the mastery over his mind and senses by declarations from the very mind to which he is in subjection. False Basis of Christian Science 31 The Christian Scientist represents the ''first man Adam," who was made a "living soul," declaring that he is the "last Adam," who was made a "quickening Spirit, ' ' but this metamorphosis is had from the man of the senses, before he has run his necessary course, pre- liminary to the disciple's awakening into life. It is the work of the deceitful mind. Christian Science speaks of another man, (the real man) instead of the "Adam" man, but it is the person of man testifying to that in Christian Science, as is evi- denced by the methods which bring about its followers' acquisitions, therefore their testimony is not reliable. The Christian Scientist denies the ' ' first ' ' Adam : this is the first Adam denying himself ! But the denial is of the Lord, not according to the person of man's idea of denial, but as in the light where there is no shadow. "The first man, Adam," who is the figure or man of the senses, tries to set himself up in place of the last Adam, the quickening Spirit. The figure wants to pass itself off for the finished work, the completed fact. Suffering is the chief agent that the Lord uses to bring about the denial of the first Adam. Growth in grace does not take place through choice of our per- sonal will, but only in proportion as our will is taken away, and it is in the same degree that we realize that we can do nothing of ourselves. Taking the testimony of his personal mind, a man thinks that he is a separate entity; but all is one, or the cosmos would not cohere. Man's idea that he is a free moral agent has conten- tion, division and strife for its fruits. Each man's choice, from that basis, conflicts with the others. The fruit of the Spirit does not rest on the wiles of the hu- man mind; some of whose fruits are: idolatry, hatred, 32 Christian Science Examined variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness and revellings; but the converse of the fructification of the personal mind is: love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. There is "no law" against the truth; but one law of the human mind is against another law of that mind, ad infinitum; but there is a purpose in these things. Life permeates all; and that which is figurative ap- pears separated and divided, from the human-mind viewpoint. The manifestation is not that which is the author of it: the man that appears separated is a mem- ber of the one body. This accounts for the diversified gifts of God through all the members, each member having his own proper ability. "And there are diver- sities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are dif- ferences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." The human mind can never come into a knowledge of the oneness — that we are members one of another. The troubles among men are the result of the human mind's idea that each member is separated from the rest; as "If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body " : it is this that causes the whole body to suffer. "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." The disciple of truth does not die. What the natural man calls life is but a form of life that passes. The disciple is in the life which is eternal, without beginning and without end. False Basis of Christian Science 33 The human mind brings forth a heterogeneous mass of contradictions, along with affirmations; and its de- nials are like the clay replying to the Potter. ' ' Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?" The ' ' clay ' ' does not see the end from the beginning ; yet it is visualized by the Potter. The personal mind has to run its course ; but the truth works in man from a small beginning, yet the latter end is great. The man of the senses is impatient of waiting, and he would have what he wants instantaneously; nevertheless he is not given the true and lasting riches until that which he seems to have is sequestered, and the disciple has paid with obedience what the truth exacts in the way of suffering. The person of man does not know that every mem- ber of the body is just where it belongs — where the wis- dom of God has designed it should be ; but man 's head, which dictates by permission, would have all the other members like itself, in which case there would not be any hands or feet: the human mind is the faultfinder. But, in verity, the head of all the members is Christ; and He is not the person of man, but the Spirit of truth. A man can only receive the truth in proportion to the taking away of what he already has of seeming truth — what seems truth to him; then the formation of truth takes place within him. It is not a formality, after the fashion of the senses, but it is a positive growth. "But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again 34 Christian Science Examined until Christ be formed in you." Growth to a certain point is not limited — is not all that is possible: there is no stopping which would mean stagnation. "For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear; after that the full corn in the ear." The process of growth has for its end the turning over of a new life, and not a new leaf. "But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. ' ' The man of flesh is not a replica of life which is eternal ; the cross brings death to that man, that the disciple may issue forth into the life that does not begin nor end. The ambition of the man of the senses persuades him into the belief that he can be superior to his fellows, and thereby he can cause them to look up to him. ' ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." When a man entertains the idea that he is a free moral agent, according to the common acceptation of the terms, he busies himself trying to straighten out the mistakes that he thinks the person of man and the Lord have made; not being aware of his own mistake in attempting to interfere with the work of the Lord. However, it is but natural for him to do this. The Lord has made no mistakes about His children; and a man is deceived to the extent that he thinks he can do something of himself, by his personal ego. He is doubly deceived if he accomplishes something after his own devising. He may think that what he is doing is the Lord 's work, in righteousness ; but it is a " strong delusion" that comes from being astray in a by-path of his own illusions. False Basis of Christian Science 35 That he may believe a lie, and be damned. This condemning is an obstruction; it is a man standing in his own way, thinking he can do something of himself, when even Jesus could do nothing of Himself, accord- ing to His own testimony. "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." The mind of man tries to attain to the spiritual by the literal; but that which bears testimony is not that of which it testifies. ' ' But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolish- ness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The man of the five senses does not understand earthly things. Jesus, referring to this, said: "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things ? ' ' The human mind cannot take cognizance of the para- bolical and symbolical. It gazes at manifestations, but cannot look to what is beyond manifestations. The man of the senses can discern the face of the sky; but he cannot discern the signs of the times. His discernment is of appearances only; the intrinsic reality eludes him. A parable is with him always and only a parable. Its signification is not perceived by him. The adherents of the differing sects take the parables of Jesus and call them the truth, thereby putting the parable, or comparison, in the place of what it stands for. Thus they substitute the parable, or illustration, for the truth itself. But Jesus said: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are 36 Christian Science Examined life." This saying is no parable, but the Lord God Omnipotent is talking; from Whom comes every good and every perfect gift. There is nothing to compare that to; it has no equal of substantiality, and is superior to everything that the man of the senses can think. Said Jesus: "Heaven and earth shall pass aw^y, but my words shall not pass away." The manifestation shall pass away, but that which caused manifestation shall not pass away — for it is without beginning of years or end of days. That which is of sentient nature can never know the cause — Spirit. The senses are contiguous to it, but only as shadow; which is merely a sign or testimony of what casts it. Man by his intellect tries to spirit- ualize his own materialistic concepts. In truth, the word "spiritualize" is superfluous. For the Spirit is not, cannot be spiritualized. The shadows of the human mind still continue to ape the truth. The phrase "the human mind" also includes the senses, and whether it is claimed that there are five or more, it does not affect the truth: number is nothing of itself. It is what they constitute, or comprise, what they culminate in; the Spirit of truth is one and it in- cludes all. Man's mind is the foundation of all the false personal obsecrations, and the followers of the creeds are obsequious to their leaders, who give them a stone, instead of bread. The man of the senses wants to be seen of his fel- lows; therefore he makes display of himself and his actions to the eyes of the world; thus revealing his proud and perverse character. That which he declaims is a momentary exalted state of the human mind, through which the arch-deceiver does his work. Lead- False Basis of Christian Science 37 ers who have most of this worked-up erroneous exalta- tion are the ones in line for the largest following. This kind of exaltation accounts for the multiplica- tion of private interpretations; but, as it is written, "No prophecy of Scripture is of any private inter- pretation. ' ' The senses of man are set up in their own ecstatic state and appear like a criterion of truth, of which they are but the counterfeit. The Christian Scientist is deluged by irradiation, or mental illumination; which has appearance of reality, but lacks entity of truth. For it is but a state of the human mind with the good holding the ascendancy. But from that standpoint there is reversion to an evil state of the same mind. A state of mind is not of the truth in righteousness. States of mind alternate from good to evil, and vice versa. When a man declares the good from this premise, he finds that he will unconsciously declare the evil also, after the good state has had its sway with its mental illumination — which passes for reality, but is merely the imitator there, to deceive the human mind. Physical healing in Christian Science comes from the same source as mental exhilaration; for mental and physical are conjoined in one. Here again is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; the good branch declaring for health; while, at the same time, the evil branch springing from the same source declares for dis- ease. But the Christian Scientist postulates that it is a question of knowing only the good. But it is the hu- man mind that affirms this, and here it fails. Physical healing, from the human-mind basis, can never make the sick "every whit whole"; that perfect healing comes only from the tree of life, but not from 38 Christian Science Examined the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The only thing that can accomplish bodily cure is that which, mastering, controls the senses of man. The person of man has never been able to do this. There is no nega- tion in the truth; neither is there in it the human mind's mixed ideas of good and evil. Physical healing is only incidental to the looking into the perfect law of liberty. The human mind either follows its own impressions, or, with its ideas of division, the suggestions of other minds. A man either follows himself or some other self; until it is granted him to see that the following of himself or others is inimical to his well-being. He can then readily receive the truth. From the basis of the human mind, a man will go from one false belief to another. He repeats these ver- tiginous turnings until he is sated with the husks of that mind. But the disciple falls away from his own personal doings, and at this stage he begins to under- stand when the words of truth are spoken; which re- veal to him that the faith can never be gained by fol- lowing himself or some other self. The truth is revealed in the pure mind and con- science; not by looking to the creature, but to the Cre- ator, who engenders all. The mind of man would not be a deceiver if it came in its own name; but it comes in that Name which is above every name. All deceivers come in the name of Truth. Denominationally speaking, the leaders of the various religious bodies come claiming that they are sent by the Lord; but the varietal and conglomerate mass of misconceptions they promulgate belie their claim. They bring the confusion of Babylonish tongues. False Basis of Christian Science 39 The personal mind of man is credulous, if the out- ward appearance of things is as that mind would have it, therefore it manifests no faith whatever in the truth, which cuts at its root. But it would save itself, for it appears to itself as though it were the truth — that is why it is deceived and being deceived. It fights the truth, which in its eyes is a lie. From this we can con- clude the dense darkness of the human mind. tg A disciple of truth needs not to be alarmed because of his seeming condition of passivity, since the truth is not gained by notions of the mind and its senses. The adversary directing them, through his personal head, would have him doing something continually; but that doing is brought to nought in the end. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." ^ The following is a statement of Christian Science: "One who understands Christian Science can heal the sick on the Divine Principle of Christian Science; and this practical proof is the only feasible evidence that one does understand this Science." In Christian Science, physical healing is reckoned one of the main proofs of the truth of this teaching; but this physical healing is only the objective evi- dence, traversing extraneously in the field of jfancy. This refers to the healing brought about through the instrumentality of the human mind : there is no cor- responding analogy between the healing of the human will and "that mind which was also in Christ Jesus." And yet the former appears like the latter to the human mind. "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; in- somuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." CHAPTER II Attempt of Person of Man to Study His Way Into the Truth The objective is not the enduring; being of the na- ture of shadows, it lacks permanency. The mind of man cannot cognize the subjective, being engrossed with the objective, which is of its own nature. The shadow of the man of the senses tes- tifies to him and witnesses that a man, and not something else, is there. This same man that his shadow testifies to yet testifies to what is back of him. Christ- ian Science deals with relativity; which again shows its human origin. There is no relativity in the spir- itual: it is one, and man's idea of good is swallowed up by it. The human mind entertains the relativity of good and evil; but that is what it is comprised of: the good and evil of the personal mind are relative terms, signifying the selfsame mind. It is with this mind that Christian Scientists come into a knowledge of their teaching. It is the opposite of the means by which the Lord draws His disciples to the truth. His way is through faith, not study, or human "head- ology. " That is the main difference between the broad way of Christian Science and the narrow way of the truth. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The doings of the human mind are perfectly natural to it in its deceived sphere; it strays through its own 42 Christian Science Examined thoughts of righteousness; it only acts out that which is according to its nature. A man in his self-righteous state thinks that because he talks against evil he is doing the work of the truth in righteousness ; but on the contrary he is entertaining the very thing the Lord will cause to vanish. He magnifies evil by that method, considers himself righteous and judges others. There is no humility in man's mind, but it takes on a voluntary humility. ' l Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." Man is " puffed up" in his own personal ego. It is this which is between him and knowledge of the truth. "But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." According to the human mind, it appears literally as though the man of the five senses was being addressed and bidden to do something; but nothing is farther from fact. Any work done in righteousness is of the immutable will and law of God. All the human mind has ever done is to counterfeit that law. "The strength of sin is the law" — this is the law of the human mind ; and of course that law serves its pur- pose. It is the law of the conflicting ideas of good and evil, which redounds to its own undoing ; and it must of necessity be that way in order that the disciple might come to himself — like the Prodigal of our Lord 's parable — before he can start for his Father 's house. It is as natural for the man of the senses to be puffed up as for sparkg from a burning log to fly upward ; and also for him to pedestal himself higher than the base- Man Cannot Study Into Truth 43 ment to which our Lord Jesus descended. In that pride of self-greatness he reveals his lack of humility. Christian Scientists depose to some things that are true; but truth consists not in the telling; it is a ques- tion of the life. The most salient feature of the human mind, and the most conspicuous to view in its deceiving and being de- ceived, is that it can speak words of truth, in company and synchronously with deeds of denial of the truth it utters. "Ye hypocrites! well did Esaias prophesy of you saying, This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." The incongruity consists in the hu- man mind's telling about a thing and not the thing it- self. Any doctrine which comes under the category of the mind of man is not sound. Man 's philosophies speculate about theories of life, but they are not the life, and it is here they fail. A philosophy conceived in the human mind proclaiming itself the truth, proves itself a falsity ; for it substitutes the human mind for that truth; however, the truth is not affected to its detriment by a lie. "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His dis- ciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharises sit in Moses' seat ; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after their works, for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men 's shoulders ; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." The Lord Jesus never taught the mind of man; instead, He prepared His disciples to receive what He gave them. The human mind is the disciple of its own impressions, and not of the truth. 44 Christian Science Examined The immutable and eternal law is above the ground- work of man's mind, which is a manifestation that im- poses sequentially other shadowy manifestations; but the changeless and illimitable law of the Spirit of truth never changes ; for it has the nature of light which puts out every lesser light, and at the coming of which the shadows disappear. Candle-light is extinguished by sunlight, symbol of the Sun of righteousness; every other light has no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth — the excellent glory of Him who is the Truth. The light of truth is received in the understanding. That which is written of the truth is relative to the human mind for a specific purpose; it is true testimony to the disciple, but it confuses man's mind. In truth there is no literal. The disciple writes according to that which he has received in part, or partially, but what he receives is not literal. The partial is done away when the fullness arrives. The literal confounds the human mind and that mind wrestles with it to its own destruction. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. There- fore speak I to them in parables; because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. ' ' The symbolic, the parabolic, the figurative, and the literal, which are a shadow of heavenly things, must give way before the light of the glorious gospel of Christ ; which is but another name for the word of truth. "For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors; for the things concerning Me have an end." Man Cannot Study Into Truth 45 In the different sects of the human mind's making men still continue to imitate the object-lessons Jesus gave; but at no time was it the object lessons that He wanted His disciples to follow, but the import and ful- filling of those lessons: that was the point to which He was bringing His disciples. The lessons have an end when their purpose is fulfilled; for Jesus said, "the things concerning Me have an end." But there is no end to the eternal life of which He spake. But there is a purpose in everything, the doggerel doctrines of the human mind bring a man to the end of those doctrines ; and that is where he will have to be brought ere he is ready to hear truth. So long as he is satisfied with something of his own, in manifestation, he will fail of understanding that which is above all manifestations. "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign" — they are looking for something less than the omnipotent law of life. It is not what appeals to the human mind, but the contrary, that is true. That which annihilates that mind appears like a lie to it; and, it being a lie, it appears to itself to have the truth ; therefore, that which is true is inex- plicable to the natural mind. The personal mind's doings show the deception it is in. It wants something that it approves; but the truth never gives it what it wants but what it needs. Dis- ciples get their greatest lessons from the experiences that did not appeal to them, and which at the time they experienced them they considered were unjustly put upon them. Sectarian religionists deny these experi- ences, and cast them out as evil; that is why they do not profit by what they undergo. Thus, they are saved temporarily from the cross instead of through its instru- mentality. 46 Christian Science Examined The impressionable mind is cut down at its very roots. That which does not appeal to it is the painful side of its own self, and it rebels against that side of itself — which the Lord has put there to serve as a brake to keep the man of the senses from running wild altogether. The pain experienced is there for the man's protection. If the man of the senses did not suffer pain he would not regard or consider anything beside his own wants and desires. Through extreme suffering a man loses confidence in his own personal ego; it is then that he is ready to receive that which is true. (His suffering makes him ready.) The greatest lesson to the disciple, and hardest to be learned, is the one that brings him to the end of him- self — that the inner man may come forth. In this event, to die is to be born. This is not refer- ring to what is called the death of the body, but to a dying to the personal while yet we are in the body, in order that we may awake to the spiritual. The human mind is deceived continually about the things that it wants but does not need; but, in another sense, that it does need, for the hard experiences they bring, which finally are found profitable to those who are exercised thereby to understand the why of the visitation. Man's idea of "mercy" is to keep a man out of the fire; the mercy of God is to put him into the fire, to burn out all the dross there is in him. Then is the man saved — separated — from the dross. "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" Man Cannot Study Into Truth 47 In meditating about "God" or "the Lord," the human mind conjures up something in the sky resem- bling a graven image, or the likeness of a big man. The human mind does not recognize that this is merely an imagination of its own. God is immanent and yet above all; "in Him" says the Apostle Paul, "we live, and move and have our being. ' ' The heavens and hells of current orthodoxy are as graven images, visualized in man's mind. Jesus spake of being in heaven while He was yet here upon earth. "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. ' ' The doctrines of the sense-man come from the errors of his way. His course is taken according to feeling — as he is impressed for or against a certain idea. The cross of Christ, which means death to the senses, is ignor- ed by those senses. Any doctrine planted on the personal mind stands upon a sandy foundation ; for a man is divided on how he feels about everything. That which is true is above the feelings and has them under control. Yet all these things are for a purpose and have their part to play in the drama of the human life. They set up the con- notation, and are links in the chain of human circum- stances; which is more than the appearance of things. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to His purpose." A man caters to his mind and senses, and is in turn overturned by them. "I will overturn, overturn, over- turn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." 48 Christian Science Examined The man of the senses wants to save his life, espe- cially when he is a participant in the good, according to his own idea of goodness — which is the thing that deceives him most, for what he considers evil curbs him sooner, through the suffering it brings. Man's good ideas, that he takes on through sentimen- tality, seem to give him liberty, but that liberty is not lasting. The law is, that man must be given his hard lessons, whether he likes them or not. He must stay in school and be kept at this drudgery until he is quali- fied for graduation. "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" The law acts as an agent for reproving, rebuking and exhorting the man, while his ideas of good, based upon feelings, emotions and sentiments, keep him under the belief that he possesses something, when all that he has is but a strong delusion. "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." What to the human mind seems to be light, or under- standing, is its opposite. "Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness." The human mind can never judge correctly concern- ing that which appears to it outwardly ; spiritual under- standing comes from within. Understanding is not con- fined to any locality but exists within the disciple. Man's assumed judgment is as things appear to him from different perspectives, angles, phases and aspects, of which he gets the appearance only and not the actuality. What he sees is from the narrow purview of his own perverted sense-impressions. In truth, it is all seen by looking down on it from above ; the varie- Man Cannot Study Into Truth 49 gated colorings, phases, parts, are known for what they are, and for their interrelation with the whole. The truth is not ambiguous; it is understood in only one way. For the universe is one — which enables it to hold together. If it were otherwise, it would be divided against itself and come to dissolution. The personal mind is by no means capable of true judgment. One man, by imputation, condemns another for doing something not to his own liking, and in so doing he condemns himself, for he is doing something of like nature himself — under the same law of catering to his mind and senses. This is the "holier-than-thou" attitude, coming from his self-righteous senses, which puffs a man up in his own estimation, because he is abstaining from practice of something done by another. But it all works together for good, that he might be set up and afterwards brought low. "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bond- age of corruption into the glorious liberty of the chil- dren of God." A man boasts when he thinks he has something from the sandy foundation of his own mind. In truth, it is not that way — not by the works of the man of the senses. ,It is, "not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ' ' These sayings are not for the purpose of either accusing or excusing, which is the result of the working of the natural mind ; nor is it a comparing of ourselves with ourselves. Comparison does not exist in the Spirit of truth ; being perfect and complete it is incomparable 50 Christian Science Examined of nature. There is nothing like it. Neither is it exclusive; it is all-inclusive. This perfection does not appear in the incongruities of the man's mentality, which is occupied with shadows ; nor can it look towards the light until its false light evanishes. The truth comes to bring down the haughty and upraise the humble. "And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel ; and for a sign which shall be spoken against (yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. ' ' The personal mind is always against that which is true. The man of the senses makes a hobby out of cer- tain kinds of works of his own, and his actions are natural, whatever state of mind he is in, (a blind man cannot see until given his sight). He who sees these things does not condemn one view to the holding up of another, but works from the basis of truth, not trying to bring anything to pass before the time has arrived, that is, before the Lord's appointed time. "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not ex- pedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. ' ' The Christian Scientist declares something he has not received as though he had it. His declaration, coming from his own mind, is an imitation of the real and is therefore a lie ; for it is a something less that would set itself up in place of the All. Here is where a man is Received by a false belief: he takes an absolute stand in his own mind, and ever learns and never is able to come to the knowledge of the truth — which has no stopping- point. He is stagnated in his own errors while declaring against those errors. "While they promise them liberty, Man Cannot Study Into Truth 51 they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. ' ' Let us now leave the relativity of either denying or affirming that which has no existence except in our own imagination, and come face to face with the deceiver, who works in the personal ego of mortal man, "dead in trespasses and sins;" then we will not be deceived by the platitudes of the implacable human mind. The man of the senses is not saved from himself by affirming his own brand of righteousness, which imitates the righteousness of God; but by extreme suffering the disciple is weaned from his personal ego. It is not by suf- fering or Science, as Christian Science would have us be- lieve, but by suffering only. The man must be trailed in the dust of despair, for the express purpose of his being brought to the realization of his own lack — his lack of everything but his delusions. The cross signifies suffering; and a disciple cannot escape it by declaring something else. The Lord Jesus did not escape it; and He said the disciple cannot be above his Lord, in that respect. "The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household ? Fear them not, there- fore: for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house- tops." 52 Christian Science Examined Physical healing from the basis of the human mind, which is stultified by its own wants and desires so that it can rest in the flesh, must be finally seen as being what it is. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. ' ' The division of the human mind that argues and affirms in favor of health, must of necessity bring forth a form of healing, but in its method it denies the power of the One, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction ; who crowneth thee with loving-kind- ness and tender mercies." The so-called spiritual heal- ing accomplished by the man of the senses is obtained through his personal mind, albeit he claims it is divine. The cultured human mind's idea of a deceiver is one who comes from what is called the lower strata of so- ciety, or the underworld, but that is not what Jesus calls a deceiver. It was those who should come in His name that He so designated. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many;" and they are doing it! The "scribes and Pharisees" typify the self-right- eous: they come wearing a cloak that covers up their unrighteousness. From the true standpoint words are not used in their ordinary sense, or dictionary definition ; their meaning is not according to the letter, but the spirit of the thing, which is formed and which grows within. When the Lord spake of "hypocrites." He did not employ the term as the man of the senses does. He knew, too, that the hypocrite had to act his part without consultation of and in spite of himself. "But wisdom is justified of all her children." Man Cannot Study Into Truth 53 There is no parallelism between the human mind and the truth in the direction of the former ever coming into a knowledge o^ it. The analogy of truth is between its own magnitude, sublimity, and omnipotence. The Ethiopian, with his human mind, can no more change his skin, than the leopard, without the human mind, can his spots. Man's ideas of good and evil are in contra- diction of that righteousness which is synonymous with truth. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." The person of man cannot come into the knowledge of the truth by taking thought about it — what he shall study, and how he shall study it. "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" The hobbies of the human mind are deciduous, going away when they cease to satisfy a man's sense of the fitness of things, of his notional mind. The purblindness of his mind is again revealed, in that with regard to each successive hobby he has he is sure that he is right. He is deceived in extent to how sure he is that he is right. If the human mind could reason it would see that the hobby it now cherishes is no more right than others that have appeared intermittently that it has discarded. The cultivated mind would have you believe that the deceiver is he that disturbs the equilibrium of his state of mind. The Pharisee, with his polished manners and glib tongue, glides along the line of least resistance, and is deceived and being deceived by the very smoothness and unobstructedness of his path. He is held by the hypnosis of the senses. A man is not drawn to the truth by his goodness (self -righteousness), that stands in the place of the truth with him. Dissociation takes place between the inner 54 Christian Science Examined man and the person of man, and the inner appears in the same ratio that the other is put off. The person of man does not accomplish this divestment of himself; contrariwise, it comes to pass by the inmutable law of God, apart from which not even a dog barks without there being a meaning to that bark, and its being under the ordination of that law. That a man must reap what he sows is of the inmut- able law ; and yet the sowing is not of himself but is in spite of himself, although he thinks it is of himself from the literal. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap cor- ruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing : for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." CHAPTER III. Fabrication of a "Free Moral Agency" Man has to suffer his way into life; but if he had his way he would shun the suffering. The man of the senses has been taught that he is a free moral agent; but he is a bound man, without the " moral" that is attached to it. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." The serpent is typical of man's mind, which heads both ways, and is not on the narrow way that leadeth unto life. Notice the personal mind in its choice : it chooses between its own ideas of good and evil; but it cannot choose the truth, because there is no under- standing of truth in it. The Christian Scientist would object to the statement that truth infringes upon man's free moral agency; nevertheless it does. He will endeavor to show a difference between the man he calls a free moral agent, and the other that he repudiates. But it is that other in Christian Science that claims freedom of moral action. Truth does infringe on man's free moral being, causing him suffering ; which according to his supposed freedom he tries to avoid. Man is not liberated by the human mind's declara- tion of freedom. Jesus said, He could do nothing of Himself; so, what can any man do of himself? But 56 Christian Science Examined through his strong delusion and the zeal of his senses a man sincerely believes and avows that he can do some- thing of his own volition. The human mind, which bears aversion to the truth that cuts it away, tries to arrogate to itself the truth it has not. The sword of the Spirit is a two-edged sword, cutting both ways; but the sword that man uses has but a single edge, and with it he would cut down everything that he does not sanction. The temporal man declaims, in high sounding phras- eology, words of truth, but he does not make many declarations of that sort until he openly contradicts himself, and thereby condemns himself out of his own mouth, for he only simulates the teachings of truth. The personal mind is opposed to the mind of Christ; it is the house divided against itself in its knowledge of good and evil. From that basis, a man cannot agree with himself, much less with his fellows, for he proceeds from a standing of division and separation. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" In truth we are all members of one body, and each one is a member in particular; therefore if one member suffers the whole body suffers. The mind of man, in its negations, cannot agree with itself, for it goes from one state of mind to another, and the changes are brought about without its own consent. A man is in the exuberance of hopefulness at one period and while in one mental frame, and it is but a little while afterwards he feels the other way and is in a mood of deepest discouragement and even of despair. In truth the inner man is not in different states of mind; for that man does not feed off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Free Moral Agency a Falsity 57 The man of the senses is deceived into thinking that he is the particular state of mind that he imagines him- self in. This shows that he is blind to his own nature; for he incessantly goes in his mentality from state to state. The inner man annuls the edicts of the man of the senses. Let us come again face to face with the deceiver, by looking at the reflection of our own mind, and taking notice of the mirages it projects. The platitudes of that mind are not our guides in in the narrow way; they but give us leeway to run in the broad path of multifarious hobbies. Mere words have no true import ; for the man of the senses may use the same words the disciple does, but with an en- tirely different signification ; for they are words of life to the disciple. What man's mind calls good is the obverse face of the identical tree which in one relation is called evil: they are two states of the same mind. This tree represents the human mind: it is the quar- ters of the "anti" — the great imitator, the house where Satan's seat is. Antichrist is the imitator, and the human mind has the agency for the promulgation of his doctrines. He does not come in his own name, for he is a liar; he comes in the name of the Truth. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled ; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." This is the main point, to take heed that no man deceives us. That includes every man, our personal 58 Christian Science Examined self in particular. And a man is deceived to the extent that he is governed by his senses. It is through the instrumentality of the mind and senses, which include the body, and by their sacrifice, that the life is revealed. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." The first law of human nature is self-preservation; the first law of the divine nature is self-sacrifice. Self- sacrifice means great gain: it is the Lord's work, the taking away uf temporal things and the bringing in of His own, or the eternal. Life is spiritual and cannot be hindered or enhanced by the temporal — things seen with man's eyes. The human mind, in its relativity deals in past, present and future; which is in truth an eternal now; and is so cognized by the man of understanding. ' ' And swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, Who created heaven and the things that therein are. and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. ' ' Truth is not in the past, nor is it in the future — which the ill-foreboding of the human mind deals with and dreads. "For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I suc- cored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; hehold now is the day of salvation." Man's senses revert from good to evil and back again; but insight of truth is not according to the senses. "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him — the spirit of wisdom and understand- Free Moral Agency a Falsity 59 ing, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowl- edge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears. But with right- eousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteous- ness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." And Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The hearing of these words does not come from the senses of man. They are gotten in the understanding and are embodied in the disciple — not physically, but spiritually. The senses cannot grasp this. "The Jews, therefore, strove among themselves, saying, How can this Man give us His flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father ; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven : not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." These sayings of our Lord were repulsive to the cultured human mind of His hearers; they sounded to that mind like cannibalism — a mind that dotes on the 60 Christian Science Examined smooth exterior of appearances. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to spiritually embody his words. ''Many, therefore, of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples mur- mured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before ? It is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." These teachings of Jesus were too much for the ' ' good common sense" of the men of the senses who heard Him. They were beyond the natural mind, which has no understanding. "But there are some of you that believe not. (For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.) And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father." This last statement rules out the human mind, with its false idea that it has free will. "From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." The mind and senses asseverate the truth in the tell- ing of it, but truth is not in telling: it is a matter of the life; which, as a city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. The facetious senses, made to appear that way in the sight of man, do not appear the same to the man of insight or knower of them: they are accepted by him only for what they are. Partakers of what is called the "baneful" side of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are in line for seeing the error of their way sooner than those who partake of the so-called "good" side, which are the noxious notions of the human mind. "Woe unto them Free Moral Agency a Falsity 61 that call evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. ,, Man's doings from the personal mind are brought to nothing in the end, by Him who does His pleasure in all His universe and is through all things, the immanent God. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" A man thinks himself free in his own mind when he is astray; but only "if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. ' ' Man, in studying Scripture, and with his expository method, leaves out the main thing, taking the text lit- erally from what may be called the standpoint of head- ology. He thinks he has work to do ; and straining at a gnat he swallows a camel. The natural mind of man uses the saying of Paul to bolster up its idea of study from the human will. But Paul's exhortation is just the opposite in meaning from its interpretation by the human mind. The Apostle says: "Study to show thy- self approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the word of truth." The human mind divides the word of truth, but not rightly. Everything a man thinks or does from the premise of the five senses is a contradiction ; but the man,* in his 62 Christian Science Examined deception, takes one phase of a thing that agrees with his opinion, and everything that does not harmonize with that he considers jargon. That which is true con- founds the human mind and abolishes it. "And ac- count that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. ' ' In truth, the warfare is not carnal, which is the war- fare of the carnal mind; but everything of the lower order is pre-doomed to give way before that which en- dures for ever. "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 strongholds. Casting down imagina- tions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." This "every high thing ' ' that exalts itself is from the personal mind. The man of the senses prys intrusively into other men's business and thereby neglects his own; he fails of self-examination, and of seeing that his imputation of sin to another is in himself. The other man, also governed by his senses, is under the same law of im- puting evil. Therefore, in their condemnation of each other, men are held under the law of sin and death. But man acts out that part by the impulsion of his per- sonal mind. The human mind uses the saying, "Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve " ; as if choice between the lie Free Moral Agency a Falsity 63 and the truth were given to the human mind. The truth, however, is one and indivisible, and there is no choice between it and something else, by a third party. This is where the human mind gets the idea that it is a free agent, because it thinks it has choice between its own states of mind, which are good and evil, but it is in a certain state of mind in spite of itself; and the change to another state is likewise in spite of itself. If it had its own way, it would be in a good state of feeling always, but it has to reap according to the sow- ing. Disciples need not look for surcease from suffering, any more than did their Lord; but they are consoled now, and greatly rewarded in the end. The main characteristic of the Lord's sheep is that they go astray when left to themselves ; but their safety is in their Shepherd's keeping. The sheep is let wan- der, until he has acquired the necessary experience that "the way of a man is not in himself." "All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the in- iquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflict- ed, yet He opened not His mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shear- ers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. ' ' Let us come to see the purpose in all things, and let those that suffer know it is not in vain ; that this suffer- ing is but the devouring flame, the fiery trial to con- sume the dross. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earn- est expectation of the creature waiteth for the man- ifestation of the sons of God." 64 Christian Science Examined The declaration of the truth and the utterance of true speech comes from a higher source than the mouth of man; for the truth is not mouth, as the man of the senses thinks. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." From the positive growth, which is without negation, the person of man must fade away to bring the inner man to view. "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the Son of man, that Thou visitest him ? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet." The senses of man, which are negative, must step aside for the positive truth; the person of man must be flat- tened in order that the truth may be exalted. "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The Voice said, Cry; and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely, the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Free Moral Agency a Falsity 65 That all is predestined, and likewise foreordained and foreknown, does not appeal to the human mind, with its false self -ideation, free agency, and choice. The Shep- herd chooses the sheep ; but the mind of man has it the other way. Man wants to teach the truth before he has become its disciple, and has learned what truth is. Jesus said: "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that what- soever ye shall ask of the Father, in My name, He may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you: The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My sayings, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth Me hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin ; but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning." 66 Christian Science Examined From the human mind a man will declare that he believes in prophecy ; and at the same time will say that he does not believe in predestination and foreordination. Of course, he does not know the meaning either of prophecy, predestination or foreordination. He does not understand them. For understood they take away his self -idea that he is a free agent ; whereas the man of the senses is not free to walk even across the street and know that he will arrive on the other side. The human mind, in its attempt to acquire something through its own studious efforts, has not even the rudiments of the truth. Faith does not come by studying. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The truth does not come out of books; nor is faith acquired through a book. The free gift of God is not an acquisition of the human mind. "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." There is no faith in the man of the five senses; al- though in his deluded state he thinks he has faith. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him ; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. ' ' God is only pleased with His own work; which fact dispenses with the carnal mind in its acquisition of a counterfeit faith. "For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works; which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Free Moral Agency a Falsity 67 Behold the conglomerate and heterogeneous mix-up of creeds, coming into the human mind, each one on its supposed merits; and proclaiming the demerits of the rest; thereby establishing an antagonism with them! "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep." There is confusion of tongues among the many creeds, which are endeavoring to climb up some other than the appointed way. There is a marked distinction between the sheep led out of bondage by their Lord, and the goats that would deliver themselves through delusive lanes of their own learning. A goat is typical of the human mind in its headstrong characteristic. The per- sonal self can never lead itself out of its own bondage. Sometimes the use of a goat is to lead the sheep to their slaughter. "But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Sheep are a type of those who have no mind of their own; the mind of Christ is their mind. The human will must be subject to the Divine; then the disciple is saved from the self that would deceive him. Man in his deceived state is subjected by his mind and senses; but in order to be free, he must have the mind and senses subjected by the inner man. But that transfiguration is of the Lord, and is not performed by one's self -personality. Moses was ordained to lead the children of Israel out from under Pharaoh and into the wilderness; but the Lord finally takes His disciples out of the wilder- 68 Christian Science Examined ness of their own mind. These things illustrate the se- questering of the man of the senses to make way for the manifestation of the sons of God. The disciple must go through the school of the law of the human mind, graduate from it, and thereby come out of it. It is a process of dying to himself that he might be born of the life that is one and eternal. It is to grow in grace, in the involution of the Spirit's workings. The mind of man is prone to go into byways of its own finding; but the call today is as it has been in the past, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not par- takers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. ' ' The human mind's idea of the coming out of the Babel of false beliefs, is to come out of those of others, but to stay in its own. But the Lord's work with the disciple is to take him out of the Babel of his own mind ; and then he must, of necessity, and as a consequence, come out of others. The manifold subdivisions are but the reflex of the one. He that is astray in his own senses thinks that by the employment of those senses he can emancipate himself; but the truth, and nothing else, is that which takes away the lie and frees the disciple from it. The man of the senses is no more than the aggregate of his senses, which culminate in the human mind, and that mind is always astray. The mind of man opines that there was a clash between Paul and James on the subject of works ; but both were dealing with the matter from their respective stand- points. As to Paul's "not of works, lest any man should boast, ' ' his reference is to the man of the senses ; where- Free Moral Agency a Falsity 69 as James' ''faith without works is dead" alludes to the works of the inner man. The Lord goes before His sheep : they have no will in the leading nor in the following; but their will m subjected to keep them in the way — straight and narrow. "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers." They know not the voice of strangers; for only the truth can be known. The hobbies of the human mind are the voice (voices) of strangers. Coming out from under the thralldom of the senses is not posterior to the process of suffering; but the suffering is continued that the disciple be not puffed up. The adherents of the various sects glory in how good they feel; proving that what they have is based not on the understanding of truth, but on the senses. A disciple of truth has the consolation of knowing that a good work is being wrought, as all things are purposeful. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." It can be seen why the Lord used sheep and goats as types. The separation, too, is between the sheep and the goats; with the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left. It is going on in the disciple continually. It is a separation between the outer and the inner man ; between the man that perishes and the man that eternally lives. The sheep require a shepherd to keep them from straying, but a goat knocks down obstacles with his 70 Christian Science Examined head. Which corresponds to a man trying to figure a way out of his troubles with his own head. Truth, however, is not gained by that method. A sheep would perish in a pasture where a goat would thrive; and the Lord's disciples would perish in doctrines promulgated by the human mind. The Lord's sheep come out of man's doctrines, for they can find no succulence in them. The goats take up with the voice of strangers ; which are the strange impressions and manifestations of which they know not the significance, but which appear like something to them, because they play upon sentiment. The sheep have nothing of their own, personally speaking. "I am the Vine: ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit," for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples. As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you : continue ye in My love. If ye keep My command- ments ye shall abide in My love ; even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My com- mandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what Free Moral Agency a Falsity 71 his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." The human mind tries to extricate itself from diffi- culties by acquisition of knowledge gained through the media of the sight of the eyes and the hearing of the ears; but that knowledge is from the tree of the knowl- edge of good and evil, with its root and branches — com- posed of good and evil : which represents the human mind. The mind is engaged with effects about which no two men can agree, except by their own false compromise, but that is not true agreement. The substance and truth of all effects is back of them. "If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at Me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day ? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge right- eous judgment." What the senses of man consider the way of life is always its opposite. The senses want to save the very thing that has to be lost before the light of life is reveal- ed. "Then cried Jesus in the temple as He taught, saying, Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I am ; and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, Whom ye know not. But I know Him; for I am from Him, and He hath sent Me. Then they sought to take Him; but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come. ' ' The unchangeable rule is, that the truth is always opposite to the personal mind. "And the command- ment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, 72 Christian Science Examined deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good ; that sin by the com- mandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not ; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwell- eth in me. I find then a law. that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This "another law" that Paul said he saw in his members is the law that the man of the senses is deceiv- ed by: he is under the law of his own personal knowl- edge of good and evil — which has him divided. Paul recognized his deliverance, not in himself but from his Free Moral Agency a Falsity 73 personal self. The Deliverer is the Lord Christ Jesus, who is The Truth. This truth is not something that comes and goes, but is all that exists. The shadowy make-up of the human mind is incapable of perceiving this. The truth is to be patiently waited for by the disciple. "And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." ^ The human mind does not want to wait: it wants to get the truth by increase of knowledge and cursory explanations, from the source of impressions of the mind of man. But the truth is not impressions. What else would there be to impress it with? Outward works deceive most in man's set-up doc- trines ; but the disciple of truth has an inward working. The human mind, in its forms of beneficence and from its own outlook, appears to itself the reality. It is real enough for its utility, but it is not the reality that is in righteousness. The man of the senses is revealed by his speech, but not to the human mind which looks on the surface only. The difference in the doctrines foisted on the human mind is that one imitates the truth more closely than another. The one that looks more like the truth to the natural mind is that subject to which it is most suscepti- ble; hence, is most deceived by. A proud man thinks to himself that he has something, when he is utterly destitute of the truth. And he is more especially deceived when he thinks he has full understanding. "All is vanity and vexation of spirit,' ' so far as the man of the senses is considered. 74 Christian Science Examined The sense-man attempts to prove himself right on the strength of the wrong of some other doctrine or of a follower of that doctrine. But, "two wrongs do not make one right : ' ' still the man of the senses thinks they do. The heads of different factions compare their own false standard with other false standards; and some break away from their leaders and teachers, and take up with false beliefs of their own. This has been the history of the sand-foundation of the human will. Growth is coming into the knowledge of the Spirit of truth ; but the knowledge gained through the human mind is through the delusion of the spirit of lies; and this spirit of error or lies a disciple is to know no more when he has come into the knowledge of the truth. ' ' For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have some- what to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead. And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now, henceforth, know we Him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold all things are become new." The more the personal mind is educated the more the truth appears to it as a fable. With this same mind, in its dealing with effects, it follows that it cannot receive even an illustration of the truth ; for it holds the Free Moral Agency a Falsity 75 illustration in place of that which it illustrates, thereby eclipsing the truth with its personal self, being blinded by itself. The human mind uses all the symbols and parables the same way, showing its dense darkness to the man who sees reality. The professed followers of the Lord who do not have His truth, say that the parables He employed are the truth; thereby again setting up something short of the truth in their mind. For the truth is always back of the parable, or comparison. When the inward illumination appears it is not from the shadows, but from the light of life. In the idolatry of the mind — which is a pantheon containing every image — man goes from effect to effect, calling them all causes. An image is visualized in mind, and power is attributed to it by that mind; but the image lacks the potential quality which inheres in truth. All potency belongs to the Author of all, the Lord God omnipotent; "with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." The human mind, in its thought-taking, never accom- plishes anything in the way of righteousness. "There- fore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life. what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat? and the body more than rai- ment?" (The life is more than meat: the physical body is not life, although the human mind thinks it is. Life is not physical; it is spiritual.) "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 76 Christian Science Examined Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature ? ' ' These sayings of Jesus show that the mind of man, which has such great respect for its own opinions, is not of service to lead the disciple into the narrow way of truth. Even the fowls of the air and the lilies, which have no human mind coming between them and the life, are used as types of those that live by faith. The faith is not in them, but in the Author and Finisher of our faith. The personal mind answers the design of causing a disciple to be lost in that mind; but One has come to seek and to save that which was lost: not to serve the man of the senses, but the disciple, in whom the man that is above the senses is being brought forth. The human mind represents the "son of perdition:" it is this that is lost; and it is a good thing that it is so. The personal mind is a mind of desire; but the Lord sees to it that every man gets, not what he wants, but what he needs. Whatever he needs he gets ; whether he relishes it or not. Both his likes and dislikes are devoid of the truth. Jesus said, if a man did not forsake all that he had, he could not be His disciple. Now when all is forsaken, there is nothing left but the truth. The whole man of selfishness has disappeared. The main inference and the conspicuous point with reference to the gift of faith by the Lord is, that the human mind is not instrumental in it; except to be taken out of the way, in the appointed time. The personal man's idea of faith is synonymous with the ordinary and lower meaning that has been put to the word "belief," which is, I don't know. But Christ Free Moral Agency a Falsity 77 used the term with an entirely different signification. Faith, according to the Lord, is the opposite of the "I don't know" of the human mind. "But let your com- munication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.' , The personal ego of man wishes to change things to suit his own wants; but he does not see the end from the beginning of those wants; neither can he change a thing predestined to be as it is. When a change is wrought, the appointed time for that change has come: and come it will, in spite of man's other-minded per- sonal ego. Man swears, according to his own head, that he will, or will not, do a certain thing. In that he is a defaulter ; for he does not know what he will do. ' ' But I say unto you, Swear not at all ; neither by heaven ; for it is God 's throne : nor by the earth ; for it is His footstool : neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black." The lilies do not study Scripture, to find out how to grow; but the man of the senses does. And further, in doing it, he puts his own private interpretation upon them. The person of man cannot receive a simple statement of truth; and yet he accomplishes great things (as he thinks). But what he really does only pertains to the vanities of this life. The man of the senses tries to save himself, at the expense of the other members of the human family; but that self is the son of perdition that must be lost (anni- hilated) for the manifestation of the sons of God to occur. "While I was with them in the world, I kept 78 Christian Science Examined them in Thy name : those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition ; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." When the man of the senses becomes diseased, the human mind is brought into exercise, as, for example, in Christian Science, to deny the disease and affirm health. But in truth there is no denial and affirmation coming from the human mind, ' ' for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him." It is evident that the affirmation of health, from man's mind, is not of the Lord in righteousness. The natural mind remedies disease by assuming an evanescent effect : the disease departs, but it is not from the Divine Source, and does not make the sick every whit whole. There is no faith in the active mind of man, and it is active when it denies and affirms. The common mind cannot affirm the truth, because the truth is not an affirmation. Instead of the denial of one thing and the affirmation of another curing disease, it but superimposes it on the sick. Where there is health, there is no need of affirming it ; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is nothing in the nature of disease. The Christian Scientist has great confidence in his doctrine, because it seemingly sticks to its premise; not knowing that its premise (postulate) is based on the Free Moral Agency a Falsity 79 human mind. Another thing that causes the Christian Scientist to regard what he is following as invulnerable is, that its critics in the past have been telling what was being cogitated in their own mind, and have not touched upon its teachings. Jesus did not consider the human mind to be germain to the truth in righteousness; therefore He did not tell His disciples to work from that basis; but adversely to it. "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to mediate before what ye shall answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. ' ' From the human mind and sense-delusion (for they are conjoined as one), if a man feels good he thinks it is of the truth, but if he feels bad, as he thinks of bad, to him it appears of some other origin. This makes void his other idea of possession of freedom of will ; for if he had choice he would not feel badly; but the immutable law is there to curb it. Solomon, in all his glory, was not perfect in beauty as a lily, which becomes such independently of pride, each growing without interference of one with another. Solomon was arrayed in the mind and senses of man, which have vanity and vexation of spirit as their out- come. But we have "a Greater than Solomon" — One 80 Christian Science Examined that came in His heavenly Father's name. He was filled with the Spirit of truth, in opposition to the spirit of deception, or lies; in order to destroy all delu- sions when they have fulfilled their purpose. They would not be at all if they were not let be; for there is an Almighty God, Who is over all. There is no destruction in the truth, but it fulfills that which it has purposed. CHAPTER IV Divine Purpose in All Things There is no colloquy between the truth and deception, but the falsehood is let be in the affairs of men, in an appointed time and for a beneficent purpose. " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but who- soever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the right- eousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Man would interfere with the Lord's work, if he could ; and he appears to do it — by, setting up a right- eousness of his own. He would conceal from view his selfish nature, which even by his own judgment is reck- oned obnoxious ; but he is not willing to have it exposed and brought to nought. What the man of the senses does appears to be per- formed by his own free will, but in fact he can only do as he is allowed, and he is continually thwarted in carry- ing out his own plans. The premier delusion that a 82 Christian Science Examined man is under is, that he can do something of his personal premeditation. However, if the particular thing that he desires is accomplished, he does not do it of himself, although he thinks he does. Personally, he is not the power that is back of him. He does not even choose to come here; and when he goes he is not asked whether it is agreeable to him. "As it is written : Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The human mind thinks that the Pharaohs were bad men (of their own volition), in holding the children of Israel in bondage; but they were there for that very purpose, not knowing it themselves. God does not con- sult the human mind's likes and dislikes. "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same pur- pose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared through- out all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? for who hath resisted His will? Nay but, man, who art thou that repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus? Hath not the Potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" That which is called evil is finally brought to an end — after its necessary part has been played. The human Divine Purpose In All Things 83 mind does not like to hear this, for the adversary works through it; and when that is seen it reveals him. But he does not want to be revealed, for he comes in the name of the truth and covers his tracks that way. Evil has no power of itself, but it is used by the Lord, as in the case of the Pharaohs, to put the Children of Israel in bondage, that they might gain their requisite experience. The vessels that are made to dishonor are not aware of God's purpose about them and the part they play in the affairs of men. What they apparently accomplish they think is for their own well-being, if it seems well to them. The main reason for their being here is supervised by the Over-lord, and has a different meaning from the secondary, personal meaning they attach to it. As with a man raising a family, who con- siders that he does it for his own personal perpetuation ; while the deeper purpose, and above his own, is the increase of the nation to which he belongs, and yet there is still a higher purpose. In the idolatry of man's mind, he ascribes power to evil, in and of itself. In that he shows that he denies the power of God. The human mind is dominated by the law of its lawlessness. "Love" (not personal affec- tion) "is the fulfilling of the law" of truth, and is the consummation of righteousness. A man prays to himself through the urge of his mind ; but there is that to which his mind is subject. The man's prayers are answered after his own fashion, and to the extent of his self-deception. The "prayer of faith" is, that you know the Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him; and this is not a personal operation. 84 Christian Science Examined The human mind, speaking by the mouth, says, "For- give us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," but it cannot act that part. It merely imitates it, as it does whatever else is true. And it can always find an excuse that looks plausible to it for not forgiving its debtors. In truth we are to let the whole world go free; and the fasting enjoined is not from food, but from wanting to keep another in bondage. "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh ? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee ; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall ans- wer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." Divine Purpose In All Things 85 All that the man that is not illuminated can do is to speak of himself. He speaks of himself while thinking that he is speaking of something else. Like preachers that natter one another, and at the same time throw bouquets at themselves. These wiles of the human mind are clearly perceived by those granted to see where Satan's seat is. In their testimony meetings, Christian Scientists speak of themselves; but they think they are speaking of the truth. "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but He that seeketh His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him." In truth there is no fault-finding: the purpose here is to point out the difference between the sandy founda- tion of the human mind — which is the basis of fault- finding — and the mind of the Lord, which has under its control all that is purposeful. The person of man tries to explain or have his way explained into the truth. All human systems use this method. The senses of man try to arrive at truth by the road of reason ; but they go at right angles and in an opposite direction to find it. The mind of man is taken out of the way, so that the truth, which is untrammeled, might appear. "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed ; whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." The disciple does not begin to see until he is brought to his extremity; then he can readily discern the light. 86 Christian Science Examined "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." The personal ego of man is between him and the light and under- standing of truth; which truth the personal ego cannot receive, for it is itself a shadow and must disappear that the truth may be seen unclouded. The ways of the human mind are always opposed to the Divine way. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." The modes of the natural illustrate the spiritual, and show that there is a set time for every manifestation. "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall My word be, that goeth forth out of My mouth : it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where- unto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace : the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." There is no true relation between the person of man and the Lord of hosts. Man's personal attitude would vitiate everything right and just. The man of the senses' ideas brought to a focus, are the desires he wants Divine Purpose in All Things 87 fulfilled. But when lie does get what he wants he finds it acts as a drag on him. The disciple of truth also needs this experience at first to show him that the perish- able things he craves are not the things he needs. But his wants must be served, for him to find by their temporal satisfaction that they are in themselves nothing, and are only of advantage to him for giving him the experience that is necessary. One man, according to his senses, would have it all sunshine, with no cold nor rain — which are the neces- sary elements to cause the earth to yield food for human sustenance; but, contrariwise, a planter is glad of an abundance of rain. Taken together, there is a supreme purpose in all things, and nothing comes to pass by chance. There had to be a Pharaoh as well as a Moses, a Simon Magus as well as a Simon Peter, a Judas as well as the Lord Jesus. But the human mind, by permission, conjures up ideas of its own. The portrayal of each individual is to be found in Scripture; in it is every man's measure: but the man of the senses does not like to look face to face at his own likeness. What the disciple receives is not his personally : what lie gets is either given him directly by the Lord through the hearing of faith ; or through fellowship of other dis- ciples when gathered in His name by the same means. Scripture characters depict the characters of today; men of our time are as men of old. Some are waiting, as then, the appointed time, waiting for the manifesta- tion of sons of God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil bespeaks the human mind, in which that knowledge inheres; but it is not true knowledge. 88 Christian Science Examined There is only one good, and in that there is not something additional, which passes for evil. "And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And He said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." The man that said "Good Master," had, according to the human mind, an idea of a bad man, with which to compare the Master; but, of course, he did not see the Master as He is. Man's personal wants exceed his needs by a wide margin. The human mind, with its many accessions, cannot come unto a knowledge of the truth for that reason. "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved ? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." A man cannot serve two masters and attain unto the truth. The riches of this life pertain not to the durable riches, but to the mutable material possessions, which fade away. A man may appear to be rich — rich in a false doctrine; but this is the deceiver getting in his work. In the human doctrines it is the subversion of one set of ideas of the mind for the setting up of others. The mind of man being devoid of truth cannot see that two or any number of errors do not equal the right. Religious sects build their doctrines on the wreckage of other doctrines; that is, they use the mistakes of others, and build their own on the falsities and incon- Divine Purpose in All Things 89 sistencies of those doctrines they attack, comparing what they consider right with what they claim to be wrong in other men's views. The iteration and reiteration of the varying phases of the personal mind, as opposed to the mind which was in Christ Jesus, is what this writing is referring to, showing by repetition the failure of man's personal mind as applied to different conditions. These differences are not exposed in their actuality by a book; the book simply records them. The Spirit of Truth is above all that is, or can be written. When a Christian Scientist has reverted from one mental state to another, from a state of exhilaration to that of disharmony, he thinks error has crept in; but error is never out of the human mind, seeing that mind has its basis in error. In the fullness of apprehension of the truth the mental states of man are put entirely under. Above the relative states of man's mind the truth stand supreme. In the human mind, the parables Jesus gave fail utterly; because that mind, in one of its mental states, says they are the truth, and in another, that they are a lie. Both statements are a lie ; that which affirms that they are the truth, and that which denies it; for they are from the same unreliable source. Truth is not in the conveyance, but in that which is conveyed. Truth is not the messenger, but the One that sends him. The exhortation of Christian Science, "Never breathe an immoral atmosphere unless in the attempt to purify it," is of the human mind, as are all its other deliver- ances, for the doctrine is founded on that mind. From the standpoint of the human will, if a man is not to breathe an immoral atmosphere unless in the attempt of its purification, he will have to quit breathing his own atmosphere ; and his attempt to purify it, from that 90 Christian Science Examined aspect, would not change it. A man may walk away from another man, but he cannot walk away from him- self. This idea of not remaining in an immoral atmosphere is pursued by the ordinary religionist; it is the fruit of his self -righteousness. "Which say, Stand by thy- self, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. ' ' One planted on the sound doctrine of truth does not work from the basis of the good and the evil, which savors of division. "Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure ; but unto them that are denied and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is denied. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." ' ' To the pure all things are pure ' ' : not that the one who is awake is to pamper his desires, but the contrary. They that understand, even in a small degree, recognize that the same lower tendency they see in those governed by their mind and senses is in them; and this produces in them humility, instead of a belief in self-goodness. If the same base tendency is in measure overcome, the disciple does not take glory therefore to himself; for the principal point in coming to a knowledge of the truth is that a man cannot come into that knowledge of himself; that such entrance into truth is above and beyond the capacity of his sentient nature. The light of life is eclipsed by the human mind; but its interlucent rays are seen by those who begin at the point of service of their fellows. Divine Purpose In All Things 91 Notice the simplicity of the truth — which the human mind passes over. In truth, the least is accounted the greatest, and the greatest among the disciples is the servant of all. "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the king- dom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Ver- ily 1 say unto you, Except ye be converted, and be- come as little children, ye shall not enter into the king- dom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The human mind's idea of greatness will be found just the opposite of the character whom Jesus pro- nounced greatest. According to the personal mind, the greatest are those that subject the others to their own will ; whereas, in truth, the greatest is the servant of all the rest. The natural mind cannot delve into this sim- plicity, and yet profundity! In truth there are no masters oppressing the weak; there is but one Master, Christ. There is no room for a personal master where each one is a servant of all, and all are bearing each other's burdens. "Bear ye one another's burdens^ and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is noth- ing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in him- self alone, and not in another; for every man shall bear his own burden." These sayings are a contradiction to the human mind, but are harmonious with themselves; for the disciples are bidden to "bear one another's burdens." Yes, in truth, the disciple is to bear his own burden, and at the same time he is to bear the burdens of his brethren. 92 Christian Science Examined The man of the senses can do nothing but be con- stricted by his own accretions, because of that selfish- ness or error which actuates him in the accomplishment of his own desires. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light/' To be meek and lowly in heart, is to be above the do- main of the common mind. "The heart (mind) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" The man of the senses is not exempt from suffering; yet wants to be. The fallow ground must be planted, and har- rowed, to cover the seed before it brings forth; so the suffering is anterior to an appreciation of the joy that is unspeakable in comparison with the husks of the human mind — whose imitative enjoyment must be paid for to the uttermost farthing. Growth in the grace of God is like the river that flows on to unite with the ocean; each drop is one with all the drops, and all includes the unit. "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." The precocious characteristics of the mind of man cause it to believe in that which is only in part as if it were the whole. The man, ruled by his mind, withers like the blossom or the branch that has been cut off from the vine. "If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Divine Purpose In All Things 93 The senses are not auxiliaries to the truth ; only in the sense of being as the chaff is to the wheat. Yet there never was wheat without chaff; which acts as a cover- ing to preserve the kernel from the inclemency of the weather. The wheat is that which is resurrected into newness of life, after it has died, and in order to its germination; but the chaff, after it has served its good purpose, is blown away by the winnowing machine.. The chaff does not represent the life as does the wheat. There is no faith in the senses of man : faith is from the Spirit of truth, which is anterior to all lesser lights and puts them out when it shines forth. The mind and senses are under the law ; and the law is under the curse of sin and death. When the man of the senses falls on the truth he is broken; but when it falls on him it grinds him to powder. These senses are used to school the man by the things that he suffers because of them, and they are utilized by the Lord for that purpose. This schooling is to prepare the disciple to receive that which is beyond the literal and temporal. "0 foolish Gala- tians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evi- dently set forth, crucified among you ? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so fool- ish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made per- fect by the flesh?" The man of the personal mind would proselyte others to his own delusion ; but there is an appointed time for everything, and man can change nothing except accord- ing to his own delusions. The disciple is what he is, and so is the man of the senses, regardless of what the common mind thinks about it. "He that is unjust let him be unjust still; 94 Christian Science Examined and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And behold I come quick- ly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man ac- cording as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." The grace of God being a free gift, it follows that it is not acquired by the labor of man's mind. Yet, al- though that grace which is back of faith is a gift, the carnal mind is not free to receive it. It is held back from its reception by its own nature. The personal ego acquires something of its own kind. Then it boasts, or takes on a voluntary humility, which lands it in the slough of its own simulated superiority. The truth is one, and no man can devise ways and means of getting it for himself alone, to the exclusion of others. The disciple must be broken before the soil is pre- pared for the seed; after that, he must be ground to powder, in order to bring forth more abundantly. ' ' And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying: Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth ; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth; and when the sun was up they were scorched; and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them.. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty- fold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Divine Purpose In All Things 95 The disciple is given the humble position of a ser- vant. He first goes down in humility; and, rising, he lifts up those to whom he is servant. His life, or personal self, is lost in this self-abasement, and it is the consummation of a good work; with the Life being re- vealed at this point. The sentient imagination of man, that he takes for life, is not life, for life is eternal; and the disciple be- gins to learn this, while at the same time he knows that he is compassed with infirmities. "This is My com- mandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Hanging on the cross was but the outward object- lesson of what Jesus did for His disciples: the inward meaning is the main thing. Denial of the personal is first, not by the person himself, but by the immutable law of God, to which the personality is subjected. "And when He had called the people unto Him, with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it ; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel 's, the same shall save it. ' ' Man's personal mind is not something in the sense of being an entity of truth ; it is of the impress of appear- ances. Our Lord used object-lessons in His instruction, as in the case of washing Peter's feet; but He did not need object-lessons for Himself. At the time of the rais- ing of Lazarus from the dead, He uttered what He said for those that stood by, as He told them. The human mind regards the lessons, or illustrations, as though there was something innate in them for acquisition, when they are but the conveyance and signal of truth back of 96 • Christian Science Examined them. Peter's personal idea of the fitness of things objected when the Lord was about to wash his feet ; but being told he would have no part with the Master unless he was washed, he not only wanted his feet washed, but also his hands, and his head. This has a meaning deeper than the mere statement of physical ablution ; it is illus- trative of the true service of one member of the body of Christ for another; for He, Christ, is the Head, and as such commands the members of His body what to do. From the human-mind standpoint, a man is very solicit- ous about the welfare of the members of his own body, but he does not regard very much the other members of the one body of Christ, except from a meddlesome standpoint. The Lord is crucified again by those members of the body who ignore the authority and orders of their spir- itual " Head "—Christ Himself. "Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean, but not all (for He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean.") This washing refers to the cleaning up of everything that belongs to the natural man. "So, after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was set down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you ? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well ; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one an- other's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." The washing of the feet has a dual meaning : in it is implied the putting off Divine Purpose In All Things 97 of the human mind, and it brings out obligation to service. The natural mind is taken up with objects, and not with the subject of truth that the objects indicate. The mind of man thinks that the truth was in the illustra- tive part of what Jesus did. But, as at the tomb of Lazarus, what He did there was for His disciples, not for Himself. The final part of the truth is not that which signifies it, but that which is signified. The truth is not exemplified in the vessel; but through the vessel, as its instrumentality. ' ' Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me, and I knew that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth ! And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." The faith of Christ was shown where He said, "I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me," before it was brought to pass objectively; but, of course, the vital part was not in the demonstra- tion, but in that which prevailed to bring it to pass. The man of the senses is of the same nature as the ob- jects he sees ; therefore he never sees anything in its en- tirety; nor does he arrive at the spiritual significance; which is not gained by looking at things visualized by the human mind; but discernment is in the understand- ing, which knows no bounds. 98 Christian Science Examined In the understanding, weight is not given to the literal meaning of words, quibbles over their derivation and translatory representations of them; for the truth of a matter antedates writing about it; and that which is written, if it is true testimony, refers to its essence; therefore what is recorded must be spiritually discerned, to get at its significance. The members of the various denominations, subdivisions of the human mind, would have us believe that the deceiver is the agnostic, the infidel, the avowed atheist, and any other outcasts of the same cultured mind with dogmatic sectarian be- liefs; but the deceiver who says he brings us the truth always comes in the Lord's name; that is, in the name of the Spirit of Truth, but he denies it at the same time. The agnostic, infidel and atheist either follow the direction of their own human and misleading mind, or are influenced by holders and exponents of ideas of other men; they are not deceivers as coming in the name of the Lord. The rule is, that the deceiver comes in the name of the Lord, in truth's name; ergo, he would not be the deceiver against whom we are warned if he came in his own name. Deceiving doctrines come as a hobby, and the hobbyist does not recognize that his per- sonal mind is open to deception as other people's who have hobbies that conflict with his. The man of the senses moves in a groove of his own in- vented and grotesque beliefs. His own mentality being filled with an individual hobby, he does not fully realize that he has in the past entertained false beliefs — which beliefs have fallen to pieces; the one he now has, he is sure — very sure — is right. He is not thoroughly de- ceived in it until he is thus sure beyond a doubt that he is now right; then he is completely illusioned. For, "as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" ; so is he deceived Divine Purpose*In All Things 99 in thought, for his mind is obsessed with the illusion that he is the particular state of mind that he entertains. He does not see that states of mind change while yet he is the same man. If a man from his erroneous mind feels bad, he thinks himself doomed to stay that way, but if he has a good feeling, he then thinks he will stay that way; yet, as before said, he is not thoroughly deceived either way until he is sure as to his delusion that it is the truth. An illuminated man is not under the influence of his states of mind — only to the extent that they are used to humble him, and cause him to learn obedience. The humility they bring about in the disciple is not of themselves, but through them, for the inner man — who is the disciple. Seeing that he is en- compassed with the infirmities of the flesh he is made lowly in mind. The same senses are used in the opposite way on the outer man, or man of the senses, lifting him up with pride. In this we see the purpose in all things : the man of senses is exalted with pride by his senses, and the disciple is depressed by them as a means to their own end and the coming forth of the perfect man. The sense-man is lifted up to fall, or come to an end of himself, that the new man might emerge. A significant truth is, that Jesus never taught the human mind. He instructed none but the disciples prepared to receive His words. There is no way possible for the human mind to receive the truth ; when the truth makes entrance the human mind departs. The blindness of the common mind is shown in its oscillating in states of feeling — from one to another, and in thinking that its last state is finality. The Life is above states of mind and expels them. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear: because 100 Christian Science Examined fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, Whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God, love his brother also." The ways of life are above the ways of the changing mind. The mind of the man that is of few days and full of trouble is in the conjunction with the senses in their inter-relation, which are continually shifted about by the impressions they receive; but in truth there is nothing of a shadowy and mortal nature to receive im- pressions. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The truth works dispassionately, and is no respecter of persons. So it is a matter of going directly to the One over all. ' ' What- soever is not of faith is sin" — the faith of Him Who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." The human mind tries to excuse itself by concealing the outward results of sin, that is evidence of its noxious source ; that man 's mind strains at a gnat and swallows a camel. It is scrupulous about the least, giving no attention to sin's source. "And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not per- ceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart (mind), but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And He said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart (mind) of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, Divine Purpose In All Things 101 an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man. ' ' Faith being "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," it follows that faith is be- yond the mind and senses. The works that Jesus did in the sight of men, and of which the people saw but the appearance, were the outward expression of His faith, and contravened not the law of truth, but only the law of the human mind. The man of the senses cannot study into that which is arcane to him. "And without con- troversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Man's personal ego is confounded by the literal. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." The human mind, in its bizarre doctrines, takes it that the main thing is to search and study the Scriptures; but, of course, having its doctrines planted on a sand- foundation, it cannot follow up what the Lord said, according to the record, "And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life. ' ' This brings out the thought ; as much as to say, You search the scriptures, and go to everything but the Source of Life ; and ye will not come to Me that ye might have life. ' ' "I receive not honor from men; but I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" 102 Christian Science Examined There is no lack of the literal; but there is a famine of hearing (understanding) the purport of the testi- mony; no shortage of Bibles (members of certain sects will give you one for the asking) ; but, with their human mind, they cannot give you understanding. " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land ; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. ' ' We are in that time now, albeit many sectarians claim to hear the words of the Lord ; but these fulfill what the Lord said to His disciples, "Take heed that no man deceive you." This includes every man governed by the human mind. ' ' For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." They come saying that Jesus is the Christ, they also come of their own personal ego declaring that they are Christ themselves; but the Christ, which is the Truth, is not the man of the human mind and passions. The real Christ says of himself, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." When the man of the senses comes saying, Jesus is Christ — and many testify that — he comes as an agent of the adversary, declaring by the mouth through his hu- man mind something he has not received himself; and they are not infidels or atheists that come in Christ's name ; they are the sectarians. The living Word of God is not a book, as man 's mind would have us believe. ' ' For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest Divine Purpose In All Things 103 in His sight ; but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. ' ' The human mind takes the literal for the very word of God; which was in the beginning and before the literal. Not that the word of God had a beginning, according to the common acceptation; for there is no beginning in that which is eternal. "But Jesus an- swered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. ' ' The same truth that works through the chosen vessel worked before the fashioning of that vessel. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Therefore the Word of God is not a book: it is the Lord Himself. "The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the dark- ness comprehended it not." The mind of man calls the Bible the living word of God, without its being written in the Scriptures that it is. And men in argument say, "I stand on the word of God. ' ' without being able to agree. Their standing, rath- er, is on a literal and private interpretation of their own ; which they call the word itself. The Word of God is the Lord Himself. "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." The human mind believes in death, not life ; it believes in a form of life, in the processes of construction and destruction, until the latter finishes the job. But the life is not affected by the passing of physical forms, for the same life that was manifested in the prophets and the apostles has always been manifested. What appears 104 Christian Science Examined to the mind of man as the truth is but the manifestation of passing shadows. "The grass withereth, the flower f adeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower f adeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. ' ' The personal mind says, all are striving for the truth, but in different ways. But the ' ' different ways ' ' are the varying courses of the human mind, which are the broad way leading to destruction, and multitudes throng that way. There is only one way into the truth, and the gate to it is strait. "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" The nullification of Christian Science is in its attempt to make a disciple out of the human mind and teach it the truth; but the Lord Jesus used a little child as an example for the disciples. The mind of man, in its idolatry, heady interpretations and false knowledge, is not manifested in a little child. "And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them. But when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." A little child does not receive what it gets by study ; and it can- Divine Purpose in All Things 105 not study into the gifts of its parents, no more than it can into Christ. The gifts of parents are free to their children, and are bestowed not because of the child's desires, but according to what it needs, and independent of its desires. CHAPTER V Animal Magnetism From the Same Mind as Declares Against It in Christian Science The animal magnetism spoken of in Christian Science is the branch called the evil of the human mind, and the interchange between it and the good of that mind is from the same foundation. What is called the good in Christian Science is supposed to be from the Divine Mind, while the evil is attributed to mortal mind; but the good and the evil of Christian Science are both from the mortal mind. Christian Scientists ' method of acquir- ing their supposed divine good is seen to be wholly by the working of the human mind. In Christian Science imputation of animal magnetism is affirmed, even while it is being denied. This reveals the mind striving to free itself ; but self cannot free self. If it could, there would be no need of the Savior, "Who is above the self. If the Christian Scientist understood what animal magnetism is, he would know that it is a state of mind that works alternately with the other state of mind which he denominates good, and thinks is divine. But this state of mind deceives him more than does the other state that he calls malicious animal magnetism, for it causes him to think that he has something when he has nothing. The mind of Christ is above both states of mind of the Christian Scientist; for He is immutable and never alternates with something else. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. ' ' There 108 Christian Science Examined is no change in the mind of Christ; but the Christian Scientist's mind changes. He denies the evil condition of that mind and affirms the good, thinking his idea of good will lead him into the mind of Christ. But the good condition of this mind is the deceiver of deceivers. That which is of Christ is beyond man's mind, and takes it away, with its knowledge of good and evil. The strong delusion of man's mind is that it will finally grow into the mind of Christ, whereas the human mind is to be p\it off. "But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus. That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and be re- newed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the new man, which, after God, is created in right- eousness and true holiness. When the truth is revealed, the lie is no more; for there is no lie in the truth — neither is there any truth in a lie. The human mind is here represented as the lie, which appears like the truth to those in darkness. Where the mind of the Lord is — and it is all that in reality is — the shadows of the human mind are entirely dissipated. The truth cannot be tacked on to the lie, nor the lie on to the truth. "And He spake also a parable unto them: No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles (wine-skins), else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are pre- served. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith, The old is better. ' ' Science and Magnetism 109 The truth does not go according to the fancy of the feelings and sentiments, but according to the unchange- able law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; " which is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." The righteousness of the truth (which is the only right) has no evil in it, either antecedent or subsequent; the two branches, good and evil, are nurtured from the same root and are of the other tree of delusions. The human mind cannot expatiate on that which it has not, because it is divided between the two thieves — man's ideas of good and evil. Spiritual things are not literally but spiritually discerned: the senses of man try to discern them physically. The multiplying of the loaves and fishes illustrates the spiritual. ' ' Bread, ' ' with other terms used by Jesus, are spiritually inter- preted. "I am the Living Bread, which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live forever. ' ' The aphorisms of the personal mind when apparently bringing out truth are taken for what they are, namely deceivers, by the man given to see where Satan's seat is. He knows that sayings of truth, coming from that source (the human mind) are from the great imitator, who works through the mind and senses of man. The personal self deceives by pointing at some other self as the deceiver, and by applying sayings of truth against the other self and wielding them over him as a club. The self fails to take the truth home to itself and to apply it to the destruction of itself. If the deceiver is judged within ourselves we are enabled to see clearly, and can point out the deceiver in the other member, and show him where he is deceived — if he can receive it. The human mind haggles over the meanings of words, and 110 Christian Science Examined stultifies their significance, not knowing that things eternal are not discerned according to the letter. Spiritual discernment is abstract to the personal mind. In truth there is one right, which is synomymous with truth. What the human mind calls right is its com- parison between its idea of right as in opposition to another idea of right from the same mind in another member of the human family. ' ' Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." What is called the natural man, or the man of the senses, tries to cover himself by accusing the truth of likeness to himself. "And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people won- dered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out ? Therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. ' ' The man of the senses can only do that which is according to his own nature. He imitates the Lord, and casts out devils in his own delusions that have their instigation in his personal constitution. The devils that are apparently cast out, in his illusion of them, are the Science and Magnetism 111 good states of the human mind taking the place of its bad states; but one state is no more divine than the other. The truth is not divided into better and worse; for it is the absolute and includes all, with nothing out- side of itself. The human mind, with its appearances, is outside of the absolute ; and this is where the delusion of it comes in. The common mind imputes sin ; but there is no sin in the truth. "For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. ' ' The personal mind holds on to the imputation of sin ; that is why the Gospel cannot come from that mind — which sets up an imitation gospel. Religionists are not saved by the Gospel ; theirs is a counterfeit salvation. By it, they are saved from the Gospel, instead of by it ; for hardly is a righteous man saved by the truth — which demands perfection. "For the time is come that judg- ment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well- doing, as unto a faithful Creator." The personal mind, through its sentiments, makes great claims of having something when it has nothing; for the high calling of the life is above the senses. One that recognizes the deceiving senses in their true char- acter does not need even to refer to them for his own sake : they are used, however, to illustrate the difference between the shadow and the light. The human mind preaches condemnation; but the Gospel is "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.' ' The natural mind does not include "all", but only those who believe the way it does. This mind 112 Christian Science Examined is "the accuser" of our brethren, which is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. The members of the different sects play this part of accuser; they are the many that come in Christ's name, but deny Him in the life. The Gospel is not a makeshift based upon man's mind. All down the line of the ages the human mind, in its re- cension, attaches a meaning of its own to the words of truth. Prayer it calls desire, and desire it calls prayer, and it acts that out by asking for blessings, physical and temporal. There is a meaning to what is called physical, as a symbol, that the personal mind does not grasp ; for all that accrues from it is separation and division, Self- confidence and human belief man's mind calls Faith. The religionist thoroughly believes in the false belief conceived in his own head, and labels it faith. But this is not the faith of Christ, which faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ' ' To the contrary, the human mind is looking for evidence of things seen, with the senses. And when it is given all it wants to see, it calls that faith. But that is the outward appearance — the sight of the eye and the hear- ing of the ear. "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. (For we walk by faith, not by sight.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. ' ' The spectrum of the personal mind appears like the truth to that mind; but it knows no more of the truth Science and Magnetism 113 than does an unborn child of the world outside that it has not seen. The carnal mind is destitute of the truth, and knows not what it needs ; but with respect to its desires it has many wants. ' ' For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of Man is come eating and drinking; and ye say. Behold, a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!" (Neither John the Baptist nor the Lord Jesus Himself was approved of the human mind.) ''But wisdom is justified of all her children. ' ' The Lord's sheep are they that hear the Master's voice and have the traits of a sheep. Instead of being like the man of the senses they resemble sheep, because they recognize they have a Shepherd to take care of them and be in all things their master. Their Master is not their own personal mind, but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is truth. The mind of man was sending out conflicting reports as to who the Lord Jesus was. And on one occasion Jesus asked the disciples, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter an- swered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but My Father, which is in heaven." This evidences that Peter's answer did not come from the aplomb of the human mind, but from the summit of truth, which is the mind of Christ. 114 Christian Science Examined "And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The human mind's inter- pretation has it, that the person of Peter is the rock. But it was He that revealed the truth to Peter — not his personal mind. He is the rock, not Peter. For a little while afterwards the Lord said to him, "Get thee behind me, satan ; thou art an offense unto Me ; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. ' ' This was said to Peter after his rebuke of the Lord, from his carnal mind. The Forerunner of the Lord Jesus said with reference to this Christ, who is the Rock and the Truth: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord ; as said the prophet Esaias. ' ' The wilderness of the human mind could not receive that 1 ' voice ' ' ; and when it said, ' ' Make straight the way of the Lord, ' ' understanding was not given to the deviating mind of man — which takes the path that leaves the straight course. The eternal truth never changes. "He it is, who coming after Me, is preferred before Me; whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose." The testimony that comes from the Spirit of Truth, and not from man's mind, nullifies the testimony of the latter. The Lord takes His own out of the Babel of their beliefs, opinions and pre-conceived ideas, and leads them into the truth. He first lets them have experience in the confusion of tongues, that in the end, after they have gone through the ordeal, they may realize that there is nothing for them of satisfaction — no pasture to feed their needs. The "goats" of our Lord's parable, typify those who seemingly thrive on man's tradi- tions and superstitions, and who manage to subsist in a pasture where the sheep can not. The safety of the Science and Magnetism 115 sheep is in their Shepherd. In proportion as they grow in grace, they are sequestered from the blind guides, who utilize their intellect to gain a following. Jesus proceeded to the limit of humility when He went willingly to the Cross. The personal mind of His enemies thought they could do away with Him for good by nailing Him on that cross; but the truth keeps the human mind from gaining such victory, with its false peace. "Then gathered the chief priests and the Phari- sees a council, and said, What do we ? for this Man doeth many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas (being the high priest that same year), said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.' ' The human mind pours out vituperation against the truth which takes it away ; it dies hard. The Lord Jesus descended to the lowest depth of humiliity to raise up His friends. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a ser- vant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and be- came obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name : that at the name 116 Christian Science Examined of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." The human mind hates the truth because the truth shows it up even as daylight exposes to view the hidden things of darkness. "The world cannot hate you, but Me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil." Put tares and wheat before the human mind and it will accept the tares and reject the wheat, for tares are its customary food. It is at en- mity with the truth, which is inimical to it, and takes it away. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- crites ! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy and faith. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides! which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel." The man of the senses wanted to crucify Jesus, and he did. He wanted, also, Barabbas, the robber, to be released instead of Jesus ; and got his way. He always chooses the lie in preference to the truth. The human mind is approachable by suggestions and sense impressions. It never gets a true statement, but deals only with outward appearances. It is impotent; not able to receive the true import of a thing, being sub- ject to hearsay. Its faculties do not distinguish between the lie and the truth. "Then Pilate entered into the judgment-hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?" Christ Jesus, being the Way, the Truth, and the Life, never said anything superfluous. The questions He asked Science and Magnetism 117 were not for the purpose of getting information, but to let the person of man condemn himself out of his own mouth. The truth is everywhere present, but man's mind is inverse to it and sees its own perverted form. The human mind dies when the light of life is revealed. The head that the man of the senses follows is on his shoulders, but that is not the true head, which is Christ. "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head. ' ' Pilate, from the human mind, spoke of his power (judicial prerogative) to Jesus, to do with Him as he pleased, assuming authority over the Lord, after Jesus had heard his question asking who He was, and had declined answering it by standing silent in his presence. Thus the truth does not answer the questions of the human mind, which exalts itself as its superior. ' * Then saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above; therefore, he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin." The assumption of power by the human mind is manifested in Pilate's saying to Jesus, "Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee ? ' ' while the answer that Jesus gave, ' ' Thou couldest have no pow- er at all against Me, except it were given thee from above," shows the powerlessness of man without God's permission. Pilate did not again assert his "power" in dealing with Jesus after this remark ; but the Jews clam- ored for Jesus' life, and said to Pilate, when he was minded to release Him, "If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar's friend." The part Jesus took all through the 118 Christian Science Examined human mind's lying accusations brings to view that the peremptory law is above the natural mind, and reveals the supreme power of God, and the powerlessness of the man of the senses. The human mind lingers yet in the parables, illus- trating the difference between itself and the mind which is in Christ Jesus. The bonds of comity of the human mind were renewed between Pilate and Herod over the taking of Jesus ; before then these rulers were at enmity with each other. What is here written is a summary of the human mind's thought in general as opposed to the truth. It is to give the modes, motions, aims and ambitions of that mind in particular instances, and show that there is no conjugation between that mind and the pure mind of the Lord. Every method of procedure and accomplish- ment of man's mind, from its selfish standpoint, is bound to be the reverse of the mind of Christ. The human mind asks, as did Pilate, What is truth? It reveals in its every question that it does not know what it is. The truth is not prosaic ; everybody does not know it. For the truth is above bodies, it is purely of Divine revelation. It cannot be uttered, it is life ! " Like- wise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." The truth is not like the shadowy mind of man, which must make way for it. The life is not divided: it is a unit. ' ' One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, Science and Magnetism 119 and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Baptism signifies the washing of regeneration. The ceremonial rites of the Law were types of the working of truth inwardly. "For the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Jesus showed that self comes to its end by the way of suffering. He went to the cross to exemplify this. The disciple must die to sin, which is without faith. The last place the world saw Jesus was on the cross; but the disciples saw Him after that, yet not with the human mind — which does not see Him at any time. The disciples did not know the Lord until He opened their understanding. It was when they met Him in the way, after His crucifixion, and were commanded by Him to tarry in the city Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. When the Lord bade certain of his disciples follow Him, He said to them, "I will make you fishers of men," but after Jesus' crucifixion they went fishing for fish, instead of men. Peter had said, "I go a-fishing, " and those who were with him took up the suggestion and accompanied him. Peter illustrated the impetuousity of the human mind on many occasions. This was permitted, to show the difference between the personal and the spiritual and wherein the personal fails. "Peter answered and said unto Him, Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. Peter said unto Him, Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. ' ' The personal mind swears that it will not deny the truth, while of the truth 120 Christian Science Examined it is the denial. It does not deny itself ; the truth does that. The crow of a rooster brought to Peter's remembrance what the Lord had told him he would do in the way of denial — which he did, with oaths and curses. It is natural for the human mind to deny the truth. ''Now Peter sat without in the palace, and a damsel came unto him saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, an- other maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied, with an oath, I do not know the Man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the Man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow thou shalt deny Me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly." On another occasion Peter made attempt at walking upon the water, and began to sink in sight of Him who had power over the elements, subjecting them to His will. Man's mind exhibited in all these things that it is contrary to the truth . (It is never on the right side.) When the disciples were out fishing, Jesus ap- peared on the shore (this was after the resurrection), but they did not know that it was Jesus. The Lord asked them, had they any meat ? and they answered, No. He then told them to cast their net on the right side of the ship ; which they did, and enclosed so many fishes as to be unable to draw up the net again into the ship. Before that they had toiled and caught nothing. This Science and Magnetism 121 shows that when the truth is manifested (which is on the "right side"), it accomplishes what it wills; but it is always beyond the human mind, as are all the teach- ings of Jesus. When the truth is manifested, it brings out the disparity between the human and the divine. The human mind is never right, it is cast on the left side. The separation is between the sheep and the goats, with the sheep on the right and the goats on the left — the human mind representing the goats. The mind of appearances looks outwardly for that which is to come in the understanding; it looks at things without, which are without life, "for we walk by faith, not by sight." The man of the five senses, or as many more as he claims, cannot hear (understand) what Jesus said. This man is thus portrayed by Jesus : "Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own ; for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth ye believe Me not. Which of you convinceth Me of sin 1 And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me? He that is of God heareth God's words. Ye, therefore, hear them not because ye are not of God. ' ' The personal mind tries by literality to come into a knowledge of the truth — by the study of Scripture ; but the spiritual is not reached by the lies of the literal, which deals merely with shadows. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things; yet he himself is 122 Christian Science Examined judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him ? But we have the mind of Christ." The Lord was not polite with the mind of man, nor did He cover with mannerisms the corruption that issued from it, but used against it the sword of the Spirit, which is "the sharp sword with two edges" — it cuts both ways. When a disciple is granted to use this sword of the Spirit, it cuts him as well as the one he uses it toward, thereby doing away with the "holier- than-thou ' ' attitude. ' ' Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of ? " Man is at the zenith of his self righteousness when he uses Scripture as a club to smite his fellow-man ; and this is the way the sense-man, in his viciousness, does use Scripture. That kind of righteousness of the man of the senses is of the rag standard. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and we all do fade as a leaf ; and our iniqui- ties, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up him- self to take hold of Thee; for Thou hast hid Thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter, and we all are the work of Thy hand." The attitude of man's mind in its self -righteousness, and the man having that mind subjected by humility, is set forth in the parable of the Pharisee and the Pub- lican. The Pharisee is wrapped up in himself. Notice how many times he uses the personal "I". That "I" is not so pronounced in the publican. "Two. men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed Science mid Magnetism 123 thus with himself: God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican: I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying. God. be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." The light of life takes away the myriad opinions of the man of the senses, and the appearances which dazzle the eye. In things of the natural and their arrangement in this era of increase of knowledge, this sense-man ap- pears to have something, but this knowledge is not knowledge of the truth. This is the day of many sup- posed-to-be spiritual interpretations, which are so plausi- ble as to deceive the very elect, if that were possible, but they know that anything springing from the natural is not the Master's voice; their "s is a sure election. ' ' vvTieref ore the rather, brethen, give diligence to make your calling and election sure ; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be minis- tered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ' ' The children of this world are in their generation (heady knowledge) wiser than the children of light, be- cause the children of light are emptied of worldly knowl- edge to make way for the true receptivity: the children of this world are wiser in their generation, but not in the Lord 's. And yet all is the Lord ? s ; for His is not ' ' gen- erated life," as it is called, but eternal. In the admixtures of human doctrines, a man con- demns another for not doing what he is doing; thereby 124 Christian Science Examined setting himself up as a standard; and whatsoever does not tally with his standard (false standard), he judges to be wrong; but no man is right who is ruled by his mind and senses. The truth judges righteous judgment, but man's mind condemns. That which to the human mind is righteous judgment is the condemnation of that mind ; for if the disciple has not the deceiver judged in himself he will be busy in unloading his shortcomings upon others. "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things ; another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eatheth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up ; for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eatheth, eatheth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord ; whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord 's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.' ' The man of the personal mind is already judged by the truth as a liar ; the human will is unjust. ' ' I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but Science and Magnetism 125 the will of the Father which hath sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is Another that beareth witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of Me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man; but these things I say that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light ; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me. And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape. And ye have not His word abiding in you; for Whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not." The religionist, seeking his own will, follows naturally his own private interpretation. But the Lord knows His people, and keeps them from the evil. He does not, however, in accomplishing this, take them to any given place. "And now come I to Thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." The human mind, in its proclivity of acquiring var- iant doctrines, comes in the role of a thief. It likewise introduces other damnable heresies, taking precedence of Him who has all power in heaven and earth. It be- lieves in two powers, when there is in reality but one. That belief in two powers is its principal basis. Thus it is revealed as having the nature of the adversary. "All 126 Christian Science Examined that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abund- antly. I am the good Shepherd ; the good Shepherd giv- eth His life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd. Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down; and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of M|y Father. ' ' There is nothing of the personal mind of man in all this. "The thief cometh to steal, to kill and to destroy:" the thief denotes the human mind. "The hireling fleeth," for the simple reason that he is a hireling, and hence has no interest in the sheep beyond the personal gain he gets for looking after them : thus man *s person- al mind differs in its care from that of the Shepherd- owner. The human mind can be hired for its own per- sonal gain, but the truth cannot be hired for anything belonging to it. The Lord Jesus laid down His life wil- Science and Magnetism 127 lingly : His is the only free will. His life was not taken from Him, as the carnal mind of His foes supposed; for He said He had the power Himself to lay it down, and the power to take it again. The natural mind, in the density of its darkness, is ever formulating new doctrines; but they all rest on the same sand-foundation of a personal and diminutive mentality. If that mind were not blind, it would profit by its experiences. As it is, it revolves in its own ele- ment which is the theoretical knowledge gained from its sense impressions. A man, with his personal mind, can no more com prehend the gifts of God than an infant the gifts of its parents. Gifts come to it without consulting the child. Nor is it given what it cries for, but what it needs, and different things at various times, according to the wis- dom of its parents. For example, it is not given meat before it has teeth to chew it. So the Lord does not con- sult the erratic personal ego for assistance in drawing or finding His own. The Potter does not ask the clay how it wants to be molded. Now we come to the beam and the mote — the evil a man sees in another but cannot himself cast out, yet condemns the other member for having, is a recital of what is transpiring in his own mind. "And why behold- est thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but con- siderest not the beam that is in thine own eye. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite! first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls 128 Christian Science Examined before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. ' ' The "eye" represents the member that sees. When the blind man was given sight, he was given more than merely outward sight: the gift of God is insight into the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The obstruction to seeing the truth is the beam of the human mind. 1 ' The light of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye be single (not double minded), thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mam- mon." The personal mind is not in the truth, nor is the truth in the personal mind. That mind must de- part when the life-light appears. The human mind succeeds in getting the man of the senses to believe that he can serve two masters. What the personal mind considers great gain is what is event- ually lost, the truth seeing to its loss. The treasures of the human mind are things material, not spiritual. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treas- ures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor- rupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart (mind) be also." Laying up treasures in heaven, does not sig- nify a place in the sky, as the human mind has it, which speculates about but knows nothing of heaven, ex- cept that it holds an imaginary idea of it. The Science and Magnetism 129 Lord Jesus spoke of being in heaven, and He was here on the earth when he said it. »In the camouflage of the personal mind, a man thinks he is a seeker after the Spirit of truth, when in reality he is seeking something other than that Spirit. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other ; so that ye can- not do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the Law." Christian Scientists and others glory not in their in- firmities but in their healings, from the basis of the human mind ; but the Apostle to the Gentiles gloried in his infirmities. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh that he might not be exalted above measure. Paul prayed thrice for its removal, but was not answered ac- cording to his wish, but according to the will of God. "And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient. for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessi- ties, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong. I am become a fool in glorying : ye have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended of you ; for in nothing am I behind the very chief est apostles, though I be nothing." The pow- erful Paul (it was not his power, but the power of God manifested in him), said. "When I am weak, then am I strong." Here, to the human mind, is a direct contradiction. It is only when the man of the senses is weak, when his headstrong obstruction is put under, that the power of God is manifested. The disciple is 130 Christian Science Examined then prepared to receive that power; the soil is ready for the seed of truth to be sown in it. Christian Scientists are taught that they can avoid suffering, if they follow the rules of their cult, but their 's is the rule of the natural mind, which they think is divine. Suffering is God's agent used in pur- ification of His children. No man is above the Master. He had to endure suffering. The Cross upon which He was impaled was an instrument that inflicted suf- fering. The cup of which He drank was a synonym of suffering. Suffering in a disciple is necessary to sep- arate him from temporal things that he might approxi- mate to the eternal. "Remember the word that I said unto you. The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you ; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me." The human mind wants to be above the Lord — wants to escape suffering; but it cannot. Suffering acts as a brake on the personal mind; that is the purpose in its allowance. The natural mind, in its idolatry, worships in vain; there is no high purpose in its devotions. "This people draweth nigh unto unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." The personal mind meditates how to get around the immutable law and its requirements; it tries to find a way whereby to get by it; but the disciple will have to buy everything he gets ! ' ' Buy the truth, and sell it not ; also wisdom and instruction and understanding." The human mind cannot escape the retributive action of Science and Magnetism * 131 the law it is under ; but the truth takes away that mind, and saves the disciple from its deception. "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. And I say un- to you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you Whom ye shall fear. Fear Him which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore ; ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God." That which is built on the shifting sand of man's mind appears a strong structure until it is tested, then its foundation crumples and is swept from under it. In truth, gain is not by means of physical force, or so- called will power. "Then he answered and spake unto me saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerub- babel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Man's mind depends upon the assumptions of its own fancied power, which fail completely in the end. The meek and lowly in heart has his natural mind subjected, instead of being himself subjected to that mind: herein is the main difference between the person of man and the Spirit of truth. Our Lord came in the guise of a servant ; but that is not the whole story about Him. "Jesus answered them, Yerily, verily, I say 132 Christian Science Examined unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin; and the servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." As a servant, the Lord went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him. As a Son, He is with us always. The personal mind is didactic from the phenomenal condition or standpoint of effect; it would instruct us before it has been a scholar of the truth. The truth neither comes nor goes. "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." The Master came to His disciples as a servant; not to lord it over them after the order of the human mind, as exemplified by the rulers of this world. "And He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise author- ity upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth ? Is not he that sitteth at meat 1 But I am among you as he that serveth. Ye are they which have continued with Me in my temptations. And I ap- point unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath ap- pointed unto Me: that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." When a disciple begins to see it is a question of ser- vice he tries to render that service, but finds he falls far short of his high calling, and realizes how far short he is of the exalted position of a servant of the great God and of his brethren. The disciple is willing to serve, Science and Magnetism 133 but his doings become mixed with the defective humau mind, and hence his deeds are both misplaced and un- timely, yet they are there for his needed lessons. This distressing experience all disciples share. His motives at this point are cryptic and mingled, and by hard knowledge he discovers they are of a personal nature. Yet the end is not personal ; for all things will at length give way before the spiritual. "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them ; and if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies and do good, and lend, hop- ing for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye there- fore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be for- given. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and run- ning over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be mea- sured to you again. ' ' The personal mind's motives are earthly, sensual and devilish, but they are not obviously so to that mind; envy and strife follow — making for confusion and every evil work. Wisdom is in the application of the knowledge of truth, which the human mind can never utilize. "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and 134 Christian Science Examined without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. ' ' The man of the senses is revealed by his own mouth, for he speaks of himself and not of the truth. "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory, but He that seeketh His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. ' ' Disciples of truth know they have nothing of them- selves — their infirmities emphasize this, but they have all things through their Lord. Possessing nothing of themselves, they are: "As unknown, and yet well known ; as dying, and behold, we live ; as chastened and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." The salient point, and which is often reiterated here, is, that the human mind, in its self-deception, thinks it can accomplish something in the way of truth through itself ; whereas it is the very thing that is the eclipse of truth to the disciple, until it is removed. CHAPTER VI Opposition of Man's Natural Mind to the True Way The personal mind wants to know what is gained by coming into the knowledge that a man can do nothing of himself, through his natural mind; still it is incapable of receiving the true answer, as incapable as that the lie can receive the truth, or darkness receive light. In truth, there is great gain to the disciple that realizes he can do nothing of himself; then is the Lord exalted, and not the person of man. Consequently, confidence in the deceiving self is abandoned, and the faith of Christ appears to the disciple made ready to receive it. This does not mean that he sees the end at the begin- ning, but that he has started on the narrow way of truth — which is truly great gain. The human mind can- not start on that way; rather, it is taken away for the light of life, which follows its disappearance, after pre- paring the disciple to receive it. The disciple, at first, is deceived by appearances. He says, speaking of what confronts him : ' ' It appears this way to me;" or, ' * It does not look good that way to me, according to my thinking. ' ' In thus saying, he is giving utterance to a state of his own mind. He will have to learn that what he thinks about the truth does not change nor affect it in any way, and that his thinking, and the way it appears to him, will have to be laid down. Yes, the human mind, with all its hobbies and 136 Christian Science Examined pre-conceived notions, must be laid down before the truth can be received. Saul of Tarsus was a learned man in the Scriptures, according to the personal mind's learning. But he, as all other disciples, had to lay down his personal will — which the human mind calls a free will — when the appointed time of his illumination came. His sup- posed free will was taking him on an opposite errand when the time of his apprehension of the Lord came and the supernal light shone as a witness of the truth. He was on the way to Damascus to arrest the follow- ers of Jesus, hale them before the magistrates, and have them committed to prison; but the Lord's will was to make of him a confessor of the faith and an apostle of the One he was persecuting in His members. All this was accomplished contrary to his so-called free will. The change took place when Paul — as he was afterwards named — heard Jesus speak : in speech not according to that expressive of or dictated by the natural mind. The man of the senses is always a persecutor of the followers of Jesus, especially when he has a hobby of religiosity, and comes solemnly as in the name of the Lord ; in which Name the agents of the antichrist always come. But that Name they deny, according to the human mind 's denial. The human will is a denial of the truth, whether it utters that denial or not. The disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ do not follow their own mind and senses, which are the adversary of Christ, as the Lord is the adversary of the senses and takes them away. That is why the man of the senses rebels against chastisement, and in his self-righteous- ness calls what he suffers the work of the devil ; but the devil is his father. Therefore he rebels against his father, who disciplines him. Man's Mind vs. True Way 137 When one glories in his infirmities it is not done from the basis of the human mind, and the purpose of suffering infirmities is seen. The common mind is the reversal of everything that is true; therefore it is the adversary. "For we are the circumcision, which wor- ship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." The Apostle Paul brings out the difference between the man of the senses and the disciple of the Lord. "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews. As touching the law, a Phari- see; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord ; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteous- ness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already per- fect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Breth- ren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 138 Christian Science Examined I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The human mind is none other than the carnal mind, through which the disciple gets his sufferings and trials. " Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing hap- pened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are par- takers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you ; on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified." The man of the human or carnal mind is in captivity to himself; but the disciple's liberty is gained through Christ taking away that mind. Sectarians employ their human mind in the imitations of the truth. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." The human mind thinks, to be carnally minded and spiritually minded are two states of the same mind, but this is the ' ' strong delusion, ' ' for one is the lie, while the other is the truth — which is one and always the same, without changing states, as it is with man's personal mind. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin ; Man's Mind vs. True Way ^139 but the spirit is life, because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. ' ' The human mind must be appeased in its own deceiv- ings. This mind is under the law of sin and death; therefore it cannot believe in the Lord of eternal life. 14 Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ; in a moment, in the twink- ling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immor- tality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incor- ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ' ' The disciple is a pilgrim, and a stranger, to the human mind; but he sees beyond the personal mind, which looks outside and only beholds the reflex of what is transpiring within itself : the truth is within, and bears fruit, the fruit of righteousness, after its kind. The young disciple wants signs and looks for them in an- other, but true growth takes place within himself, and when that is accomplished he no longer looks for signs in his brother. The import of the sign of truth is not physically but spiritually discerned. The mind of man in its self-beneficence must be doing outwardly — to be seen of men. 140 Christian Science Examined A deceiver never comes in his own name, and it is this coming in the name of another that deceives not the public only, but his own mind also. He comes saying, "Do not follow me, but the Lord;" but he is already following one of the many lords of his own head. If a false teacher, a blind guide, came in his own name, he would say: "I come in the name of the human mind, and am governed by the mind and senses ; they have sent me, to speak of myself, and to judge myself out of my own mouth as deceiving and being deceived." Jesus Christ is the Master, because He has the man of the senses mastered. When the sense-man speaks, he speaks according to what his father tells him. His father is the "father of lies." Judas was treasurer of the Apostolic community. He carried the money-bag, and was the trusted member of the group, after the human mind's idea of trust- worthiness. When the fragrant ointment was poured on Jesus' head, it was being used for a purpose which he could not see nor understand. Hence he said, from his darkened mind : ' ' Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but be- cause he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone; against the day of My burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you, but Me ye have not always. ' ' This last saying of Jesus is the contradiction of an- other He made; that is, according to the human mind's idea of contradiction. Our Lord said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world;" but on another occasion He said, "Me ye have not always." Man's Mind vs. True Way 141 The man of the senses, from his physical basis, cannot comprehend truth spiritually discerned. The human mind appears to be philanthropic; but works for its personal ends, as in the case of Judas, just cited. Judas seemed to be very considerate of the poor, while thinking of his own loss through not handling all that which could be converted into money and thus having opportunity to steal it. The human mind is a thief and a robber. It tries to conceive other ways of coming into the truth, being ignorant of the right way. That is the nature of it. It starts off with a lie. " Ver- ily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepf old, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice; and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. ' ' The personal mind tries to buy its way into the truth with money; but the disciple has to pay with suffering. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that be- lieve 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. ' ' The man of the senses has no part in this birth; except as the chaff, which is blown away after it has fulfilled its purpose. The Jews wanted a savior and benefactor to suit 142 Christian Science Examined themselves, but our Lord's remarks about Himself dis- persed all these expectations of their human minds. ' ' He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth. ' ' When truth appears disciples with sheep characteristics are gathered, and the man of the five senses, the goat type, are scattered. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come ; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. ' ' The mind of man partakes of its own nature, which is death; but Jesus says: "Follow Me;" and "Let the dead bury their dead." In truth, all Christ's dis- ciples are "of one accord, in one place;" for they have the mind of their Master, not the human mind, which is a foundation of shifting sand. "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts; and be re- newed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the New Man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." Everything the Lord said had the spiritual as its end ; but the distraught senses of the natural man were in the way of taking it in, and they could not receive His doctrine. As an example of this, when the Lord spake of meat they thought he meant material food. ' ' In the meanwhile His disciples prayed Him, saying, Master, eat. But He said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought Him ought to eat? Jesus saith, unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work. ' ' The personal mind knows Man's Mind vs. True Way 143 nothing of that meat. "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Eock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ." The human mind is astounded by its own glamor and splendor : but rectitude is lacking — it views only a scenic appearance. "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I wondered with great ad- miration. ' ' The human mind desires a leader it can admire. King Saul came up to its ideal, being head and shoulders above the others, a giant physically; but in the end he had to fall upon his own sword. That is where every man of the senses has to fall. The Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world does not regard the per- son of man, except to cause him to disappear in the end, when God's purpose concerning him is fulfilled. "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." Jesus did not match the pre-conceptions of the human mind respecting Him, and hence was not approved of that mind. "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him." The dictum of the human mind in regard to such a man is that he is of no consequence to be accepted as head and 144 Christian Science Examined sovereign of the people, but the main thing was the Truth he taught. "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows ,and acquainted with grief ; and we hid as it were our faces from Him ; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. " When the Lord Jesus spake it was not from the basis of the natural mind, or its supposed personal sagacity. The officers answered those who sent them to apprehend Him, "Never man spake like this Man." The carnal mind feeds on lies, in place of receiving the report of truth. This "report" is not revealed to that mind which judges wholly from appearances, and hence falsely. 1 * Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?" It is not revealed to the mind and senses of man. The personl ego does not want the chosen vessel of God, because it does not know what is in that vessel, which takes away its life that it fights to save. He that came with the expurgation of God was considered stricken and smitten of God for His own sins, yet He had none. ' ' But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed." From the judgment of the supposed will-power of the natural man, each individual follows a path of his own decision, but the truth says: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. " The human mind of verbose declarations has never preached the Gospel of God ; instead, its preachings are condemnation, although it calls them gospel, holding Man's Mind vs. True Way 145 up imputation of sin as a terriner: it is the Pharisee, with the holier-than-thou attitude. The Gospel is the inversion of the foregoing statement; it is the glad tidings of good things. " Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh : yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. ,, In the working of the human mind it is permitted to the return of its own senses to run in devious courses — for a purpose. The Lord is not putting out fires that He permits the human mind to start; rather, He lets them burn out. He does not go around telling the carnal mind who He is, after the manner of the man of the senses, who proclaims to other human minds his own personality. The Lord knows His own, and the messen- ger He sends to them has no need to say a lot of words from the personal mind. "Behold my Servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him, He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench ; He shall bring forth judgment unto truth : He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for His law." The much talk of the human mind, in its inveighing against those who do not agree with its particular in- terpretations, is not of God in righteousness, but it is permitted to do that for a purpose. The senses of man are always "anti" the truth; not any the less so when dressed up in a new garb according to the learned and educated mind, with its greater knowledge of good and evil, and it becomes so educated it can explain away 146 Christian Science Examined the evil, and keeps it under the cloak of learning. When in that condition it will declaim its own brand of good- ness, with the best of intentions. The human mind, in its fabulous denials and affirma- tions, is more deceived by its fictitious works than by anything else. It rejoices in its outward deeds, but un- derstanding and growth in grace are matters within. "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. ' ' The ultra-educated human mind has no part in the truth. ' ' In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said : I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. ' ' The mind of man reckons itself in uncouth company when with an apostle of truth : it finds fault with the chosen vessel of truth — that is its excuse; but it is not the man, but that which is in the vessel, in the way of growth in grace, that it is at enmity with. "Being de- famed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." The man whom the Lord chooses is the one whom He prepares subsequently to his choosing to be an agent of the truth ; but strictly speaking He is chosen at the first. But God's choice is not sanctioned by the cultivated mind and senses. Nor is God's preparation of His chosen one approved by the sense-man. "For ye see Man's Mind vs. True Way 147 your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen; yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence." The purpose of the Lord 's choice in preparing a vessel that is not acceptable to the human mind is, that the hearer may not be a follower of the personality of His chosen vessel and messenger. Otherwise is it with him who comes in his own name with an exterior that suits the personal mind — that mind will follow him, but not the truth. ' ' I receive not honor from men ; but I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if an- other shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only ? ' ' The man of the senses, being opposed to the inner man of truth, is naturally a respecter of persons: if he had his way he would make things different — to suit himself. "And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abom- ination in the sight of God." The human mind looks on the surface of things, but truth penetrates to the deepest depths. "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly ap- parel, and there come in also a poor man, in vile raiment, 148 Christian Science Examined and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay cloth- ing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place ; and say to the poor, Stand thou there ; or, Sit here under my footstool ; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?" (Man's mind, deal- ing with better and worse, is the inventor of caste.) "But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy Name by which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture 2 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye com- mit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." The "Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" would not be called a good Christian Scientist by Scien- tists themselves. They would recommend to Him the study of "Science and Health, with Key to the Scrip- tures," and the periodicals issued by official authority. They would advise Him to " go to a good practitioner. ' ' They would further point to things without, and en- deavor to prevail upon Him to attend the testimony- meetings and the Sunday services. Also, in all prob- ability, they would later urge his taking "class instruc- tion," to get a fuller understanding. This is the road of trying to have our way explained into the truth by the method of the human mind, under the title of the Divine mind. It is the denial of the cross, instead of self-denial. The human mind becomes enthused over explanations that sound reasonable to it; but the reasoning of truth differs from that foisted on the carnal mind and senses. Man's Mind vs. Tme Way 149 1 ' Learn to do well : seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ' ' What is called "the scientific statement of being," in Christian Science, is as follows : ' ' There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth ; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and tem- poral. Spirit is God, and man is His image and like- ness. Therefore man is not material ; he is spiritual. ' ' The deceived human mind cannot see the incongruity between a statement based upon the human mind (even though called a "true" statement), and the Spirit of truth, which is not a platform, or declaration. ''For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foun- dation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which tem- ple ye are." The human mind is deceived into thinking that it is wise, when it knows nothing of the truth. "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth 150 Christian Science Examined to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolish- ness with God. For it is written. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." The literal is not the means by which the spiritual is gained. One little word, or the addition and subtraction of a comma, will change the whole aspect of a sentence. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God ; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament ; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth. but the Spirit giveth life. * ' One thing the human mind lacks, which is the whole thing. ''Then Jesus beholding him loved him and said unto him. One thing thou lackest : go thy way. sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come, take up the cross, and follow lie. The literal records the testimony, but has to give way before the Spirit of truth, which is above the testi- mony. The letter is used to record the testimony that proceeded from the truth, and was purposed to this end : but the human mind is confounded by the literal. The mind of man boasts of a long lineage, but does not know about the Anointed One. and cannot declare His gen- eration. ''He was taken from prison and from judg- ment, and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living for the trans- gression of my people was He stricken. The spiritual is not hampered by the human mind, which has not the nature of a finished work, that is. of perfection, but of shadows : therefore it is that which is our harrasser. but it cannot hinder the truth over all. Man's Mind vs. True Way 1.51 The mind of man, in its decorum, speaks from memory its own ideas, acquired through the routine of study; but in truth the thing to do is brought to remem- brance at the appointed time for action. The human mind, in its self-appointed assertiveness, sends itself out to preach ; yet, strictly speaking, it can only do what it is permitted to do. In the delusion of its desires it is let preach, but the human mind feeds on lies, and that is what it gets. It believes a lie, and is damned because of it; however this damning is not according to the human mind's idea of it. The law, or the schoolmaster's work, must be fulfilled. ' ' Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. ' ' The human mind cannot understand that which is aboye, and beyond, and opposite to itself. "For who- soever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent ? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the Gospel; for Esaias saith. Lord, who hath 152 Christian Science Examined believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing (not studying), and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world." The natural mind cannot gain the truth by its own efforts; all it gets by this means is a false belief. The Lord is not made manifest to the personal mind that searches for what it calls truth. In reality it does not search for truth, but for what is pleasing to its own fancy. But I say, Did not Israel know? First, Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation will I anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought Me not ; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me. But to Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. ' ' The Lord's gifts to His disciples are given as parents bestow gifts on their children, without first asking and obtaining their pleasure and consent; but there is no mistake in His endowments, they are given what they need. The child cannot study into the bestowals of its parents ; neither can the disciple study into the gifts of his Lord. On the Divine side they are free gifts, apart from consultation with the person of man. A child does not know how to study into the gifts of its parents; it was not intended that it should; that is not the way it receives the benefits of its father and mother. Nor is it intended for the disciple to study the scriptures with his human mind ; which study is the mind 's method. We have seen what havoc that method has wrought among men. He whom the Lord keeps from studying, to him is given by the Lord the gifts of righteousness; Man's Mind vs. True Way 153 and the disciple worships not the gift but the Giver of the gift. The human mind can never do that. The Christian Scientist, in his much studying, will never gain the truth by such exercise of his mentality; for truth is not an acquisition by the activity of the per- sonal mind : it is the free gift of God. All a Christian Scientist can gain by his self -efforts is the taking unto himself a something which appears to him to be the truth ; but when he begins in very fact to hear the truth, he will question the veracity of his trusted mind. The blind guide, puffed up by the conceit that he has understanding, takes on a following, and they take him for their example and do the same things that he is doing: being self-righteous he thinks he is infallibly right, and those who do differently from himself are pitiably or censurably wrong; but those who have ears to hear the Master do not set up the ideas of their pri- vate mind in opposition to the opinions of other men's minds. Such will do certain things, or refrain from do- ing them, as the case may require for the best good of all, catering, as a matter of expediency and brotherly love, to the weakness of the brethren, as did Paul in the matter of not eating meat or doing anything else of like nature if it would act as a stumbling block to his breth- ren. A free man is not bound himself by the right and the wrong formalities of the human mind; yet he con- siders the weaker brother, as he would in the ease of one insane, but does not argue and try to convince the insane human mind of his brother of the liberty of the truth — a mind that is unstable in all its ways. The hobbies of the human mind are insane, whether the man is inside or out. One kind of insanity is held 154 Christian Science Examined sane by the human mind; the other, not. ''But meat commendeth us not to God ; for neither, if we eat, are we the better ; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols, and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." In truth, one thing is not set above another, for every- thing is in place according to God 's purpose, or it would not be there. The truth is above right and wrong, good and bad, and the better or worse of the human mind. "When it comes to the preaching of the truth, the Lord knows who to send, and when to send him, and He will give him the message He would have spoken. "Settle it, therefore, in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer ; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist." That there is an appointed time for everything, and that all is predestined, does not conform to the ideas of the human mind. It says of these truths, "That is fatal- ism." Yes, it is "fatal" to the human mind with its free-will idea; but man's will naturally acts in a given way, and that way is contrary to the truth. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to Man's Mind vs. True Way 155 His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called ; and whom He called, them He also justified ; and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these things ? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ? Who shall lay any- thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that jus- tifieth : who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us ? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? as it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long ; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 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. ' ' When a disciple speaks the truth the human mind thinks he is speaking of himself, and accuses him of thinking he is something; but that is what the human mind does. It thinks the disciple believes himself to be somebody of personal importance. But a disciple, not a novice, knows he can do nothing of himself. This is the major point of difference between him and the one who is permitted to be ruled altogether by his senses. The latter thinks he can do something of himself. 156 Christian Science Examined The infirmities of the disciple are designed to bring him to a realization of his own lack and to keep him from raising his head in self -exaltation "that no flesh should glory in His presence." In truth it is not a case of declaring, as in Christian Science. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synogogues ; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father, which speaketh in you. ' ' The Christian Scientist is obsessed with a particular trend of thinking, which is apparently connected with his premise ; therefore it appears like the truth to him. But the premise of his doctrine is not of the righteous- ness of God. Christian Scientists have accepted the Christian Science explanation of Scripture, instead of the import of Scripture, itself. "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. ' ' The gifts of God are above the mind of man; they are diversified. Each member of the one body is given the charism as he is prepared to receive it. The human mind cannot receive the true gift; not even though it puts on a self humility, and hides its real nature, which is one of pride. When the man of the senses feels sorry he thinks he has repented; but that sorrow — regret, re- morse, or by whatever name it may be called — is merely a state of feeling. The human mind is not able to bring out the truth upon any subject: its criticisms come from prejudice; Man's Mind vs. True Way 157 it simply criticizes its own ideas of a subject that does not suit it. Christian Scientists are given more confidence in their false belief, because critics from the basis of the human mind fail to touch upon the subject and only criticize their own idea of it; but that does not make it truth, because critics have not understood it. There is one thing that the human mind can do to enable the disciple to come to a knowledge of the truth; it can decrease, but not of itself, that the manifestation of the truth may loom up. "He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all; he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth; He that cometh from heaven is above all. And what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth ; and no man receiveth His testimony. He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God ; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him." This dispenses with the speaking that comes from the personal mind. "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath ever- lasting life ; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. , ' The human mind would, in its acquisitions, get the truth by violence, by relentlessly putting down compet- itors. This violence, however, does not necessarily im- ply exercise of physical force ; for, any way, that is only the outward evidence of what has been first enacted in the human mind. Man's ideas are changed momentar- ily, but truth always remains the same ; which accounts for the stability of the universe. For created things would not cohere if they had no surer bond of cohesion than sense-perceptions, which are affected by the natural 158 Christian Science Examined panorama of moving pictures of which they do not know the import. Zealous Peter wanted to save His Master from the Cross; he also cut off the high priest's servant's ear, when a deputation came to arrest Jesus, but he was told by Jesus to put up his sword into its scabbard. That was what Jesus came for, namely to be affixed to the Cross, and His demand of all His people is to take up their cross daily and follow Him. The "cup" our Lord alluded to was participation in His sufferings, as was bearing the cross. "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it 1 ' ' There was a purpose in all the Lord Jesus did, though some things He did, and ordered to be done, looked harsh and unmerciful to the implacable personal mind. The very ' ' sword ' ' with which Peter cut off the high priest 's servant's ear, he was told to sell his garment and buy, before the occasion came when he used it; but he was bidden to put it up. It was a test and illustration to show that the warfare the disciple is to wage is not flesh against flesh, but the Spirit against the flesh. The person of man will not show up himself out- wardly when lacking opportunity to act, for he will not use a weapon if he has none ; but if he possesses one and his human mind is stirred by his feeling of provocation to use it, at the crucial moment he will show his bel- ligerent nature. The human mind is constitutionally a deceiver; but the recurrence of its deceptions show that such decep- tions are in it for a purpose. ' ' Jesus answered, My king- dom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight that I should not Man's Mind vs. True Way 159 be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence. ' ' In truth there is no schism as we find in the personal mind, seeing truth is a unit and indivisible. "And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them them well, asked Him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord ; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first com- mandment. And the second is like, namely, this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." The human mind must depart before this accomplish- ment. The pertinacity of man's mind blinds him to the truth; it is continually looking for some manifestation, and when that is not forthcoming, it regards the party from whom it has expected it to come as an impostor. Being back of its own purview it sees only what is in itself and ascribes it to the other. The mob said of Jesus, when He hung upon the Cross, "He saved others, Him- self He cannot save. ' ' But it was for that very purpose He came, namely, to give His life as a ransom for many. It was not the mission of the Lord to save Himself. The human mind is the strong man in the house that must be bound, before his goods can be spoiled (his goods are his own brand of good). "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." The fruit of the doings of man's mind shows the mo- tives that actuate it, and from what it derives its 160 Christian Science Examined assumptions. The sense-man would fain have us believe that his motives are of the truth, because of his good intentions ; but the intentions of man 's mind are hidden from it, and he is doubly deceived if his intentions seem to him to be all good. When the intentions of the man of the senses appear flawless, he has been heard to say, with allusion to some action of his, "The Lord told me to do this," not knowing that "the Lord" of whom he speaks is his own personal mind. "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many, and lords many) ; but to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him." This brings out the difference between the lords of the human mind and the Lord of the one faith and bap- tism, Who includes all within Himself. According to the gods and lords of the mind of man, the orders of one are countermanded by the orders of the other, with confusion as denouement. In the incantations of the human mind, and the formulas called "prayers," the objective member instead of being prayed for is preyed upon; for he is given a lie, and to the extent of his belief in it is damned. He is promised liberty while being brought under bondage of another man's mind. But the patient needs that experience, or he would not be given it. "Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. ' ' The ways of man's mind, which inveigle him into endless notions, is the crooked path of the senses and the serpentine trail, running first in one direction and then in others. The human mind, in rebelling against evil, is a rebel against its own author. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye Man's Mind vs. True Way 161 will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. The disciple must be put through the fire of afflic- tion to make him cease from having confidence in him- self. ' ' For My name 's sake will I defer Mine anger, and for My. praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver ; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." The personal mind cannot understand the purpose of the purifying process of suffering; therefore it rebels against it. "For it became Him for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. ' ' The panegyrics uttered by preachers, from their own minds, divert attention from their own lack, so evident to the disciple. They tell what great things the Lord and the Apostles did, and what power they had among men, as if they were doers of the same Divine works, as though they had the like power themselves. Their eulogizing is according to the human mind's idea of greatness. With their natural mind they ingeniously frame up new theories; yet withal they lack the essen- tial of truth, the Spirit of God. The whole world goes through turmoil terrible to the mind of man. The dis- ciple of truth expects this before he comes to the birth, .when Christ (The Truth) shall be seen as He is. "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to-wit, the redemption of our body." 162 Christian Science Examined The light of truth is not perceived by the mind and senses of man; for what they call "light" is but the symbol of the true light, which is the light of under- standing, and is everywhere present. It is a general illumination to every one who can receive it. It is not in a particular place or places, as the sects would make it appear, even if they do not say so in direct words. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." It is an awakening, an inward evolution, and as the Lord has purposed, a heading up into a perfect man. Man's personal mind is in darkness. "And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." The work of the light of life is to put out the human mind along with its darkness, so that the light of truth shall shine forth in the disciple. "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world : he that f olloweth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The human mind, from its own lineage, thinks itself better or worse, according to its descent ; but God 's ways are not our ways. "But they held their peace; for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And He sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them: If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." The truth is no respecter of persons. He that thinks he is first, according to human estimation, is last. "But many that are first shall be last, and the last first." "The common people heard Him gladly"; but those that boasted of their family-tree, in their pride, rejected Him. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." Man's Mind vs. True Way 163 Man cannot understand the truth with his senses, which project forth shadows. ''Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart ; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and he converted, and I should heal them. ' ' The senses register their own shadowy nature: they are the veil that hides the truth from the creature ; they can never get a vision of the truth; but they register lying visions. "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not ; noses have they, but they smell not ; they have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not ; neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. 0, Israel, trust thou in the Lord : He is their help and their shield. ' ' He whom God sends is scorned by the human mind, which boasts of its superior heritage. Notice the accu- sations brought against Jesus and the man born blind to whom He gave sight. "Therefore, said some of the Pharisees, This Man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles ? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes ? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe con- cerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind, how then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind ; 164 Christian Science Examined but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not ; he is of age, ask him ; he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that He was Christ he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age ; ask him. ' ' The members of the visible church of that day repudi- ated whatever was true, as do they of the present-day churches ; they claimed to be followers of Moses, but ac- cepted not the teaching given through him, nor the Lord Jesus, about Whom he wrote. So to-day religionists know not the truth, but are teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. "Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise; we know that this Man is a sinner. He an- swered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did He to thee? how opened He thine eyes? He answered them. I have told you already, and ye did not hear (under- stand) ; wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be His disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou are His disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence He is, and yet He hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing.' ' Man's Mind vs. True Way 165 When the human mind is exposed by the truth it tries to excuse itself by accusing him by whom it is shown up. The Pharisees put out the blind man that had been given sight because they were put out by what he said. ' ' They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us! and they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when He had found him He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? He answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped Him. , ' At first the disciples asked the Master, "Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind ? ' ' which shows that the natural mind did not see the sublime purpose. "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents ; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. ,, In the truth there is an appointed time for every- thing. The justice of the Lord's work is, that healing is only given when needed, not when the human will wants it. "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with Him heard these words, and paid unto Him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin ; but now ye say, We see ; therefore your sin remaineth. ' ' The man of the senses goes to men like himself for the truth, which he can never get from that source. The truth is not in some place in the sky, as the human mind has it. When it says it is, that is proof that it has not the truth. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of 166 Christian Science Examined God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is ex- alted ; but the rich, in that he is made low, because as a flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth; so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him." CHAPTER VII Difference Between the Person of Man and the Spirit of Truth The mind of man supposes that truth is in a certain place, and can be had only by practice of certain formal- ities, but that is not the way the gifts of God are ob- tained by His children who are spiritual. Also the gifts are spiritual. There is no place where the truth is not. "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there ; if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." All things that are of God are first; but man thinks he can invent something of himself. Every move a man makes is ordered ; he can only do what he is let do. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us we ought also to love one another." The human mind recoils from giving up its pride, the pride that sets it, as it were, upon a pedestal. A tree begins at its root and grows upward ; it does not grow by putting the branches where the root should be. There is no humility in pride, but pride has to have its 168 Christian Science Examined day. No man can of himself humble self; that is the Lord's work, as is every other. "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time; casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suf- fered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, set- tle you/ ' The letter killeth, because of the human mind's stand- point : in its study of the literal it believes itself com- manded to do certain things, but the Lord speaks only to those whom He has prepared to receive His truth; He puts that truth on His own foundation and does not rest it on the human mind. It is obvious to those able to learn, from what we have seen of the personal mind of man, that it can be no fit foundation from which knowledge of the truth can be gained ; therefore all the harrowing details of human experience are the fire of the Lord (not literal fire), to burn up, through suffer- ing, everything man's mind has been granted to set up. The sufferings force us to forsake all, that we might follow Him; "for our God is a consuming fire." It takes extreme suffering to wean a man from the senses with which he is enamored. But a parent does not give a child meat before it has teeth to chew it, nor does the Lord give His own what they are unprepared to digest. "Whom shall He teach knowledge, and whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. ' ' Personal and Spiritual Not One 169 The person of man, because he is blind, needs not to have himself saved, but the disciple is saved from that self. 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken heart- ed, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the ac- ceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that mourn. ' ' The gifts of God are always the opposite of what the man of the senses acquires, and are always a reversal of the human mind's order of things. The Messenger of truth comes, as he says : "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. " The captives whom the Lord delivers are those sub- jected to the dictates of their own mind and senses, and every one is a captive to the degree that his personal mind rules him. It is through the death of that which the man of the senses seeks to save, the dying daily until the personal self is gone, that we enter the portal of life — that life which is eternal. The Son of God is the in- tercessor whom the Almighty sends to save His people. It is not for them either to accept or reject; no man can do either of himself. "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the 170 Christian Science Examined Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die." The fact that the Lord has sent His Son, and that this Son is not the person of man, it follows that He is able to accomplish that for which He sent Him. The human mind tries to pull the truth down to its own level by thinking it can be acquired by itself. Man's mind would make the truth conform to it, but it must conform to the truth — and in doing that it is taken away. One with a measure of truth seems to have every- thing but that, according to the personal mind. The human will thinks that he who is farthest away from his personal self and nearest truth is the greatest de- ceiver, but it is the other way. The carnal mind accused Jesus of having all the heinous characteristics that itself had. The truth has no beginning and is without end; it is llimitable. Only the Truth knows the truth; that is why the mind and its senses cannot know it. The Lord Jesus knew whence He came and whither He went ; the man of the senses knows it not. "Jesus answered, If I honor myself, My honor is nothing ; it is My Father that honoreth Me, of Whom ye say that He is your God. Yet ye have not known Him ; but I know Him ; and if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar, like unto you; but I know Him, and keep His saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou are not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at Him ; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of Personal and Spiritual Not One 171 the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. ' ' Notice the aversion of the human mind to having the truth told it; it throws stones to prove that it is self-righteous. But the Lord passed through the midst of His enemies. A man is lost in the maze of his own mind, but the truth, which is everywhere present, is not lost. Man, looking at things superficially, is lost in the object; for he misses the subject in view of the outward appear- ance. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." The personal mind, in its surmisings, gets away from the simplicity of the truth; it cannot fathom any part of it ; for the truth is not an explanation, it is not literal, it cannot be studied into ; it is only for those that have ears to hear. All a man sees in a book is what he has in himself. To the lying human mind the true testi- mony appears as a lie, and when that same lying mind claims to accept the testimony it only accepts its own sham and counterfeit explanation. The beauty of the truth is that it puts the lie to work for a good purpose, by using it as a means to an end, it by no means follows that the disciple is to cater to a lie; but when he sees this he works to the contrary. A man will believe a lie, and is damned thereby, until the Lord takes away the obstruction. "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceed- ing glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. ' ' The evil is the wolf that turns the sheep towards their Shepherd. Man, in his ignorance, does not under- stand how all things work together for good. The supreme purpose is obnoxious to him; because he has 172 Christian Science Examined mixed ideas of his own regarding good and evil; but truth is not mixed; there is only one truth. "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets : even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The claim of the members of certain sects, that they have been saved from sin, brings out the objective state of the human mind, which accepts as true, what- ever has its approval from phenomenal criteria. The human mind, in this, has simply the outward evidence of sin covered ; that is the source of its idea that it is free from sin. Sin is not its effect, designated by the human mind as such: we read, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." That excludes a man's beliefs based upon his own head, by which he thinks he is saved from sin. The "head" is Christ. Truth engenders all, irrespective of what a man may think : the person of man is faithless. The Lord is no respecter of persons, but the mind of man is. Faith is not given to the person of man; there is nothing there to receive it. There is no mercy in the man of the senses; but the Lord is merciful; for "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Those whom the person of man regards as chosen vessels are individuals with a genteel outward bearing; while the Lord's real elect in his shallow and unreliable estima- tion are blatant people that lack culture. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." The emissaries of the Personal and Spiritual Not One 173 adversary come to cover up the rabid forms of evil: that is their mission. What man calls "prosperity" is the outward accumulation of material things: it is the earthly possessions or attachments that represent the counterfeit power of the ruler of the darkness of this world. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I re- buke and chasten : be zealous therefore, and repent. ' ' When the human mind becomes superlative in its own reckoning, then the adversary's work is fully ac- complished. That mind then feels it has all its wants supplied; but as yet it has not what it needs — to be thrown down from its self-sufficiency; which must take place before the disciple can rise in the truth. The deceiver offers the deceived only that which is of a fleeting nature; the temporal things, by which the man of the senses is tempted. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to Him he said, If Thou be the Son of God, com- mand that these stones be made bread. But He ans- wered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh Him up into the Holy City, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His 174 Christian Science Examined angels charge concerning Thee ; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mount- ain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and wor- ship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." Yes, the deceiver offers the man of the senses many adroitly-framed inducements to serve him, pertaining to the vanities of this life. He offered the Lord Jesus all that the eye of man beholds; but the Lord, not being controlled by that mind, the adversary's inducements were powerless for His subversion. Christian Scientists, and others as well, must learn that the truth will not meet them at the point of what they consider their necessities; for the person of man fights the very thing that gives him necessary experience. Therefore it is that he does not learn by his experience, because he views it as being only evil. Patience comes with the knowledge that all difficult experiences have a definite purpose. Man looks for what appeals to him, but the truth does not appeal to him ; and yet that which does not appeal to him gives him his greatest lessons, after he has suffered from them. The man of the senses is deceived, and being deceived ; his personal mind dessembles his own motives, even to himself. He may start out with what he considers good motives; but his feelings in the matter of his personal interests control him, instead of him controlling them Personal and Spiritual Not One 175 as is the way of the truth. The very inborn character- istics of his own nature are opposed to the truth. Man's mind is at the zenith of its supposed power when it is educated to a high pitch. That education, in the curriculum of a fixed formula, runs counter to what- soever is true. Education sits in the seat of edification, pretender to the throne of truth, the professor but not the possessor of life. When man's mind has sought out many inventions; when there are libraries filled with books containing the theories of men ; when Bibles are printed by the whole- sale, together with commentaries upon them from the personal mind; then are we in the time the prophet Daniel wrote of. to which Jesus referred when He said, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desola- tion, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand)." The building erected on the sand-foundation of man's mind has the same outward appearance to the sophis- ticated as the one built on the rock; but the rain, the winds and the floods of the human mind- — the conten- tion, division and strife of that mind — reveals the differ- ence between the two houses. The essential difference is their foundations. One depends upon shifting sand, in which is no cohesion or unity; the other on the embedded rock of truth, which cannot be shaken. When the human mind, through its increased knowl- edge, has been thoroughly divided, when its tares are bound in bundles, a something happens which shows that the wheat is still there. (The disciple is not to try to separate the tares and the wheat: they are to grow side by side until the harvest). "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for 176 Christian Science Examined the children of thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. ' ' We have here depicted knowledge based upon the human mind, also the glad tidings of the truth. The human mind deals objectively with the physical body and sets it up in its imagination as everything. Truth is above personalities. One personality is not saved and another personality lost. Only that is saved which is made partaker of the Divine nature, and only that is lost which ought to be lost. Truth is one, and saves that of its own ; it lets the dross be lost. The Christian Scientist, as well as all other followers of human organizations, must be disillusioned in regard to the plausibility of the sound and appearance of their doctrines; for Truth never meets a disciple at the point of the personal approval of his feelings and sentiments. From the arguings of the human mind a man says ' ' That sounds good to me;" or, " That sounds reasonable ; " or, 1 t It looks good to me;" but he will find that the Truth which takes away the human mind, with its pet ideas, does not look good to him, that is, to his senses. What man has is taken away to make place for the truth. The personal will objects to the word "absolute;" but truth is absolute, as well as true, and the universe could Personal and Spiritual Not One 177 not subsist as one without it. A word used in a personal sense means anything the speaker likes. Man hitches his wagon to a star — a fixed star, and assumes a fixed attitude : later he finds it was merely an obsession of the human mind. In speaking of the different doctrines, it is not to point out that there is not a purpose in them: there is. But all opinions, beliefs and wise-seeming doctrines of the human mind must step aside when their purpose is fulfilled, in the exigency of the light of truth which disperses the shadows. Even the true testimony, free from tares, must give place before that to which it testi- fies. But the human mind ascribes tares even to it. The Christian Science text-book, the testimony of which appears irrefutable to those believing it, must dis- appear, "like the chaff of the summer threshing- floors," before the face of Jesus Christ, the Truth. Science and Health must go the same way as other books that are only man's testimony. The sum of all this is, that the principle of a doctrine, even if true, must be left, because the human mind cleaves to the principles of doctrines, without knowing how to make application of them ; hence, it puts its own meaning to them. Truth is of an antithetical nature to that which the mind and senses embrace; therefore it cannot be studied into by the natural mind. For that which is totally unlike truth cannot become truth by study: understanding of truth is the free gift of God; personal will is not God's will in righteousness. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit is the whole Spirit ; the Cause, back of the effect. The person of man finds fault with a word; but as long as the import of it is given that is enough, 178 Christian Science Examined granting the purpose it serves, but its true import can- not be had from the personal mind. The human mind tries to arrive at the end before the beginning, but in truth the end is seen from the begin- ning — it includes them both. Man, in his ignorance, would put a roof on the building before the foundation is laid and the walls are up ; but there is neither founda- tion, walls, nor roof to his building, except in the mirage of his mind. The Christian Scientist must come to the place where he sees ineptitude in the principles of his doctrine, which act as an obscuration of the truth when studied into from the sand foundation of the human mind, which becomes prejudiced and biased against a few things that appear obviously wrong to it, and concludes from this that it has the truth. The human mind sets itself up in place of the truth on its false foundation of repentance from dead works "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." The common mind reaches a point where apparently it speaks from the Divine Source, and that mind is de- ceived by thinking that it is divine ; but its fruit shows it is not able to get away from thinking according to its own evil nature; in other words, it tries to imitate the truth with the mouth ; but it is bound to deny the truth, as it follows its natural inclinations. Christian Scien- tists, under the influence of this deceptiveness, are not aware of the diabolical deception of the personal mind. "This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, Personal and Spiritual Not One 179 and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me." The true healing does not come from the oscillating mind; from the hypnotic suggestion of that mind in its attempt to help another. It suggests something that it wants the patient to take notice of; it continually does this, either directly or indirectly. And where a number of persons are interested in a patient, there is usually one that controls the rest, having over them the hyp- notic obsession. This method is employed by the person of man in dealing with his fellows. Man's mind tries to get around these facts by giving them various names; but names do not change the evil nature of the treat- ment. Viewed thus, the conclusion must be that a pa- tient is not dealt with for his need, but by what is going on in the mind of the hypnotic suggestion, calling itself divine. This mind tries to cast out an evil by suggestion of another evil, which man's mind calls good, even when this is against the form of the rule of its own doctrine. Likewise when this mind wants to find out something from another member, yet does not want to appear med- dlesome, it suggests something in order to draw out the other member to divulge the information it seeks. This is where much of the traducing hearsay and scandal comes from. The mind hears one thing, and in its prone- ness to drawing wrong inferences supplies the rest. It hears something not agreeing with facts, according to its circumstantial and hearsay evidence, and from what is being cogitated in that same mind. In Christian Science the same mind is used, but in the workings of its mentality it simulates or imitates the truth more closely than is ordinary, departing from the common routine of the personal mind, with its own 180 Christian Science Examined mixed ideas of good and evil. In Science-teaching it is only the good side of the human mind that is consid- ered, but it is called divine by this teaching, the prac- ticer of this rule not knowing that this good has the same origin as the evil, parading itself in its own presumptu- ousness. The Christian Scientist suggests thoughts of health in- stead of disease; but in truth it is "take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" Christian Science thought-taking does not make a pa- tient every whit whole; for it is the same double-mind that takes thought of disease; that takes thought con- cerning the mind's ideas of health. The same mind offers the suggestion in both instances, and fails in times of dire need. In truth a disciple does not have to suggest thoughts of health to himself; for true health has no opposite to come up with a counter suggestion. It is the human mind that deals in opposites — negations; which are the good and evil of that mind. "Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God ; for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God." True health is not harassed by opposite declarations. "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be re- moved; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires." In truth the personal mind is not to be taken for Personal and Spiritual Not One 181 twhat it says, but for the deceiver that it is. It speaks words of truth, but its fruits show that it always denies them. This is where the person of man exhibits his contradictory nature, which is unveiled to him who knows that mind as it is. Partial statements of truth are made by Christian Science, but Science always draws the wrong inference from its statements, and the human mind causes them to savor of the sanitarium, where the principal thought and aim is the alleviation of physical disease, including mental. Christian Science teaching attempts to establish the thought that there is an inner meaning to it, of which students of Science have but the rudiments; but the tree is known by its fruit. The human mind's methods are seen in all man-made doctrines by those having in- sight, and it reveals itself in the wrong inferences it con- cludes after making its statements of truth. Christian Science can be tested as to whether its inference from its own claims are drawn from man's head, or from Him who is the Head of all. A disciple of truth is given to see whether Christian Science is a product of truth, or he has not arrived at the state of discipleship of truth. The modes, methods, and actions of the human mind show it up for what it is ; it is not to be taken for what it says. That is how it deceives, being long on promises and short on perform- ances of the right. The personal mind imitates the truth more closely by speaking words of truth, but it has not the foundation on which to set them. Christian Science attempts to answer questions which shows it up to the disciple. It says, in substance, that when Christian Science is fully understood there will be no need of the method of procedure the neophyte now uses, for it will be swallowed up in the absolute. But 182 Christian Science Examined the outstanding fact in regard to this doctrine is, that it starts off with the human mind, showing by its modes and meanderings that this mind is its source. The hu- man mind can by no means ever grow into the Divine; either by declarations, affirmations, denials or any other means; yet it is by such means Christian Scien- tists attempt to gain the truth. What man holds to be true must be swept away. "I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. ' ' It is a life of faith in truth, not in human belief. It is a life of faith because a man can do nothing of him- self personally, for there is an Almighty God that does the work. This is not meant to signify an outside God, but the One who is "above all, and through all, and in you all. ' ' The Lord 's work is already finished ; man can add nothing to, nor take anything from it. But this is what the person of man continually tries to do. Even Jesus could do nothing of Himself, to enhance the work of the truth. This is man's main deception; he thinks he can do something of himself. Man attempts to chisel the stone that is already hewn out, and hereby shows his contrary nature. God brings this man to the end of himself that His work might have free course and mani- fest itself in righteousness. When a man thinks he can do something by his own ability he naturally takes the glory of its accomplishment to himself. He attempts to personalize that which is of spiritual birth. With the various sects, in their self-deeeivings, it is popular for them to say it is the Lord that does the out- ward works that are conceived by and proceed from their own mind, while each has repugnance for what the rest are doing, when their activities hit his own particu- lar doctrine. Whatever a man does he does because he is allowed to function, but not of his own volition as it Personal and Spiritual Not One 183 appears to him, his human mind 's doings are not the work of the Lord in righteousness. This book is not the truth ; it is but testimony. The truth is not to be found in testimony, even if the testimony is wholly true, but : in what the testimony testifies to. The Spirit of truth cannot be found in the letter of a book. " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life ; and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." It is not in the Scriptures that we obtain life, but in the One of whom they testify. In other words, the man of the senses searches the Scriptures, but he cannot come to the Giver of life. "They (the Scriptures) are they which testify of Me." This "Me" is the Truth; and to testify of this "Me" is the purport of Scripture. The human mind is enveloped by its own ambient at- mosphere, and because of this misses reality. Moreover there is naught in the person of man that can gain reality. The natural mind has the shadow in the place of that which casts it; the literal in place of the spirit- ual. In fact, this person of man, instead of being that which enters into life, is that which must give way be- fore the life which is eternal. Studying the literal will never bring a disciple into knowledge of the spiritual. He must first have the con- ception and growth within, before he can recognize the testimony for what it is. Otherwise, he is biased by pre- conceived ideas existing in his fatuous make-up. The biased and prejudiced mind meticulously looks at the signs, to the shutting out of what is more important, which is to look through them to their Source. The statements herein written do not appeal to the haughty human mind, with its surface judgings ; for it 184 Christian Science Examined is a direct cut at that mind. However, no statement is recognized in its true nature, except it is already in the perceiver of it. This is why the study of Scripture by the human mind fails ; it tries to get from without that which must come from within. Truth is not perceived by outward observation; the kingdom of God is within you. From thence it springs. Each member must grow within. One member's growth does not serve for another's. The various doctrines are started from the erroneous idea of the personal mind that a man can do something of his own volition, but the Lord's work is completed in righteousness, and cannot be added to or subtracted from. Therefore this book must fade away before the truth, yet it testifies in part to the truth. The person of man fails to put his deeds where they belong — in a lower place. He is prone to take glory to himself personally, setting up idols of his own and denying the Lord, to Whom belongs the pre-eminence, for He is cause of all and not the effect. Man's personal works are always brought to an end, revealing -the spiritual as above the personal. Christian Scientists, as well as other followers of doc- trines based on man's mind, think they must be doing something to be in line with the truth. Yes, they must be doing something, but not for the purpose, nor in the way they think. Their doings do not lead them into the truth, but away from it, although they think they are fulfilling the truth in righteousness at this point, but they are not. The disciple receives the first-fruits of the Spirit; then the work of truth is finished in regard to him, up to a certain point. When the chaff is separated from the wheat, the principal thing is left. Personal and Spiritual Not One 185 The gifts of God are given to the disciple, who wor- ships not the gifts, but the bountiful Giver of the gifts. He cannot give himself a gift, but this the deluded per- son of man tries to do. The creature, with his imper- fect and impetuous mind, cannot study into the free gifts of the Creator. In truth, rest does not come by laying down of bur- dens, as is the thought of the human mind, but by tak- ing them up. "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it." The person of man has to go, and is going, from the disciple yet compassed by a body of infirmity, but the old is being taken away, and that which is new (and yet old) is taking its place. Truth is always the same, but it seems new to a disciple when he first begins to hear it. A disciple is not to avoid the cross, but he is bidden to take it up, and he is given strength to stand up under it. In truth, the yoke is easy and the burden is light, because there is no resistance to its imposition, as there is in the case of the mind of man. It is not a burden to him that is "meek and lowly in heart" (mind). The human mind is not meek and lowly, but proud and haughty. The personal mind puts the question: "If the mind of man is a deceiver and every man a liar — which he is, personally speaking — to what end is this writing V When a disciple hears the truth it is evident that he does not get it from the person of man, for the spiritual is the designation of what is the opposite of the per- sonal. When a disciple receives the testimony of truth, he then becomes a conveyor of it to others, but that 186 Christian Science Examined which is conveyed is not the medium or vessel that con- veys it. That which is true cannot be bought with money. All that one man can give another for what is given him, by way of assistance rendered, is the equiv- alent of the things received, coming from the Lord, but no man has the truth as his own to give. It is the freely-given bestowment of God. The disciple's testi- mony is not the truth, but the Spirit of the truth is back of the true testimony of the disciple. Truth is a gift which the person of man can neither give nor take away, and the gifts of God in righteousness are be- stowed on a disciple when the time is ripe, and not when the human mind desires them. This mind has it that two are mentioned, the person of man and the Spirit of truth; but there is but a sin- gle Power, and He omnipotent — "one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Yet the human mind, in its ignorance, thinks it- self "It", and the whole thing. What it cannot com- prehend is non-existent, it thinks. In truth, things are not as they appear outwardly to man, for he is subject to belief in anything through his personal mind. The true is an anomalism to him because of the obsessions of his mind, and even when he separates himself from the agglomeration of doc- trines he is oftentimes more obsessed than before, being wrapped up in some fad of his own. When a disciple recognizes, even in small degree, that there is but one Power, he ceases to believe to that extent that any of his personal works will gain for him the truth. Life is not gained by works, lest any man should boast. A student of truth is not taken away from his personal works all at once; he is let do them, Personal and Spiritual Not One 187 and is afterwards shown that these works are brought to naught by the truth; yet by these very works, which are under the law, he obtains necessary experience. Strictly speaking, the truth comes not to supersede the person of man; it has done that already, and as the truth includes all, therefore it is all there is. The per- son of man being a liar, his testimony is not to be credited at any time. The man of the senses accepts the same man's testi- mony — it slips the lie over on itself, but it cannot accept the truth, which is spiritual. That deals with the cause, while man deals with the effect, according to his out- ward vision. Christian Science sets up its personal works of heal- ing (of course that is not what it calls them) as proof of the truth of the teaching; but that is no proof so long as the personal mind's approval is sought. The doctor's prescriptions, camouflaged in Latin, are from the same mind the Christian Scientist uses in his psychological camouflage, parading in its imitative vestments, aping the Divine. Sincerity is no proof of the true authenticity of man's beliefs, for the more sincere he is in a false belief, the greater his deception. Those that practice the dark deeds of the human mind are sincere in their commission, being deceived by the supposed good they think will accrue. The Christian Scientist, in his sincerity, takes his doctrine reverently, but he makes the mistake of judg- ing everything through the eyes of his doctrine, and does not recognize the part and purpose of other mem- bers ' doings. The natural mind swallows more than it can digest, by explaining away one side of itself to the maintenance of the other, and thinks that other is the 188 Christian Science Examined truth. The deceptive nature of the human will is not apprehended by the Christian Scientist, because of zeal and the grandiloquent outward manifestations which are ever ready to deceive him. The mind of man says, "But you seem to exalt some to the belittling of others ' ' ; but this is only seem- ingly, to the man's mind, for it has not facts. Person- ally speaking, every man is a liar, even if he does not give utterance to a lie, and no man can speak of himself and in the nature of the personal without proving him- self to be a liar, for the personal is a contradiction in itself, being the effect, which appears to be cause, to man's mind. When a disciple comes to see in full the deceitful make-up of the human will he is no longer gullible to its hearsay testimony, in whatever pleasing guise it is given, or the persuasiveness of the person who gives it. The natural mind, in its precocious pride, thinks it is the concomitant of the truth. The differ- ence between the man of the senses, who is misled and ruled by his senses, and the disciple who hears the "still, small voice", consists in this, that the disciple is prevented from going wholly astray in his own wants and desires, while the other is subordinate to these wants and desires. Yet the disciple sees similar ten- dencies within himself as he sees in the man let loose in his personal inclinations, but these tendencies in the disciple are kept under control by that which is above the personal. This is not a blind belief, but a fact. But there is a time for everything and the disciple that is apparently given free rein will be curbed in his false freedom, to make him a partaker of better things. To the human mind, groping in the dark, it sounds like fanaticism to keep pointing to the varying phases Personal and Spiritual Not One 189 of the common mind and to the different angles and aspects of those phases. The disciple is given to under- stand these, otherwise he, too, would fall a victim to their hypnotic control, and in swallowing whole the damnable heresies of the false mind become a twofold bondman, both to the suggestions of his own mind and those of others: the personal mind is accustomed to be- lieving lies. There is no moderation in man's mind, and the dis- ciple, seeing that he also is compassed with infirmity, is saved from gloating over those who are wholly in error, who have not attained to the faith, and whose testimony is always according to man's shadowy wit- ness ; for what man says is greatly to be desired, and is the truth, is pointed out by the truth as a lie. ' ' There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. ' ' The personal mind is taken up with the things of its own misleading, and the truth, to it, is to be avoided, for it takes away its false life. The deceiver's work is finished in a particular doc- trine when he comes in disguise make-up, misquoting the true testimony and putting his own meaning on it, yet making it appear like the real record of truth. Here the deceiver gets in his deadly thrust, for in putting to sleep the openly obnoxious side of his nature, that only appears which is of greatest deception — the so-called 1 ' good ' ' side of the personal mind. This is the angel of light, the transformed emissary of Satan. Transformed from evil to good as it appears, it is deceitful above all things. Man's mind, in its deceiving, declares certain aspects of truth verbally, but is not able to practice them. That 190 Christian Science Examined mind talks incessantly about the Golden Rule, but talk- ing about it is not the actuality. The Christian Scientist's added aphorism, about hold- ing the right thought, is not in line with the teaching of Him who said: ''Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment' ' The disciple is incredulous in regard to the human mind 's right thought, for what that mind calls the right thought is anything but righteous. What man's mind calls God, in truth is called the devil ; and this is never as man's mind has it pictured. The quasi-qualities of the human mind, which look to it like th$ truth, are always averse to truth. The personal will in holding what it calls the right thought, is imposing the very thing it tries to avoid; for that mind, in its changes, swings to the two extremes of its distinct phases, and the firmer it holds the right thought, as it thinks, the more it will move to its antithesis, but which is from the same center, though not appearing that way to man's mind. Man, with his human mind, tells more lies in his religious dogmas than he does in his secular business. In his self -righteousness, he asks: "What did I do to deserve this?" referring to some trouble that has be- fallen him. This is the natural fruit of the mind that does not know itself. The truth is meant for disciples of truth only; they alone are the ones given to receive it. Man's personal will can never be a disciple of truth. It will make lots of noise and claim great things, but in truth it is.