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Go through, go
through the gates; prepare ye the way of the
people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out
the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
Isaiah 62:10
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Volume 4, Number 4
The
Christian Science Standard
CHRIST MUST GIVE
CHRISTIANITY HIS NEW
NAME
Mary Baker Eddy
made a well-known conditional prediction that
Christendom in the United States would be
classified as Christian Scientists in the twentieth
century:
If the
lives of Christian Scientists attest their
fidelity to Truth, I predict that in the
twentieth century every Christian church in our
land, and a few in far-off lands, will
approximate the understanding of Christian
Science sufficiently to heal the sick in his
name. Christ will give to Christianity his
new name, and Christendom will be classified
as Christian Scientists. (Pulpit and
Press 22:9)
The terms of this
prediction are specific,—Christianity must be
given the "new name" for Christ, and Christian
Scientists must attest their fidelity to it. Unless
these demands are met there will be no fulfillment.
Many Christian Scientists perhaps have assumed that
the "new name" to be given by Christ to
Christianity is "Christian Science," but Mrs. Eddy
says otherwise:
The only
record of our Master as a ... personal Saviour,
opens when he was thirty years of age; ... Also,
it is natural to conclude that at this juncture
he was specially endowed with the Holy Spirit;
for he was given the new name, Messiah,
or Jesus Christ,—the God-anointed;
even as, at times of special enlightenment,
Jacob was called Israel; and Saul, Paul.
(Miscellaneous Writings 161:18, with
emphasis added)
The "new name" is
"Jesus Christ,—the God-anointed," not
Christian Science. She also shows in the following
that the new name includes both Jesus and Mrs. Eddy
as two individuals in one individuality:
The Lamb's
[Jesus'] wife [Mrs. Eddy]
presents the unity of male and female as no
longer two wedded individuals, but as two
individual natures in one
[individual]; and this compounded
spiritual individuality reflects God as
Father-Mother, not as a corporeal being.
(Science and Health 577:4-8)
Just as God is
Father-Mother, so Jesus and Mrs. Eddy devoid of
sex, are one individual, reflecting the two natures
as a "compounded spiritual individuality." As the
same individual, they are one of the two
witnesses,—the other being Christian Science.
See Revelation 11:3-12, and Miscellany
346:29-2.
HIGHEST VISIBLE
IDEA
Mr. Bliss Knapp is quoted as saying: "Christ is
the way, man is not; Christ is the Rock, man is
not; Christ is the Truth, man is not; Christ is the
door, man is not; Christ is the vine, man is not;
Christ is the bread of life, man is not." The
identification of the "new name" depends on having
"the true estimate" of the highest visible idea.
Mrs. Eddy writes:
...
[T]he grand necessity of existence is to
gain the true idea of what constitutes the
kingdom of heaven in man. This goal is never
reached while we hate our neighbor or entertain
a false estimate of anyone whom God has
appointed to voice His Word. Again, without a
correct sense of its highest visible
idea, we can never understand the divine
Principle. The botanist must know the genus and
species of a plant in order to classify it
correctly. As it is with things, so is it with
persons. (S&H 560)
The highest visible
idea in our age is Mary Baker Eddy, "the second
appearing in the flesh of the Christ..." (S&H
118:7) We must understand that there is a "highest
idea," and that men and women are not Christ, nor a
part of Christ.
1st
CENTURY—
THE EXALTED POSITION OF CHRIST JESUS
An essential to the understanding and growth of
Christianity is to recognize the exalted position
of Christ both in his names and appearance in the
flesh. The first chapter of Hebrews puts Christ
next to God in the Godhead, and describes His
grandeur, majesty, and exalted position. The writer
to the Hebrews tells us:
1. God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets,
2. Hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
he made the worlds;
3. Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image
of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high;
4. Being made so
much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
they.
5. For unto
which of the angels said he at any time, Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And
again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall
be to me a Son?
6. And again,
when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the
world, he said, And let all the angels of God
worship him.
7. And of the
angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire.
8. But unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre
of thy kingdom.
9. Thou hast
loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows.
10. And, Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation
of the earth; and the heavens are the works of
thine hands: ...
The writer to the
Hebrews seems to be making corrections in doctrine,
establishing the vast distance between Christ and
men and women. He dispels completely the notion
that their selfhood can be Christ, and points out
the very special relationship that exists between
Christ and God, and that men and women can never
fill the place of Christ Jesus.
