GIFT OF ! 'What went ye out for to see?" Published by The Christian Science Publishing Society WORKS ON CHRISTIAN SCIENCE Written by MARY BAKER EDDY SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES. In one volume, 700 pp. The original, standard, and only text- book on Christian Science Mind-healing. Cloth . . . $3 00 Full Leather (same paper as cloth binding) . . . 4 00 Morocco (Oxford India Bible paper) 5 00 Levant (heavy Oxford India Bible paper) . . . . 6 00 Large Type Edition. Leather (Oxford India Bible paper) . 7 50 German Translation. Cloth 8 50 Pocket edition 5 50 MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS. 471 pp. Cloth . . . 2 25 Morocco (Oxford India Bible paper) 4 00 Levant (Oxford India Bible paper) 5 00 THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST. AND MISCELLANY. 364 pp. Cloth 2 25 Morocco (Oxford India Bible paper) 4 00 CONCORDANCE TO SCIENCE AND HEALTH. 611 pp. Stiff morocco cover, .......... 5 00 CONCORDANCE TO MRS. 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Pebbled c.loth covers 25 MESSAGE TO THE MOTHER CHURCH. 1900. Paper covers 25 MESSAGE TO THE MOTHER CHURCH, 1901. Paper covers 50 MESSAGE TO THE MOTHER CHURCH, 1902. Paper covers 50 CHRISTIAN HEALING AND THE PEOPLE'S IDEA OF GOD. In one volume. Library edition, cloth. 36 pp. . 55 CHRISTIAN HEALING. Paper covers. 20 pp 20 THE PEOPLE'S IDEA OF GOD. Paper covers. 14 pp. . 20 POEMS. 70 pp., all of Mrs. Eddy's hymns, also her earlier poems. Specially bound . . . 1 50 FEED MY SHEEP. Solo 50 The above prices are for single copies, prepaid. For quantity prices and description see price list furnished upon request. Address orders for above works and make remittances payable to V QTWWAPT Falmouth and St. Paul Streets V. ^ lJi,WAKl, Boston. Mass.. U. S. A. 6 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR . TO SEE?" PRINCIPLE NOT PERSON JESUS OF NAZARETH JESUS THE CHRIST JESUS AND THE CHRIST Articles Republished from The Christian Science Periodicals ' THE CITRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY FALMOUTH AND ST. PAUL STREETS BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS U. S. A. Copyright, 1915 by THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY. "What went ye out for to see? ! PRINCIPLE NOT PERSON NINETEEN centuries have elapsed since the star s'tood over Bethlehem and proclaimed the com- ing of the man who was to bring "on earth peace, good will toward men." Any one reading the gospel story of that night must be impressed with the vastness of the vision which came to those wise men who, perceiving an idea far larger possibly than they could themselves interpret, came bearing their gifts to the young child. They told Herod that Bethlehem was not the least among the princes of Judah, because out of it should come "a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." The Discoverer of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy, declares that "the Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony" (Science and Health, Pref., p. vii). These wise men did not expect to see the prophe- cies of the Old Testament work out immediately, in the visible manifestation of a world of men, good and at peace, made so merely by the arrival of the Messiah. The spiritual enlightenment that brought them to Jerusalem must have been sufficient to reveal the re- ception which the Christ-idea, or spiritual idea, was 4 "WHAT WtfNT YE OUT. FOR TO SEE?" destined to receive before it could be generally ac- cepted. They knew what Isaiah had declared, that the man who announced the truth would come unto his own, and would not be received by them; in other words, Isaiah foresaw that the coming of the spiritual idea, or truth, would not be welcomed by materiality. What the wise men encountered in Herod's terri- fied opposition, opposition which found expression in his sending forth to destroy all the children that were in Bethlehem, "from two years old and under," has proved to be only the foreshadowing of the battle which was inaugurated by Jesus between Truth and suppositional evil. Herod fought the advent of Jesus the Christ because he feared that his throne would be endangered, for was it not prophesied that the com- ing Messiah would be proclaimed "King of the Jews" ? He fought Jesus in person, and was led into the com- mission of acts which were horrifying even to the people of his own dark time, because he imagined that by putting the child Jesus to death he would be able to stay the fulfilment of prophecy, not perceiving how the prophets had foretold that when one came who announced the truth, the truth and not his personality would "make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight." It is only another phase of the same ignorance that induces mankind to worship Jesus as God, while fail- ing to understand the living truth that he taught, the knowledge of which would make men free. Jesus himself knew too much to allow any man to worship his personality. Instead, he said to Mary after his "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE ?" 5 resurrection, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." He was demonstrating the divine Principle of Life, and proving what he taught by his deeds. He spoke of "your Father" and "my Father," and showed that through spiritual under- standing only was he nearer to God than other men. The works that I do, he said, ye can do also, meaning that the divine Principle which he taught was the healer of mortal minds and bodies. Christian Science has come, as "the dayspring from on high," to tell humanity the meaning of Jesus' life and teaching. The Bible has always declared it, but from the time of Jesus until the discovery of Christian Science, religions have based their creeds on the person of Jesus instead of on the divine Principle of the Christ which he revealed. On page 119 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscel- lany," Mrs. Eddy says, "Mary of old wept because