| "Be still, and know that I am God." The truth does not depend upon a writing, nor the translation of a Personal and Spiritual Not One 191 writing, nor is it the rapprochement of human minds. The truth does not depend upon history for its pro- longation. History ("his-story") is some man's story, which is not reliable in the face of the infallible. The truth does not come from the chronology of a creature susceptible to the setting up of himself in place of the Creator. The personal mind is not impregnable, but subject to imaginable hobbies and temporary false beliefs, and it must have its day before it is brought to an end. The greater the fabrication the more like truth it appears to the natural mind, and it is more dilatory in taking up with another false belief, for it feels sure that it now has the truth. "Because that, when they knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thank- ful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." The educated personal mind is the more deceived when the vessel is filled with what is worthless so that there is no space left for truth to occupy. The artifices of this educated mind are too numerous to mention. However, the intuitive knowledge of the disciple keeps the other false knowledge from entering. In time of real need man's personal knowledge will not hold him in good stead, for he is perplexed to know the best course to pursue from one minute to the next, and he is a failure, according to his own ideas of en- vironment, conditions and circumstances. "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the un- derstanding of their prudent men shall be hid." The personal mind, in its pride, appears to cut a wide 192 Christian Science Examined swath, and there is the exigency for continually doing something, so that it can exhibit itself and show its false and surfeited superiority. The common mind is miser- ably deceived as to what constitutes riches, and in its lack of everything that is true, it thinks that gathering together material possessions will accomplish the satia- tion of its desires. But those who have heaped up treasures know that there is something lacking, even though they do not know what the lack is. The alloca- tion of durable riches is not in the memory of man's personal mind. The true riches are placed in the un- derstanding of the disciple, and nothing from without can deprive him of them. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth cor- rupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart (mind) be also." Again, the ' ' heaven ' ' referred to is not in the sky ; for the truth is no more true in one place than in another. "Am I a God at hand," saith the Lord, "and not a God afar off?" The human mind's doctrines seem very plausible, and can be twisted not to what fits the truth, but to what this mind of apparently innumerable wiles con- jures up. The disciple is put through the ordeal of the different forms and aspects these obstacles take in try- ing to disconcert him, and he will fall for them until he has learned his lesson. The purpose is, to have the disciple go through these deceivings, that he may find by actual experience that man's ideas are wanting. Until then, he is gullible to their hypnotic influence, in one Personal and Spiritual Not One 193 or the other of the many forms they take. In truth the person of man is not saved, but lost. Then only the truth remains in its consummate simplicity, and yet profundity. That only is lost which man's personal mind tries to save — his selfishness. ''And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" The human mind has it, that it is a case of so many personalities being saved or lost ; in truth nothing worth having is ever lost. The life that man seeks to save is lost, because it is earthly ,sensual and devilish; and he that loses that life finds the life which is eternal — "not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." This is too much for the personal mind to digest, but it can be both digested and assimilated by the disciple of truth. The man of the senses is out to save himself and have himself justified. Personally speaking, one man is no better than another ("worse" and "better" are the personal mind's comparisons), but man's mind gets him to believe this, or he would not be self-righteous — which is his main characteristic. The person of man is accursed in the mentally engraven imagery of his own idolatry, setting up images coming from his own ideas, instead of the Light of Life. The truth forever says: "I am the Lord ; that is My name, and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images." The human mind travels its own path, and its fads are surreptitiously acquired. "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran ; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ' ' 194 Christian Science Examined There is no congruousness between man's personal mind and the truth, which it is impossible for it to re- ceive. "And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you lor- ever ; even the Spirit of truth ; Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not ; neither knoweth Him ; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. ' ' One human mind, in trying to find out something, is drawn to other human minds that know no more about the subject in question than itself does; but it is willing to accept others' explanations as true if the psychological effect is according to its preconceptions. This characteristic of the human mind is prolific of many damnable heresies. The word "damnable", in truth, does not refer to a hot place under the earth that nobody can locate. The personal mind is damned (con- demned) because it is an obstruction to the coming into the knowledge of the truth ; as, for example, in the case of a river, which can be used as illustration, for when it is clogged it is obstructed and prevented from flowing onward. Again, the person of man is not to be taken for what he appears to be, but for what he is ; for he draws near the truth with his mouth, his heart (life) being far from it. This mind cannot render honor to whom it is due; nor can it render anything in its true relation. The disciple of truth does not amount to much as to his outward bearing. He is a vessel emptied of his old delusions, and what is empty contains nothing. That is where the disciple must be brought, to have nothing of a personal nature. Then the Lord has accomplished His work in him and he hears the simplicity of truth. Personal and Spiritual Not One 195 The disciple knows the human-mind doctrines, but the subscribers to them do not; for the personal mind being encompassed and in bondage to its own delusions is not able to see itself as does the disciple. The proud man of the senses believes his own lies, however ludic- rous. He accepts the person of man, who comes in the politeness of his exterior ; for he considers himself right, and the man of his approval must be like himself. In this he does not see how his mind has him deluded, mak- ing him believe he has something with tendency of edification in it. The disciple has, finally, to awaken to all the multifarious guidings of his personal mind, for the test will always be there to confront him on the subject to which he is susceptible. No solace can come from asking advice of the personal mind or through seeking its opinion, for instead of bread it gives a stone when the need is bread. Another outcome of the personal will is its discrim- inative action toward others. It would have all in the same obsession itself is in, instead of, as it is in truth, where each member occupies the place where he be- longs and fulfills his office. The disciple appears hypercritical to man's mind, but fault-finding is but the echo of the natural mind. The disciple sees that cause leads to effect, and that no matter what new- fangled notions the human mind conjures up by its own juggling, and in masquerading as truth, it cannot alter effect proceeding from cause. The personal mind, in trying to get by, as the saying is, thinks it can escape the harmful effects of its own seed-sowing: it thinks it can accomplish this by some might of its own. The work of truth with a disciple is to de-hypnotize him, not by building the doctrine of 196 Christian Science Examined truth on his personal mind, but by taking away that mind and giving him another. The truth is formed in the disciple proportionately to the decarnation of his own will. The action of the truth works the super- session of the personal by leavening of its own, which causes the retrocession of the personal for the mani- festation of the spiritual. Up to a certain point the disciple has the necessary brake of his infirmities put upon him to keep him from slipping down the declivity of the natural mind. Here the truth utilizes his mind, causing him to suffer by it, which suffering weans him from it and at the same time gives him a love for the truth. The disciple does not look for the sympathy of the human mind because of his infirmities as that mind thinks, for he recognizes that the man of the senses is infirm in all his actions, while the personal mind, in its pride, imagines other- wise. The crooked phases of the human mind are scarcely touched upon in this writing; it considers him who exposes it to be unjustly critical. The natural mind has its own standards of justice, which work a temporary benefit to a certain class, from appearances: they are forms of godliness, but they deny God 's power, trying to personify and build a fence around the truth for their personal gain; but the truth cannot be fenced, seeing it is just as true on one side as on the other, and no man can assimilate any more of it than he is prepared to receive. The disciple is called ''eccentric" because he is work- ing from the cause standpoint. The effect gets a dis- torted view of the cause, which looks out from itself and sees all things as they are. Everything the disciple Personal and Spiritual Not One 197 sees from the eminence of the cause is the reverse of the personal, but it is true nevertheless and an infallible consequence. The personal tries to comprehend the scope of the unchanging through its own mortal visions ; it takes as facts outward evidence. "And be- cause iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." At no point is the truth gained by exercise of the human will, but that which is above it utilizes it for the sake of the disciple. They that think they can gain knowledge of the truth through their personal mind are in the category of those telling, directly or by hint, of all the good works they have done — as in Christian Science. "Then shall they also answer Him, saying Lord, when saw we Thee, an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, say- ing, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. ' ' Sectarians are the workers of iniquity that the Lord re- ferred to, who would be telling of all that they had done; but the righteous say, When did we do these things? not taking the glory to themselves. Christian Science accomplishes many works, but in truth it is not by such kind of works, lest they become a ground of boasting. In this doctrine, the same mind, of which disease is the effect, tries to bring about a cure, in pretension of being the mind of Christ. If it is a case of healing physical disorders or a trouble of some other sort, this mind supplies these troubles and the cure, to add fuel to the false flame of zeal that is re- lied upon to bring about the false cure. 198 Christian Science Examined The Christian Science doctrine, with its ideas of de-ma- terialization, causes its devotees to think he is becoming spiritual, when he is only under the influence of the images framed in his own mind, which is headquarters of the grossly materialistic, and every imagination of his mind is conjoined with its personal desires, showing them to be from the same source, not of Divine origin. To go to man's natural mind for the truth is like going to an empty cup for the quenching of one's thirst. . Christian Science is not the last word in the true tes- timony, nor is it the first. In this doctrine the human mind is held in repression outwardly, but its inward nature is not repressed. The letter of even the true testimony may be given in the verbatim report by man's personal mind, but that is only the parroting of what it does not understand. This writing, with its multitude of words, is not the highest testimony of truth. It is testimony coming from that which sees in part, as through a glass darkly; but it serves the purpose of pointing out that Christian Science is not even true testimony, much less is it what its followers say it is. Christian Science is an attempt to denature the nat- ural man by that man himself, but the way the truth works with him, is always contrary to any- thing he can say or think; for it takes away his false life along with its idols, and the disciple is given eternal life in its stead. Another strong reason why commentaries on the true testimony are not of the highest is on account of the human mind's proneness to teach its own ideas. The true testimony is from the Head, which is Christ; but the testimony of one of the members of His body is Personal and Spiritual Not One 199 only according to the measure of the gift that he has received. Christian Science exalts the personal ego and makes it appear to the same ego like reality. According to the warrantable inference drawn from Christian Science, a disciple can be greater than his Lord by declaring the truth without wavering as he thinks, but that mind declares that which it has not. A declaration is not the truth, anyway, for the truth witnesses in silence, and the mouth that gives utterance to it is not it, but sim- ply the indication of that which caused it to enunciate. Man having a free will, as he is taught by Christian Science, does not verbally refer to the human will; but the fruit of the doctrine shows it is the human all the way through the teaching. The disciple would be greater than his Lord if he could escape the suffering and miss its miasmatic effect, but which works to a good purpose, not by it, but through it. The personal mind, in its studied methods, always departs from the simplicity of the truth. "Therefore all things whatso- ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets! 55 This is the simplicity of the deeds of the disciple. "But I am among you as He that serveth," said Jesus; but man's mind tries to circumvent the truth, serving itself instead of the rest of the members of the body — which is the disciple's work. Such service, carried to its con- clusion — the pursuance of that simple line of action — is the end of all strife. The personal mind holds an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth to correct the other self that does not meet with its own pleasure, but the root of the trouble cannot uproot itself, and bring about the solution of the 200 Christian Science Examined problem that has it ensnared. If it had this solution it would not be in its present predicament — purposed, of course. For example, one man does another an injury, and, according to the human mind, it is now the other man's turn to repay the injury with another one. We have seen that this method has not abated the world's sorrows. It is the result of the selfish nature of man, which is contrary to the Spirit of truth; repre- sented respectively by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. The disciple of truth is considered an easy mark by the human mind, because of his principle of non-resist- ance of evil; which means to him not to further it, or keep the evil game going. But the carnal mind is con- founded and brought to nought, annihilated, by this very thing — not resisting evil. The human mind has its false existence in resistance. In its resistance it resists the truth, which commands us, ''resist not evil." It presumes to resist the evil, thinking that it is fight- ing for the truth, when it combats that which has arisen of itself, its own make-up, where Satan has his seat. The personal mind manipulates and de- ploys its forces to win the victory, as it accounts victory. But what it thinks victory, according to its own judg- ment, is defeat, according to the truth. The victory of man's mind is only the aberration of that mind, which winds up in its own destruction. When the disciple is spoken of, it is not with refer- ence to the person of man. That is why the disciple is so misunderstood by the person of man. He appears like anything but what he is, for he works from tha basis of the Spirit of truth. The human mind sits in judgment upon him with its false knowledge. The per- Personal and Spiritual Not One 201 son of man is the same in all men, but the measure of the truth given the disciple is according to the good pleasure of the Spirit of truth, which gives according to what He has prepared the disciple to receive. The ordinary acceptation of the term " natural sci- ence" fits not at all with the Spirit of truth. Science, according to the popular definition, is ''classified knowledge. ' ' Really, it is merely classified effects, vary- ing with the predilections of different minds. It deals with what the eye sees, effects ; but it does not deal with what the eye does not see, the hidden cause to the mind and senses of man — although it apparently does, to the uninitiated into the simplicity of truth. What it claims to explain, it does not see is gotten through its own study-method of the sight of the eye and hearing of the ear, and outward observation. Thus it is that it only deals with shadowy effects 4 giving them names, and then bowing down in reverence to those names. That which is acquired through the instrumentality of the senses is always in the sphere of effects, and can- not approximate the Spirit of truth, which is above the limited senses, and belongs to the realm where eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. For the plain reason that the effect cannot know the cause. For only the Cause knows itself and the effects to which it gives being, and these effects are only symbolical of what caused them. All doctrines issuing from the person of man are known in this, by the perceiver of them: That what the person of man calls the truth, the truth shows to be a lie. The Christian Scientist tries to instruct the human mind out of itself by itself; but that is not the way of the truth. Though he calls it "working from the Divine Mind", it does not change the facts. The fruit 202 Christian Science Examined of the personal mind, which asserts itself by trying to study into the gifts of the Spirit of truth, shows its origin to be the natural mind ; which mind, at best, only apes the truth. It is utterly impossible for the lie to be educated into the truth, and the many doggerel doc- trines and vagarious hallucinations of the mind bear witness to this fact. The hideous hobbies emanating from the reprobate mind, without a vestige or semblance of truth in them, are acceptable to that mind, because of their cloak of sentimentality. In truth, the human mind cannot keep the cause from leading to the effect by any sleight of that mind 's ingenuity ; but that is what is attempted in all man's doctrines. The summary of the answer to Christian Science is, that the fictitious personal mind cannot study or in- struct itself into the truth by calling one of its branches divine and the other human. Science does not say it can ; but this is what its practice amounts to. Nor can the servant be greater than his Lord; which he would be if he could declare the truth and avoid the schoolmaster (again he does not say this, but this is the fruit of the doctrine), Who is to lead him to it — by the sufferings through which the Captain of our salvation was per- fected. "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have per- secuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, be- cause they know not Him that sent Me. ' ' Christian Science is of the pseudo-science of man's mind. In the beatitudes of the truth, there is no human mind. Scientists ' works are known for what they are, the quasi-doings of what is but an imitation of reality. Personal and Spiritual Not One 203 The word "chemicalization," used in -Christian Science, refers to the changing states of the human mind; but, of course, Scientists give it a different meaning. The study of the Christian Science text-book by the person of man, together with the other literature, along with the Bible, will not lead to a knowledge of the truth. To study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit, as Christian Scientists are admonished to do, will never lead the disciple to the truth — which is not imprinted on the perishable pages of a book. No ; the truth, which is beyond and back of all symbols, is only known by being divinely implanted in the inner man. SOCIALISM REVIEWED Socialism Reviewed CHAPTER I Economic Determinism Does Not Determine the Utter Lack of True Co-Operation in Man's Mind On the subject of Scientific Socialism the human mind will be found to be self-contradictory, as it in- variably is no matter what the subject in hand, and a wrong inference is always reached regarding a state- ment, even though the statement be true. Coming from such a shifting basis as man's personal mind, no premise can be followed out to its conclusion without contradicting itself, even though it sticks to its original declaration. Socialism has for its aim, as man proposes, the sociali- zation of the workers of the world into a Co-operative Commonwealth. The system has no boundary lines, insofar as the main purpose is concerned, which is, that the means of production and distribution shall be expropriated from the Capitalist and owned by all the workers. This sounds well, but it is impossible of ac- complishment in view of the unstable nature of the hu- man mind. Co-operation, worthy the name, can only come from the immutable law of truth, which is above the common mind. Man 's personal mind has everything but the necessary qualifications to enable it to co-operate 208 Socialism Reviewed and not seek to gain ascendancy or take advantage of his fellows. Where the mind must have a personal leader, it must necessarily be in subjection to that leader, who is fallible, regardless of all the greatness ascribed to him by fellow-Socialists. The materialistic conception of history, or its eco- nomic interpretation, or, as it is otherwise called, eco- nomic determination, is what this teaching of Scientific Socialism is drawn from. Let it be understood, that the failures of this teach- ing are not being pointed out to stay up some other human scheme which has within it the seeds of destruc- tion, but we are to deal with Socialism from its own testimony, than which there is nothing fairer, in point- ing out the fallacies and failures of man. The materialist conception of history proves itself not to have the correct premise, even though it has the galaxy and array of the most brilliant human minds. This mind always works in a groove, and sees one part of a thing to the overlooking or denial of its other com- ponent parts, the whole of which must be seen before a part can be recognized for what it is. The part is made of no effect by putting it in place of the whole ; so treated, the result is endless arguments among men. One man sees a certain aspect of a thing — that is the way it appears to him; another sees a different side of the same object; then they deny the correctness of each others' viewpoint. Neither is right in seeing the thing as it is, yet one tries to build his idea of right on what he considers the wrong of the other. This is the way of the human mind in all its ramifications. When a man is set on a vagary of his own mind, he will straightway deny another's viewpoint, thinking Human Mind vs. True Go-Operation 209 that makes his right; but two wrongs never made a right, although the natural mind believes they do. No true knowledge of a thing can be gained by looking at one of its phases; we must see the whole of it in order to know it. Then the parts, or what goes to make them, and their relation to one another, are understood for their design and purpose, and are place in their proper order. The human mind can never see the whole of any subject, nor its component parts. If it knew the parts, then it would know the whole, or the cause; but the common mind is taken up with effects, thinking them to be the cause. The disciple indeed of truth is not engrossed with the study of phraseology. He is no more affected in truth by the mind that regards him derisively than by that which natters or extols him. He knows that neither of them can be relied on, because they come from the same fallible source. In the building of that which is stable and is meant to endure, it is not a ques- tion of how beautiful the superstructure is; beauty is not the main idea of permanence. Certainly, the first thought, the bottom question is, "On what is it founded?" A building is no stronger than its founda- tion. It will not stand up if its footing is faulty. A sand foundation means ruin to the building when the test is made. However fitly framed together and pleasing to the eye in appearance, it goes down when the day of trial arrives. The pith of this narration is not to make the subject of Scientific Socialism appear either unfit or condign to suit a certain school of human knowledge. This writing is not to condemn it, nor to substitute another vagary of the mind in its place. The only object is to point 210 Socialism Reviewed out that it rests not on the sure foundation of truth, but is based on a foundation of sand. In calling it a "foundation,' it is a contradiction of terms; for there is lack of foundation to the mind where a man cannot even agree with himself, and much less with his neighbor. The incongruity of the Socialist is between what he says and what he is able to do — can actually accomplish. These failures will be pointed out as the subject progresses. The Communist Manifesto of the Internationalists was mainly a call for the unity of the working-class. It fails because it calls for that to unify in which there is no unity; namely, personalities of men. In bringing the question of co-operation down to fact, it will be found to be a stubborn thing, not to be twisted to suit the whims or caprice of man's selfish nature. To tell the working-class to unite on the lines of eco- nomic justice, from the lower mind, is tantamount to saying to that mind, ' ' Practice what is called the Golden Rule, and that will end all strife. ' ' But it is not in that mind to consummate this. Therefore it (unity) must come from the higher, and immutable law; which ap- pears as a fanciful dream to man's mind, because that mind being under the hypnosis of its own control ascribes its own nature to the truth — for that is all it has. It cannot ascribe anything to the truth except its own evil nature, for it has not the truth. To make an end of oppression is something the human mind has never been able to accomplish, because it is the seat of the oppression, the source from whence it comes forth. The innate selfishness of the natural mind has never been able to line up with its opposite. It prac- tices the gold-and-silver rule, instead of the golden rule. Human Mind vs. True Go-Operation 211 It caters to its material gain, instead of the spiritual welfare. To comprehend the nature of the common mind thus far, and see that it is no fit foundation to gather together a body of unity, is to travel the narrow way which leads to the knowledge of the truth — which is not personal, and does not come from the senses of man, with their ignorance of everything pertaining to the causative. All that the senses deal in is the reflex of their own nature. Another mistake of the Communist Manifesto is to the effect that the working-class has nothing to lose but its chains, while it has a world to gain. But the working-class has more to lose than its chains; it is that inherent selfishness that causes men to be chained, and that prevents them from coming to the recognition that to blame the outside world will not emancipate them from their plight of subjection to their own mind. The Socialist at one time admits this to be true, but at another he denies it, because it would annul his idea of the inscrutable environment which he believes himself subject to ; and he is subjected to it before as a disciple he is awakened to the truth. The Socialist fails to see the analogy between his chains and his human mind, and is prone to blame that which he declares had to be according to the natural course of events. The Socialist tries to free himself from the mind that en- slaves him by that same mind; he lays his troubles on something else, and fails to take them home as of his own selfish mind, which has the same ideal as the capi- talist, only he is against the capitalistic system when he feels its pinch. Some Socialists admit these things to be true; but they only see them in part, to the laying of their troubles 212 Socialism Reviewed upon their environment and the Capitalistic system, as they call it; or, on the other hand, on their fellows who will not wake up and see things as they do. They have not awakened to the truth of the matter themselves, through failing to see that before interests can become collective the individual must have the spirit of co- operation developed within him to bring about the unity; and that he will have to get beyond the point where he is against a certain system of society merely because he feels the pinch of it to his personal loss and discomfort. As long as the human mind takes advantage of his fellow-man, just because he has the opportunity of so doing, we shall have the competitive system, with its attendant evils; and we cannot justify ourselves in blaming the effect of which the selfishness of man is the cause. Man is helpless of himself; that is the Divine reason for the appearance of the messenger with the glad tidings, which is beyond the personal mind of the creature. The truth also shows the very significant fact that man of himself is not capable of furthering the cause of truth; which it is impossible for him to know with his personal mind. The truth is a mystery to the natural mind, but not to the disciple of truth; for he sees that the immutable laws are not of a sentient nature. Therefore what the man of the senses gets through his personal mind and senses is not that which appertains to the unchanging law of truth, but is of the nature of shadowy effects. The senses of man do not record the vivid messages of truth, but their mere shadow, or their counterfeits. That is why the natural man knows not the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned. Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 213 The all-pervading Spirit of truth is superior to the 7 sentient make-up of the man ruled by his mind and senses. The person of man is not able to bridge the im- passable gulf that divides the man of the senses who ignores the truth, and the regenerated disciple that has gone through the fiery school of experience, having thus been tried and tested and weaned from his lower nature. But there are degrees of growth: the full ear of corn does not come out of the ground first; although man's mind tries to have it that way. ' ' For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." Man, instead of measuring up to the truth from the basis of his personal mind, is a failure from that source. Is it any wonder that the teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is an anomaly to him? Let it be remembered that our Lord is not a witness to and speaks not from the human mind, but that His testi- mony is in the Spirit of truth ; that it was also by that Spirit He spake and taught. The people instrumental in making a road for what is called Scientific Socialism were not cognizant of the fact that the man of the senses lacks the essential and the potential qualifica- tions that would enable the different members of the body of humanity to coalesce, each filling his own niche of service to the whole — ' l each for all, and all for each. ' ' This is possible, not from the common mind, but from the Spirit of truth indwelling or within the disciple. The human mind is not so much divided on what it wants as it is on the means of getting what it wants. But it will continue to get what it needs regardless of what it wants. Here we get a glimpse of the Spirit of truth above the person of man, for it sees to it that a 214 Socialism Reviewed man always gets his actual necessities, instead of his fancied wants. Getting his needs will bring the disciple to see the deceitfulness of his senses, which are opposed to the truth, because they cater to his desires, and are unwilling to pay the price of suffering, which is their sure reward. The absolute justice of the Divine economy is opposed to man's political economy. The errant creature is de- ceived into thinking that he does not get what he needs because of the suffering, and because he has his wants and his needs confused, thinking the things he wants are his very needs. A man may be given what he wants temporarily, to show him the error of his way in the end; but, in summing up, the truth always works ad- versely to a man's personal desires. The personal mind, which cannot comprehend the truth, comes in at this point, and says, ' * But you have no higher hopes for man than that he is to have anything but the manifestation and the workings of the truth exemplified in his daily pilgrimage." The human mind has it, that this is taking a pessimistic and undue attitude ; but it is not. It is simply pointing out that the truth does not come from the person of man, which is truth's inversion, but from the truth itself, that has formed its own nature in the disciple. The inner man perceives that injury to one is injury to all ; he does not merely prate this, but knows it. To this point the Socialist must come before he is ready to co-operate. He will then see his materialist conception in a different light, as dealing only with effects. The disciple of truth is not subjected by what man calls a hard environment; for the environment is the field in which he gains his necessary experience, and Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 215 the harder the experience the greater in value the lesson when learned. This does not mean that we are to take the beginning for the end, and conclude that a disciple of truth has finished his course when he is only on the way. The gift is according to what the disciple can contain, with varying measures to different capacities, as we are informed by the parable of the seed that fell into good ground. "But other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. " Let us get down to the bedrock of the truth as op- posed to the subject under consideration, and show wherein it differs from the materialist conception of history, as it is called by its followers, who also speak of it as the economic determinism, and the economic interpretation of history. To be concise, these phrases are coined to mean, it is the way that tribes or nations carry on production that determines the advancement or the retarding of their progress. But economic deter- minism does not determine wherein its own deductions fail. This is why it appears plausible to man's mind. It remains for the truth to show this. Now we come to the plausibility of this teaching of the human mind, which shows that one form or system of society is the outgrowth and evolution of the form of society that preceded it, namely : Barbarism evolved from savagery; next, feudalism; thence, capitalism, the prevailing form of the society of today. According to the Socialist, the next stage will be Socialism, under the administration of the Co-operative Commonwealth. At this point the human mind has miscalculated. Having described previous forms of society, it has failed to learn the lesson they teach. It has built up a 216 Socialism Reviewed something at a great expenditure of labor that falls by its own weight, for instead of the systems evolving towards Socialism they have been going the other way, with each increase of false knowledge, subdividing into more factions. According to the followers of the Marxian Communism, or, as it is now called, Socialism, the evolution from Capitalism will be away from Cap- italism into Socialism. In this conclusion the human mind is deceived by its own shadowy nature; for in all the other forms of society the elements of the human mind, which are contention, division and strife, were very much in evidence, and were there as the shifting foundation of the next form of society — that which fol- lowed it; but under the co-operative commonwealth the nature of the human mind, referred to above, must of necessity become subordinated to the higher law. There can be no co-operative commonwealth where there exists the human mind's contention, division and strife. So- cialists have not taken into account human nature, which shows that under a system of economic justice the innate selfishness of man must yield to positive belief in liberty, which begins with service. At this point Socialists use the hackneyed argu- ment of society making laws against the profit system, in which there will be no incentive for any one to monopo- lize or cripple the opportunities of his fellowman, caus- ing oppression to ride rampant. This last argument of Socialists is the strongest fallacy of the human mind in dealing with the effect of the trouble only. It supposes that environment is the leading factor in man 's develop- ment; but true development comes from within. En- vironment has to do with all man's problems; but this environment is unlimited, and is not in agreement with Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 217 that graphically pictured by the economic determinism, which supposes that by externalities man's nature can be curbed. That nature, however, will assert itself re- gardless of any law made to hold it in bounds. No ! man 's selfish nature cannot be held in check by doing away with money, or with anything else outside of man. It is the love of money, or of whatever else is set up as a measure of value, which must be done away. Socialists say that labor is the measure of value ; which idea the truth takes away, including all man's selfishness, which no man- made law can suppress. True value is not in anything, \>ut in the Spirit of truth. The truth does not do away with the human mind 's bad incentives only : it does away with that mind, not its effect, for the cause of oppres- sion is not its cure. This suggestion of Socialism — doing away with the incentive of exploitation by taking away man's idols, whatever they may be — falls flat in the light of truth; for in taking away man's idols, whether money or any- thing else, the man's personal mind is left, which is the worshipper of the idols. So the disciple sees that the correction must take place in the man himself and that the trying of the person of man to correct environment is but dabbling with effects. All nations and every tribe of earth, in their doings, have estab- lished the fact that the state of their society is but the reflex of the people composing it; although this seems otherwise to man's natural mind, which is always ready to blame something outside itself, or some other party than itself, for its own shortcomings, in excuse of itself. "And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness." 218 Socialism Reviewed The young disciple in his illusions will have to become disillusioned of the idea that economic justice, or justice of any other kind, can come from the human mind, the seat of injustice. It will have an imitation Co-operative Commonwealth, which to itself will appear like the real thing; for that mind is there to exhibit its imitative na- jfcure. From this economic standpoint, man's mind is deceived into thinking that by the evolutionary process human nature will become just, but it will remain what it is, a counterfeit of the truth — which never evolution- izes, but is always the same. The human mind is the same to-day as it was under savagery. These different terminologies — savagery, barbarism, feudalism, capital- ism and socialism — are not entities of themselves, but simply terms designating different veneers of the human mind. The first coat of shelac is followed by other coats of varnish, until the imitation is complete. This has been the history of the human mind. The truth never evolves from nothing into something, nor from a lie into the truth. It is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for- ever. Under a system of Collectivism and co-operation, the personal mind, together with its plausible hobbies, must become subjected to the Spirit of unity, which can only be found in the truth. And as unity is not in the per- sonal mind, it is not to be looked to for deliverance, for that which is in bondage cannot unshackle itself. No form of society or set of laws can change the nature of man within, no more than they can change the nature of a tiger. " There is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man." 1 * For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, cov- Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 219 etousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within and defile the man." The outcroppings of the personal mind are conten- tion, division and strife, and they are not the source from whence unity springs. The basis of disunity is not its cure. ' ' I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long- suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ' ' That which appears indubitable to the personal mind always falls short, and when weighed in the balances of truth is found wanting. ''But if ye have bitter envy- ing and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Numerous divisions will be found among the believ- ers of the materialist conception of history ; not because of the antagonism from without (although the party in control strives to put down a new party) but from with- in their own ranks ; and, of course, one justifies the stand he takes in his teaching in comparison with what he con- siders the wrong stand the other member takes; which is characteristic of the human mind. The followers of this teaching are not so much di- vided on what they want as they are on the many meth- ods and theories about accomplishing their wishes. The 220 Socialism Reviewed two main divisions are, those who believe in political action, and those who favor industrial action, like the Industrial Workers of the World. The latter advocate organizing industrially on the job; while the political faction lays more stress upon the use of the ballot — which is the Socialist standpoint. The frictions of the various factions continue, and their followers are not aware that they are proving be- yond a doubt that the fruit of their mind shows that it is contrary to their own teaching, which has co- operation as the main issue, but is the very thing they lack. Not having this co-operation developed within, they are attempting to build up from without. Each of the chief factions is looking at the other from a biased standpoint, because of their following of leaders and the leading of their own deceitful mind. Political leaders usually do not change their tactics, even when they believe they are wrong; because they lean to their following, in order to hold them. The human mind, in its various divisions, must be accom- modated by leaders, and the leaders must have a follow- ing. To be for a certain party is, on the face of it, an admission that the holder of that view is not for the whole body politic. Take the two chief factions of the Marxians, the Industrialists, and those that believe in political action as a means of accomplishing their ends, and we see that their separation is not based on sound reasoning, but on the following of party lines, or the leading of their own biased minds. Industrialists that believe only in industrial action, fail to see that under whatever form of society they may be, from their own standing, they will have to consider political as well as industrial action, even if it be but the election of a foreman on a job. The political faction will also have Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 221 to consider that whatever the form of society, industrial action will be necessary, as well as political. And if these forms of action are to be employed under an es- tablished new order of co-operation, it necessarily fol- lows that they will be employed before the new order can be established. It will have to be direct action too, but no violence. The different tactics do not cause the divisions; they are the result of men's minds. This shows to the unbiased mind that the personal mind of man is not the sound foundation on which to rest any teaching, even if the statement of it be true ; because the natural mind, with its petty differences and party lines, is bound to contradict and wholly deny the very thing that it holds to be true. The mind that acts in inhibition of what does not accord with its own prejudices is not the source of economic justice. The aim of both the Socialists and the Industrial Workers of the World is, to acquire the means of pro- duction and distribution to be used collectively for all the workers. The Socialists have contended for voting themselves into their possession. Now, even if they join with the Industrialists fully, as some have thought they saw the necessity of doing, it will be but a formal affair, minus the main thing conducive to unity. A con- geries of different factions do not mean unity ; for each faction is divided within its own ranks, and each mem- ber of these ranks s divided against himself, in the dif- ferent states of his kind. Neither of these factions, according to its own eco- nomic interpretation of history, has reached the basis of unity; but are hypnotized by the impressions of the effects of their own mind, and