20th
CENTURY—
THE EXALTED POSITION OF CHRIST
Since the epistle to the Hebrews was written in
A.D. 64, scientific or abstract terminology has
become commonplace, so that terms such as Mind,
idea, subjective, objective, and individuality can
be used in describing the exalted position of
Christ. In metaphysics, the subjective state is the
mind's thought of itself, whether it is God doing
the thinking or man. The objective state is the
subjective thought externalized in forms and
things. Individuality is uniqueness, causing
differences,—"varied manifestations." (S&H
466:4)
Christ is divine
Mind's or God's subjective thought or idea of
Himself objectified in form, whereas God is
essence,—not outlined. Christ gives Deity an
outlined expression or revelation of the divine
Mind. It was this outlining idea, Christ, "by whom
He [God] made the worlds."
As a result of this
glorious manifestation, Christ is "appointed heir
of all things." This is a special relationship
between God and Christ, establishing Christ as "the
brightness of His [God's] glory, and the
express image of his person." It establishes him
also as forever "upholding all things by the word
of his power." We do not and cannot exist without
Christ. He is distinct, and higher than the angels
or the sons and daughters of God. God tells the
angels to worship him, Christ.
Because God is
infinite intelligence, he has an expression of
himself in infinite ideas,—man and the
universe. Man and the universe are the objective
result (reflection) of the divine Mind's witnessing
to itself in its subjective individualized Christ
idea.
Humans each have a
name and the names are different to describe
different natures. Also, there is the new name
which is written on everyone because each reflects
God and His Christ. Because Christ has
individuality he imparts distinct individuality to
each of us.
Moses as with all
other humans, had a distinct individuality. Moses
had an idea of himself, and he and his idea of
himself were one individuality, and his
individuality reflected God and His Christ. He was
not Christ, and his selfhood was not Christ,
because he was not the idea of the subjective
individuality of divine Mind.
So, "the sons and
daughters of God" do not have as their individual
selfhood the Christ. If Christ were the selfhood of
all men and women, they would have no separate or
distinct individuality, or selfhood. All would have
just the one individuality, that of the Christ. It
would be like having the individual notes, a, b, c,
etc., on the musical scale but without any
difference in tone! There would really be no scale
because there would be no difference between the
notes! It would be like singing a hymn with just
one note! We have a subjective thought of ourselves
such as I and my idea of myself are one. That idea
is not Christ but reflects God and His Christ. God
has a subjective idea of Himself including His
individuality, and that idea is Christ.
Remember that on
the Mount of Transfiguration, both Moses and
Elijah, who lived a thousand years before Jesus,
were immediately recognizable as distinct
individuals with distinct natures.
MRS. EDDY'S
PLACE 1993
Only with the advent of Jesus did the Christ
first appear in the flesh as an individual, and he
gave the world his new name, Christ Jesus. In 1866,
the Christ appeared again in the flesh as an
individual, but the world has not yet received her
"new name," Christ Mary, the God-anointed, and
God-appointed, the known of God.
In our July issue
it was pointed out there could be no Christianity
without Peter's confession of Christ,—"Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." In
order for Christendom to be "classified as
Christian Scientists" there must be a new
confession bearing the "new name,"—Thou art
the Christ, the Daughter of the living
God.
MRS. EDDY SEES
HERSELF AS CHRIST MARY
Dr. Alfred E. Baker, a former Quaker and a
student of Mrs. Eddy, taught several obstetric
courses in the Board of Education of The Mother
Church. Dr. and Mrs. Baker were often called upon
by Mrs. Eddy to give specific metaphysical support
to the Movement. In one such instance Mrs. Eddy
furnished Dr. Baker a text daily to use in his
support work over a four-week period. One of these
daily texts given him reads:
Mother is
Christ Mary. Mother is God's idea. Error has
gone. God is made manifest. [Watches,
Prayers, Arguments Given to Students By Mary
Baker Eddy, Gilbert C. Carpenter, Jr.,
Editor. (Providence: The Carpenter Foundation.
1950) p. 54]
JUDGE HANNA
EXPLAINS THE UNITY OF CHRIST
Judge Septimus J. Hanna, C.S.D., appointed
President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College
by Mrs. Eddy with life tenure, wrote a "Brief" in
which he has this to say:
The
clearer conception which I feel has come to me
as the result of a more careful and systematic
study of the Bible and our Leader's writings on
this subject has also given me an increased
perception of the significance of Christ and
Christmas, especially this verse:
As in blest
Palestina's hour,
So in our age,
'Tis the same hand unfolds His power,
And writes the page.
We must recognize
the fact that Fatherhood and Motherhood are
embraced within the Godhead. The expression of the
Godhead then must include the male and female.
Christ Jesus would not be a full expression of
divine Principle if he did not reflect, in his
character, the male and female.