she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher looked for the person, instead of the Principle that reveals Christ." The world has wept, and yet weeps, for the same reason. Thinking that the Saviour was in matter, that he came as an infant and departed in the ascension, the world has missed the vital truth, the meaning of "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Like Thomas, because of its materiality the world has denied its real Saviour, the spiritual understanding which the great Teacher labored to impart. Jesus revealed the Christ-principle which heals and saves. He taught no mysterious doctrine con- 6 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" nected with his own personality, nor did he offer a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of the world. When he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," he implied that it was the Christ-spirit of which he spoke, the spirit which he manifested. From that saying the various creeds have wrested a false meaning. Be- lieving the corporeal Jesus to be divine, they concluded that the human race could not do as he did, that it must pass through death into a future world before it could make good his divinely appointed commission ; that, in fact, Jesus was not giving definite commands and practical instruction to the human race when he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re- cover," words that cannot be made to carry any but a single and direct meaning to an unbiased reader. The revelation of Christian Science makes clear this very point, and it proves that unless the signs which Jesus demanded are forthcoming, Christianity is nothing more than a name. In unmistakable fashion it sets forth the truth as found in the first chapter of Genesis, that man is spiritual and not material, that he reflects God, because he is a son of God, and is nothing less than God's image and likeness, to whom God, divine Principle, gave dominion over all the earth. Jesus understood this, and he rejected utterly the lie that the sinning and sick race of Adam is man. From such a standpoint of truth he went forward, his "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE ?" 7 works witnessing to all that he taught. To him the evidence of the senses the dead man, the withered hand, the leper were lies, claims made upon the material senses to deny the truth of man's real being, and he rejected them all. He called to Lazarus, "Come forth;" to the man with a withered hand, "Stretch forth thine hand;" and to the leper, "Be thou clean." In so doing he attested the power of divine Principle, the Principle of the real man's being. In all this he proclaimed the power of God, and he said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge." That is, as I hear from my Father and your Father, the Principle of my being and of yours. In no way did Christ Jesus claim that the power to do the works was his own, nor hint that this power would be absent from the earth after the ascension. He knew that he was demonstrating the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, and knew that spiritual understanding, in proportion as it was manifested, would destroy the unreality called evil. At the present time, because one person was pure enough to discern the basis of Christ Jesus' teaching, mankind has been given the revelation of Christian Science, or the Science of the Christ, and, behold, the selfsame "signs" are following wherever it is truly un- derstood. In "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," on the page already quoted, Mrs. Eddy says, "The Mary of today looks up for Christ, away from the supposedly crucified to the ascended Christ, to the Truth that 'healeth all thy diseases' and gives dominion over all the earth." JESUS OF NAZARETH THE words of Isaiah the prophet spoken to Ahaz the king, "at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field/' had sunk deeply into the consciousness of the people. Told to demand a sign of divine protection, Ahaz had hesitated. It was not that he doubted the power of the prophet, but that he feared his requirements. A change of policy was one thing, but that he knew would not prove radical enough. What was called for was a change of life, and so Ahaz faltered. His silence was filled by Isaiah with astonishing complete- ness: "Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The say- ing of the prophet must have been treasured by every Hebrew maiden. To become the mother of the Mes- siah must necessarily have been the secret hope of all. It was only a question of time when a woman would arise pure enough to realize the full signifi- cance of the promise. At last in the caravansary at Bethlehem that promise was fulfilled. In the words of Mrs. Eddy on page 29 of Science and Health, "The illumination of Mary's spiritual sense put to 8 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 9 silence material law and its order of generation, and brought forth her child by the revelation of Truth, demonstrating God as the Father of men." It was this miracle of the virgin-birth for a mir- acle is only some spiritual manifestation which seems wonderful, even incredible, to the human senses that constituted the difference between Jesus of Nazareth and the other children who played round the carpen- ter's shop in the little hillside town of Nazareth. The writers of numerous uncanonical gospels have ex- pended all their ingenuity in drawing a picture of the Messiah in these days. There were no Dantes among them. They drew clumsily, with a material brush, on the vellum of their own superstition; and they de- picted, not the Jesus of the evangelists, but a Jesus born of a human sense of supernatural wonder-work- ing. The genuineness of the gospel records shows itself in nothing so completely as in their quiet reti- cence. Directly or indirectly the writers knew Jesus as he had walked and taught during his ministry. They were far too clear, too scientific, to dwell on that