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- viii -
the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has
been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but
to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live
in obedience to its divine Principle. To develop the full
might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense
must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the
science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet concord
to sound.
Theology and physics teach that both Spirit and
matter are real and good, whereas the fact is that
Spirit is good and real, and matter is Spirit's
opposite. The question, What is Truth, is answered by
demonstration, - by healing both disease and sin; and
this demonstration shows that Christian healing confers
the most health and makes the best men. On this
basis Christian Science will have a fair fight. Sickness
has been combated for centuries by doctors using material
remedies; but the question arises, Is there less
sickness because of these practitioners? A vigorous
"No" is the response deducible from two connate
facts, - the reputed longevity of the Antediluvians,
and the rapid multiplication and increased violence of
diseases since the flood.
In the author's work, RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPECTION,
may be found a biographical sketch, narrating
experiences which led her, in the year 1866, to the discovery
of the system that she denominated Christian
Science. As early as 1862 she began to write down and
give to friends the results of her Scriptural study, for
the Bible was her sole teacher; but these compositions
were crude, - the first steps of a child in the newly discovered
world of Spirit.
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