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Volume 12, Number 2
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November 2003
The Christian Science Standard Mrs. Eddy's God-revealed
Solution "Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone [i.e., the 'headstone'] which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" — Christ Jesus The previous issue of The Christian Science Standard, July 2003, identified the "momentous questions that are now agitating the world" as those relating to the second coming of Christ and the place of Mary Baker Eddy in Scriptural prophecy. This winter and next spring you will receive several installments of the Standard consisting of excerpts selected from previous issues addressing answers to these "momentous questions," and offering the solution that Mrs. Eddy herself prepared for her students and the world even before the original Mother Church was built. This information will be offered in installments because the entire body of material is too extensive for one mailing. When all installments have been received, the reader will have a concise summary of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and Mrs. Eddy's God-revealed solution for the Christian Science Movement and the world from her time through eternity. God revealed every detail that would allow the Christian Science Church to be built, progress, and flourish. Mrs. Eddy wrote Christ and Christmas in 1893. The inspired message of that book put forth a spiritual law which had to be seen and acknowledged by at least a few of her students in order for the original Mother Church to be completed. That same message must be seen and acknowledged by Christian Scientists today to save her Church and allow Christendom to accept Christian Science as the gospel of Christ. Mrs. Eddy wrote in a letter to her student, Carol Norton: Christ and Christmas was an inspiration from beginning to end. The power of God and the wisdom of God was even more manifest in it and guided me more perceptibly, as those of my household can attest, than when I wrote Science and Health. (Johnson, History of the Christian Science Movement, Vol. 2, p. 448) Later installments of the Standard will consider Christ and Christmas in depth, but first, Christian Scientists must have a recognition and understanding of Christ as the "Rock," the foundation stone or headstone, upon which the church is built. This material is the result of Stanley C. Larkin's lifework of gathering material on this subject from primary sources such as The King James Version of the Bible, Mrs. Eddy's authorized writings, and Mrs. Eddy's students and other early workers in the Christian Science Movement. Mr. Larkin carefully authenticated and substantiated all his evidence and conclusions with documentation in hand to back them up. Mr. Larkin's conclusions agree with those of the early workers such as Judge Septimus J. Hanna, Annie M. Knott, Ira Knapp, Bliss Knapp, Sue Harper Mims, Professor Hermann S. Hering, and many others who had the essential understanding of their Leader's place that would allow the Church to be built and prosper. They knew that her God-appointed place must be foremost in thought and they also understood the danger inherent in denying her place. This installment brings to the reader the necessary background material with which to understand the God-revealed message in Christ and Christmas and the consequences of ignoring or denying that message. A SPIRITUAL REQUIREMENT In his book, Ira Oscar Knapp and Flavia Stickney Knapp, printed in 1925, Bliss Knapp's core theme was stated on pages 65 and 66 in these words: When Mr. [Ira] Knapp first studied with Mrs. Eddy, the chapter on the Apocalypse had not yet appeared in Science and Health; but Mrs. Eddy explained to the class the twelfth chapter of Revelation. Her explanation must have conveyed a profound meaning to Mr. Knapp, for although Mrs. Eddy made no reference to herself personally, in explaining that chapter, it was borne in upon him with absolute conviction that Mary Baker Eddy was the woman "clothed with the sun, . . . and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," described in the Apocalypse. From that moment, Mrs. Eddy's word was law to Mr. Knapp. The following reference to Peter's awakening "to behold and acknowledge the Christ in his master," and as fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament is a basic doctrine of the various denominations. The Scriptural passage from Matthew is as follows: When Jesus came into the coasts of Caeserea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, 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 answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also 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. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16:13-19) The Church of Christ was built on the disciples' recognition of Jesus as "the impersonation of the spiritual idea" which had been prophesied in the Bible. There can be no growing church without this recognition. Now that we have the second coming, it is imperative that the new prophet be clearly recognized. This is the foundation of the church in this new age. It is interesting to note in Matthew 16:18, that the Greek word for Peter is Petros, which means "stone." However, where Jesus said, "And upon this rock I will build my church," that Greek word for "rock" is Petra. The word Petros is masculine; while the word Petra (rock) is feminine. Also, notice the construction of Jesus' words: "Thou art Peter" is in the second person; "on this rock" is in the third person. The church was to be based on two elements. Jesus said that the church was to be built upon "Petra" (rock), the feminine declaration of Truth. Petros (masculine) is a stone, or a part of a rock. The church cannot be founded on a part truth, but must include both the masculine and feminine, in order to represent "the structure of Truth and Love" (S&H 583:12). Jesus was not conferring some special miraculous power on Peter, and later on all his other disciples to whom he also gave the keys to the kingdom (Matt. 18:18). He was giving voice to the spiritual law of the recognition and acknowledgment of the "two witnesses" which has been in operation since the fourth day of creation. The "two great lights" of the fourth day recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, verses 14 through 19, are said by the commentaries to represent Christ in both Advents. The Scofield Reference Bible, unrevised ed., states on page 4, "The 'greater light' is a type of Christ, the 'Sun of righteousness' (Mal. 4:2). He will take this character at His second advent." When Jesus had Peter acknowledge him as "The Christ, the Son of the living God," it was not for deifying himself. It was to acknowledge the fact that God's messenger had appeared in fulfillment of prophecy, and a proper estimate of that messenger must be had in order to comprehend and benefit by the message. (S&H p. 560:10 - 4 next page.) Mrs. Eddy performed a similar act in 1898. In that year she retired from teaching the Normal classes, but before doing so, in November — less than two months before a new teacher was to conduct a new Normal class — Mrs. Eddy called 70 persons to a brief two-day class which lasted a total of six hours. The central theme of this class as reported by Mrs. Sue Harper Mims, C.S.D., of Atlanta, begins on page 51 in We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Second Series, where she describes how the "examination" turned to the subject of Mrs. Eddy's place in fulfillment of prophecy — as the revelator of Truth to this age. The class appeared unanimous in their recognition and acknowledgment. At the conclusion of this segment, Mrs. Eddy said: "My dear children, if you had not seen it, I would have had to teach you this. I could not have avoided telling you that when my students become blinded to me as the one through whom Truth has come in this age, they miss the path. I would have had to tell you." [The original unedited text from Mrs. Mims' association address to her pupils quoted Mrs. Eddy as saying: they go straight down.] AT JERUSALEM The history of the great Temple at Jerusalem illustrates the results of observing this law and the fatal consequences from rejecting it. The way to escape the judgment of God in these latter days is by adhering to this law and recognizing and acknowledging "the two anointed ones." Christian Scientists can escape the difficulties of these latter days by applying the lesson of the Temple. Originally built by Solomon in 966 B.C., the Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed four hundred years later in B.C. 586 when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried the inhabitants of Judah into exile. Subsequently, during the reign of Cyrus the Persian, the Jewish captives and exiles were allowed to return to Palestine. Then the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, appealed to the people to rebuild the Temple. A commentary states: "According to Ezra (chs. 1-6) there had been an immediate return of exiles from Babylonia to Judah after the permissive decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. These exiles had promptly begun to build a new Temple on the hallowed site of the old one, now in ruins. They had been checked by Samaritan opposition, and for sixteen years the work of rebuilding