which was hidden from them in a glass all too darkly. The manuscript makers of later days, foun- dering in their own ignorance, went out to paint the Christ, and succeeded only in preserving the likeness of a magician. The one authentic episode of Jesus' childhood is essentially characteristic, and contains no hint of any such wonder-story as those in the uncanonical gos- pels; it is the account of the journey to Jerusalem undertaken in order to keep the passover. When 10 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" the difference in the development of an eastern and western boy of the same age is allowed for, there is less perhaps that is strange in the boy sitting amidst the doctors, "hearing them, and asking them ques- tions." The really momentous incident is his reply to his mother when reproached for the anxiety she and Joseph had been caused: "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" Here, in his very first recorded words, is struck that note of comprehension of man's spiritual sonship which made him every day less and less Jesus of Nazareth and more and more Jesus the Christ. It was Jesus' insistence on this fact that more than anything else roused the fury of those who were con- tending for the reality of matter. The reason for this is not far to seek. Not only did such teaching do away with any necessity for a special priestly caste, but it made demands on that caste, naturally more than on any other, for a gospel of works rather than of words. If it was true that religion consisted not of ceremonial observances or accept- ance of dogma, but of the effort to know the abso- lute truth about divine Principle, and to demon- strate your knowledge of that truth, then the high priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, more than any others, were called upon to speak with authority to sin, disease, and death, and to prove their nothingness. Worse, perhaps, even than this was the revelation that the Messiah was the spiritual idea, the Christ, Truth, and not a warrior monarch. The redemption of the "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 11 race was to be achieved, accordingly, not by driving the Romans in rout to their ships, and installing the high priest in the palace of Pilate, but by that sur- render of self which was to substitute the Mind of Christ for the carnal mind, in a way which was to make the crown of thorns more glorious than the fillet of the Caesars, and the seamless robe more royal than the imperial purple. Step by step, by a deliberate process of scientific deduction, Jesus of Nazareth proved for himself and others the truth of the gospel he had discovered through his own innate purity. This, as Mrs. Eddy has pointed out on page 30 of Science and Health, was largely owing to his virgin birth. She says, "Had his origin and birth been wholly apart from mortal usage, Jesus would not have been appreciable to mortal mind as 'the way/ " As it was, the mortal struggled with the divine in the temptations, in Geth- semane, and on Calvary. On all these occasions he was proving the nothingness of matter and the omnipotence of a true understanding of Principle, and what he learned himself he imparted to the world, with that glorious reliance on the invincibility of Truth which enabled him to say, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." What then was it that enabled Jesus of Nazareth to become Jesus the Christ? It was the steadfast adherence of the man to the first recorded saying of the boy. The last words on the cross, "It is finished," were the necessary and inevitable corollary to the first recorded words in the temple, "Wist ye not that I 12 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" must be about my Father's business?" That Father was divine Principle, and the brief earthly career of Jesus of Nazareth shows the tremendous power which comes to the man who in thought and word and deed is obedient, day by day and hour by hour, to divine law. Has anybody ever attempted to realize what Jesus' obedience to divine law meant to the human senses? It meant the subjugation of the human to the divine at every point. It meant the realization of the true brotherhood of man which enabled him to say that it was not flesh and blood that constituted brotherhood, but a common understanding of divine Principle. When man realizes that this is the case, then healing, as Jesus taught healing, will become a possibility, and war, as nations preach war, will be found an impossi- bility. It meant that absolute divorcement from ma- terial desires which reduced all material things to their true perspective in his thought, so that though his knowledge of the unreality of matter would have made it apparently possible for him to have gratified every sensuous whim, his appreciation of their noth- ingness made such gratification a total impossibility to him. This made him the richest as it made him the simplest of mankind. He did not acquire more mate- rial possessions through his demonstration of the un- reality of matter, but less and less. He did not desire more of the lusts of the flesh, even in their apparently most harmless form, but reduced these so completely in his own consciousness to their true value, that he was able to look with the utmost pity on the pathetic "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 13 effort of mankind to assure itself of the reality of matter by endowing itself with matter. It was thus Jesus became, in the words of the book of Isaiah, the servant of Jehovah, a man so obe- dient to divine Principle that he reflected nothing but divine Principle. It was the achievement of this, and nothing else, that made Jesus of Nazareth Jesus the Christ. JESUS THE CHRIST IT was in the days of the great feast, during which, when all the surrounding lights had been quenched, the golden candlestick in the court of the women was illuminated so as to flame out in the darkness on Mount Moriah, that Jesus startled the