"[B]lest
Palestina's hour" refers to Christ Jesus; "our age"
refers to Christ Mary. Since "'Tis the same
hand [both male and female, devoid of
sex,—two individuals in one—that]
unfolds His power and writes the page," then this
"hand" must belong to the woman who wrote the book,
and who "compasses a man." (Jer. 31:22) See our
issue of January, 1993, where Mrs. Eddy
authenticates Totten's prophecy of the woman
encompassing the man.
This verse that
Hanna quotes must necessarily be interpreted
together with the picture which accompanies it,
"Christian Unity," showing hands joined, two in one
("Tis the same hand"). Then, the picture which
follows, "Truth vs. Error," portrays the Lamb's
wife, Christ Mary, the woman with the book, who is
now two individuals in one individuality. (cf.
S&H 577:4-8)
This woman is the
highest visible idea in our age and her name,
Christ Mary, (the God-anointed and God-appointed,
the known of God) is to be given to Christendom in
accord with Mrs. Eddy's prophecy. The new name
reflects the compounded spiritual individuality of
the Messiah.
TWO CONCEPTS OF
CHRIST JESUS IN THE TEACHING SYSTEM
In order for Christian Scientists to attest to
Christ's new name, divergent teachings must be
identified.
Previous issues of
the Standard have pointed out that at the
turn of the century two teachings of Christian
Science became entrenched in the church's teaching
system. According to Mr. Robert Peel, official
historian of the Church, these two teachings, or
"variant 'schools' ... [were] (sometimes
known as the Boston school and the Chicago school)
of which Hanna and Kimball were presumed to be the
chief representatives." See page 251 of the
official church history, Mary Baker Eddy: The
Years of Authority.
The original
teaching as taught by Mrs. Eddy is the Hanna/Knott
school and includes the 1943 official position, and
the 1993 updated position on Mrs. Eddy's place
given on page 5 of this issue. This is the teaching
which Mrs. Eddy protected with three trust
deeds.
The divergent
teaching is the "Chicago school." Its position on
Mrs. Eddy's place is given by Peel on pages 37 and
38 of The Years of Authority, published in
1977. That position was described in our previous
issue as the "manifesto" of 1977 which reverses the
position published by the Directors in 1943 and
negates the place of Mrs. Eddy and Christ Jesus in
prophecy. Jesus is seen as a mere scientific
discoverer who happened to reach the mountain peak
where discoveries are made. It was pointed out that
the mountain-peak symbolism was attributed to
Kimball. In this scenario Christ Jesus and Mrs.
Eddy are not known to God, not anointed, not
appointed, and not chosen as the true Messiah, the
Christ.
Kimball's closest
student, Mr. Bicknell Young, C.S.B., taught the
Normal classes of 1910 and 1937, and appears to
have advanced the concept that all mankind is
equated with the Christ. In a widely circulated
manuscript of class notes, Mr. Young quotes from
Message for 1901 (6:24): "The Christ was Jesus'
spiritual selfhood;..." Then he says:
You need
not have that false sense of humility that would
deny the Christ just because it happens to be
your own thought, but on the other hand glorify
the Christ in your understanding; it
is your divine selfhood. (pp. 72, 73,
original manuscript, emphasis added.)
Other teachers have
been quoted as making similar statements, such as:
"Jesus was divinely appointed, but every man and
woman is divinely appointed and anointed. Christ is
a synonym for man."
It is easy to see
from these Kimball teachings why his students see
themselves having the same selfhood and place as
Jesus. According to Peel's presentation of
Kimball's teaching, as pointed out in our previous
issue, scientists and discoverers like Boyle,
Pythagoras, and Heisenberg, in their real selfhood,
were just as much Christ as Jesus. If all men and
women are Christ or a part of Christ, there is no
need to single out Jesus as the Christ, for the
real selfhood of all would be Christ. This
teaching, if possible, would destroy the Trinity,
since Christ would have no individualized being
distinct from men and women.
EARLY
DIVERGENCE
Did Boston move in one leap from the 1943
position to the 1977 position which negates it?
Evidence exists that it did not, for from the
earliest period Mrs. Eddy's followers disagreed
with and diverged from her teachings. For instance,
from 1884 to 1892, the students she engaged as
editors for The Christian Science
Journal,—Emma Hopkins, Arthur Buswell, Sarah
Crosse, Frank Mason, Sarah Clarke, Julia
Field-King,—all in their turn diverged from
her teachings and left the Movement. These were
just the editors of the Journal and do not account
for others of her students who did the same.
Divergent teaching views were more common than one
might think. The first editor of the periodicals to
remain loyal to the teachings of Mrs. Eddy was
Judge Hanna.
HER EARLY
TEACHING ON CHRIST
Mrs. Eddy's early teaching on the Christ is
quite different from the Kimball teaching. In the
first edition of Science and Health, Mrs.