are waiting for a change of system having an environment to suit them, but the spirit of equality must come from within ; and the equal- 222 Socialism Reviewed ity of opportunity and equitable distribution of the products of labor will keep pace with the spirit of equality, which never can be tacked on to one from without : that is the method of the person of man. What is called "production" is in line with the hu- man mind; but strictly speaking it does not produce anything. It merely gathers together what is already here. In the question of an equitable distribution of God's benefits it utterly fails. To the personal mind, looking out from itself, it ap- pears that a change is to be wrought from outside. The human mind does not see that the environment and the "system," as it calls it that it deplores, is but the re- flex of the units and aggregation that make up any form of society. The followers of Collectivism, or the other cognomens it goes by, often say they see this, but they do not see it as it is; for they still are occupied with ef- fects, instead of the root of the matter. The cause of man's inhumanity to man is not the re- sult of a false system, nor of environment: this arises from the person of man himself. It is the other way about in all things than what man's mind would have us believe. In its dealings with effects, it follows, as the corollary of the previous statement, that the cure for the injustices among men is not obtainable through any scheme man's mind can devise, for this mind is the breeding-place of the injustices. This same mind is ready with its question, "What else is there to inter- cede but the personal mind?" for it knows nothing of the truth, which is impalpable to it. Let us see where the truth of this matter differs from the common mind, which exhorts: "Get while the get- ting is good ; for you will be a long time dead. ' ' Truth counsels the reverse of this: for from the true basis an Human Mind vs. True Go-Operation 223 injury to one is an injury to all, or the whole; for we are all members of one body — as each ray of light is from the one light; and if one of the members suffers, the whole body is in pain. Seeing these things then, it behooves us also to see that no palliative of the per- sonal mind will suffice to ameliorate or cure the ills of humanity. Smoothing over the effects, as environment, heredity and other things, will not get at the cause of the trouble from within, namely, the mind of man. Fix- ing up the surroundings is not introducing anything new, anything not here before. It is like giving a child another toy. There is no justice in man's mind to man- ifest in any environment, for justice comes from the higher Source. True development always is within. The personal mind gets to a point where it thinks it sees these things; but it is in the same delusion, and tries to tame and regulate itself according to its own so-called reason. This mind can only set up a counter- feit Co-operative Commonwealth. When the truth comes in the human mind goes out, with all its self-preserva- tion, which is its first law. And the consummate de- nouement of this, in the disciple, is the self-sacrifice that takes its place. Then unity is an accomplished fact. Emancipation from itself does not proceed from the human mind, which sends forth blessing and cursing from the same mouth, by the direction of the natural mind back of it. "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father ; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 224 Socialism Reviewed Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter 1" The hiatus of the materialist conception of history as applied to the hope of a Co-operative Commonwealth is, that it is waiting for its ideas of an economic and bio- logical evolution to bring about its desired change; but the different states of society change outwardly accord- ing to appearances, while the human mind is unaltered. The innate characteristics of this mind do not change: this, scientists, political, social and biological, do not comprehend. Likewise the sectarian Christian does not see this, nor the follower of any other human - mind vagary. The barrier to the Spirit of truth can never be crossed by the way of the agglomeration of the shadows of the personal mind ; but, as was before stated, when the light of the truth on any question appears the shadow dis- appears. The personal mind of man is that shadow. When the disciple attains to the truth of this matter, he recognizes that each unit of the body must have co- operation developed within him, and that if he takes advantage of one of the least of the members he is do- ing an injury to himself and to the whole body poli- tic. From this it will be seen that it is not then a ques- tion of arranging an environment from without suited to man 's ideas ; for a man does not know what he wants until he has been instructed or built up from within; not according to an imitative doctrine from the con- tour and lineaments of his personal mind, but accord- ing to that mind which stays the same, never evolving from one state to another, which is characteristic of man 's mind. Nothing would hold man and the universe together were it not for the static nature and stability Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 225 of the immutable laws, which are above man's personal mind and which that mind cannot comprehend. ' ' Where then is the comprehension to come from?" questions that mind, being deceived into thinking it knows some- thing when it knows nothing which belongs to the realm of the spiritual and real, dealing not solely with the ef- fect, as the human mind does, but with the cause. That which actuates the man of the senses to oppress his fellow-man is his naturally selfish inclinations and dense blindness; and his natural mind, working in the narrow bounds of his own limitations impels him to think, that to monopolize will further his own well-being. "Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place. ' ' The Master never speaks to the human mind to try to instruct it; and the effect, or shadow, cannot receive the light by the brightness of which it is extruded. This is where Socialism fails, as do all other teachings from man's mind in their attempt to instruct the personal mind. Any theory coming from the impressionable mind is set on a sand foundation; for theories are all that the common mind is taken up with. It cannot con- tain the unlimited truth in its simplicity, and yet its magnitude. The personal mind's opinions and furtive faculties are swept away by the truth. That mind's opinions about a man do not make him better or worse ; whether it looks upon him as a god at one moment, or regards him as a devil in the next; for it is but giving voice to its two main states, which are not in the truth. The human mind has strong antipathy toward the disciple of truth, because light is always a rebuke to darkness, bringing it to naught. Again, the holier-than- thou attitude does not belong to the disciple, for he knows that one person of man is not superior to another, 226 Socialism Reviewed and that if he has received a certain measure of the free gift of truth, it is not his own to monopolize; but is given in common to all the Lord's children, as "Wis- dom is justified of all her children." The natural mind tries to attach its own devilish traits to the Lord's elect, which is an attempt to hold them in bondage, and sectarians are abroad to save those dev- ilish characteristics and to cast the man out, by cover- ing up the bestial nature of his lower mind, throwing a blanket over its manifestations. This mind works from the standpoint that what is not seen outwardly will not harm, and it carries on its oppressions in secret. Truth cuts at the very root of the natural mind, caus- ing it to conjure up its own innuendoes against the Truth that it knows not. It always charges the truth with having the same nature itself has; for that is all it has with which to charge the truth. Nevertheless, the neg- ative part acted by the human mind is purposed to a given point, not that of itself it can do anything. "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. ' ' The personal mind, in its rearing up something in the negatory bent of its own nature, is what the truth will cause to disappear. That which appears plausible to man's mind and has the elaborate investiture of that mind's increased knowledge, is the shadowy knowledge, which appears to the personal ego as the truth. The personal mind is al- ways deluded by appearances, they being the reflex of its own illusions. That is why it is ready to believe the sinister suggestions and impressions that come to it. These are the damnable heresies. The mutability of this so-called mind is evidenced in every organization framed by it. The Communists Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 227 have been divided on tactics from the inception of their theory. This division has been not only with other or- ganizations, but with members of their own body, that they might break away from the parent society and form a new organization. This shows the fallacy of anything based on man's personal perception. The natural mind, in forming a new organization, leaves the main things out of consideration, as it must. It leaves this mind out of its calculation, and the truth, which finally takes it away. Let it be understood that anything formulated by the human mind, and especially when it gives utterance to the truth merely with the mouth, is a theory of that mind, even if promulgated with ardent zeal and heraldic methods. It gets itself to believe that it has something when it has nothing. No ! things do not transpire as man's mind thinks they do, when it comes to vital ques- tions, as the unforseen always happens as pertaining to truth, viewed by the personal mind. The truth comes up- on it as a thief in the night, to rebuke it. In truth the un- derstanding is within the cause, while the personal mind is hoodwinked by its own effects. In order to see into the depths, and it all begins with simplicity, the straight line of separation must be drawn between the surface surmisings of the person of man and the cause, in which the reason of every effect is given. Inward growth in righteousness — and this does not refer to the apparently righteous, sentimental, sec- tarian idea — must have priority before there can be co- operation amongst men ; otherwise they will join to- gether in the banditry of their bad characteristics. Communists, in quarreling over tactics as to who shall be the greatest, reveal the human mind as diametrically opposed to the fundamentals of unity and the cohesion 228 Socialism Reviewed of all the members into one body. The natural mind works according to its own nature, and the disciple of truth does not expect co-operation to come from a source where there is none. Man is deceived and being de- ceived by setting up an imitation of the righteousness which is of the truth, and this is what takes the place of the true co-operation in his deluded mind. The simplicity of the truth about any question is manifestly recondite to the personal mind; for its nat- ural food is a panorama of effects dangled before it in the glamor of its desires. The student of truth recognizes that the development must come from with- in the knowledge of the truth. That is why, in truth, he finds no fault at all, and especially with the outer effects which appear baneful. The harder the environ- ment, with its obstacles, the stronger the disciple be- comes, per contra to the common mind's ideas. This is the test he is put through, and he is not given more than he can bear. , The personal mind works on the line of least resist- ance, but the disciple is made strong by coping with his hard trials, the forces of which are there to over- throw him. The whole stream of the human mind's thought is against him when he goes against its current. The competitive system is perfectly natural to the hu- man mind, with its selfishiness, and gives its unbridled nature opportunity to exhibit itself. When the inward evolution from the solid foundation of the truth is ac- complished, the rancorous common mind, which tries to assert itself but is held down by the higher law, will have lost its presumptuous power. The truth never grows, but the manifestation that comes into being apparently does; and yet even that has not a beginning and ending according to ordinary Human Mind vs. True Co-Operation 229 concepts, for the potentiality is there before it can be brought into being visibly to the eye. Working from the true standpoint, along the line of co-operation in the secular dealings of man with man. there is a spon- taneity of right action which is not found by the forms figured out by the personal mind, and which do not take into account its own nature. The work of the truth is spontaneous : it is not found in the sense of the human mind's methods, which endeavor to thwart the outcome of that from without, but which comes from within itself. In order to keep the body of humanity from being infirm, its every member must be a servant to every other member, and to the body as a whole. The truth is esoteric insofar as the person of man is concerned, and he can never receive it ("for many are called, but few are chosen"), in order that the great body of humanity shall propagate their kind and doctrines, enabling it to go from stage to stage, leading it to the next — until it has arrived at its appointed time. All this is accom- plished in spite of the common mind ; but is used by the higher law. which does not ask its consent, but molds it as a potter the clay. In truth, every member functions in his own order. That dispenses with there being an oppressive member. Believers in the economic interpre- tation of history describe the effect of conditions; but they are not aware of the winnowing that is required before the disciple of truth can agree in principle and not by compromise. The best of them cannot live in the same house together. Moreover, those that are further along in development cannot agree in setting up any- thing as the finished work of the truth, as does the hu- man mind in its imitations, for they cannot compro- mise and try to make the appearance count for reality; 230 Socialism Reviewed not after it is known by them as it actually is. There is a higher law than the common mind can conceive or imagine. It is talked about volubly by that mind, but it does not know what it is speaking of, for it merely repeats the dead letter. The disciple does not come into a measure of the knowledge of the truth until he has suffered ; until he has waded through thn sloughs of the personal mind. He finds no pasture there ; and it is only at the extremity of his mind that the truth begins to be heard by him. The Socialist has not been sequestered from outward expectancy for a solution of the class struggle. He is waiting for the "people" to get educated in his theory. But how can he understand his own theory when he is not aware of the deceitfulness of his own mind that promulgates it, instilling his own false ideas into other mentalities ? Of course, he will have a counterfeit co-operation manifested; which means deeper obscur- ation of the right way. When he is in that condition, he is not able to deal at all justly with any member that does not agree with what he is sure, in his own deceived mind, is right. This illustrates the unsoundness of the human mind ; for no man is right from that standpoint, and the immutable law of right has no hobbies to lose, as in the case of the natural mind. When the Socialist sees that the only true develop- ment is from within, and not from any mass action or class movement, he will have to come out from among his former associates and be separate. Not that he may ignore the state in which they are ; but waiting for others to catch up with him will not further his own growth. His growth is from an opposite standpoint than the per- sonal idea of growth. True development begins in the in- Human Mind vs. True Go-Operation 231 dividual members of the body before it is manifested in the collectivity of that body. In the action of the true co-operation there is no re- course to the employment of coercive methods. The body works in unison, without a relaxative from with- out. At this point it is already organized, and there is no need for any outward, formal and flexible organiza- tion, for the true organization is not in physical mem- bers, but in the knowledge of true unity in each member. To this the members will have to come before they will be ready for the Co-operative Commonwealth, talked about but not accomplished by Socialists. The personal mind will retort, "You will have to or- ganize outwardly. ' ' Yes, but for it to be sound, it must manifest the true effloresence inward ; then it is ready to show outwardly in fair dealing, which is simply its sign or outcome. CHAPTER II Aspects of True Co-Operation, Showing the Incen- tives of the Natural Mind to Come from Within Itself The first requisite for true co-operation is to place no reliance on the retaliative methods of the personal mind, with its continual changes. How can there be lasting agreement or unity in a mind that has its outlook changed momentarily from the impressions that it gets from outside, and the hearsay it is so prone to believe? The natural mind is always gullible to lies ; but some of the mandates of the higher mind are: "Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, ' ' and "Resist not evil;" which is always according to these injunctions, and means, not to further the evil. "But," says the pseudo-scientific Socialist, with his technical nomenclature, "under the Collective System the incentive will be absent not to work 'all for each, and each for all.' " But still it will be there, as it is wherever the human mind is let guide and control. The Socialist says, "Under the Co-operative System, where each man bears his burden, and does not live off the fruits of other men's labor, incentive of oppression will be gone." But where the Socialist fails is in at- tempting to build his new structure on the foundation he tries to tear down, the personal mind of man. The 234 Socialism Reviewed sand foundation of the grandiloquent personal mind, which appears well in its veneered culture, but is evi- dently and manifestly not the true foundation to the disciple that perceives the incongruity between it and the pure mind of the truth. Socialists, in their opposing factions, are divided more in their methods as to how to get what they desire than in their wants. Yet, too, they are divided as to what they want, strictly speaking — for the person of man does not really know what he wants. Socialists cannot use the Capitalistic System as an excuse for their divis- ions, notwithstanding its faults; for the human mind would be divided under any form it adopted. And if divided before their theory is put into practice, how much more will they be at loggerheads when attempting to carry it out. At this point the deceived mind will allude to in- stances in which it thinks true Collectivism is seen ; but it fails to distinguish between the counterfeit and the real, of which there is always an imitation ready in man 's mind. The human mind is divided both in theory and practice; only that it is revealed more in practice, because it is then put to the test. In the various doc- trines, things happen in their own ranks which are un- forseen by the followers of these doctrines, which changes the current of their thinking and carries them down the stream of disillusionment, which must be the case ; and it is a good thing which causes a man to lose confidence in human hobbies, beliefs and theories, in order that he may be prepared to receive the unadul- terated truth. When an individual member sees these things, relative to Collectivism, he is made ready to re- ceive the higher ideas of co-operation, where each one Incentives of Natural Mind 235 takes his rightful place in the body of which he is a member. The ordinary idea of mass-action fails, because not even the individual member can be in accord consecu- tively in the different states of the mind : much less can the whole mass. When men act gregariously, from the common mind, it is always according to impulse and not right reasoning. Massing together can be called Collec- tivism; but it does not signify co-operation in the sense of unifying all the members in one. The human mind can be joined outwardly in its formalities, but no two can agree with themselves, but will haggle over any question that may come up. For the man of the senses is not only at variance with every other member of the body, but he is divided within himself, and does not know the state of mind he will be in from one minute to the next ''Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" asks the prophet. No; they cannot walk to- gether, according to their personal mind, except by com- promise; seeing that mind is never together, but is al- ways divided. Seeing what we have of the personal mind, and that it is not a basis for equitable dealings among men, the further fact is brought to attention that the true stand- point of co-operation must come from a higher source. The disciple sees, too, that the human mind does not want a servant but a dog, that it can lead around, and that will do its bidding; but this does not deter him from being a servant. He is willing to become such in spite of this, and in spite of himself. The truth does not consist in the emplacement of forms. The physical body is not even the house we live in (except figuratively speaking) ; the house the man of the Spirit lives in is illimitable. Biological evolution, 236 Socialism Reviewed applied to the social evolution, according to the materi- alist conception of history, does not bolster up the latter and make it grow into the truth ; for the atavism of the natural man reasserts itself, and can never rise higher and become the truth. For it is these very things that are lost before the disciple recognizes his true identity. The man of the senses is deceived by calling that life which is but a form or shadow of life. The science of the fossilized remains of plants and animals, or paleontology, only relates to forms; and the man of the senses includes them all, without having pre-emience over those that are called lower: he has in addition the cunning and craftiness of a man, which they have not, and this does not place him above them. The Spirit of truth does not begin in a germ, nor does it evolve, but it remains the same. A beast is guided by instinct; it does not guide its instinct. And the disciple of truth is guided by the in- tuitive knowledge already imparted to him or placed in him. It does not require searching of his memory to bring it forth. Studying of books is not the means whereby to gain truth, but it is the method of the ac- quisition of the human mind's knowledge. This does not contradict the true testimony of scriptures which convey a spiritual meaning to the disciple, of which it is impossible for the common mind to conceive. Study of the literal by the personal mind is the means the adver- sary employs to promulgate his sectarian doctrines and innumerable beliefs of varying shades. One that does not understood the personal mind is not aware of its nefarious notions set in its opposing states. When one of these states is broken it shifts to another, from the same source. Incentives of Natural Mind 237 The common mind is ever blaming something or somebody for its troubles; but the truth causes the re- tirement of that mind when taking its place. With the Socialist, it is the system and the environment that are blamed. This is done in spite of his own teaching which says that one system is the natural outgrowth of the one that preceded it. But the human mind, on which it is based, must show itself, regardless of the platitudes of the same mind. That one form of society evolves into another, in the natural course of events, is the Marxian teaching; but that does not prevent the personal mind from blaming something outside itself, as it thinks, for it knows not of the inner man. When the truth is known the disciple does not even blame himself, know- ing there is a cause which produces the effect, and that there is a purpose in all things. This does not mean a sanctioning of the evil, but it does mean an end of it, where nothing is blameworthy or condemned that con- duces to the termination of all evil ; as it is when evil is not resisted, and so is not furthered. No matter how sound a philosophy, or science, or teaching may apparently be, to man's mind, the truth shows it is on the sand, and not on the solid rock, be- cause it only deals with effects. When the man of the senses speaks a truth he does not comprehend it himself : it is therefore on the sand foundation of his personal mind. Socialists will have to see this before they can perceive the rudiments of true co-operation, in which one man will not take advantage of his fellows if the opportunity presents itself for him to do so ; for he will know that an injury to others is harm done to himself. The "come back" of the Socialist who says you cannot have equality of opportunity under the Capitalist Sys- 238 Socialism Reviewed tern, is the ordinary way of blaming that system. It is an unwitting admission by him that he does not know what equality of opportunity is. If he did, he would know that the Capitalist System is the outcome of both work- ers and capitalists; and would seek not to change the system of the human mind into another human mind system, but to work from the basis of truth, which means an end to the workings of the personal mind. When the Socialist is not blaming the environment, or some- thing else, he says he sees these things ; but he does not, because he deals with the effect of the trouble. There are Socialists that apparently do not blame environment, conditions, and circumstances, but they are still under the control of their natural mind by attributing the cause of lack of co-operation to these things. The educated personal mind passes over the simplic- ity of all questions and is looking for justice ; but it has but the injustices of its own nature to offer, and will only get according to the measure it metes. The human mind, with its would-be benevolent thoughts, lacks the essentials of what it tries to promul- gate; and when it comes to a question of the Spirit of truth it has everything but that Spirit. If it is a ques- tion relating to economic justice and the unity of the body politic, it has anything but this essential justice and agreement. Every disciple, however, in the period of his growth, is being drawn from his own selfishness. He need not look outside of himself to discover the de- ceiver, regardless of how good the man of the senses be- lieves his intentions to be, or what he essays to do in any particular environment. Judging by appearances, the surroundings would be the leading factor in determining man's evolution in good or evil, which is the groundwork of effects : again, Incentives of Natural Mind 239 this is dealing with physical effects, instead of spiritual facts. Ideas of good and evil vary according to what is customary, .which customs are what the personal mind follows. But there is a righteousness and a justice based upon immutable law which does not change with changing customs and environment. The human mind's ideas of righteousness, which are not right at all, are looked upon as true by that mind, and the true right- eousness, which is always the same, is scoffed at by that mind. What is called "evolution," from the personal mind's standpoint, is not a forward and upward devel- opment, but it is the wheel, which is in bondage to the vehicle of which it is a part, and it revolves according to the periodicity of its own nature. It never becomes the truth, any more than the chaff becomes the wheat. 1 ' But it happened unto them according to the true prov- erb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. ' ' Instead of coming from without, it is the growth within that determines that a man will deal justly with his neighbor, without the justification of the personal mind. No man can give himself this personal inward development; it is the law of the Spirit of truth that makes a man what he is. "By the grace of God I am what I am." The man of the senses can no more give himself this growth than the shadow can give itself light. There is the potentiality of truth in the disciple, but he must first have a conception of it before it mani- fests itself in growth. The human mind's libel of the truth is that the king- dom of God is some place in the sky. This is proof that it has not the truth. Light is not revealed by observ- ance of the shadowy human mind. The one goes as soon as the other comes; for the light of truth is real, while the other is the usurper. ' ' And when He was demanded 240 Socialism Reviewed of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God com- eth not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." The man of the personal mind is obsessed, thinking he can do something in furtherance of the truth, which, in our great Prince, has already finished its work. This man of the senses is buffeted by every plausible-sound- ing theory, and is moved by every wind of doctrine ; he can be swayed by flattery to believe almost anything in the way of a lie. And when he is thinking that he knows it all, he is startled by that brought to his imagination by the senses, which is present in the affectation of his personal mind. This is the phenomena that his mind is ever ready to set up in place of the phenomenon, or truth. When the disciple receives the truth in a measure in inward manifestation, outward renegade notions are seen as they really are. ' * Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." The man who follows his own personal ideas — his own head — will be led into the ditch. Likewise, if he is led and is under the hyp- nosis of another human mind, however seemingly benev- olent that mind may be, it is a case of the blind leading the blind; for the human mind is blind to the truth. The Spirit of truth is the Lord, Who is not the same nor to be mixed up with the many lords coming from man's head. This Lord brings His own through what man calls the worst environment, permitting their affliction, or allowing them to suffer in other ways, to give them this hard experience, that they may learn compas- sion for the ignorant, and be witnesses of the poverty and misery which is really a lack of knowledge of the Incentives of Natural Mind 241 truth in the personal man. Seeing these things, he is able to appreciate the true riches, and to succor those that are ready to receive them. Large material possessions do not signify a divine bestowal. " Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him ? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judg- ment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy Name by which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law ac- cording to the scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well; but if ye have respect to per- sons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. ' ' The human mind, with its monetary considerations, thinks one is taking the side of the rich when the differ- ence is being pointed out between the true riches and the false. The profligacy of the rich man and his record for grinding the faces of the poor are no more condoned in him than are the shortcomings of the poor ; except that the rich man, who sells the poor for a pair of shoes, as it were, for his material profit, instead of seeking his spiritual welfare, has more to answer for than the poor man. He compels others to carry his burden; and he will have to answer to the Judge for this, and carry recompense according to the load he has piled upon them ! This is not to be taken as advocacy of violence ; it states only that all wrongdoing has its retribution, even though the man of the senses does not raise a hand against it in the blaming of that which is as much a part of his lower nature as of the one he blames. The disciple of truth does not use violence. Knowing that the magnifying of what is to be avoided will not end it, 242 Socialism Reviewed he complies with the law of non-retaliation, because he knows the weakness of human nature, and does not ex- pect something from it that it has not to give. "And when they were come, they say unto Him, Master, we know that Thou art true, and carest for no man ; for Thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not ? shall we give ; or, shall we not give 1 But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? bring Me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And He saith unto them. Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto Him, Caesar's. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at Him." Because the truth deals with that which is of the higher law it does not ignore the laws that are formu- lated among men, for they are a necessity ; and, after all, they are under th? supervision of the higher law. The agitator that complains about unjust laws thinks to him- self that he is just, because of his complaiirc and the preachment of his own idea of right; but fighting the other's wrong does not make him right. The man of the senses is not as just as the law that rejects hearsay testi- mony. He convicts and condemns without a trial, show- ing that he is not even as fair as the law that he decries. The disciple has within him the ingrown child of the truth that waits to come to birth and manifestation. The rich and the poor, as man's mind designates them, are alike starving for the words of truth, because of the atro- phied and set states of their minds, which is as a curtain between them and the light. The rich will find that his riches are very temporal and ephemeral, an attachment Incentives of Natural Mind 243 hindering his gaining the truth as long as his heart is set on them, and they are acquired to the deprivation of others. To monopolize the necessities of the physical man, or form of life, is to go against the just law of the higher life. "Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth. ' ' The man that monopolizes and cripples the opportun- ities of his fellows is controlled by the lower mind, instead of, as the disciple, having this mind tempered and under control. The hypnosis of the mind of the monopolist tells him he can cut off opportunities; then men will have to come to him for the means of liveli- hood, and be compelled to work for him on his own terms. But he is gaining in temporal riches at the ex- pense of the durable; which he will later find to be an awful price. He usually tries to get around this by doling out a part of the excess increment of that for which he has not labored, calling it " charity/ ' This is the human mind's integument for its insatiable greed. But in truth there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed. The man of the senses attempts to give away the birthright of the inner man for a mess of pottage — material gain. Economic determinism does not deter- mine the cause, which extends beyond the effects, which is still further beyond the outward appearance of these effects. "Woe unto them that decree unrighteous de- crees, and that write grievousness which they have pre- scribed; to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless." 244 Socialism Reviewed No method of the mind of the person of man can gain the knowledge of the truth ; such knowledge is not gained either by induction or deduction. Facts remain what they are,, in spite of the mind 's shifting viewpoint. No fact comes down to the approval of man's personal mind, which dies hard, resisting the truth, to save its own false life. Economic conceptions show how man works accord- ing to appearances, but do not show what works upon him to induce him to do what he does, or for what pur- pose. The truth, out of its own amplitude, takes care of that, albeit the personal mind claims to lay out the workings of the truth. But it does not: it is outside the instruction of the truth, and knows not what is inside. More is involved in this economic subject than the "bread-and-butter question," as it is somethimes called. The equitable distribution of what is already here, both in labor to be performed and that which accrues from it, must come from a higher standard than anything man's mind can invent to imitate that standard. Injustice in the person of man makes the hard conditions of life to be as they are, and these harrowing conditions are not responsible of themselves, for "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." The inner man has dominion over conditions. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scor- pions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. ' ' The standpoint of truth, which remains the same, is above the literal, for there is no adding to or taking Incentives of Natural Mind 245 from it. It is also above the mistranslations of man's mind. Tares will be found in the literal; but the hu- man mind, in its self -righteousness, wants to throw out the tares, although it is the author of them. That mind objects to certain things written in Scripture; but it does not refrain from doing these very things; and it does not like to view its own photograph. Again let us reiterate, that the life is not to be found in this book, nor in any other ; for life is spiritual. The counterfeit good side of man's mind objects to reading literature suggestive and baneful, after its own way of thinking; but the noxiousness is not in the writing. That writing merely serves to stir up the mud already in the human mind. The purpose of diversion from the main subject is to allow the bringing-in of sidelights of man's personal mind, to show that it is no sure foundation on which to build. A set of rules formulated by the common mind, with its mistaken intent and purpose of making what it calls a "good environment," does not expunge the perverse and crooked characteristics of the man of the senses. The human mind always makes a get-away from its own philosophy or science. If it makes a true state- ment, it also denies it in performance and practice. If one of its errors is pointed out, and it perceives it in measure, it will deny the whole premise on that particular subject, but being the dupe and under the influence of its hobby it will still hold to its ideas in the main. The sentient man sets up his false standards, being ignorant that if he got what he wanted he would not 246 Socialism Reviewed then have the truth, but an accumulation of a lot of junk, mental and physical, as it is viewed in the light of the truth. We have a concrete example in the over- rich, with their paucity of knowledge of the truth; yet they have both mental and physical culture, according to man's mind. Socialists say the rich are hampered through not having a sense of worth on account of the prevailing economic system; that they have been false- ly educated, and do not know the measure of value; and that they are not far-sighted enough to see that they are sowing the seeds of destruction by their own plans. But the Socialist comes short of seeing that all the lack he shows in the Capitalist is found in himself — except the lack of his theories. The Socialist does not fully perceive the simple fact, that notwithstanding his own enlarged knowledge, (which of course is false), the true co-operation must be in the individual member; and that no law from without, but unity within, will cause a change of effects, creating fair dealings of man with man. The only difference essentially between the Capitalist and the working man is a difference of position, not of na- ture. Therefore, if we would get away from the wor- ship of Mammon, we must become de-hypnotized by receiving the Divine nature, at first with a small begin- ning, as in the case of the mustard seed. The common mind, with its comparative justice, works in cycles, always reverting to its low nature — of which its so-called " higher nature" is but an imitation of the divine nature based upon immutable law, which does not work in cycles but continues always the same. This is the source of the true co-operation, which cannot be literally or verbally explained, for the simple reason Incentives of Natural Mind 247 that the Spirit of truth, as applied to any question, whether economic or otherwise, is not an explanation. The human mind, in its verbosity, is long on platitudes but short on performance. Inward growth along the line of truth cannot be explained because reality is not its testimony. The truth, which is the Life, is not what some human mind thinks about it; it is that which is above all testmony and explanations. The common mind always contradicts itself, and hur- ries along, getting ahead of its own claims. According to the materialist conception of history, at the expira- tion of one form of society another form is ready to take its place; in fact, while the first begins to decline, the succeeding form is arising. But the nexus of true co- operation is not changes in a system or administration, but from that which in its inherent stabilty never changes. Therefore the evolutonary processes of the systems, winding up and culminating in a Common- wealth of equity and justice, is but a myth of man's mind. The evolutionary panorama never lands one in the truth, but goes to its own highest state and then falls, returning to its own sphere of effects. The glamor and clangor of changing effects cause the mind to be duped into believing that the lie is evolving into the truth. The human mind takes tares for wheat. But where the truth is in fullness there are no tares. "Let both grow to- gether until the harvest; and in time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into My barn." The natural mind, in its own righteousness, tries to uproot evil ; but it applies this to the other member, and 248 Socialism Reviewed not to itself. That is the way this meddlesome mind , which always misses the mark, works. It passes over the obvious truth and accepts the plausible lie, neglect- ing its own business to meddle with other men 's matters. The man of the senses busies himself carrying off all the honors, while the disciple of the truth appears to him to be reprobate. Radicals, so-called, do not get to the root-meaning of things, but try to bring something to pass before the time is ripe. This proves that they fail to get to the cause. Impressions of the mind can- not do that ; therefore a broader outlook must be taken, in which it will be seen that environment is not cap- tivity ; for it runs not in one particular direction. Also the magnitude of it is illimitable. Likewise conditions, however hard they are seen to be, are understood as the necessary stairs to the door of truth. They are means to an end; and are merely the vehicle that serves a purpose and is then laid aside as the truth, is reached. So there is nothing to find fault with, as the Lord utili- zes all things in the drawing of the disciple toward Him- self ; and this drawing is not to a particular place, but it is in deed and in truth ; which takes the disciple away from the shadowy effects and images of his mind. To be educated does not mean to have true knowl- edge. We have rampant in the world education of the commercial kind, which results in a man ignoring the truth. "There is no fool like an educated fool." He thinks he has something when he has nothing; nothing in the light of knowledge of the truth ; and whatever is not of the truth is nothing, in the last analysis. The truth expels the shadows of the personal mind. You cannot pour new wine into old bottles (wine-skins) and make a success of it. So the more the personal mind Incentives of Natural Mind 249 is educated, the denser and darker is the eclipse between itself and the disciple. There is no room in the human mind for the truth, because that mind is filled with lies ; therefore the truth takes away man's personal mind. It does not build on the old foundation. However the negative has its part to play, as regards the disciple, in the divine economy of truth, and is used as means of conveyance to the destination. That reached, it is of no further use. No change of the regimen, coming from the common mind, can conduce to true co-operation ; because to that mind the lie is the truthj and the truth the lie. And the disciple is accused by that mind of everything with- in itself; everything but the truth which the disciple has received. That mind can never regard him as hav- ing truth, for that is foreign to its nature. The disciple does not claim that he is essentially dif- ferent from others ; his difference lies in the measure of the truth he has received. That possession comes from the higher Source and supersedes the law of the man of the senses. Personally speaking, the disciple is like other men; excepting that this lower tendency is held more in subjection according to the degree of his growth. The perfect man has his human mind and senses in full control. He is not ruled by them, but they are governed by the higher law in its administration, in keeping with the need of the disciple. There is no physical freedom. The only freedom is the Spirit of truth, which is boundless. The free man is as free in jail as in any other place. The negative mind can never become the positive truth ; but this is the delusion the man of the senses is under, thinking that the negative will arise to the 250 Socialism Reviewed truth. In truth, education is swallowed up in edifica- tion, which is of the lineaments of life. One man says, according to the economic interpretation of history, the bread-and-butter question is the first thing to consider, as we must eat ; and if we have the wherewithal to buy food, and other necessaries, it will preclude the necessity of the mad strife for the supply of personal wants ; and we can then give time to what tends to edification. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous- ness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The human mind, in dealing with the effect, tries to arrive at the end before it has started, before beginning. The reverse of this, which is of the truth, appears to that mind as the adverse of truth. In truth there is always absolute justice, for cause leads to effect ; but the personal mind, dealing only with effects, does not see the cause of certain manifestations; therefore it finds fault with actions that are perfectly natural, but not apparent to that mind, which tries to wipe out the effect of its own enervation, being ignor- ant of the cause of the trouble. The man of the senses is deceived by another mem- ber, under the influence of his senses, telling him some- thing which he already has in his mind. This is how the human mind's lies are confirmed, and how the hear- say of that mind becomes accepted. The disciple deals with the cause. The good effects are not supplemented by the cause, but are one with it. The effect is not the augmentation of the cause. The cause cannot be added to nor subtracted from. The personal mind thinks it has reached the acme of truth about a subject when it has the adverse of it, according to the outward view of things, and from the Incentives of Natural Mind 251 supposed priority of a lower form of development ris- ing to a higher. But by no possible means will the effects that the human mind perceives ever develop in- to the truth, for that mind sees nothing but its own deceptions. New systems, or lack of system, being instituted from the effect-standpoint of man's mind, will not of them- selves lead to true co-operation. Man's degrees of cul- ture from a supposed lower state, are but the chimeri- cal changes of the outwardness of his mind. The out- ward culture is the cloak thrown over the naked truth about his insidious inherent nature. Yet it all serves a purpose; but not the way the man's mind thinks; namely, a change from savagery to barbarism, from bar- barism to feudalism, from feudalism to capitalism, and what is named as the next step, Socialism, or the Co- operative Commonwealth of the Collectivists. The hu- man mind cannot take this last step and have true co- operation. Many are reviewing their first ideas on this line, and have become apathetic towards it in the light of later developments. The plausible, according to man 's mind, does not happen, except in details of effects, be- cause the cause is not seen by the senses of man for what it is, for the effect cannot know the cause. The truth of any matter does not come by observing phenomena, but to the disciple of truth understanding is given, and the good effects are the confirmation of that understanding, but they are not seen by man's senses. Socialists got entirely away from their premise in trying to show the outcome of the changing systems, when they speculated that the outcome of Cap- italism would be Socialism. This causes this evolution- ary idea to fall flat, because it would have economic 252 Socialism Reviewed justice come from the personal mind's idea of how it should come. Under all the preceding systems, sav- agery, barbarism, feudalism and capitalism, the main elements of the human mind, contention, division and strife, played the leading part, and are still playing it, but under a Co-operative Commonwealth these elements must of necessity be subjugated, or it will be co-opera- tion in name only; which is all that man's natural mind can put forth, imitating the true co-operation, in which each member does his part, without interfering or being interfered with by the rest. The man of the personal mind is not cultured away from his base nature, but outwardly he appears to be, at certain times. In the strict sense he does not revert, for the reason that he never departs from his old self by himself ; but the man of the senses grows worse and worse. As his nature is being brought to a climax, he is given over to the full control of his personal mind and senses, and the intercession of the higher law is apparently taken away, but of course it retains super- vision, but this works the other way with the disciple of truth; instead of him getting worse, he grows on to- wards perfection as his selfishness is taken away. This is all for a purpose. In the disciple the man of the senses has to die ; for he is but the form of life and out- ward effect, giving way before the eternal life, which is the reward of the disciple. To speak of eternal life is to stagger the human mind, by which it is impossible of conception ; because it takes its form of life to be the All, when it is nothing, and it looks down upon everything else as secondary. The man of the senses, in his perversions and reversions, is true to his nature. "But it happened unto them according Incentives of Natural Mind 253 to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." The evolutionary theory, that the man of the senses is evolving into something higher, according to his own appraisement, is false : he only turns around to the same thing. "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in mar- riage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. ' ' We now have the "flood" of the increased knowledge of the human mind. "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." The human mind has an aversion for the Scriptures of truth, for their meaning is beyond its comprehen- sion. There can be no Co-operative Commonwealth with the human mind in the way. Its natural working is strife contention, division; which are not factors of a united Co-operative Society. It must be superseded by the pure mind of Christ, with immutable law for its bulwark. Under a Co-operative System the elements of the personal mind just mentioned must be overcome. This is primary to the revelation of the Light of life. It is at this point that the failure of the human mind is shown to those able to see it; that is, to those who realize that the Spirit of truth must have the upper hand, must predominate to make this overcoming. 