Pharisees by crying aloud to the people, "I am the light of the world." The Pharisees, always suspicious of anything which might tend to depreciate the dignity of the hierarchy, at once concluded he was referring to him- self. A few moments later he made it perfectly clear that he was referring to the Christ, though the hard- ened materialism of the Pharisees failed to understand him. They had bitterly taunted him with having said that Abraham had rejoiced to see his day, and had seen it, and was glad. "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" they jeered. Then it was that Jesus of Nazareth made that unmistakable statement of the spirituality of the Christ, "Before Abraham was, I am." In those words Jesus not only showed how it was that he was entitled to the name of Christ, but even how it was that the writer of the Messianic prophecies should have been able centuries earlier to paint, in the prophecies of the servant of Jehovah, the picture of the man who would manifest the Christ. The writer 14 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 15 of these prophecies had seen the turmoil which would be manifested in the world when there arose a man of such purity of thought that those about him would be maddened by his adamantine statements of the truth. Such a man would faithfully set forth the law, so that his commands would carry, not through the tiny prov- ince of Judaea alone, but throughout the world. Such a man would certainly not be broken in spirit, but would meet the animality of the world without fear. Such a man would proclaim a gospel as much for the Gentile world as for the Hebrew. Such a man would not be rebellious but obedient to divine law; and his very obedience to that law would make him, in his effort to prove the nothingness of materiality, apparently subject to the forces of materiality. Such a man, amidst the passions and brutalities of the flesh, would undoubtedly seem "smitten of God, and afflicted," because the flesh would be absolutely unable to appre- ciate the true meaning of the crown of thorns and the scepter of a reed, and so incapable of appreciating in the crucified Saviour the victory of the risen Christ. What, of course, Jesus meant was that the Christ was the spiritual idea, coeval with divine Principle, and that every one from the time of Abraham, as the Jews counted time, who had ever understood anything of Principle, had in that measure seen the Christ. The whole story of the Bible from Genesis to Rev- elation is the story of the gradual dawning of the Christ, Truth, on human perception, so that "the deep" over which the darkness brooded, and which to the writer of Genesis stood as a synonym for all evil, 16 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" was, according to the last verses of Revelation, to disappear in the light of the truth generated through an understanding of the Christ. Abraham had seen the Christ when Truth led him to abandon polytheism and go out alone to establish the monotheism of Israel. Jacob had seen the Christ that night when, sleeping under the stars by the brook Jabbok, he struggled with his belief of evil until he overthrew it. Moses had seen the Christ when he stretched forth his hand over the Red sea and the Israelites passed over on dry ground. Elisha had seen the Christ when "the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof," appeared to him. Isaiah had seen the Christ when he pro- claimed the fact that sacrifice was the abandonment of sin, and not the horrible slaughter of animals. Finally, John the Baptist had seen the Christ when he preached the gospel of purity and restraint to men. All these men had some vision, however slight, of the absolute scientific Truth which had existed before Abraham, and the availability of which Jesus of Nazareth had demonstrated ever since that day when as a boy in the temple he declared that he must be about his Father's business. The difference between Jesus the Christ and the earlier Hebrew prophets was one of clearness of vision. "Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets," Mrs. Eddy writes on page 333 of Science and Health, "caught glorious glimpses of the' Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love." They, like Paul, had seen in a glass, darkly: Jesus alone had seen face to face, and "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 17 it was this which made him essentially Jesus the Christ. From the first day that he set about his Father's business until the human Jesus utterly dis- appeared and only the Christ was left, he had demon- strated hour by hour what this meant. In the tempta- tions in the wilderness he had proved the nothingness of matter, the futility of pride, and the impotence of human power; and he had proved all this through the steadiness of his own vision of the Christ, because he had realized the scientific truth of God as Principle, and of man as the image and likeness of Principle, and so as the embodiment of divine law. It was not necessary that divine Mind should eat matter to maintain life; it was not necessary that divine Mind should stoop to leaping from the pinnacle of the temple to attract human attention; it was not necessary that divine Mind should adopt the methods of Caesar Augustus, or even of Herod at Caesarea, to demonstrate its omnipotence. So onward day by day Jesus fought down the mesmerism of materiality, and there shone brighter and brighter in his words and deeds the image of the Christ which made him, far more than the oil in the great candlestick, the light not merely to Mount Moriah but to the world. Every time he performed a miracle he proved, not only to himself but to the human consciousness, the power- lessness of material considerations, the very nothing- ness of material phenomena, and the abiding power and reality of Truth. Whether he was healing the sick or raising the dead, walking on the water or feed- ing the multitude, finding the tribute money or turn- 18 