had been neglected. . . . They had experienced a series of barren seasons, and were desperately poor. As a community they had lost heart, and needed some impelling power to give them renewed enthusiasm and hopefulness." (Dummelow: One Volume Bible Commentary, page 595) What appeared as various phases of human resistance was, in fact, the operating of the spiritual law that the Temple could not be rebuilt until the community thought accepted Christ as the foundation stone — in both Advents. These two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, were "raised up by God to encourage the Jews to rebuild the Temple." According to Abingdon's Bible Commentary, Dummelow's, and Scofield, Zechariah received "visions" from God. Scofield states: "The great Messianic passages are, upon comparison with the other prophecies of the kingdom, perfectly clear. Both advents of Christ are in Zechariah's prophecy (Zech. 9:9 with Matt. 21:1-11, and Zech. 14:3, 4)." (Scofield, unrevised ed., page 965) Zechariah recognized that this Temple could not and would not be built by physical "might" nor by financial or royal "power," nor by people, but by Christ — in both Advents. This fact had to be presented to the community in "visions," or symbolic illustrations. As Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, "Spiritual teaching must always be by symbols." (575:13-14) When Zechariah presented these visions to the people, they accepted them. One of the visions, the sixth vision (Scofield), reads: "For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH" [uppercased in original King James Version]. (Zech. 3:8) The heading in the King James Version of the Bible at Zechariah, third chapter, reads: "Christ the Branch is promised." The next vision which follows Christ the Branch is that of the "candlestick" with a "bowl" and "seven lamps" thereon and "two olive trees" by it, as recorded in chapter 4. These symbols in chapter 4 relate to both the first and second coming — in the flesh — of Christ the Branch. As one reads this fourth chapter, he must recognize that the visions of Zechariah are paralleled in the eleventh chapter of Revelation. Quoted here is the important fourth chapter of Zechariah. This presents the great spiritual message regarding "the two anointed ones" — the "two witnesses" — and the incontrovertible law. And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by [physical] might, nor by [royal, or financial] power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. [Scofield inserts here "Christ (as stone)." Matt. 7:24, 25] Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah, chapter 4) — IN BOTH ADVENTS The message from God is that the Temple could only be rebuilt as the community recognized its foundation to be Christ the Branch. Christ is the builder and maintainer, — the sustainer, defender, upholder, preserver. If Christ is rejected, the destiny of the Temple is inevitable — it goes down. Since its foundation stone is Christ — in both advents — manifested humanly in "the two anointed ones," then to reject either or both of the representatives of these two "witnesses" would mean the removing of its foundation stone, and the resultant disappearing of the building. (Cf. Science and Health 565:18) What appeared to be resistance from the Samaritans and other opposing factors to the rebuilding of the Temple was in fact the result of not understanding and applying this fundamental law regarding the Christ — in both advents. In these two visions of Zechariah, Christ "the BRANCH" is seen to consist of not one, but "two anointed ones." When this vision is accepted, then the foundation stone or "headstone" is brought forth, for the Temple will not be built by "might" nor by "power" but only by "my spirit" — Christ — and the Temple would remain until the coming of the first of "the two anointed ones" — Jesus. When the priests and officials of the Temple rejected and crucified Jesus, one of "the two anointed ones," who was the spiritual Rock, or foundation stone, of that Temple, upon which it was built, it was inevitable that the Temple would have to fall, which it did in A.D. 70. At the hands of the Roman general, Titus, it was leveled to the ground. In this great and significant historic event it is seen there is a spiritual law that if the "headstone," or Christ, is rejected it becomes the "smiting stone" and destroys the Temple and the city. If the "stone" is accepted, and to the degree that it is, and if the human representative of the Messiah is recognized, and a true estimate and correct classification of him/her is had and held to, it means the spiritual power which rebuilt the Temple in the time of Zechariah and Zerubbabel will be seen to operate. As one reads this fourth chapter of Zechariah, it is obvious that this is paralleled in the 11th chapter of Revelation which is there dealing with the second coming. This pattern in Revelation follows the same destiny of destruction as the First Advent, unless the two witnesses are recognized and acknowledged. Following the visions we read of a memorial that applies to "the two anointed ones": "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, . . . Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place [at the Second Advent], and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. And the [two] crowns shall be . . . for a memorial in the temple of the Lord." (Zech. 6:9-15) This relates to "the two great lights" which appeared on the fourth day of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. The book of Revelation which John tells us is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;" — namely, the second coming of Christ — is, therefore, a book of prophecy. It presents clearly the message of the Temple foundation. The Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance states: "The whole of this book [Revelation] is a reflex of the prophetic visions of the Old Testament." (Page 193) In the process and development of the second coming of Christ, John gives us six chapters relating to the unsealing of the book which was revealed to Ezekiel and sealed by Daniel until "the time of the end." Immediately following this revelation of the opening of the book, John writes in Revelation of the Temple where this book is to preach. (Revelation chapters 5 through 11; Ezekiel 2:9 to 3:4; Daniel 12:4, 7, 9, 10-13.) Written in 96 A.D., twenty-five years after the Temple had been leveled to the ground, John writes: "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles [pagans]: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." (Revelation 11:1, 2) Thus in these words, he is, in a vision, being directed to measure the Temple area in preparation to rebuilding it; just as at the previous rebuilding Zechariah saw in a vision "and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand" (Zech. 2:1), that is, to prepare for the rebuilding of the Temple. But this rebuilt Temple would not be in Jerusalem. It would be in Boston. It is a structure with a destiny as much as the rebuilt Temple at Jerusalem. John, in Revelation, continues with these words: "And I will give power unto my two witnesses ['the two anointed ones' of Zechariah 4], and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." (Rev. 11:1-4) What possible connection did "two witnesses" and "two olive trees" and "two candlesticks" have with the destruction of the Temple? These symbols relate specifically to the foundation stone of the Temple as stated in the book of Zechariah. This foundation stone, the acknowledgment and recognition of the "two witnesses," was metaphysically removed when Jesus was rejected and the Temple was again leveled to the ground in accord with the spiritual law. St. John knew that the rebuilt Temple in the latter days could not be built without the recognition of "the two anointed ones" any more than could the Temple at Jerusalem be rebuilt in the days of Zerubabbel without that same recognition. Mrs. Eddy also knew this. Hence the "visions" (illustrations of Christ the Branch) depicted in her poem Christ and Christmas, which were indispensable to the rebuilding of the Temple, the original Mother Church in Boston. Mary Baker Eddy closes her illustrated poem, Christ and Christmas, with these lines: Truth's fane can dim; Eternal swells Christ's music-tone In heaven's hymn. A "fane" is defined as "1. Temple; 2. church." (Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary) Consequently, this last verse is concerned with a "fane" (church) and also refers to a "hymn." Yet, in the first two editions of the poem, in 1893, the last picture, illustrating this verse, was that of Christ Jesus ascending from a New England countryside. In the revised edition of 1897, this last illustration was changed to that of a symbolic countryside stretching to the horizon with two crosses placed in an ascending position and a crown above. But no "temple," or "church." (These two pictures will be discussed in a later Standard.) With the publication of Bliss Knapp's book, The Destiny of The Mother Church, we have two pictures by Mrs. Eddy and James F. Gilman, which Mr. Knapp stated were prepared for Christ and Christmas, but Mrs. Eddy decided it was too early then for that public revelation. The time for that public revelation has come. The first picture will be discussed in this Standard; the second picture will be discussed in a later installment.
This picture, the frontispiece in Destiny, is titled The Shadow of a Great Rock (Isa. 32:2). Also cited are the words of Jesus: "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." (Matt. 7:25) Specifically, the "rock" here is the one spoken of by Jesus on that occasion referred to in Bible headings as "Simon Peter's confession of Christ" already quoted. (See p. 4) Truth's fane (church) was built upon the recognition, exemplified by Simon Peter, that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the living God." In this frontispiece, there is one symbolic item which appears in both of the closing pictures that Mrs. Eddy decided to publish in Christ and Christmas — the ascending Jesus in a New England countryside (1893), and the illustration of a countryside with two crosses (1897) — one major symbol, the descending dove. And what does this dove symbolize? We read in Matthew: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:16, 17) Here was God Himself at the beginning of Jesus' ministry proclaiming him to be His Son, the Christ. Simon Peter was voicing at the end of the ministry of Jesus what God had already voiced at the beginning. This same forceful message is contained in all four gospels (Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32). It was one thing for God to voice it; it was something else for the disciple to voice it. But as Jesus said, it could not be comprehended academically, — "flesh and blood" had not revealed it unto Peter. He had to discern it spiritually, that is, it had to come through revelation. It was similar to the experience of the unrepentant Hebrews who had been warned of their coming captivity. In the time of Zechariah, these people now in exile turned wholeheartedly to God. They returned to their religious teachings with great fervor and began working on the Scriptures. As they spiritualized their thinking, Cyrus the Persian allowed them to return to Jerusalem and after sixteen more years of suffering and spiritual growth, they were finally ready to accept the visions of Zechariah, and thus they were able to rebuild the Temple. CHRIST AND CHRISTMAS? It should be seen that just as Zechariah had to present his visions regarding "the two anointed ones" and have them understood and accepted in the community of the returnees before the spiritual element would permit work to continue on the rebuilding of the Temple; just so, Mrs. Eddy had to present equivalent symbols in Christ and Christmas for the age in which we live, and before The Mother Church could be built in Boston. The frontispiece shows the original edifice of The Mother Church in Boston buffeted by a storm, representing conflicts both external and internal severe enough to bring about a "fall." The inscription quotes the words of Jesus: "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." (Matt. 7:25) What is this protective "rock" or force which will save the church? A cross-reference Bible connects the "rock" to that "stone" in Zechariah 4:7, which reads: "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." By definition a "headstone" is "the principal stone in a foundation" (Webster). (Scofield, unrevised ed., p. 968.) The "rock" or "stone" Jesus was referring to in Matthew — quoted under the picture — was the foundation stone of the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. It is the same stone upon which the "house" or "church" in the picture was founded. As long as the followers of Mrs. Eddy accepted this "rock," the church would be safe. When they refused to accept it, the destiny of the church would be identical to the destiny of the Temple at Jerusalem. The headstone of the Temple of Jerusalem is significant because the exiles who had returned from Babylon had begun the rebuilding of the Temple, left off to build and were unable to work on the rebuilding because of external opposition, internal conflict, lack of spirit, poverty, and some kind of malaise. Zechariah presented certain pictorial visions which he was required to convey to the returned exiles. The seventh vision was the "headstone" identified with and embodying the "candlestick . . . the bowl . . . seven lamps . . . two olive trees." Thus, "the two anointed ones" were and are embodied in that "headstone." The community accepted these visions from the Lord, and as a result their spirit and energy and zeal returned. They laid the headstone and rebuilt the Temple. "And the [two] crowns shall be . . . for a memorial in the temple of the Lord." (Zech. 6:14, 15) Scofield states: "The crowns made for the symbolical crowning of Joshua were to be laid up in the temple as a memorial to keep alive this larger hope of Israel" (page 970) — the coming "in the flesh" of "the two anointed ones," and of the "impelling power" which it brings. As long as those two crowns remained a memorial to keep alive the larger hope, the foundation stone — headstone — was safe. The Temple remained for almost five hundred years. Until one of these "anointed ones" — Christ Jesus — appeared "in the flesh," the headstone remained in place and secure. At the age of twelve when he visited the Temple he astonished the priests and rabbis with his understanding. When he was grown and taught his gospel of the kingdom and performed his miracles, however, he was reviled by the priests and rabbis, and rejected. Jesus knew he represented the first appearing of "the two anointed ones" — the headstone of the Temple. He quoted verse 22 from Psalms 118 when he said to "the chief priests and the elders of the people . . . Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone [i.e., the 'headstone'] which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall [as the 'smiting stone'], it will grind him to powder." (Matt. 21:23, 42-44; also,"corner stone" Isa. 28:16) [footnote: Christ Jesus identified himself as the headstone that was rejected by the builders. Our nation, the nation of the Second Advent, has from the beginning revered this [Great] pyramid, and its Christ headstone, and placed them on the reverse of our national seal. In 1935, they became a feature of the one-dollar bill. Our nation is a nation of prophecy, according to the Anglo-Israel studies accepted by Mrs. Eddy where she refers to the United States and Great Britain as "Anglo-Israel," and our "brother," Great Britain, as "Judah's sceptred race" My 337:20. (See The Christian Science Standard, Vol. 5, No. 3, July 1994; also, Manual, p. 17, 3rd paragraph)] We read in Science and Health, page 565: "The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but 'of his kingdom there shall be no end,' for Christ, God's idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples — imperatively, absolutely, finally — with divine Science. This immaculate idea, represented first by man and, according to the Revelator, last by woman, will baptize with fire; . . ." [footnote: "'...the second coming of Christ ... is another era of the world's awakening, a higher advent in human consciousness of the spiritual idea [Christ], the true character of God. This idea of God neither comes or goes, for it is inseparable from its divine Principle, the ever-present I AM. But the human concept of this idea has its periods of light and shade.'] [footnote: "The materialized human consciousness mistakenly sees these two advents as the appearing of finite person. We have to eliminate a personal sense of Christ and a personal sense of Love and Life. Christ is the character of God, and we are now entering 'another era of the world's awakening' and 'a higher advent in the human consciousness of this spiritual idea.'" (see The Christian Science Standard, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 14, July 1997).] The "two anointed ones" are two "impersonation[s] of the spiritual idea," of which the "headstone" (corner stone/foundation stone) is the symbol and substance. It is a spiritual law that when this stone is rejected it becomes a "smiting-stone." (Cf. Dan. 2:34) Thus, when his disciples "came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple," he said to them, "See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Matt. 24:1, 2) The spiritual law was a force which would carry this out. The rejected headstone, in the rejection of Jesus as the one who fulfilled the ancient prophecies of the coming Messiah, would now be the smiting stone. Rejecting Jesus was tantamount to pulling the foundation stone out from under the Temple. Jesus, however, in quoting from Psalms 118:22, pointed to the fact that although the stone would be rejected, yet in time it would become "the head of the corner." How would the Psalmist's prophecy be fulfilled? This is explained by the event titled in the Scriptures as "Peter's confession of Christ." According to the account in Matthew 16:13-19, when Jesus said to his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, "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 answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." There was the foundation stone — the headstone — reappearing. He replied, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also 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." People were willing to give Jesus prominence and high position, just as people today are willing to accord to Mrs. Eddy prominence and distinction. What they could not bring themselves to do in the days of the Master was to acknowledge him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God." To his immediate disciples, however, Jesus was not the return of John the Baptist, or of some other great prophet; nor was he merely a distinguished religious leader. They saw him as an identity which the chief priests and elders of the Temple were not able to see — an identity fulfilling prophecy as the first representative of "Christ the BRANCH." By seeing him as such, they were acknowledging the headstone, or "rock," on which the Christian Church was to be built. Thus we see the meaning of the inscription to the picture, The Shadow of A Great Rock, "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds, blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock." (Matt. 7:25) The Mother Church was founded upon this same rock — the recognition of Mary Baker Eddy as the second representative of Christ the BRANCH. — THE FOUNDATION STONE/CORNER STONE — FROM BECOMING THE SMITING STONE IN THIS AGE? To be continued in the next issue of the Standard . . .
This issue includes excerpts from the following: The Christian Science Standard, Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1992; Vol. 3, No. 4, October 1992; Vol. 5, No. 2, April 1994; Vol. 5, No. 3, July 1994; Vol. 8, No. 2, July 1997; and Vol. 11, No. 1, October 2000.
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