Eddy states a number of times that Christ is God.
On page 309 she writes: "... but Christ is God, and
God propitiates not Himself ..." On page 51:
"Christ is God, the Principle and Soul of the man
Jesus ..." On page 126: "... and established the
proof that he was Christ, and that Christ is God,
the Soul and Life of man." On page 303: "Christ and
God are words synonymous." On page 305: "His
marvellous works are readily accounted for when we
remember, Christ is God ..." There are other
similar references, and this view was continued up
to the fourteenth edition. Mrs. Eddy later
clarified the individuality of the Christ and its
oneness with God and its distinctness as the Son.
She always held Christ to be part of the Godhead,
one of the three elements of the Trinity.
THE BATTLE WITH
ANTICHRIST
What is it that hinders Christendom from
receiving the new name of Christ in accord with
Mrs. Eddy's prophecy? It is not persons or
organizations. It is Antichrist, as described by
St. John:
Little
children, it is the last time: and as ye have
heard that antichrist shall come, even now are
there many antichrists; whereby we know that it
is the last time. ... Who is a liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an
antichrist that denieth the Father and
the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father: [but] he
that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father
also. (I John 2:18, 22, 23)
It is a
characteristic of "the last time" that some of the
followers of Christ will misunderstand and "deny"
Christ. If we believe that the real selfhood of
everyone is Christ, or a part of Christ, are we not
denying that Jesus in the flesh is Christ, "the
Son" of the Father,—denying both the Son
and the Father? On this subject our Leader
says: "Ignorance of the divine idea betrays at once
a greater ignorance of the divine Principle of the
idea ..." (S&H 560:30-31)
St. John warns
against denying the highest visible
idea:
Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is of God: And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is not of God: and this is that
spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that
it should come; and even now already is it in
the world. (I John 4:1-3)
Just as the
Christian church is built on Jesus' statement "On
this rock I will build my church," so the Christian
Science church cannot survive without the
"confession of the true Messiah." (S&H
138:1-5)
The danger in
entertaining a false or even casual estimate of
Christ is that it produces a total lack of concern
for the gospel of Christ. It is Antichrist that
causes a lack of concern.
CHRIST'S
END-TIME MISSION—THE BATTLE FOR THE
GOSPEL
Christ Jesus explained his mission at the time
of the end, saying, "And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
(Matt. 24:14; also 1-51) Mrs. Eddy's own
teaching is the gospel of Christ to be preached in
all the world. To do this requires a mighty
struggle in the present hour: (a) to attest to her
new name, and (b) to protect and extend her
teaching. There can be no "Eddy teaching" without
attesting to her new name.
Our Purpose To
Attest To the New Name of Christ
The recognition of Christ's new name is essential
as the foundation stone on which the religion of
Christian Science as taught by Mrs. Eddy is brought
to Christendom. The recognition of the new name
also fulfills the prophecy of Jesus in Revelation
3:12, "And I will write upon him my new name." This
new name,—"Thou art the Christ, the Daughter
of the living God,"—must be written on each
one and given to all Christendom. If one does not
have Christ's new name he cannot understand
Christian Science as taught by Mrs.
Eddy.
Her Single
Purpose For Her Church: To Protect Her Teaching
The single purpose of Mrs. Eddy for her Church,
as stated in her founding trusts, according to the
decision of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts,
dated November 23, 1921, is as follows (emphasis
added):
The
declared object of the trust, recited in the
early part of the trust deed, is "for the
purpose of more effectually promoting and
extending the religion of Christian Science
as taught by me." ... The Directors were
enjoined not to allow in the church building any
preaching or other religious services not
consonant and in strict harmony with the
doctrines and practice of Christian Science
as taught and explained by Mrs. Eddy. (p.
1171)
It is manifest
from the structure of the trust deed as well as
from its express words that the single and only
design of the founder was to promote and extend
the religion of Christian Science as taught
by Mrs. Eddy. Every part of the trust deed
reinforces and makes even more plain the avowed
purpose of Mrs. Eddy that her sole and
completely dominating aim in establishing the
trust was to promote and extend the religion of
Christian Science as taught by her. (p.
1173)
The promotion of
Christian Science as taught by Mrs. Eddy
was the end and aim of the trust. (p. 1174)
(Proceedings in Equity 1919-1921. Boston:
The Christian Science Publishing
Society.)
Neither
Even-handedness Nor Balance Sanctioned By Mrs.
Eddy
On page 251 of The Years of Authority,
Peel says that there are "two variant schools," and
he implies that the two variants differ only in
emphasis and interpretation. However, the fact is
that one school is the original and genuine, and
the other is not variant, but divergent.