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" ing water into wine, he was engaged in the process of proving that material elements have no being, and physical laws no dominion, and that consequently the only abiding knowledge is the knowledge of the Christ, Truth. Jesus himself summed all this up very clearly in the saying, "The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." He could scarcely have said more clearly, Matter is nothing, and the Christ, Truth, is everything. Paul understood clearly what Jesus meant when he spoke of a scientific understanding of God, that is to say, that understanding of God which is contained in the Mind of Christ. Humanity in its blind way understood this very clearly when it attempted to safeguard its materiality by making Jesus God, and embodying Jesus the Christ as the second person of the Trinity. Jesus never gave any justification for such a claim. He pointed out that God was the Father of all men, and that human beings found their divine sonship in proportion as the Mind of Christ obliterated the carnal mind. It was for this reason that Paul impressed upon the Philippians the necessity of letting this Mind be in them "which was also in Christ Jesus." In the exact proportion in which men permit the Mind expressed by Christ Jesus to be Mind to them, do they become perfect, even as their Father in heaven is perfect. The Christ, then, comprehends the truth about God and man. It is the reflection of Principle on earth which enabled Jesus to tell his disciples when "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE ?" 19 they prayed to let it be that the kingdom of God should come on earth as it is in heaven. The man Jesus was the son of Mary. The spiritual Christ is the Son of God. It was the reflection of Principle in the son of Mary which made Jesus of Nazareth Jesus the Christ, and little by little, as his demonstration of divine Principle became stronger and more abso- lutely scientific, the man Jesus gave place to Jesus the Christ. It was not, however, until the eve of the crucifixion that the human Jesus was able to say, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." In other words, the carnal mind has given place entirely to the Christ. Then it was that he was enabled to make his final demonstration of the noth- ingness of death upon the cross, with the result that the glorified Saviour, who rose from the tomb, was not again visible to any but those to whom some under- standing of the Christ made him visible. Then finally there came that day in the mountain in Galilee when the man Jesus finally vanished from the sight of men too material to be able to view the Christ, though the Christ remains always with them, "even unto the end of the world." "Jesus," Mrs. Eddy writes, on page 332 of Science and Health, "demonstrated Christ; he proved that Christ is the divine idea of God the Holy Ghost, or Comforter, revealing the divine Principle, Love, and leading into all truth." JESUS AND THE CHRIST IN method and in purpose Christian Science is essentially constructive. It tears down only to build anew. It challenges a man's belief only that it may offer him a better understanding. The aim of its denials is to make clear its affirmations. Thus it denies that Jesus is the Deity in order to illuminate "the way" which he showed, and proclaim the Messiah, or Christ. No one can afford to be either misinformed or uninformed with respect to what Christian Science teaches on this subject, for it is vital in relation to all that religion offers to mankind. Christian Science holds that Jesus was one who acted within the range of what is possible for men, one who exemplified universal possibilities. It teaches that he was "the highest human corporeal concept of the divine idea" (Science and Health, p. 589), and was rightly entitled the Messiah, or Christ, though either of these terms, as applied to him, is less a per- sonal name than the designation of his office. It affirms that the office of the Christ is to liberate and deliver, to heal and to save, and that our privilege and our need, as well as our duty, is not to worship Jesus as God, but to appreciate his humanity and to emulate his example, remembering, as Mrs. Eddy has said, that he "was the offspring of Mary's self- 20 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 21 conscious communion with God. Hence he could give a more spiritual idea of life than other men, and could demonstrate the Science of Love his Father or divine Principle" (Science and Health, p. 29). This teaching renders unto Jesus exactly what he desired, namely, not to be deified, but to be glorified. The basis of this teaching is the entire Bible, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, but particularly the utterances of Christ Jesus himself. For Christians at least, the question whether he is God ought to be set- tled by what he said. He must have known whether he was man or God, and this subject was within the scope of the topics on which he spoke. If, therefore, he were God, he would have said so plainly and often. His mere silence on such a vital point would be suffi- cient to refute the theory that Jesus is the Deity. But he was not silent; the gospel record of his teaching authorizes, both negatively and positively, the position taken by Christian Science. On reexamining the gospels to discern anew what the Master taught on this subject, it is to be observed that he did not teach that God is three persons, but plainly taught that He is one. When a scribe asked him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" the answer which Jesus gave included the words, "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." The scribe's reply, which Jesus expressly approved, in- cluded the words, "There is one God; and there is none other but he." The truth thus affirmed and re- affirmed was the cardinal point, or central fact, in the religion of the Jews. They had always steadfastly 22 