254 Socialism Reviewed The apothegm of this matter is, that the mind that formulated the theory of scientific Socialism is the same human or common mind that is in bondage to its per- sonal limitations. That which is limited is not the author of freedom. The principal lack of the assem- blages of men is the agreement and the unity they talk so much about: this lack is the basis of the personal mind. But agree men must, and that from the true basis, before there can be true co-operation. Truth maintains that real co-operation comes from a higher Source than the mentality of man, which works con- versely to it, and in its zeal mesmerizes it into the be- lief that when tested it can do something that it cannot. The finest sayings, personally speaking, are but plati- tudes, coming from the pragmatical person of man, by which he is deceived, not knowing their delusive nature. Another foremost fundamental factor of the common mind is its racial prejudices; which alone would keep it from co-operating. Socialists do not see this as it is when the prevailing deep-seated antipathy is pointed out, although the welding together of the nations of the earth is the objective of their teaching. Of course, Socialists do not recognize the instability of the human mind, with its continuously shifting basis ; nor that it is impossible for two men from that mind to see the same thing in the same way for any consecutive length of time. The personal mind has only been able to compromise on this question of agreeing through the coercion of laws with a penalty that keep it within certain prescribed limits. But even this basis is a good thing : it is through it that we gain experience. The law is a necessity, so that the man of the senses can carry on to the next stage of action. Incentives of Natural Mind 255 Man's laws vary at different times and in different places; but the immutable law of truth never varies: it is the same at all times and in all places. Economic justice comes under the jurisdiction of the higher law as incidental to it, and not under the law of the human mind. This is why the Socialist omits to touch upon the true co-operation. The higher law is of the Spirit of truth, which prevents the person of man from doing as he pleases. There is no personal choice between a lie and the truth; for the personal can never choose the truth. Its choice is between the relativity of its two main states, good and evil ; but one is no more true than the other. The die of the disciple is cast in the unchanging law: this is indubitable fact, of which the personal mind is unaware. This unvarying law of the Spirit of truth separates the disciple from the person of man — the sheep from the goats. Then that only is left which is of the nature of the unvarying law of the Spirit of truth, and the true nature of the disciple comes to view. The Lord Jesus spake of being one with His Father: He said, "I and My Father are one;" and His work with His disciples was to make them one with Him. He said, "Without Me (which is the truth), ye can do nothing." The things of the nature of shadows will have to de- part before the coming of things permanent. Much study by the personal mind is not the means of passage through the narrow way of truth, nor is it the appointed purveyor of supply to the needs of the disciple. Rather, it is a barrier between the disciple and the truth. It is that which is taken out of the disciple's way by the truth. This is the Lord's work, and not man's. But the person of man is utilized 256 Socialism Reviewed as a servant by the Lord, causing the disciple to learn obedience by the things he suffers. To say, that there is no truth in the person of man, and then to affirm that he is utilized by the truth for a purpose, sounds like contradiction to man's mind. This can be answer- ed, to those open to receive it, by illustrations. For example, a shadow is not that which casts it; yet the shadow testifies to the existence of that which casts it. A disciple is not the school in which he gets his exper- ience. The man of the senses identifies himself with the school; that is why he does not graduate, coming out from being under the law and going beyond the schoolmaster; but the disciple of truth rises above this lower law. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, the Truth. The man of the senses does not learn by his experience, while the disciple does. From this we see that there is a purpose in everything. The lower is made a footstool for what is higher; but it re- mains in its place and does not become the higher. The personal is a subsidiary of the disciple, to be used ; and, having served its purpose, to vanish away. This writing is not the Spirit of truth, it is but a testimony. The personal mind would limit a testimony by building a fence around it, as it were. The truth is manifested in the inner man, not in books. The disciple is cognizant of the true testimony only because it is first in him. "For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy;" but that is not literal, it is spiritual. If the literal was the word of God, the sectarians would not disagree with each other, building their so-called "right" on the "wrong" of others; and the infidel could not disagree with the whole of them, raising his false superstructure on the wrongs of all the sectarians. Incentives of Natural Mind 257 The disciple appears dogmatic to man's mind when he is emphatic as to what is truth. The personal mind asks, "Why the need for all this writing?" There is no need of it for the establishment of truth; which is al- ready established; it is useful only as incidental for man's benefit. "Whenever the personal mind sets up a particular writing and calls it the truth, even though it be a statement of truth, it is but the setting up of an- other idol. The adversary uses writing of the human mind to haggle over, especially Scripture. Considering the nature of the natural mind, it is a marvel that it is held within bounds at all; but seeing that it is, we will take a more optimistic view, and con- clude that the affairs of men are being carried on as well as they can be. Hence we indulge a conservative attitude toward things human, because we see it is vain to try to bring something to pass, that is to happen, before the time of its manifestation is ripe. For this reason alone, it is wise to be conservative. When the man that is calling for economic justice and co-opera- tion among men sees this, he will have looked into the recesses of his own mind to discover if there is any basis of justice in himself. He will not find it however in his personal and unconscionable mind ; but it is planted and growing within the inner man. That means, in the individual member, before it becomes truly collective, ere expression and manifestation are made. The con- servatism referred to is by no means according to the ordinary meaning of subservience to oppression, but from the standpoint of seeing that no enduring benefit can come from man's mind. When the disciple sees this he is ready for the higher growth. In truth there is no "without," in the strict sense of these 258 Socialism Reviewed terms; it is an all-pervading Spirit of life, without end and omnipresent. Each disciple is its pivotal point. The personal mind illustrates the delusion it is in by looking away from the inner man, who is informed, in- structed or built up in understanding. Looking for the environment to change, is like the Five Foolish Vir- gins in the parable of Jesus: they had no oil in their lamps at the critical season, when they had most desperate need of it. The preparation of the disciple is in his growth. That does not come all at once, but by degrees. The test shows the measure of one 's stature. Anything done in violence, by the obstreperous per- sonal mind, is not finished ; it has to be done over again the proper way. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves : be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Credit is not to be given to what the man of the senses says; for he is continually being deceived as to what he believes. He is not sure what his wavering mind believes, although he thinks he is, and he worships he knows not what. A man, from his natural mind, who says he would be willing to give up his money, his pro- fit, his unpaid labor and surplus value, or excess incre- ment, as it is called, looks upon it differently when he is put to the test. His personal mind is willing to give up its accumulations for the sake of the Co-operative Commonwealth; but only in theory, for the sake of his hobby. His mind apparently imagines great things in a short space of time, but it is short on performance of his part in bringing them to pass. If the man really and truly is willing to give up his attachments for the benefit of all, it is not merely for the sake of catering to a hobby : he does it from the higher standpoint. Incentives of Natural Mind 259 The personal mind, in the zeal of its enthusiasm, may- think it will do a certain thing; but that mind is an adept at making excuses. If the man of the senses says he will give up his money for the cause of the Co-opera- tive Commonwealth, his usual exceuse when put to the proof is (referring to his former collaborators), "Well, they will never wake up, anyway. ' ' He is not awake to the nature of his own mind; his words belie what he has claimed to believe. This is the usual excuse that the former "wage-slave" (as he called himself) has when he has been left an inheritance, or has piled up not the "medium of exchange," but the medium of piling up. A man in that condition has not awakened himself, nor does he earnestly want others to arouse ; he makes the plausible-sounding excuse that you cannot practice So- cialism under Capitalism. Yes, but it is because of man's increased selfishness, not because of the system, for it did not cause itself. Reference to the human mind is still being kept up ; for that, and not something else, is what is being dealt with. The Socialist says he believes a man should be reim- bursed only for the labor he performs, which labor is the measure of value. Profit, under the competitive system, is in excess of payment for labor performed. True; but the human mind cannot apply any statement of justice from the teachings of Socialism. Many true and useful statements are enunciated; but the personal mind is no fit foundation to rest those statements on, for it decries the very spirit of justice, trying to put it on a material or effect basis. The statement that production will be carried on for use, instead of for profit, under a just administration, is true; but the ideas of spoliation coming from the human mind must first be taken away. CHAPTER III False Hope in Expecting a Change of Environment to Bring About True Co-Operation; Instead of from the Spirit of Co-Operation The ordinary idea along this evolutionary line is that man is waiting for a particular kind of environment in keeping with the principle of co-operation; but true co- operation is not tacked on the outside of a man. That which is manifest in environment without will be the re- flex of what is within the man. If the Judas character- istic is stronger in him than the disciple that loves the truth more than money, that characteristic will be dem- onstrated. The truth along this line is simplicity itself. But the man of the senses tramples upon this simplicity, going after his natural food, which is the falsely in- creased knowledge germinated in the labyrinth of ideas in the natural mind. Communists say they believe that an injury to one is injurious to all. The human mind does not believe this, while saying it. Communists deride the Utopian idea; but their idea is Utopian, as it is founded on the chang- ing mind. They leave out the facts, and berate others for not seeing them. The personal mind, in its diversity of conflicting thoughts, gives a color to words that they do not pos- sess. Because something is called ' ' scientific, ' ' that does not prove it is a fixed fact. The human mind always 262 Socialism Reviewed gets a wrong implication as to a fact. It follows there- fore, that its attempted amplification of it is equally er- roneous. The man of the senses calls effects facts; but they are not facts of truth, in which the whole is seen, or the whole according to the relativity of the particular members in their relation to it. Customs, fashions and environment do not alter the fixed facts of truth, which know no change. The law of justice says, a man must reap what he sows. If he sows to his personal inclina- tions and desires, without regard to the welfare of all, he will reap corruption, even though he amasses money and is rated respectable. Disciples of truth do not call labor, or the products of labor, or their combination, the measure of value, as do the Socialists. Their understanding of the unfold- ing manifestation of equity and justice is from within. This solves the problem of man's mind regarding the equitable distribution of labor among those who per- form it, and the commodities of that labor. The disci- ple of truth, in fulfillment of his high calling, is more willing to mete out justice along the line of man's per- sonal necessities, than a parent is willing to care for the necessities of his child from his personal mind. His is a sure foundation, which it is impossible to buy or bribe. Instead of his trying to get by, he knows he must buy everything he gets that is worth having. He also knows that money is not the price he must pay for its possession. For, strictly speaking, what he receives of the truth is a free gift — that which is not his own. And as the Spirit of truth is illimitable and reaches all, there- fore he can not monopolize it. The price the disciple pays is suffering, caused by the working of truth in its separation, or rending of the person of man from the in- ner man. True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 263 When the disciple manifests justice altogether, that is justice only, he has reached perfection. This is not to be construed to mean that the disciple does not fall far short of the high calling in the primary stage of growth. The disciple and the person of man do not co-ordinate and become one : they are separated from each other. Again : it is not the purpose of this writing to con- demn any doctrine or theory of man 's mind, for they are all playing their part until they are dismissed, or taken away. In truth a distinction is made between the cause, which is spiritual, and the offspring or effect, which does not take into consideration the cause and purpose of things, since it cannot look to the truth which looks at it, and shows up its false pretensions. The personal mind sets bounds to environment, there- by revealing its own limitation; but the environment is not in any particular direction. The common mind, hold- ing limitation, acts from that basis, and the result is a restriction of its own doings. Of course, the human mind is enslaved by itself, making the true way to be om- inously looked upon by the personal. The Spirit of truth refers to the cause of every effect, or to that which is back of effect; but any statement of truth seems in- credible to the personal mind, with its own opposite tes- timony. To speak of eternal life from the cause-basis is to speak of that which is outside the range and focus of the fictitious fables of man 's mind. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. It has nothing of the na- ture of limitations. That the truth is not planted in the human mind is altogether inadmissible by this mind; but the proof is that the truth is above the human mind, and not from it. There is not one thought of truth hav- ing a sentient nature. All truth testifies oppositely to 264 Socialism Reviewed any view taken by the saturnalian personal mind. But the license of this mind is curbed at a certain point by the higher law of truth, yet being at all times under its supervision. The higher law notes the human mind for what it is, interdicting it, so that the truth alone is left. The natural mind keeps erasing effects, but does not get at the cause of the trouble. From the standpoint of the personal mind, the Socialist that feels the pinch of the Capitalistic System argues for the Co-operative Com- monwealth ; but his psychology changes as soon as he is ensconced in luxury; which shows the precariousness of the foundation he is on. If he is working from the true basis he will act according to its just law, whether he is rich or poor, or is called good or bad by the human mind. He is upright, irrespective of his changing sur- roundings; for there is that within him that does not change. Again, the sophistry of the Socialist's senses, cul- minating in the human mind, suggests to him, "Why not make the system so secure as to preclude dependence on chance for a liveihood?'' as it is under the com- petitive system. "Why not make it so that a man could not take unjust advantage of his fellows in business affairs?" — such as would be if production was main- tained for use instead of profit, and the product of his labor would be the measure of what he would receive. The thing preventing the accomplishment of this is the man himself. Of course, that includes the Socialist with others. The clangor of the zeal of the revolutionary mind, in its ecstatic states, thinks that because a change is being wrought it is for the better; but it never is, according to its own standard. The change serves a purpose, but True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 265 not in its meaning. The individual may get what he seeks, to hold temporarily; but that is not to the bet- terment of all the members, nor to himself, that is from his own standpoint, but in truth it has its purpose. The truth is no respecter of persons ; it pervades all, as does the sun that shines on the just and on the unjust. The human mind can only get an imitative Co-operative Com- monwealth, therefore a counterfeit one, brought on by permission, through the modes and coercive methods of the same mind ; and it gets this only through much suf- fering. The man of the senses gets temporary relief ; as a man carrying a heavy load on one shoulder, by shift- ing it to the other. But the relief is only of short dura- tion. In truth this load is laid down by being taken up, yet by no means in a personal sense. In truth obligation is taken on; unlike the common mind, which tries to shirk responsibility. It (obliga- tion) is taken up to be carried, until it is fulfilled. The burden is not made light with reference to the accoutre- ments of the personal mind, but is lightened from the basis of what seems puerile to it. The student of truth is weaned from his selfishness and the arrogance of his mind. He finds that the accumulation of material pos- sessions, to the deprivation of his fellows, goes against himself and all the other members, and that nothing tan- gible to his senses will make him steadfast and secure. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart (mind) ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls/ ' The personal mind calls this sentiment ; but it is from this mind that sentiment springs. The natural mind transposes the words of truth to fit its own feelings of sentiment. The words of truth are not called "meta- 266 Socialism Revieived physics" by the Truth, nor does any other designation signify what they are, when coming from the personal mind, for they are spiritual. That mind falls back on comparisons. It compares the natural with the natural, one effect with another; not apprehending the magni- tude and stupendous Source from which the illumination springs, yet manifested in the simplicity of truth. When the errors of the human mind are pointed out to the Socialist, he" will say, ' ' Well, you cannot expect us to be perfect. ' ' No ; the man of the senses is not ex- pected to be perfect, except on his lower plane ; but be- fore the Co-operative Commonwealth is had, culminating in economic justice, its promulgators will have to be far along towards perfection. The indomitable will of the unchanging law of justice cannot be set aside simply by giving it a name, however broad its purview in signifi- cation ; for justice is not what it is called, but what it is in reality. The human mind only receives a temporary respite from its own burden until that burden is taken away. The more educated that mind becomes, the harder it is to sovetize it into working councils, on account of the conflictings of the seemingly innumerable systems of ed- ucation ; all of them working to establish personal supe- riority, to gain the advantage. In other words, it is the human mind's aim, in its czaristic leanings, to get some- thing for nothing, by having the other members carry the load. There is a sanguinary aftermath to the regime of the natural mind, in its attempts to enforce its own ideas of justice. Absolute co-operation cannot be had until the changeable human mind is subjected to the changeless law of true co-operation, coming from the one Source; in which each member, functioning in his own order, is subjected to the all-pervading law of unity and True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 267 justice; which law is not compatible with what the per- sonal mind calls good and evil, right and wrong, positive or negative; for the law of truth embraces all; which saves the universe from falling asunder. The more educated man's mind becomes, the more it splits up into factions, parties, sects, doctrines, dogmas, hierarchies, and the like, brewing all manner of trouble. "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- tempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." The mind that discards the simplicity of truth for {he camouflage of appearances, as it does in its business deal- ings, is not a worthy foundation for true co-operation, because the camouflage looks better to it than the truth itself. It comes under the spell of that which makes it think it will get something for nothing, and accepts the shoddy article, because of its dotage on appearances, complacently working its deception. Because there is a false knowledge, based on the hu- man mind, a knowledge that genders strife, it is not to be assumed that there is not a true knowledge, not based upon that mind, and which never fails; but this true knowledge begins in simplicity, and the educated per- 268 Socialism Reviewed sonal mind, with its aversion for simplicity, passes it over. What is called the ''Golden Rule" ("Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them") is the commencement and the completion of economic justice. But this is ODly applicable from the higher standpoint, because the per- son of man is looking for his own kind of perfection for himself only. The higher law, as before said, begins with simplicity; complications come from the personal mind. The common commercial education is averse to the Golden Rule; its standard is the gold-and-silver rule. The motive of that education is for the purpose of tak- ing advantage, through craftiness, of the rest of the members that have not had equality of opportunity along this line of tutorship. A student of truth who has received the true idea of justice, will give it with as much freedom and spon- taneity of action as the light in its appearing. Eco- nomic justice is the appanage of the enlightened man. He will not cripple the opportunities of his fellow-man, any more than he would willingly cripple a member of his own body, at the expense of the others. This does not mean that he is better of himself than another; but it does mean that he has been weaned to some extent from that self, for which the person of man has so much re- spect. The inner man, or the one that loves the truth, is all that is left, after the disciple has been weaned from his lower self through suffering. "And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but who- soever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. ' ' True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 269 The "self" referred to before is the person of man, and the "life" to be lost is also the personal. It would appear, from the literal, that the personal has a hand in the denial ; but it is the spiritual that does the deny- ing of self. In proportion to the measure of truth given to the disciple is the personal taken away. This saying of the Lord's is obviously and omin- ously a contradiction, to the "good" side of man's mind. As where He said: "If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." But he will love them the more, in the true meaning, knowing that they are an instrument in God 's hand. ' ' And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." The human mind, in its transposition of words in the foregoing sayings merely objects to its own repinings. The disciple is not only to "hate" (not despise) the form of life of the other members, but his own selfish life. This "hate" bears an entirely different meaning to what man calls hate. It is the selfishness in man, which represses and takes advantage, with its sun- dry and altogether unsocial exigencies, in order to meet the demands of its haughtiness and pride. The proud man, for his personal exaltation, must have an under dog, to make comparison between it and him- self. The greedy, selfish and rapacious man of the senses must have degradation, want and woe, to draw the line of comparison between these and his own material prosperity, to appease his individual selfishness. But retribution will fall on his own head; and it is sure, in the compensative law of justice and of right. The man of the senses hides behind lies, making them his 270 Socialism Reviewed refuge ; but he is not hidden from the eyes of the Truth. " Judgment also will I lay to the line, and, righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." The demise of all that is personal must take place in the presence of the Spirit. Following is another saying of Jesus that galls the human mind, because it is out to save its false life, and the many selfish and deceptive obsessions it harbors, which the truth overules and finally slays. "But those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me." These "enemies" are the fruits of the human mind, which mind has to be slain before the disciple is free. The retribution on those that are rich in this world's goods and that oppress the poor, does not only mean and signify that the poor will rise up and use physical force, in their ignorance of truth; but that darkness and the oppressor are put under as the out- come of retributive justice, even where no hand of man is raised against the wicked. It is in the abuse, not the use, of temporal things, that evil lies. The man of the senses who gains only to the furtherance of his self- aggrandizement, gains darkness at the expense of light; and instead of basking in the sunlight of truth, darkness and dimness of anguish are his sure reward. The truth does not come from the scientific mind that expatiates about the sidereal regions millions of miles away in the heavens, but cannot tell what is going on, nor the result and effects in its own domain and realm here on the earth. The seemingly far-sightedness of that mind passes over the simplicity of the truth which is True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 271 close at hand, and which it looks upon as abstract. Yes, the disciple of truth sees that true co-operation indubit- ably comes from what is higher, in which there is no proselyting, but to each is given the full measure of his desert; but the mind of man, in its affectation, wants others to be like itself. There will be emoluments for all when wisdom is given to each member to know where he belongs in the body. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." The time referred to in this scripture is the period of the true co-operation. Then will righteousness be uni- versal. It will not be according to the environment, but the environment will be according to it, and not subject to changing conditions; for conditions will then be un- changing. "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." In the true unity, changing conditions will not be brought on by the avariciousness of the human mind, but the conditions will be subject to the Head of the mem- bers, for justice will prevail, and the knowledge of the truth will be shared by all; which verily shows to a disciple that benefit to one is benefit to all. "And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall 272 Socialism Eevietved plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." The truth works to the ingratiating of all alike, in- so-far as meting out justice is considered; so that each man shall sit under his vine and fig tree and none shall make them afraid. The disciple acts magnanimously to- wards others; and he does this not after the actions of the person of man who flatters himself, but he shows the corruption of what the man of the senses flatters; then there is nothing left but that which is of worth. He who is reprobate as to the truth, compares the disciple with somebody else. This is bodily comparison, and does not fit the disciple, who has been put into the crucible, and coming forth, is moulded after the pattern of the Truth. "But He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Along the line of the bearing of burdens, each disciple of the truth bears his own burden. This makes the burden light upon others, with nothing left to extenuate the parasitical nature of man. If the personal mind knew itself, and its own shortcomings, it would not ex- pect any good to come from itself. The disciple of truth sees the truth as it is ; that is why he appears conserva- tive, not expecting anything from the human mind that is enduring or that has tendency to the edifying of the whole body. The human mind wants to straighten out others; but this mind is decarnated in the disciple: True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 273 he attends to his business to such extent that his natural mind is taken away by the truth. That in truth there is prevalence of right is an ab- straction to the human mind, in which righteousness is foreign to that mind 's variate vagaries. The racial strain is deep-seated in the common mind, and draws men to- gether in phalanxes to resist encroachment by other races. On occasions of test this is how it acts, regard- less of the altruistic motives the mind thinks is possesses. The idea of class or caste is uppermost in it, despite what the assumed ''good" side of that mind affirms. It is subordinated to its own limitations. The personal mind of the rich and the poor are sub- stantially alike. The rich man is backed up by tem- poral power, flowing from his wealth. This enables him to exhibit more forcefully his arrogant nature. The comparing of one person of man with another (they are the same intrinsically and extrinsically) will go in the face of the true unity, which compares spiritual things with spiritual. The outward sight of the eye is but the dealing with effect, and not cause. " Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this and show us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth." The personal mind is not sound, for it rests on a plat- form of change, and illustrates its insanity by its strong belief in its own certitude; not realizing that it goes from one false belief to another and in each is sure that it is right, and is not fully deceived until it is sure 274 Socialism Reviewed that it is right. It is deceived according to the strength, of the belief that it is right. The disciple of truth being placed upon a sound mind and sure foundation, is first shown that he may be wrong in certain attitudes that he takes ; for he will have to run the gauntlet of the human mind's delusions, in the different states of its hobbies, obsessions and hypnosis, and his deception is in feeling sure that he is right in one of these. Moreover, there is nothing he can do of himself to escape these errors: that is the work of the guiding Hand of the supernatural and supreme law. Any other foundation than this is from the illusion of his mind. The lie never becomes the truth ; the shad- ow never changes into the light ; and the effect never is the cause; of which effect the cause is the sustenance, unassailable and eternal. The disciple is kept from going into bypaths to the extent of his recognition of the truth. The student, at the beginning of his pilgrimage, who is not sure in his own personal mind that he is right, is in a condition to receive the bounty of truth. The proud man is not sane: he thinks he is something when in the light of truth he is nothing. But the personal mind must go through its courses, and do what it is let do. The use of this being to give the disciple needed experience ; then to fall away, so as not to act as embol- ism to the circulation of the true knowledge in the mem- bers of the body. Stages of the personal do not grow into the spiritual. What is called the social and organic evolution, merely describes the effects of the former and the speculations of the human mind regarding the latter. In the Spirit of truth, there are no higher and lower forms, for they indicate shadows ; but there is a purpose in man 's beliefs, in their sphere. ' ' For the earnest expectation of the crea- True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 275 ture waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity not will- ingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glor- ious liberty of the children of God." The young disciple is in the error of thinking that by ignoring the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he is following the straight and narrow way of truth. He is deceived temporarily by his improvident mind, think- ing because he does not talk personally, as he reckons personal, that it is proof that he is a partaker of the fruit of the truth. In this state of mind he becomes preju- diced and biased against a few things, wrongly believing that it is the truth which he possesses that enables him to discern the error of what he is prejudiced against. But the other wrongs do not make him right, and he will be disillusioned of his own idea of right according as the truth grows within him. The man of the natural mind is not insensate; for he is deceived by this, the shifting state of his feelings. The politician with the forensic faculty takes it with him, in the urbanity of his out- ward bearing, and spends his time before being elected in making promises ; after election breaking these prom- ises. If the human mind could reason, it would see that most of the promises he makes it is not in his power to fulfill, any way. The politician looking for temporal power is polite, as politeness goes, and the human mind dotes on it when it comes from the suavity of that same mind; for that mind can be fooled by its own deceivings. Oratory, ardently voiced, does not signify that it is of the truth; but the impressionable mind takes it so. 276 Socialism Reviewed The pent-up zeal of the common mind gives utterance by the mouth of what does not exist in its form of life. " Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." The increased knowledge of man's mind does not mean that it makes the man con- siderate of his fellows, which is the main requisite for true growth. The trend of the personal mind is to- wards the sectionalizing of its own particular false beliefs, indoctrinated within itself. The eloquent orator and the cunning artificer appear to that mind to be what they are not. Socialists are not fully aware of the salient point that the competitive system is the perfectly natural outcome of the human mind. They try to get around this by saying that it is the inhuman mind. But wheth- er it is called "human" or "inhuman," does not change its nature. The fact remains, that the truth is from a higher Source, and that it is invulnerable. The agree- ment under the competitive system is formed upon expediency in the carrying on of trade; but it is by no means lasting, as we witness from time to time. In truth it is not averred that competition is based upon true righteousness, but that it is the natural out- come of the lower mind of man, and that it rightly belongs to the particular stage of his experience where it is found. There is always a broad line of demar- cation between the personal, which the Socialist tries to educate into economic justice, and the true basis which never shifts — which truth must be conceived and grown in the individual before it can become collective in true unity. The Socialist does not see the dis- tinction between the fine-looking superstructure and facade of his building and the true building, with the essentials of truth under it to keep it up, and prevent True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 277 its falling. He has not learned that the superstructure cannot hold up itself. Socialists do not recognize true value ; which is not visible means of physical existence. These are the result of true value the same as an act of charity, which is the result of charity. The true value brings just dealing, and that which is paramountry the issue of issues is knowledge of the truth. This en- ables the members of society to handle the necessities of physical existence and use them to the nourishment of the whole body; and not, as is common, to the greed of a few, working as it does to the detriment of that whole body. The hand ministers to the other members of the phy- sical body. So with the other members, which minister to each other. One member does not ignore or fail to do its part toward the rest, except through lack of understanding. This question is not answered by in- crease of human knowledge, but according to the sim- plicity of the truth. ' ' Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. ' ' There will be an equitable sharing in gathering the bounty of God already here, also an equitable distri- bution of the goods assembled, according to desert and need, when the members of the body work from the basis of cause instead of effect. The cause and power of all is back of and invisible to man's senses, and it works in justice, though it is not apparent to these same senses. The man of the senses becomes submerged in visible things. He has not the truth which makes the things seen subject to the inner man, the man that has the knowledge of the truth concerning the use and pur- pose of the visible. Physical necessities temporarily 278 Socialism Reviewed benefit by the effect they produce; but the real benefit that the inner man gets is in the knowledge of the Spirit of truth, or cause; it being behind what is visible to man 's senses. This is why the natural man comes under the power of what he sees, because he can only look at the objects, and not through them. The information the inner man receives goes beyond the shadowy visi- bility of effects. The human mind, always having ready an excuse to point to outside itself, continues to blame the system, being ignorant that it is the same mind under any system, the only difference is the varying forms of camouflage with which it covers itself. Changing the system does not conduce to the bringing about of economic justice; but when the common mind of man is changed for the mind of Christ, or truth, it is getting at the Foundation from which all justice springs. It works to the end of exchanging self-preser- vation of the person of man for self-sacrifice of that selfish person of man. This makes an end of the nature of the personal man. And this is the work of the truth at its inception; in the end nothing is left but truth. That which is temporal, unstable and mortal, of the nature of shadows, has passed away. When the mind of Christ has taken the place of the mind of man, or the mind that deals only with cor- poreality, the disciple is fit for the service of all his fellows. This sacrifice of selfishness is not the giving up of any thing worthy of adoption by the truth ; yet it is great gain both to the member and to the whole body. "I am among you as He that serveth," said the great Prince of eternal life. ' ' He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loses his life for My sake shall find it." This form of "life" of the person of man, which thinks it is something when it is nothing, as regards True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 279 the truth, is the life to be lost. The emendation does not come from the person of man, for like produces like. Truth comes from truth, and not from the person of man. The body is called the temple; and it is the temple of the Lord, which in truth is not to be denied by mak- ing it a cage for the human mind to promote its sectors of warfare in its various divisions, when one clique de- ploys its forces against another. The disciple of truth loses his selfishness and gains the truth, in service; for then he is led to diffuse his doings for the benefit of all, instead of being wrapped up in himself; but it requires the gift of the truth to be a servant for the truth's sake. For the hu- man mind cannot be a servant according to truth ; there is no adaptation in it to the higher. It lives in the low- er realm, catering to its own selfish ends, at the expense of others. But the human mind imitates the true serv- ice in its effort to counteract and turn back the tide of dark deeds that it sees rising to overwhelm and sub- merge it; for self has within itself the seeds of destruc- tion. In the true service there is no loss, but great gain. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" The person of man can neither gain nor lose the truth; but when the person of man has been laid down by the disciple, through the instrumentality of the truth and f or^ the sake of all, there is no loss, but all is gain. This seems like loss to the human mind, for it compares what it thinks is the truth with what it thinks it has, although it has nothing of truth; and of course when the truth is presented, it appears like a lie to that mind which 280 Socialism Reviewed tries to do away with it, in its self-righteousness. In- stead of being a denial of self it upholds the self as if it were truth, and denies the cross : this is the fruit of sectarian beliefs. The Socialist deals with the effect only, when ap- proaching the question of money. His idea is to make labor the standard of value, and thereby do away with the unpaid labor, or surplus value, which the gold stand- ard (golden image) represents, which is the natural outcome of the competitive and speculative system; but the true correction does not come by advocacy of a better system, but from that which was here before the changing systems, namely, the Spirit of Truth. From the Socialist standpoint, the pecuniary reimbursement would be according to the stores of commodities that labor has piled up. Thus, a man would get the full product of his labor. But still he would not get that, according to the Socialist plan. There would be deduc- tions. He would be taxed for the support of the dis- abled, and for incidentals, decided by the will of the majority. This would reduce his share. His having to pay taxes, however, would not prevent his getting the full product of his labor, where he would receive service along that line. The main thing to do here is not to consider the falsity of the system, or the effect, and then look for a remedy; for the system itself is but an effect. But the disciple of truth searches himself to find the injustice, which is then ripe for destruction. The perturbation of the human mind comes from its feeling the pinch of a system which nettles it; but it believes, according to its own selfish nature, in this very system, when the effect of its discomfiture is removed True Co-Operation From Spirit of Unity 281 and it gains the upper hand. If the man of the senses is not honest under Capitalism, he will not be under any other system given another name. Doing away with money and other things of the Capitalistic System will not do away with the man's nature and means to get around his own laws. He has a profusion of excuses for whatever he does. Not so with the disciple of truth. He knows he will have to pay to the uttermost farthing, if he goes against the welfare of the body as a whole. It is easy to prate about doing away with money and things of like nature; but the mind cannot free itself from the love of them. That remains for the truth to accomplish. Money, when used as a medium of exchange, serves a good purpose. It is now used by the hoggish human mind for piling up a fortune. The natural mind tells what ought to be done, but is not there as a servant to do it. Yet the disciple of truth blames no man, but attends to his own business, knowing men can do no more than they are able, and that truth is from a higher source than the common mind; his business is to work from this higher source. And this not according to his personal will, but in agreement with the light he has received, which enables him to see the way and be of service to the whole of humanity. The human mind is restless for changes from what it dislikes to what it desires, and finds fault because other men do not coincide with its idea. It does not know that everything works according to law, and that the disciple of truth believes only in a change when that change takes place; and he has true reason for it. At this point the disciple is accused by the human mind of being impassive; he is charged with being in- different to the needs of his fellows. It does not per- 282 Socialism Reviewed ceive that the disciple is working for true co-operation, irrespective of outward conditions. The difference is that he is doing his work by direction of the higher law; while the human mind is only talking about it. The direct action of the disciple is not against some- body, nor against any system, not even against himself. He is not against anything, but for the truth, and the truth is for him. When each member is busy at his own calling, there is no other member to watch and criticise. The disciple does not believe in an oppressive system, even if he lives in one. But he does not fight it with physical force, knowing it is expedient for it to be here for the time being, on account of the nature of the man of the senses. But the disciple does his part in the furthering of justice because he believes in it; while the man of the senses says he believes it, but it is merely a case of think so, deceived and being deceived by his personal mind, that operates in the path of least resist- ance; for it is easier for him to think justice of that mind's conception, than to do the justice not in him. The disciple is taken up with the truth; that is, he has compassion on the ignorant ; and he knows that the wants and desires of the human mind, whether it be a change of system of not, will not work establishment of equity and justice. He knows that when the fruit becomes ripe on the tree it will fall by its own weight. The human mind wants to know, in regard to questions of truth, how certain things can be, things of greatest moment. It does not know when the answer is given (for there is nothing there to record it) that it prefers the platitudinous increased knowledge. Tho simplicity of the truth seems tasteless and commonplace to mortal man. CHAPTEE IV Man's Evolutionary Ideas Deal Not With the Un- changing Truth, but Merely With Shifting Formalities According to scientific Socialism, Socialists thought they made their claims steadfast when they reckoned the social evolution with the organic, with their flimsy proofs, which appear likely enough on the surface, but which only deal with forms of man's mind. That is all they can do: the human mind being an ephemeral effect, it only has relation to things of like nature. That is the simple reason why it does not get at the cause. The natural mind is intrinsically the same, whether it is under savagery, capitalism, or Socialism. It cannot practice Socialism, for in that it would be expected to do that of which it has nothing. Looking at it from the higher standpoint, economic justice is but the out- come and an incident of the higher growth. Therefore Socialism is not the first word, nor the last, because it is based on the personal mind. The man of the senses is looked upon as having more under one system than under another, because of the outward glare and glamor of that mind's inventions. This is foolishness, in the light of the truth. ' ' Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the under- standing of their prudent men shall be hid. ,, 284 Socialism Reviewed The common mind being deceived, it does not under- stand its own doctrines. This applies to the quasi- socialists. Because they have the letter of this teaching does not signify that it is understood by them. The Socialist is convinced by that part of his teaching which appeals to his sense of justice, and he is pertinaceous in his stand for it ; but he is not aware of the lack of foundation on which his teaching is laid. Most persons that call themselves Socialists are but partially ac- quainted with the teaching even from their own view- point and fall away before becoming proficient in the teaching. They may have a sectarian belief with which the materialist conception of history does not agree. Yet the beginner along the line of the simplicity of true co-operation believes more in it than does the Socialist well grounded in the letter of his teaching from his per- sonal mind. So it resolves itself into a question of inner development, rather than of accumulation of head knowledge. The majority of those calling themselves Socialists know but little of the details of their doctrine. This in- cludes many would-be teachers, who have but a general outline of social reform, relying on detached disserta- tions of their teachings and the ideas promulgated by sub-leaders. The personal mind cannot get away from the thought of trying to cure the evil by that which caused the trouble in the first place, namely, itself. Even the disciple of truth, enlightened to some extent but not fully severed from his personal self, is as much deceiv- ed in his way as the unenlightened; for whatever self is left in the disciple will assert itself. The true co- operation is a matter of inward growth, instead of an outward human organization, with the letter of co-op- eration but not the spirit. One disciple who actually Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 285 has the teaching of true co-operation inbedded within him will practice more that teaching than a host who rely merely on the economics of the books. The latter have only the education, but not the edification which goes with real unity. The man of the senses would fain have the truth and the lie at the same time, and what he sees in the disci- ple who has ever so little of the truth working in him, is colored by the corruption of his self -mind. The di- sciple who has been made to debouch ; that is, has been taken away from his personal self and has emerged into the unlimited sphere of truth, is not following himself, for he knows the self is infirm. Getting rid of the idol set up outwardly will not suffice, for the common mind that is representative of the person of man is taken away, and it makes way for the Light of life to show in the disciple. When the man of the senses is at his ease he takes on airs of satisfaction and indifference; and when he feels the nip of poverty he thinks he believes in equality, looking for it for himself. He has a selfish idea of equality, which is with him as long as he is in a discomfited condition. Knowledge of the truth is the main thing; above the ehowy and shadowy idiosyncracies of the effects which the human mind sees. This knowledge of the truth has the cause joined to the effect, as they are, in fact, insep- arable. They are placed in their proper order, with the effect fading before the cause. "Then said 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. ' ' The common mind brings in innovations, which it mixes with statements of truth. Because the statements of truth 286 Socialism Reviewed it makes are redundant to its own nature, it tries to add something it has not. That the disciple should carry his own burden, and labor with his own hands for his necessaries, is of the just law. The apostle Paul labored with his hands, as he said, that he might not be charge- able to the brethren. This writing is not a confutation of any statement of truth presented by Socialists. It is the pointing out of their lack of capability to put into practice their statements by their own lax personal mind, notwith- standing that every man took up with their idea. A broader purview must be had than the materialist con- ception of history, or the human mind's so-called spirit- ual conception. It must be from the Source above the human mind, which looks at and knows the reality ; and not from the source of that mind which, looking out from itself, misses its nature, looking away from it, and describes what it sees as inhering in the object, when it is but the distorted vision of this mind projected toward the object. According to Socialists, the worker is robbed at the point of production. That is true, as regards effects. But from the true basis, the worker is robbed by his own mind at the point of not knowing the truth which frees the disciple from blaming one thing that he sees to the upholding of another, from the same source. From the true basis the man of the senses gets what he produces in another way. He gets what he needs, not what he wants; although that need is hard to bear. This is not an excuse for the exploiter and despoiler of the poor; for he gets what he wants — to his own detriment — by going against the whole body politic. Looking at it along this line is the reason for the disciple's submission to Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 287 sufferings and deprivation of his wants, so that he will have appreciation of the truth he is given, and of the Lord's bounty in its bestowal. The man of the senses has measured to him what he measures out. True value is not reckoned according to the greatest or lesser amount of pelf a man has accum- ulated. True value, relative to economics, is in the right use of all things, nothing working to the impediment of the least member. "Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." The "wage-slave," as he is called, is not the only kind of slave. At the other extreme of the human mind is the man who is slave to the pelf the wage-slave has piled up for him. Both are in the way of error, with the poor man having the advantage where he is rich in faith. This returns us to the question of economic justice. It shows that an injury to one member of the body is an injury to the whole body. All slavery is generated in man's mind, and will not cease until its purposed use is served. The law of the Spirit of truth always holds in subjection the lower law of man's mind. It is per- mitted to go so far, but no farther. It has a shore limit as truly as the ocean. ' ' Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee : the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain. ' ' Material accumulations and attachments keep the creature from being free; also desire for these things instead of the truth is not compatible with freedom. This is no justification for grinding the faces of the poor. It only shows rich and poor alike where they stand (as many as are able to receive it), that there may be equality and mutual participation in the ampli- tude of the truth. "Let the brother of low degree re- 288 Socialism Reviewed joice in that he is exalted; but the rich in that he is made low; because, as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away." Labor is the measure of value, according to Socialists ; but in reality it is only value secondarily. It does not mean that each man would receive the same, except for an equal performance of labor. The requisition of what the human mind has taken unjustly must be required of that man who is under the rule of that mind. He must pay in full and make restitution, for what he has unjustly taken. The higher law demands that the disci- ple set his affections on things above. The proletarian will have to see that he is the same essentially as the bourgeoise and, likewise, the bourgeoise must come to where he admits that he is the same personally as the proletarian or the ultra-rich in pelf. The other extreme of the human mind, in its revolt against the oppression of Capitalism, is to build up a philosophy of its own in self-righteousness, through failure to get at the root of the matter. Man's mind measures what it thinks is the truth by what it is doing. If a man wears old clothes and does not imitate the rich in other things, he comes under the hallucina- tion that he is following the truth, whereas it is but an idea of his own that he is carrying out. Lkewise the rich, in his simulated superiority, looks down upon the poor. If these ideas are prompted by a sectarian obsession they become a greater deceiver. The truth is above any doings of man's mind, and philosophies built on phases of that mind are not based on the immovable foundation of truth. The attempt of the person of man to get away from the sumptuous extravagance of the rich (and thinking that he is following the truth by merely doing Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 289 this) comes from what might be called the philosophy of the ' ' slum-proletaire ' ' ; for economic justice is only in- cidental to the truth, and the human mind fails in dis- crimination by accounting it the whole thing. The disciple to whom it has been given to hear the truth will manifest economic justice without effort; but this mani- festation is only incidental to the truth which he has re- ceived. Socialists have not learned this, hence they blame the "system," which is the natural outcome of their own unregeneration, as well as the Capitalists \ The person of man has no pre-eminence over a beast; as one dies, so does the other: but it is this person of ;man that imagines himself something, when he is only a masquerader. Another vital point is, that the proletarians, taken as a whole (the exceptions are few) have the same incon- tinent ideas as the big financial pilferer. By this we see the spectacle of the contradiction of man's mind, when •he is put to the test, fighting against the thing he actu- ally believes. These things the human mind covers with its aphorisms and altruistic sayings, but not deeds. The man of the senses, in his selfishness, only rebels against what he considers is not for his imme- diate benefit and of which he feels the burden. When he gets the upper hand he in turn be- comes the exploiter; and when confronted with this he blames the system; not realizing that he helps to make up that system. So we see the nature of this mind, that blights everything with which it comes in con- tact, except the truth. , The inanity and insane make-up of the human mind are apparent, also that in the midst of plenty, and an 290 Socialism Reviewed over-abundance for all, millions suffer for bare necessar- ies. Nor is this the fault of any man or set of men: they are only doing what it is natural for them to do. The common deceiver is the person of man himself — his selfishness. Again, this is not an excuse of the ex- ploiter, but it testifies to the fact that the selfish mind is not to be looked to for justice. Its eradication can only take place by the truth bringing it home to the disciple, showing him where the error is, and causing a separation of the chaff from the wheat within him. "Go to now. ye rich men, weep and howl for your mis- eries that shall come upon you. Your riches are cor- rupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasures together for the last days." The personal self, where used by the truth and for the disciple, has obstacles in it necessary to the testing of the disciple. The person of man cannot rid himself of his selfishness. That is the work of the truth. And the selfishness goes out in the same proportion as the truth comes in. The plebeian divides himself, in his mind, from the patrician: he makes of himself another class. So like- wise, the patrician does the same thing. In both cases it is the working of the same human mind, sub- dividing itself into classes and castes. The "slum pro- letaire" who is oppressed, and the "bloated financier" who lives off the fruits of the labor of others, are en- slaved by the same master, both having identical ambi- tions from their natural mind. It is that same mind that the apostle Paul referred to when he wrote : "But I Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 291 see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind." It brought him into subjection to the law of sin and death. But after he had spoken these things he mentioned another law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the truth; and he gave thanks to God for this other law — which is the deliverer. The only education, or more properly instruction, is the building up within, as the word signifies. It is a vessel ready for service ; not waiting to be served by an- other. The darkened mind is very solicitous for the personal welfare of others, because of its personal at- tachments ; not knowing that the truth is over all, having each one where he belongs, at all times, and for a de- finite purpose. Growth is always from a small begin- ning. The disciple is not given more than he can con- tain. He must be tested and shown where he is wanting. No more is bestowed upon him than he can contain. The higher law is there, to reprove, rebuke and exhort. The personal mind, in its inordinate actions, tries to prove the disciple a liar, by asking him the same ques- tion twice, to see if he will contradict himself. In the meantime it gets its own wires crossed, contradicting itself, and proving itself a liar. This mind worries over questions of its assumed honor; but it is crooked and perverse at its inception. The man of the world is the man of the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. But this is not the man of reality, who is being drawn from these things, and is a fitting instrument to receive the perfection of beauty. The person of man. who has his evil propensities mere- ly covered by a jovial and debonair disposition, is the man after the world's own heart. It is the self with the lying and flattering tongue. The glib and voluble 292 Socialism Reviewed tongue hides that mind from itself. It is not aware of its own nature, and it frames up mischief on itself. "The heart (mind) of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?" This man, un- der its complete control and domination, cannot know it. Let it be reiterated here, that when the truth, or the Lord, or any other synonymous word is used, it refers to the Spirit of truth, "Who is above all, and through all, and in you all;" and not to something outside, for there is no outside to the truth. Neither does it refer to a something in some place in the sky that no one knows anything about. The personal mind), dealing with physical effects, knows nothing of the spiritual facts. What it thinks it knows is away from those facts. The man of the senses speaks of injustices; but the dis- ciple makes an inventory of the stock of thoughts of the natural mind. A man complains about the injustices of the courts; and yet that same man will not give the one he considers his best friend as much of a bearing as the law of the courts; but will adjudge him guilty on hearsay testi- mony and plausible and reasonable-looking circumstan- tial evidence; not considering that what may appear plausible and reasonable to his individual mind may be the opposite of the truth even to a single detail of its own opinion. And when that mind tries to apprehend the momentous questions of the truth it is not to be re- lied on at all. The man rated strong by the common mind is he that does what is violent and spectacular, in the intoxication of his pride, in which he would appear better than an- other member; the really strong is the disciple who is kept from becoming violent trying to justify himself. Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 293 This is not done of the personal self. Rather, it con- founds the man of the senses, and heaps coals of fire upon his head. The man of the senses is incapable of enduring the hardships borne by the disciple, although he tries to hold himself up in adversity. Even the dis- ciple does not hold himself up; but is held up by the truth. The man with the natural mind would bedraggle the disciple in the mire of his own nature, and accuse him of that of which he is himself guilty ; but he is not deteri- orated or caused to retrograde by the personal self's opinions. That self is made a servant, instead of allow- ing it to be his master. The disciple is planted in the soil of self, but he grows not in it but out of it, partaking of another nature. The truth works contrary to the natural mind, by putting its law in the diciple's inward parts and writing it in his heart (mind). Another strong point showing the failure of the Social- ist teaching, based on the human mind, is in the ques- tion of leaders. The mind that can be led by one leader can be led by another. When the first false inspiration dies down in the following of one, it is ready to take up with another, with his similarly delusive ideas. Leaders become dogmatic that they may hold their followers. When a change takes place, the leaders do not change with the tide to meet arising conditions ; because in so doing they would repudiate their own former positive stand and be forsaken by their follow- ing. As long as the adherents of the Socialist teaching are looking to their personal leaders to guide them, it is proof that they are not ready for true co-operation, for in such case the follower is under the domination and hypnotic control of one who in turn is under the control of his own mind. 294 Socialism Reviewed The enlightened disciple sees a purpose in all things. He does not undervalue the means to the end, because it is a hard road to travel. All things are lawful unto him, but all things are not expedient. The things he needs are utilized for him ; but he is not brought under their power. They work in the end towards his emanci- pation, though they trouble him in accomplishing the purpose for which they are ordained. All the good the hu- man mind talks about does not connote with the facts about the inanity of that mind, insofar as being able to measure up in the least degree to the good it talks about. The natural is analogous to the spiritual as a symbol. One not used to rich food is better able to digest a little than a large amount. Milk is meant for babes; for they have no teeth to chew meat: it would choke them. So the man of the human mind is choked by the knowl- edge of that mind; but that is his natural food. The truth he is averse to totally, for it takes away his false life. The celebrities of Socialism are chided by their fol- lowers for failure to accomplish the official business they set out to do (their actions are untimely). They have been put to the test and found wanting; which is the case with their followers also, when they are put to the test under like circumstances. The followers expect their leaders to do something for them that they are not willing to do and cannot do for themselves. Scientific Socialism is not truly scientific in its own use of the term, when Socialists are unable to translate their teaching into actual practice, the reason being, that the mind from which they get their human knowl- edge is the inveterate foe of economic justice. The pseudo-science of the natural mind classifies effects, and Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 295 then bows down and worships the effects it classifies. The carrying out of equity and justice requires no edu- cation of the human mind variety. It is the simplicity of Christ, truth, that is its procurer. The common mind gets so high, in its own estimation, that it cannot come down and render that which is practical and ex- emplary along the line of service. There is no fidelity to truth in the human mind, and no two can simultaneously be fully in accord; but from the true standpoint of the unchanging law they are bound to act in unison, from the piety of their own prin- ciple. It takes both the working and the capitalist classes to make up the Capitalist System ; but the human mind blames one class to excuse itself in its position, what- soever it is. The overworked and underfed occupy a more exalted position than exploiters of the poor, if they are in the true service of their fellows. The human mind has the harrow of war with which to try to settle its difficulties, but it does not settle them with this means, or in that way. There is a saying of Socialists, that whenever men get desperately hungry they will wake up. But their own mind tells them that it is the system, and the other fel- low, that is to blame for their hunger ; but that does not arouse them. The human mind proposes this question: "Are there no injustices and oppressive practices com- mitted by man against man ? ' ' There are ; but in truth this only acts towards the tying-up of the perpetrator of these acts in the end, and the loosing of the one against whom they are done; for that is the opportunity of the sufferer to show the forbearance of the inner man and be tried along the lines of the other virtues. This 296 Socialism Reviewed is not said for the purpose of excusing the oppressor. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and perse- cute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Again the human mind says : ' ' Suppose everybody would do that. ' ' But they are not doing it; and there are no supposi- tions in the truth. When the time comes that all do it, then there will be understanding back of it for true co-operation. From the personal-mind basis, the avid mind cannot be regulated, with its varying degrees of personal supe- riority; while there are those with directive and execu- tive ability, and others with only the ability to execute their dictations. When the natural mind is educated along commercial lines and puts that education into effect, accomplishing its mercenary schemes, then it is called successful, and is held to be of auspicious trend. But that is poor success, and there is no analogy between it and the truth which makes free. To take advantage of his fellow-man through crafti- ness is the human mind's ideal and is acclaimed as suc- cess, especially when covered by what appears to be beneficence. The human mind falls into the way of calling that right which is simply custom, and it be- comes educated in carrying on its machinations along that line without compunction. Socialists will have to come to the seeing that the only obstacle to the carrying out of their ideas is the person of man himself; then they will not be waiting for others to see things as they do. Equal rights and equal opportunities do not come Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 297 from the man of the senses, who has no oil in his lamp to light his path, and is unable to demean himself in the tests made of him, as a disciple of the truth. In truth, it is not a question of sameness of environments; for a goat would thrive where a sheep would perish. The human mind receives no sustenance from the Spirit of truth, but is let be until such time as it has served its purpose ; then it is taken away. That which is plant- ed in the disciple is of the same nature as the Spirit of truth, and buds and blossoms in the order of its un- foldment. It is evident that there is nothing evil of itself. Ap- pearance of evil comes by the common mind setting up in place of the highest something upon which to center its affections. It may even be called material necessities. But in truth it is not the gift that is to be worshiped, but the Giver of the gift. When that Giver is looked to, instead of the gift, there is not so much as a sem- blance of lack. Justice does not come from equitable dealing; but from that which caused it. The material- ist does not see this. ' ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and Hi3 righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The love of money is the root of all evil because money is set up by the human mind. It is the temporal power, and would usurp the place of the All-power. Money repre- sents the human mind's love of power: its opposite ia the power of love, which is above and beyond the human mind. The common mind fixes its affections on the visi- ble and limited; while in the truth the love of the in- visible to the eye, or Spirit of truth, there is beneficence and bounty for all. The affectations of the personal mind stand in the place of the affections which are to be 298 Socialism Reviewed set on things above; for the personal is not in reality hindering the Spirit of truth which is over all. The beneficence is found in the instruction of the disciple, who when he is weaned from the idolatrous worship of shadows will not abuse and misuse temporal things; but while being weaned, he will fall short of the goal. The truth about anything is not extraneous to the disciple: it is everywhere present. Likewise the fair dealing of man with man must come from within him. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. The truth is fulfilled in this ; for when the disciple loves the Lord, who is the Truth, he loves his neighbor also; and when he loves his neighbor, it follows that he will love the Lord ; for the love of God is of the same nature as God. And in reality there is not two, but one— the All-Power. In truth we cannot place dependence on the personal mind and its science, which mind goes according to its state at a given time and cannot take into consideration its other sundry states : if it could, it would not be under the control of one particular state. The love of the temporal, assumed power is the root of all evil, and that root is indigenous in the human mind. Another delusion of Socialists is, that the workers are not selfish enough to claim what belongs to them. They are selfish enough ; but the opportunity is lacking to get all they desire. Another argument of Socialists is, that the attitude of any member of their party does not change their principles. This teaching also is an off- spring from the human mind, and its attitude proves that every statement of truth this mind gives utterance to it will scrap in practice. Therefore the principles of Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 299 the doctrine are false, for they are admittedly taken from the personal mind, which is divided against itself, always repudiating the very good it claims it can do. The personal mind does not leave its selfishness; and even when it would seem to do so, it reverts to the same thing — the recrudescence re-asserts itself. The nature of man's mind does not change with sys- tems; all the symbolism of the natural shows this. The beasts of the field have their distinct nature : lion, lamb, sheep, goat, and the man of the senses are functionaries doing what their nature bids; but in his composite make-up the man of the senses diffuses over a wider field than the lower animals. The lion, with his carniverous nature, is a type of the man of the senses ; and the lamb, with the angelic, is a type and shadow of the disciple of truth. This latter does not at all refer to the senti- mentality of the human mind, nor to something with wings, but to the contrary of them. The disciple sees the separation of these two natures going on in him, and the outcome, which leaves only that which endures. It is the separation of the tares and the wheat, the sheep and the goats, the human and the divine. This "divine" does not refer to a state of man's mind when in exalta- tion; the sentiments of the man of the senses are not divine. Socialists advance many strong points, but always err in their inference from them. The man of the senses needs food, clothing and shelter; the disciple of truth needs more than these — and gets them. The disciple 's personal shortcomings are patent to him, but he is not a deliberate liar; the higher law is in the ascendancy in him. otherwise he would not be a disciple of the truth; certainly not if he were given over entirely to 300 Socialism Reviewed the human mind. The separation is between the man of the senses, the outer man, that blames something for his troubles, and the inner man, who sees the pur- pose in all things, knowing that cause produces effect, hence that there is nothing blameworthy, as all things are for the inward profit of the disciple. Interest, rent and profit are looked upon with disdain by the Socialist ; but he does not make the correct appli- cation. Not seeing that the man himself is the source from which these things come, he denounces the effect of the injustice, not knowing the cause. (This is rela- tive to the question of surplus value ; or the inflation and getting of something acquired without labor.) Even when the Socialist becomes acquainted with his own teaching with respect to use value, exchange value, ex- cess increment or surplus value, he has by no means arrived at the true idea of value, which is spiritual; in other words, it comes from the standpoint of cause, not effect. The personal mind itself works from a chance basis; but the higher law knows what it can do, and lets it go only so far. From the chance basis one man's accumula- tion is another man's loss. According to supply and demand and the furtive actions of the common mind, value, price and profit, under the present order, vary with conditions and circumstances. The Socialist will have to learn that the natural mind cannot be regulated to deal justly. Of course, that mind will imitate justice, and in so doing hoodwink itself into believing that it has that which pertains to the truth, in the fulfillment. The Socialist says, under the new order of the Co-op- erative Commonwealth, it will be stipulated that all shall have an equal opportunity; but most Socialists Man's Evolutionary Ideas But Forms 301 say, "I believe in getting while the getting is good," under the present system. Under any system of man's mind there will be the same inclination in the human mind, whether latent or outwardly expressed. This re- veals the nature of that mind — waiting for a certain form of society to give it from without what it has not within. Of course, man goes on to say, that the in- centive to take advantage, to the detriment of his fel- lows, would not be where a man received only the prod- uct of his labor, accumulation of his necessities requiring him to work less time than under the present system; but the man of the senses is more wild than a beast. An environment, or enclosure, cannot be fixed up for him, and be he put into it and be expected to stay in it without restraint. The darkened human mind does not see that the mem- bers of society must be right in the first place, before they can have this effect, true co-operation. The proof of how much society believes in the Co-operative Com- monwealth is the Society itself. The man of the senses frames imitation co-operation, following leaders solely because they harmonize with his own ideas, and not because of true reasoning, which is its reverse, as com- ing from the personal mind. Like attracts like. The man of the natural mind cannot understand the disciple. The dialogue of the truth is between disciples of the same calling. There is no comprehensive colloquy be- tween two opposities; except that the higher sees the lower for what it really is; but the lower perceives not the higher. The affirmation that the human mind is not a fitting foundation for co-operation, is no argument against co- operation. It is but paving the way and proclaiming true 302 Socialism Reviewed co-operation, by specifying the difference between it and the multitudinous ideas swarming from the human mind, and the other numerous methods of trying to bring it about. The idea of organizing on the job, bringing proxim- ity of action closer to the issue by such industrial or- ganizing, instead of political, and trying to get demands by the ballot, illustrates how far short the human mind comes from putting its own ideas into execution. The Industrialists and the political faction of the Marxists are deficient, not seeing that under whatever form or system man's mind may contrive, and even according to their own teachings regarding the details in practice, to a certain extent there will necessarily be both politi- cal and industrial action, even if it be only to the elec- tion or appointment of a foreman on the job and the carrying on of the actual work; but it is a particular kind of industrial and political action its adherents in- dicate, upon which they split, one branch using a dif- ferent technicality from the other as an excuse for breaking fellowship with them. Both are in the way of error, for they follow parties ; and a party is for a party and against the Co-operative Commonwealth. They take sides; and the true Commonwealth cannot rise in a so- ciety of two sides, each opposing the other. CHAPTER V The Human Mind Cannot Govern Itself and is Led by Its Wants and Desires The human mind would draw a line between govern- ment and administration; but that mind requires to be itself governed (held in bond), since it cannot govern itself. It is looking for justice, but is unable to mete it out. The truth works to the curing of each member, that the whole body may be well. The man of the senses is but an effigy of the inner man; that is, in his nature, which tries to exalt itself; but it is used for a purpose, and the purpose is supe- rior to the thing that is being used. The personal mind, in trying to hide itself, comes in with interjection of certain bad incentives originating in something other than its own self, but these incentives spring from itself. Instead of seeing that the conditions and actions are the outcome of his nature, he tries to make it appear as though his nature will measure up to a just order of things, and because injustices prevail now he lays it to the system, instead of taking it home to himself and the others of which the system is comprised. In truth there is nothing to excuse or accuse ; but that which is not of the highest is relegated to its lower place, after having fulfilled its mission. The human mind, in manipulating things to suit itself, brings on a reaction that it does not desire, but needs. 304 Socialism Reviewed This mind does not get rid of covetousness by doling out money that does not belong to it, and calling it "char- ity." When one baneful state of this personal mind is put under cover, the deceived mind thinks it is over- come, but another takes its place. The disciple is not rectified from without, but from within : then he is no longer controlled by states of his selfhood arranging themselves in different shapes, and assuming different forms and aspects to deceive. When more real justice is manifested among men it is a sign not of betterment from without, but from within; it is the sign, the evi- dence and the reflex of what emanates from within the truth. Collectivism, which is of the truth, brings about spon- taneity of right action, because each individual is in con- cord with the rest. That man will deal justly in the ap- portionment of necessaries is only incidental to the high- er pinnacle of understanding. From this we see that the economic question is not something to be dealt with separately, as Socialists think; the higher law is in- volved. This higher law gives a ready answer to this question and solves its problems. It is simply a concom- itant of the truth, which includes it with everything else. This is too much for the human mind to swallow, and it only misconstrues it anyway. It believes in the increased knowledge of effects of the human-mind's varieties. The simple truth it tries to make appear com- plicated ; but it dotes on its own accumulated knowledge, which is not knowledge of the truth. The glittering culture of its own making appears to that mind like the real thing. The intemperate and inmoderate mind does not know the difference between what it wants and what it needs. Human Mind Cannot Govern Itself 305 However, this mind is the causeway over which the disciple goes ; but it does not go through with him. One personal mind, in its cautel characteristic, is not amen- able to the other in the matter of agreement. They appear to agree, by compromise, being put in subjection one to another, or by one voluntarily following the other; but it is subjection to another mind more domin- antly pronounced. ' ' Can two walk together except they be agreed?" The law of man's mind is contravened by the higher law, the law of cause and effect, with the cause over the effect. This law says: "Whatsoever a man soweth. that shall be also reap. ' ' This points out the higher law, which is above the human mind, which thinks it can sow and escape the reaping from its dark deeds. This same mind will ask the question, "Why harp so much upon the personal mind?" The repetition is necessi- tated by the many lies and subdivisions that are resident in this mind. Calling that mind a lie tells what it is, but this does not keep the man of the senses from being fooled ; for he is not the inner man ; and he must be deceived or he would not be the man of the sentient make-up. It is in the house divided against itself that the man of the senses lives, and all the tur- moil, confusion and injustice he experiences is traceable to that house. The true teaching of co-operation, equity and justice has been exploited for so long on the chop- ping-block of man's mind, that it is haggled out of all semblance to its pristine perfection, but in truth it re- mains the same. The personal mind does not in reality affect the high- er law, but it takes the sayings of that law and attaches to them its own lower meanings. The many traditions 306 Socialism Reviewed piled on the sand foundation of the natural mind brings destruction to that foundation. These traditions take the place of the truth in man's mind, but the truth transcends that mind. The mind of man sets up its innovations, or forms of co-operation : that is as far as it can go. The disciple is not desirous of joining up with the carnal mind; for it is from that he is being severed. "Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy ; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid." That which is above the human mind looks not at effects, but through them to the cause beyond. The human mind that is ensconced in luxury and that fares sumptuously, is not given to the commiseration of those in poverty and want, for compassion is from a higher source than the personal. Human sympathy is shy of truth. It would give where it is not needed, catering to the deceit and trickery of him it thinks it helps; and it turns down the one that is in real need, for it has not the truth to give. It believes the pre- varicating human mind, and has no ear for the simpli- city and straightforwardness of the truth. The personal mind looks for something with as little expenditure of effort as possible ; and one member of the body, from that basis, considering himself to be separate from the rest, connives and schemes to have the others carry his burden. This causes the whole body to suffer because of this injustice. "Behold the hire of the labor- ers who have reaped down your fields, which of you is kept back by fraud, crietn; and the cries of them that have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a Human Mind Cannot Govern Itself 307 day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath ; but let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay ; lest ye fall into condemnation. ' ' The simplicity of the truth with regard to co-opera- tion is that the greatest is as the least, or the servant of all. This is contrary to man's mind, but not to the truth; for in the truth the proud man of the senses must be brought low for the inward man to issue forth. The man that is great in his own eyes and in the eyes of the world, is abased by the truth. "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." The proud human mind does not want to serve, but be served; but the disciple gains the truth at the point of service. "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.' ' Acording to the Internationalists, their main weapon is the strike; but one set of human minds coercing another set, does not bring the economic justice that both sets lack. It takes many members to make the body politic, therefore the members must be correct first, in- stead of having the ' ' right ' ' system first, as man 's mind calls it. In true unity of the "All for each, and each for all, ' ' there is not present the aftermath of the natural mind manifested in relentless strife. The common mind has its ambitions, and these ambi- tions can only be realized by subjecting others, in place of being their servants. The servitor of all is not losing 308 Socialism Reviewed anything himself. He that ministers to the whole body serves himself with the rest. It matters not as to the ed- ucation of the human mind, how great soever it be, dis- unity is its outcome, even among those educated in the same branches. Different facets of an identical thing appear to each one differently. With this fact in mind, the question arises as to how long they will be together upon any matter, for they are never truly in unison. That men will deal justly from the true basis, of which the human mind is ignorant, is the necessary cor- ollary of the truth they are given to see. That is: as it is natural for men to act selfishly from the common- mind standpoint; so does it follow with respect of spir- itual things — they will act the opposite way than they do when controlled by the senses. " Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." The foregoing sayings illustrate that agreement which comes from the true standpoint. Even if only two agree, it is evident that their agreement is from the true basis; and what they ask for, from this true basis, must necessarily be given them : they will get their request. Their 's is another foundation than the personal. In truth there are diversities of gifts; and disciples who are far enough advanced do not quarrel over the respective gifts, nor pay homage to the gifts, but to the Giver of the gifts, in Whom there is an unlimited supply for all. All are included in His apportionment, from the least to the greatest. There is no anxiety in the Hitman Mind Cannot Govern Itself 309 disciple, nor fear of danger or lack when the natural man is subjected completely in him. The common mind brings up another excuse. It in- timates how monotonous it would be if all thought alike. But in this it is only giving its own ideas about thinking alike — which counts for nought, so far as truth is con- cerned. Those going through the convulsive and ex- cruciating experiences are waitng for a word of truth to comfort them. "But when He saw the multitude, He was moved with compassion on them, because they faint- ed, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shep- herd. Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." Man is judged out of his own mouth by the truth. There is no fairer judgment than that. There is not a vestige of hearsay in the true way. "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. ' ' The man of the senses judges you, not out of your own mouth, but with his mouth, accusing you falsely. The tree is known by its fruits; yet only by those that know the fruits, which the human mind does not. It mistakes the white life of the outside for real holiness. One with the simplicity of the truth laconi- cally set up in the inner man cannot be hit by the per- son of man. He has nothing of his own, but only what is common to all prepared to receive it. The law of the truth works independently of man's mind, and is re- condite to that mind. Economic determinism does not determine what that law is ; but that law determines in regard to economics. In other words, it is vice versa, or the other way about, to the human mind, as is every 310 Socialism Reviewed thing that is true. The Lord Jesus needed not to be informed about man, for He knew what was in him. The materialist conception of history has no concep- tion of the shortcomings of the person of man relevant to co-operation, but its inevitable giving way before the light is seen by that light, as to its purpose. But the personal conception is the narrow one, from the so-called scientific standpoint, attempting with inquisitional methods to do the determining, asking concerning mat- ters of which it is ignorant, and not able to receive the answer should it be given. The evil fruits of the human mind are many, and contention, division and strife are the result of their action ; while, love, joy, peace, etc. are of the truth alone, without a rival. The human mind is alert when it comes to demanding justice for itself; but does not reciprocate by giving justice, because it has none. Ef- fect is never irrelevant to cause; retribution is upon that which oppresses, and discipline in the way of chas- tisement is on the man of the senses — he must pay the uttermost farthing. "For Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian." The man of the senses will reap in the same field in which he has sown ; but he is deceived in regard to that, thinking he can make a detour and get around by an- other way. The natural mind, with its circumlocution, publishes with much writing, and plausible speech, in its oracular declarations, its views about co-operation; but it is only simulation of the simplicity of the truth, and the more talk there is about it the more will be the divisions concerning it. That which is of truth is a mystery to man's mind, for that mind only deals with Human Mind Cannot Govern Itself 311 delusive effects. Its treatment of a subject is merely that which is visualized by its own outer sight, instead of being insight of the truth. Out of the aphorisms of his mind a man broaches the statement that common sense tells one that men would get along better if they would co-operate; but, taking it from the changeable mind, common sense is but another name for common ignorance. The wherewithal of unity must be had be- fore men can co-operate along the way of truth. That way is knowledge of the truth. People that are supposed to have common sense do not agree for their own benefit : the truth they alto- gether miss. Again, common sense is common appear- anie, with variations in each individual. It is the disim- ulation of the human mind, when trying to appear wise. What man counts gain from his own personal view is not the great gain of the higher vision. Man's idea of gain serves the purpose of bringing him towards the end of himself. When he has been lifted up in pride he is at the place where he is ready for a fall ; and fall he must before the disciple is prepared to start on his upward way — the highway of all truth, leading to its accomplishment. The Internationalists make the statement that under the present economic system the workers are not compen- sated sufficiently in wages to buy back the products of their labor; that a fraction of what they produce is all that they can acquire. Hence there is an over-produc- tion of commodities ; which means, the harder they work and the more they produce the less they have, because they must wait until the glut in the market, resultant from their labor, is reduced. Consequently, when they have produced more than the employers they work for 312 Socialism Revietved can readily sell, there is an over-production for the Cap- italist, and an under-consumption for the worker. Yes ; but this state of things conies from the cupidity of the ordinary mind, which reckons value from a material basis. This is not to be laid to any particular class, al- though a particular class is intrumental in carrying out the oppressive work. It is chargeable to the human mind in general, and not to a particular class of minds. So we see from this that the warfare is not physical — flesh against flesh, which gets at the rectitude of this question, but that it is the working from an entirely different basis. "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 strongholds) ; casting down imagina- tions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." The contradiction of a system of speculation, where a few grab the major portion of the products of labor, not laboring for it themselves, and where those that labor are deprived in great measure of the fruits of their toil, is in the human mind, and not in any one class. The veracity of that mind is questioned by the truth. If this mind were honest there would be no exploiter and no manipulation of the temporal forces for selfish profit. The Capitalist is not the only oppressor of the work- ers: they oppress each other; because their ideal is the temporal power which they kick against the Capitalist for possessing. Therefore they fight against the co-op- eration they claim to believe, in the mad scramble. Truth is radical ; it goes to the root of a matter. But it is not fanatical : which is the state of the human mind Human Mind Cannot Govern Itself 313 in its mistaken zeal. The common acceptation of the word "radical" is aligned with fanatical, it works that way, it does not get at the root of the matter which is its true meaning. The fanatical mind is always trying to bring something to pass before the time is ripe. The just course that this mind thinks it sees is a figment of its imagination, and works to the subverting instead of the upbuilding of its subject in the truth. When a student begins to get right within it is the leaven work- ing, which will leaven the whole lump. The personal mind only sets up that governed by its own devices. Truth is not manifested nor demonstrated in the many human minds. Those minds represent the lords many and gods many. But truth abides in the one Mind; "above all, and through all, and in you all." We now come to the modes of action of the human mind, showing where it fails utterly in its Socialistic relationship; and the facient (the performer) in this way will find that his doings at one time are in con- flict with his doings at another ; and are also in con- flict with the ambitions and play-for-power of others. The human mind always desires to do away with what it considers a bad effect, not probing to the cause of the trouble ; as for example with the syndicalists, in their ideas of centralization and de-centralization. The Socialists' three modes of action, from the same mind in which they fail, are : education, agitation and or- ganization; leading to emancipation (as they suppose). They do not see that these three being adduced from the human mind, have in them the seeds of division and dissolution. These three are the trinity of the educated human mind utilized for the accomplishment of its wants and desires; and the education, agitation and or- 314 Socialism Reviewed ganization have for their counterparts contention, divi- sion and strife. Socialists not only use these against the class they fight, but against one another, in their many factions and in their own ranks. According to these three: First, we have education; then agitation; and the outcome of the two, organiza- tion; but they do not result in emancipation. The edu- cation and the agitation are still going on, breaking up the first organization and forming another, and so on, not on the foundation of economic justice, but on the wreck of the first human mind's organization. The more educated in the personal mind men become, the more are they divided. Even where they take the same subject, each one becomes as it were a little ped- agogue himself; and when under the influence of a teacher he will believe almost anything that teacher tells him, for his mind is under the other's control that asseverates his private teaching, whatever it may be, and the teacher in turn is under the domination of his individual mind. The human mind basis is false of itself, even as an adjunct or accessory of the truth; except as it forms a pathway which the disciple must traverse to reach the truth. He does not, however, carry it with him into the truth. The natural mind's organizations are split up by the dissenting human minds, not through any higher mo- tives, but from desire for temporal power in personal leadership, and the personal admiration of the follow- ing. The schisms are in those that stay in the organiza- tion, or that come out and form another party, or in those that leave the organization altogether but still are divided in their own minds. These latter become or- Hitman Mind Cannot Govern Itself 315 ganizations in themselves, oftentimes more dogmatic than before. The difference with the disciple is that he is taken out of the confusion of his own mind by the Spirit of truth, and is given the mind of truth according to the measure of his receptivity. The personal mind cannot build on the truth, which it has not. The petty party lines of the common mind, for the personal ag- grandizement of a certain clique, show that this mind is opposed to right and justice, which includes equal rights and equal opportunities. The natural mind whirls around, but does not go ahead towards the truth, which is its opposite. There never was a time when the human mind was more edu- cated than today (books of almost every description can be had for the asking) ; and there never was a time when there was more instability and confusion. The worldly-wise say it is a case of study, upon the right line; but follow the same line they are on and you will find the same fruit of the mind. No two human minds can come to real agreement from their separate study of the same subject; because they only get that which is in their mind. So, knowledge of the truth does not come from books nor from man's mind. When a man recognizes the true testimony, it is because he has the truth already within him. A man is not thoroughly deceived until he is sure he is right; and when he is sure in his own deceived mind that he is right, his disputations against the truth be- come emphasized. When the disciple is at the point of acknowledging lack of truth in his own personal mind, he is at the entrance-gate of the straight and narrow way which leads to life. The state of the human mind, in its opposition to the outcome of the commercial edu- 316 Socialism Reviewed cation of the Capitalists' institutions, serves a second- ary purpose in striking a sort of baiance. so that the Capitalistic oppression will be held in bounds, to a cer- tain extent; but the disciple works from a higher basis than remedy of effects, and is given the truth, in which there is neither oppression nor violence. It is taken for granted that the human mind must do what it does to express its own nature ; but all man 's doings are brought to an end when he arrives at the summit of truth — over all. The common mind asks the question, in its circum- loquaciousness, "Are we to stand by and not do our part to help lighten conditions and alleviate oppres- sion?" The disciple of truth is already doing that, through the higher law of truth. It does not matter what the subject is, the human mind, in its opposing evil with evil, does but magnify it, by stirring up the mind in which it resides. ' ' Resist not evil : ' ' this is not an arid aphorism of the human mind; it comes from the foundation of truth ; the human mind that resists evil is overcome of the same. The disciple does not believe what the senses see, ex- cept as a symbol of what is back of them, knowing that of themselves they relate only to temporal things; for the things that are seen are temporal; the unseen are eternal. It is the invisible things that the disciple sees, by the eye of faith, which to the senses are unseen, but are received in the understanding. The disciple does not accept the Calvinistic decrees, nor any other theories of men, which prove them- selves false on their face, in trying to explain the end of truth before they have the beginning. The simplicity of truth always reveals these as fabrications of man's mind. Hitman Mind Cannot Govern Itself 317 Also, the disciple is not led astray by the differing schools of psychology, which seek to elucidate the hu- man mind. But they do not understand the nature of the human mind; much less can they study their way into the Spirit of truth. The natural mind is "psy- chologized ' ' by its own psychology, and always succumbs to the simplicity of truth. The disciple, with the simple truth, appears like an idealist or dreamer to the Socialist, with his false knowl- edge increased to the degree that it smothers the sim- ple fact that a child can understand. This so-called scientific part would work out in practice if the natural man were other than what he is; but his nature re- mains the same, never evolving into the truth. Even the Spirit of truth itself cannot evolve the lie into the truth. Nothing cannot be made into something. The Lord of lords and King of kings knows His own work from beginning to end, and does not add to it nor take from it; for He is all there is of the truth. The disciple that is the salt of the earth, when not appearing like an idealist or dreamer (as he is looked upon by the Socialist), is regarded by him at another time as an "agent provocateur" and hireling of the Capi- talist. The Socialist charges that people cater to and lean towards their material interests. They do; so does the Socialist. Of course, it follows that they do this at the expense of the economic justice they talk so much about. This is the strongest argument against their own mate- rialistic conceptions that never can get at the root of this question, because they linger with effects and pass over the cause of true co-operation, which is planted in the 318 Socialism Revieived disciple regardless of his environment, which is merely the field in which he works. Injustices arise from the natural man himself, and the competitive system is the natural outcome of this man; but he kicks against the system and wants it changed. It is himself, however, that must be changed, before true co-operation is established, and this change comes not by building on the old foundation. The sum and substance of this matter is that the competitive sys- tem is the offspring of man, and not the other way about; therefore the man must be changed first. And Scripture testifies in consonance, putting cause and ef- fect where they each belong. The Spirit of truth cannot be written in a book, be- cause it does not come from the fertile brain of the natural man, which only deals with effects, itself being but an effect, but the true testimony is written, yet man cannot receive it with his carnal mind. Holy things are not given to dogs; nor are the pearls of truth cast to swine. The Lord Jesus did not present the truth to the natural mind of man, for the approval of the world ; but spoke to the disciples in parables. He expounded these parables unto His disciples when alone with them and made them to understand His teaching. "But with- out a parable spake He not unto them: and when they were alone He expounded all things to His disciples." The Spirit of truth, which does not come from a lit- eral book, is not copyrighted; this is one of the modes of man's mind, yet it serves its lower purpose. The Spirit of Truth needs not to be coyprighted and no man of himself can receive it. The common mind, trying to imitate the simplicity of Christ, exhibits instead the simplicity of man's head, which is foolishness. Human Mind Cannot Govern Itself 319 The disciple hears the truth through other disciples, who minister the same one to another. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst. ' ' Disciples are not taken up with the natural mind's idea of success ; but the obscure way-faring man that the cultured mind rejects, calling him a tramp, when he begins to hear the words of truth, is a more fitting ves- sel to receive it than those tied to the worl