On pages 251-2,
Peel wrongfully claims that Mrs. Eddy "maintained
[a] sort of balance" or "even-handedness"
between the two schools by appointing Hanna and
Kimball in succession to teach the Normal classes
of 1907 and 1910. (page 468, note 128) But
circumstances prove that she in fact did not
maintain such a policy of balance or
even-handedness because:
(1) she
discontinued Kimball's teaching of Normal
classes as of 1902 even though he had two more
years on his five-year contract;
(2) then, she
provided, in each of the next three years,
two-day annual meetings of a "General
Association of Teachers" for the specific
purpose of bringing about "uniformity in
teaching" (See our issue of July, 1992, page 10;
April 2, 1993, p. 8);
(3) we cannot
say, for lack of documentation, that she
appointed Hanna and Kimball in succession, but
we can say she appointed Greene and Hanna in
succession to teach the Normal classes of 1906
and 1907, as she was assured these two would
teach Christian Science as taught by her because
they both had expressed a knowledge of the
difference between the two schools;
(4) in 1913, two
editorials appearing in the periodicals were
written for the purpose of correcting Mr.
Kimball's teachings, thus proving that the
attempt to achieve uniformity in the years
1903-1905 were unsuccessful (see our issue April
2, 1993, p. 9-11; also April 1, 1992, p. 8);
(5) all Normal
class teachers appointed in the 1920's,
following the decision of the Court, were pupils
of Mrs. Eddy who taught what she taught,
conclusive proof she had not established a
policy of "even-handedness;"
(6) only in
1931, well after the Court decision of 1921, did
Kimball students again teach Normal classes and
have taught all Normal classes up to the
present, with one or two exceptions,—with
no even-handedness or balance.
There is no
documentation that we have seen from Peel or any
other authority to prove that she appointed Kimball
to teach the December, 1910, Normal class, fifteen
months in advance of the class, and less than a
week before his decease, as claimed by H. H. Wait.
Peel's silence on the particulars of this reputed
appointment is noteworthy. Had the policy of
even-handedness been established by Mrs. Eddy, it
would have been a breach of the aim of the trusts
that she established to protect her teaching, and
the Court could not have arrived at the decision in
favor of the Directors.
Mrs. Eddy was not
aware at first that Kimball's teaching was
divergent. Mr. Kimball was a dedicated follower of
Mrs. Eddy. He possessed great charisma and was
instrumental in bringing thousands into Christian
Science. People were drawn to him and he was
approachable to people in all levels of society. He
was cultured and refined. This is the sort of
teacher that any leader would want. By 1904 Peel
says that Kimball had "turned out some
hundred-and-fifty new teachers," a sizeable and
influential following. (p. 248) As a consequence,
when Mrs. Eddy was presented with the possible
division of her Movement if she appeared to oppose
the Kimball teaching, she obviously took the
possible split seriously, and made the
concession of approving Bicknell Young to
teach the 1910 Normal class without intending to
breach the single purpose of her trusts.
All must heed the
battle call to exalt Christ Mary and extend her
teaching.
Mrs. Eddy's Call
to Arms: To "Lift Aloft His
Standard"—The Eddy Teaching
Mrs. Eddy's sole purpose for her church was to
protect and extend her (Boston school) teaching.
Her purpose is exactly equivalent to Jesus'
commission,—"this gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations." Because the Boston, or Eddy, school was
phased out long ago in favor of the Chicago
(Kimball) school, in the official teaching system,
this mission can no longer be carried out by The
Mother Church, and in fact is delegated to another
entity, an "army," by the following
prediction/commission of Mrs. Eddy. Our church has
heeded this call to battle.
Mrs. Eddy's
Warfare Prediction
According to a photograph of the original
document in our church file (with two words in Mrs.
Eddy's handwriting), her prediction reads:
In answer
to on-coming questions, will say: I calculate
that about one half century more will bring to
the front the man [and warriors; cf. Rev.
19:11-21] that God has equipped to lift
aloft His standard of Christian Science.
(Cf. Divinity
Course and General Collectanea, known as
"The Blue Book," p. 97; first published by a
former Director of The Mother Church in The
Christian Science Watchman, January, 1928,
Vol. IV, No. 5, p. 106.)
The mission to
"lift aloft His standard" is Mrs. Eddy's commission
and involves warfare,—the "Battle for the
Gospel" as seen in Revelation 12:17 and 19:11-21.
We are enlisted in her war, a war which began in
1899 when Mrs. Knott was engaged in the opening
skirmishes, which continued unabated throughout her
entire career, the details to which we can never do
justice. In two editorials cited on pages 13 and 14
Mrs. Knott foresaw a war culminating in a great
battle which is parallel to the warfare foreseen by
Mrs. Eddy and the great commission in her above
prediction. Some skirmishes experienced by Mrs.
Knott are:
(1) After
attending Mr. Kimball's January, 1899, Normal
class, a Mrs. Doty returned to Detroit and
turned against Mrs. Knott, her Primary class
teacher, and proclaimed widely that Mrs. Knott
was teaching Christian Science incorrectly (an
account attested to by Mrs. Emma A. Rixford, a
student of Mrs. Knott and a Journal listed
practitioner since 1901). Mrs. Doty, who had
been healed of invalidism by Mrs. Knott, had
been considered prior to her Kimball class, to
be Mrs. Knott's most dedicated and apt pupil,
and loyal friend. What was there in that Normal
class to cause the estrangement of this friend?
Was this not the first skirmish of the
warfare?
(2) In June,
1902, Mrs. Knott was sued for fraud by a
student, Mr. Meyer, for the money paid and time
spent in the attempt to learn to "cure disease
through the power of Christian Science" in Mrs.
Knott's Primary class. The suit came after Mr.
Meyer had become a patient of Mrs. Doty who
turned him against his teacher. Because of an
appeal, this suit was held over Mrs. Knott's
head until Meyer lost the case in the Michigan
Supreme Court in October, 1904. Despite the
growing claim that she was teaching incorrectly,
Mrs. Eddy called Mrs. Knott to Boston in June,
1903, to serve as associate editor of the
periodicals.
(3) On October
5, 1905, Mrs. Eddy called the Board of Directors
and editors to her study where she picked up a
copy of the Christian Science Sentinel of
September 30, 1905, and asked them if they
considered scientific the words: "A diseased
body is not acceptable to God." The article had
been written by a Kimball student. She rebuked
them with the words, "Now, will you any of you
tell me whether God has any more use for a well
body than for a sick one?" Mrs. Eddy said to
Mrs. Knott, "her reason for having [Mrs.
Knott] come to Boston was because she hoped
[Mrs. Knott] would be able to see that
her teachings were strictly adhered to in the
articles that went out." (We Knew Mary Baker
Eddy, Third Series, p. 85-87) (If Mrs. Eddy
was practicing even-handedness in the teaching,
why would she not practice it in the
periodicals?)
(4) At the end
of 1913 the Editor, Mr. McClellan, asked Mrs.
Knott to write several editorials to correct
certain "misconceptions" of Christian Science.
After two of these were published, such an
uproar resulted from Kimball students that an
official explanation had to be made to placate
the situation. One who was a Director at the
time later wrote that "this subject [of the
Kimball teaching] became one of the most
acute issues in the Christian Science
organization." (Circular letter of J. V.
Dittemore, Nov. 28, 1921) Dr. Braden informs us
that as a result of this incident in 1913, "the
battle lines were now sharply drawn"
(Christian Science Today, p. 311). Mrs.
Knott was henceforth recognized as the leading
exponent of the Eddy school. She became a target
in this warfare because she "went straight to
the heart of the controversy when she condemned
as utterly false and unspiritual logic the
argument that one's own hand cannot be painful
or diseased because God's hand is not. This is a
direct repudiation of an essential principle of
Kimball's teaching." (Ibid. p. 309)
Mrs. Knott's
Warfare Prediction
Mrs. Knott foresaw that the continuing conflict
over the teaching would be decided by a culminating
war—in the "battle for the
gospel"—against "the remnant of her seed
[because they] have the testimony of Jesus
Christ." (Rev. 12:17) We feel the following
editorial by Mrs. Knott, points to our time and
depicts a "tremendous struggle" which is
parallel to and corroborated by Mrs. Eddy's
above prediction. In one editorial, Mrs. Knott
writes:
This
brings us to John's apocalyptic vision, as given
in the book of Revelation, which leaves no
question as to the greatness of the struggle
needed on the plane of mortal belief before the
Kingdom of God, with all it implies, is brought
to humanity.
[The
Warrior's Army Never Knows Defeat]
We find in this book no intimation that the
struggle would ever end except for the appearing
of the warrior whose armies never know defeat,
the one who is called "Faithful and True," and
who is also spoken of as "the Word of God," and
who goes forth as the representative of Him who
is "King of Kings, and Lord of lords." Before
this mighty warrior the kings, captains, and
mighty men of earth flee, and the beast and the
false prophet, representing lust, sorcery, and
hypocrisy, are utterly annihilated. It is deeply
significant to read that toward the close of
this tremendous struggle a "great white throne"
appeared, that men and nations were called to
stand before God and to be judged according to
their works, and that then "the sea gave up the
dead which were in it." (The Christian
Science Journal, July, 1918. p.
193)
In another
editorial, Mrs. Knott describes the mighty battle
against error as led by the victorious warrior,
"the Word of God":
In the
nineteenth chapter of Revelation we have a
wonderful picture of a rider on a white horse
leading to victory the heavenly hosts that make
war upon all error,—characterized on page
571 of Science and Health as "sin, sorcery,
lust, and hypocrisy." This victorious warrior
and leader is called "The Word of God," nor do
we find any intimation in Scripture that in any
other way or by any other means can the
almightiness of God, good, and the supremacy of
Spirit be demonstrated. Though the vesture of
this great warrior is said to be "dipped in
blood," those who follow him are clothed in
"linen, white and clean," while the utter
destruction of all evil comes from the sharp
sword, proceeding out of his mouth, with which
all mortal beliefs are smitten.
[Mrs.
Knott Calls for Enlistees in the Warrior's
Army]
Who would not then be enrolled in this great
army, the battle cry of which is ever the same,
"Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power,
unto the Lord our God"? Blessed truly are they
who do His will and thus know that here and now
"the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
(Christian Science Sentinel, July 13,
1918. p. 911)
"AS THE
ANGELS"
Jesus' first miracle at the marriage in Cana,
the turning of the water into wine, is an
illustration of mankind's needed preparatory
thinking. Jesus, the Bridegroom of Revelation, and
Christ Mary the "last Adam" (two in one), must have
been aware that the true marriage was not in seeing
male and female divided, but seeing "two individual
natures in one" individual. They knew that "in the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."
(Matt. 22:30)
It seems apparent
from this beginning miracle that prior to his
ministry, Jesus had already seen the duality of
Christ. The wine he gave to the wedding feast was
the wine of "inspiration [and]
understanding,"—unlike the first wine which
represented "error; fornication; temptation;
passion." (See the two "wines" as defined by Mrs.
Eddy in Science and Health, page 598.) In
the spiritual union of man and woman, human
marriage and generation do not exist. This position
of thought was lost to human understanding in the
Adam-dream, but Christ was never separated from his
Bride,—the "New Jerusalem,"—and man was
never separated from woman or heaven. The New
Jerusalem becomes apparent as the wine of male and
female sex is changed to the wine of "inspiration
[and] understanding."
THE GATES TO
PARADISE ARE OPEN,
CHRIST TO CLOSE THE WORLD OF MATERIAL HISTORY
Mrs. Eddy writes: "The spiritual status is
urging its highest demands on mortals, and material
history is drawing to a close." (No and Yes
45:25-27) The world (material history) opened with
the separation of Adam and Eve, and will be closed
by Christ. St. Paul says this is so:
For since
by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,
But every man in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at
his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule and
all authority and power. For he must reign, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet." (I Cor.
15:21-25)
And so it is
written, The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam [Christ Mary] was
made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not
first which is spiritual, but that which is
natural, and afterward that [Christ
Mary] which is spiritual. The first man is
of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord
from heaven [Christ Mary]. As is the
earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and
as is the heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
(I Cor. 15:45-50)
How is Christ Mary
"the last Adam"? She reverses the first Adam by
restoring the dual individuality of God's
Father-Motherhood, which includes Jesus and Mrs.
Eddy. In the reality of being, Christ's duality
could never be divided. Since the Father-Mother God
could never be separated, man's dual nature could
never be separated. And if Adam and Eve could never
be separated,—and in reality never
were,—then the world is really not populated
by mortals. It is just the Adam-dream.
There seems to be a
material world because Eve was taken from Adam, who
was a dual being, and she became a separate being.
Where there are no people, there is no world. So
when Adam's dual being was divided into two
individuals, and multiplied, the world (in belief)
began at that point. To end the world, one must
delete the progeny of Adam and Eve by the process
of restoring two individual natures to one. The
spiritual means to do this is to spiritually
recognize the duality of the Christ in the
appearing in the flesh of Christ Jesus and Mary
Baker Eddy. As we recognize and demonstrate the
fact that Christ Mary is the woman encompassing the
man in their spiritual reality as well as in their
human experience, it will have the effect of
opening to thought the New Jerusalem for present
day humanity, who will pour through the gates of
paradise.
MORE EVIDENCE OF
CHRIST CLOSING THE WORLD
Previous issues of the Standard have
discussed possible end-time scenarios and the
evidence related to Christ's closing of the world.
Reputable evidence relating to material history
"drawing to a close" was reported by the Boston
Globe in an article of July 19,
1993:
CLIMATE
Ice cores raise the question: Is our luck
running out?
... Nobody quite knows what the results
[of what humans have been doing] might
be, but new evidence reported over the last two
weeks by scientists who have analyzed layers of
ancient ice gives a strong hint that they could
be dire.
Widespread
burning of fossil fuels that produce carbon
dioxide and other emissions, deforestation in
the tropics that removes one of the major
stabilizing reservoirs for greenhouse gases, and
the destruction of the ozone layer are among the
human actions that could profoundly affect the
Earth's climate, the level of its oceans and the
growth of its plant and animal life.
But until
now, even scientists who feared the worst
had thought the outcome of these actions, while
they might have severe consequences, would be
very gradual and predictable. Even if the most
extreme predictions of global warming were
accurate, there were some who thought human
society would still be able to adjust. Over a
span of decades, agricultural patterns would
shift, crops would be planted in different
regions, cities would be forced gradually back
from coastlines as sea levels rose, but humanity
would cope.
[THE ONLY
PERIOD OF STEADY CLIMATE]
But the latest findings suggest we may
have been lulled into a sense of false
security because human civilization has
arisen in a unique, extraordinarily constant
period of the Earth's climate. Out of the
250,000 years of climate history written in
layers of ice that have been drilled in
Greenland, the last 10,000 years—the period
when human society, agriculture, culture and
written language evolved—turns out to be
the only period during that span [of
250,000 years] in which the climate has been
steady.
[ONLY
WILD, OR CATASTROPHIC, VARIATIONS, THE
NORM]
Wild variations, for most of the planet's
history that we now know of, have been the norm.
"We humans have built a remarkable
socio-economic system during perhaps the only
time when it could be built, when climate was
sufficiently stable to allow us to develop the
agricultural infrastructure required to maintain
an advanced society," wrote James W.C. White, a
geochemist at the University of Colorado, in a
commentary in the journal Nature on a series of
findings from Greenland ice cores drilled by
European scientists. "We don't know why we have
been so blessed," White continued, "but even
without human intervention, the climate
system is capable of stunning variability."
The evidence for
that variability came as such a surprise that
most scientists are still scratching their
heads, and nobody seems to have come up with a
way of explaining it. "That's the purpose for
drilling in the first place, to understand how
climate works" said Michael Morrison, a
University of New Hampshire professor and
associate director of a US team that drilled one
of the two new Greenland ice cores. Now that the
cores have revealed what happened during the
previous interglacial period, Morrison said,
"the next step is to understand how did it
happen and why."
But the evidence
is clear enough that those who know the field
see little chance for dispute about the basic
facts: Except for the anomalous recent
period, the Earth has been subject to the most
violent of climate swings. It has oscillated
between extreme, ice-age-like cold spells,
periods when it was warmer than now, and
everything in between. The finding that really
"throws us back on our heels," said David Peel,
a co-author of a paper on the Greenland research
that appeared in Nature last week, is how
quickly these extreme changes can happen. "No
one would have believed it until these data came
along," said Edward Boyle, a professor in the
department of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary
Science at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Boyle studies past climate by
examining cores drilled from deep-ocean
sediments, a method that allows scientists to
study much longer time scales, but with much
less detail about short-term changes.
The findings
raise the frightening possibility that altering
the climate, rather than simply causing a slow,
gradual change to which human society might be
able to adjust, might propel the planet over
some threshold into a period of sudden,
unpredictable swings between extremes of hot and
cold. ...
It is the
remarkable clarity of the record written in the
Greenland ice that made the discovery of these
rapid changes possible. The two ice cores that
have just been completed in Greenland—one
by an American team, the other by the Europeans,
drilled just 18 miles apart to provide mutual
confirmation of the findings—are not the
first to reveal past climate records so far back
in time, but they are by far the best. In the
Greenland ice, going back tens of thousands of
years, the annual layers of ice can be discerned
and counted as clearly as the annual growth
rings in a cut tree. Even going back more than
100,000 years, the scientists can pinpoint
events to within a range of a few years.
[SUDDEN
DRAMATIC SHIFTS]
And that's what made possible the astonishing
findings reported last week. Scientists already
knew there were sudden, dramatic shifts
to global temperature during the last ice age.
And they had a theory to explain it: Sudden
changes in the huge ice sheets that covered much
of the continental surfaces, and extended far
out over the oceans, could trigger the shifts.
But now, it turns out that swings that are just
as wide, and just as sudden, also occurred
during the warm period between ice ages—the
last "interglacial" period, called the Eemian.
(The current interglacial period is called the
Holocene.) The problem is, there were no
extensive ice sheets during the Eemian. So
scientists will have to come up with a whole new
explanation for such rapid changes in climate.
So far, they don't have a clue.
It seems that
our present, stable climate may be almost as
unusual in the long term as having a coin land
on edge after flipping hundreds of heads and
tails. It is stable for the moment, but a small
jiggle could tip it over.
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