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" held to the oneness of God. Surely it cannot be said that Jesus introduced an inconsistent belief. It is also to be observed that Jesus never said that he was God. On the contrary, he plainly said of him- self that he was "a man that hath told you the truth." Indeed, he referred to himself with other men as wor- shiping God, "We know what we worship." Surely he did not mean that he worshiped himself. We must consider also that the Master said, with reference to his disciples, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Such sayings as these precluded the theory of his deification. The gospels also show that Jesus, on more than one occasion, virtually denied that he was God. For in- stance he said, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." This saying ought to be conclusive of this whole question, for it is squarely contrary to the theory that Jesus was God, and it is equally contradictory of the belief that God is three. By this saying Jesus did not mean that he was bad. He was, as Mrs. Eddy has said on page 54 of Science and Health, a "Godlike and glorified man," but his words show that he recognized his entire dependence on the Father. His was a reflected glory; his was a derived goodness. He reflected the goodness of God and the power of God, and this is the true function of man. It is also recorded in the gospels that Jesus was once required to affirm or deny that he claimed to be God. That which in the course of three or four cen- turies came to be held as orthodox belief was put to "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 23 him as an accusation. This occurred at the feast of the dedication in Jerusalem, as publicly as could be. Certain of the Jews had taken up stones to stone him, and Jesus asked them why they did so. They answered, "For blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." In reply, he did not deny that he was a man, but he corrected them on the other point. His words were, "I said, I am the Son of God." Surely in these circumstances, if he were God, he would have said so. If the Deity were three persons, of whom he was one, he would not have spoken as he did. It is to be observed also, that his reply was understood by his accusers to be a denial of the charge that he claimed to be God. Although they were seeking evidence of their accusation, they did not pretend that he had admitted it. In order to understand the word "Son" as used by Jesus, we must consider his use of the word "Father," for each of these words is the counterpart and com- plement of the other. The gospels show that he spoke not only of "my Father," but of "the Father," "your Father," and "our Father," and that he used these titles interchangeably. This fact, of itself, proves that he did not regard himself as God; but there is further proof from his own lips. Several of his utter- ances plainly imply that the same relation to God in which he stood is the divine birthright of every man. Thus he spoke of other men as sons or children of God, and he expressed his whole aim and object in the words, "that where I am, there ye may be also." That the teachings of Christian Science are cor- 24 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" rect, is again clearly shown by what Jesus said in prayer for other men: "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." The unity with God which he claimed was therefore a relation with the divine Spirit or Mind which belongs potentially to every man. It was evidently the real man's mental and spiritual unity with his divine Principle, which Jesus empha- sized in order that God-given qualities might be recog- nized and expressed by us as they were by him. It may be remembered at this point that Jesus also said, "I and my Father are one/' and that this saying has been construed to mean, "The Father and I are identical," "He and I are the same," or "I am God." But no such meaning belongs to his words, nor would any such interpretation be consistent with his other sayings. "My Father is greater than I;" "I can of mine own self do nothing;" "I live by the Father," these are some of the Master's utterances which forbid such a strained construction of his words. The unity to which he referred is thus de- fined by Mrs. Eddy: "As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being. The Scripture reads: 'For in him we live, and move, and have our being' " (Science and Health, p. 361). The belief, therefore, that Jesus was God, and the theory that he was able to do as he did because of this fact, tends to perpetuate a false concept not only of man, but of God. This mistaken view limits the knowledge of divine power and causation; it turns "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 25 thought away from the source and Principle of life eternal. To understand the Life which Jesus manifested, we must get to know something of this infinite Life which is not in man but is reflected by man. To understand the Love which Jesus showed forth, we must see that God is Love, and that divine Love is made manifest and effective through man. To ap- preciate the intelligence which Jesus possessed, we must perceive that divine Mind is God, and that He is the Mind of man. To comprehend the so-called miracles which Jesus wrought, one must know the divine law and power which made them possible, normal, and natural. To understand what he was and did, one must know the Principle by which he lived and acted. Every evidence of real life is a witness to the source, substance, and Principle of true being, and this divine Principle is God. The "incarnation," then, is simply this: that God was made manifest to human thought through Christ Jesus. He himself said, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." Christian Science therefore explains that the difference between Jesus and other men is not that he was above the true standard of manhood, but that our sense of man is below par. To borrow a phrase used by Isaiah, he lifted up "a standard for the people," a standard which was recognized by St. John when he wrote, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." The final disappearance of Jesus has been com- monly called his ascension. Truly regarded, that was 26 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" the culmination of it. His ascension was a progres- sive demonstration of the power of Truth over error. With the knowledge of Truth he overcame, one after another, the errors which seem to make man mortal, until he proved man's immortality completely. Un- derstanding the reality and the infinity of Spirit, he put on the belief of life in matter until every material element vanished and to human sight he became in- visible. In this manner he ascended progressively, disproving the sense of life which is partly material, or human, and demonstrating the Life which is purely spiritual, or divine. Moreover, he did not do this in a way that was personal to himself. On the contrary, it was the "new and living way," "the way of truth," which he dedicated for us. He invited all men to learn of him, and he declared that we can do as he did. Therefore the way which he showed is universal, practicable, and scientific. How long it may take for any partic- ular person to scale the whole ascent, and whether he will do so without the change called death or in spite of it, these are points of but little importance as compared with a definite grasp of the possibility, including the problem to be solved and the way of its solution. It is therefore essential to all that Jesus sought to accomplish that we, as Peter said, "follow his steps;" that we overcome evil and rise above discord- ant conditions, as he did; that is, by virtue of the same law and power. The essence of Jesus' work was che illustration or exemplification of what is practi- "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 27 cable for us; but his life would furnish no example unless he were, as one New Testament writer has said, "in all points tempted like as we are/' The purpose of Jesus' entire endeavor was to serve his fellow men, and there ought to be no doubt as to the nature and method of his service. We have his own authority for saying that it was teaching; it was enlightening the world; it was bearing witness unto the truth. His ministry was a series of concrete lessons by which he taught and objectified the truth, or reality, of man's being. The greater part of what Jesus did has been put aside as supernatural, while we should have perceived, as John did, that he was "the faithful witness" who "hath given us an understanding." All of what Jesus did would be perfectly natural to one who fully un- derstood the truth of being. His acts of power were done in accordance with the true order of the uni- verse. They annulled the seeming law of evil with the absolute law of good. They were object-lessons in the demonstration of real law. His unparalleled self-sacrifice (the crucifixion and resurrection, involv- ing the overcoming of death) was incident and neces- sary to his demonstration of Truth. It was the su- preme proof of divine Love and Life. His healing works, so far from being supernatural, were supremely natural, for they evinced the true nature of man's being. They separated that which, in the human make-up, is illusive, destructible, and unreal, from what is substantial, enduring, and real. In short, these mighty works were part of the means by which 28 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" the Master taught; they were part of the method by which he bore witness unto the truth. Such a service would have been vain and use- less, indeed, it would have been impossible, if the truth which he proved were not as true for us as it was and is for him. Happily for us, this truth was the reality of Life brought to light. Hence it was that Jesus said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." For these reasons a correct view of Jesus is of the utmost importance. We need to know what he was in order to understand "the way" which he opened for us that way which was referred to by two of the New Testament writers as the "new and living way," "the way of truth." In order to gain the true and abundant Life which Jesus manifested for us, we must, as Paul said, "put off the old man" and "put on the new man." To be saved from evil, we must lift thought above sinful and mortal personality in matter to man's real indi- viduality in Spirit or Mind, where evil does not exist. In other words, to be redeemed from mortality is to perceive and achieve one's true manhood, with its un- derstanding and goodness and power, with its free- dom, wholeness, and immortality. To do this, a true concept of Jesus is absolutely essential; and it is a main factor, for with it we can then begin to realize the truth of Paul's saying, "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." How, then, did the belief that Jesus is God origi- nate? This question is not answered in the Bible, but "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 29 the answer is compassed by the force of indubitable facts. Jesus neither taught that he was God nor au- thorized that belief. It is not affirmed by the authors of the gospels, who nowhere said that Jesus is the Deity. New Testament writers who are commonly quoted as supporting the doctrine in question, wrote just as explicitly, or more explicitly, to the contrary. Take, for example, the epistle to the Hebrews; it contains the statement that Jesus and other men are "sons," "brethren/' and "all of one." How Jesus was generally regarded by the Chris- tians of his day, can be inferred from an incident related in the book of Acts. After he had passed be- yond the range of human sight, and there had been chosen a successor to Judas Iscariot, Peter, "standing up with the eleven," and addressing the whole com- pany of believers at Jerusalem, spoke to them of "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God," and throughout the address Jesus is referred to as distinct from God. When all of these facts are fairly con- sidered, but little is left as basis for the theory in question besides the human tendency to limit man by materialistic beliefs, and the primitive habit of attrib- uting to extraordinary facts a supernatural character. It should be observed, however, that Christian Science neither deifies Jesus nor reduces him to the common level of humanity. It accepts the Scriptural account of the conception which led to his birth, and attaches much importance to his origin and to his knowledge of it. Explicit references to this subject will be found in Mrs. Eddy's writings; for example, 30 "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" on pages 29, 315, 332, and 539 of Science and Health. The following excerpt is from the page last men- tioned: "The divine origin of Jesus gave him more than human power to expound the facts of creation, and demonstrate the one Mind which makes and gov- erns man and the universe.'* Without the extraor- dinary proof which he had of God's fatherhood, Jesus might not have been able to say in his youth, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" nor able in his later years to perceive and teach the further fact of spiritual being, "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." Another question can be explicitly answered: Who or what is the Christ? A few sentences from an encyclopedia (Popular and Critical Bible Encyclo- pedia, vol. 2, pp. 942, 943) will advance this inquiry. "Jesus was our Lord's proper name, just as Peter, James, and John were the proper names of three of his disciples. . . . Christ is not, strictly speaking, a proper name, but an official title. Jesus Christ, or rather, as it generally ought to be rendered, Jesus the Christ, is a mode of expression of the same kind as John the Baptist, or Baptizer. In consequence of not adverting to this, the force, and even the meaning, of many passages of Scripture are misapprehended." In the Bible the term "Christ," or "the Christ," is used as a synonym for the Messiah, whose advent was the subject of Jewish prophecy and expectation. It is used as a title given to Jesus of Nazareth, be- cause he fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. It is also used to name the office of the divine Saviour; to "WHAT WENT YE OUT FOR TO SEE?" 31 designate that which exercises or manifests the saving power of God. In her works on Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy has followed this Biblical usage, thus re- storing the name "Christ" to its full meaning. Con- sistently with both the Jewish and Christian Scrip- tures, she has also furnished a definitive statement of the Christ on which both Jews and Christians may unite; namely, "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (Science and Health, p. 583). This is a definition for all peoples and for every era. Thus it was that Paul spoke of the Christ as having delivered the Hebrews at the time of the ex- odus from Egypt. Thus it is that the Christ actually can be with every one "alway, even unto the end of the world," even unto the end of error. And thus it is that the "Christ in you" is "the hope of glory." Periodicals Published by The Christian Science Publishing Society Falmouth and St. Paul Sts.. Boston. Mass.. U. S. A. The Christian Science Journal Founded April, 1883, by Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and author of the Christian Science Text-book. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." This monthly magazine is the official organ of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass. Subscription price: Domestic territory (including Mexico and Cuba), one year, $2.00; six months, $1.00; single copy, 20 cents. For Canada add 25 cents and for all other countries 65 cents annually for postage; single copy, for Canada, 20 cents; other countries, 25 cents. Christian Science Sentinel A weekly newspaper for the home, published every Saturday, con- taining news items of general interest, and contributed and selected articles, testimonies of healing, and timely editorials in connection with the Christian Science movement. Subscription price: Domestic, one year. $2.00; six months, $1.00; single copy, 5 cents. For Canada add 45 cents and for all other countries 95 cents annually for postage; single copy, for Canada. 6 cents; other countries, 7 cents. Der Herold der Christian Science A monthly magazine printed in German. It contains original and translated articles bearing upon Christian Science, testimonies of healing, also, as a supplement, the Lesson-Sermons for the following month which are read at the Sunday services in all Christian Science churches. Subscription price: Domestic and Canada, one year, $1.00; six months, 50 cents; single copy, 10 cents. For all other countries add 25 cents annually for postage; single copy, 12 cents. The Christian Science Monitor A daily newspaper published every afternoon, except Sunday, of world-wide scope, containing current news, and particularly designed for those desiring a high-class publication in the home. Subscription price: Domestic and Canada, one year, $5.00; six months, $2.50. For all other countries add $3.00 annually for postage. For Greater Boston postal district, $6.00 a year by carrier. The Christian Science Quarterly Published January, April, July, and October. Contains the Lesson-Sermons which are read at the Sunday services throughout the year in all the Christian Science churches. Subscription price: In the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba one year, 50 cents; single copy, 15 cents. For all other countries add 10 cents annually for postage; single copy. 18 cents. 3 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 5O CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. WAY 13' 12 1933 MAY 20 1953 LU LD 21-50 w-8,- 32 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY