The Text - Section 8
Another World I
BU 49:1, LC 2:106
It has generally been supposed that the authors of the old and new testaments
were inspired to write an account of another world off and apart from this globe.
Under this belief strange ideas arose in the minds of men. In the old scriptures is
given an account of the formation of a literal earth and the creation of man. Then
it goes on to tell how man became so wicked that God caused it to rain forty days
and flood the earth, destroying all the inhabitants except Noah and his family,
who after the floods dried up came forth and commenced to till the ground. All
this story is believed to have a literal meaning and all who question this belief are
called infidels or deists. Now after Noah and his family began populating the
earth, you see an account of the generations of Noah. Then the world became
wicked again, but God promised not to destroy it by water a second time but by
fire. Here follows a description of the final destruction of this earth and its
inhabitants by fire and a promise from God of a new heaven and earth where
there shall be no more death nor weeping, where all shall worship God day and
night, where the wicked shall be destroyed and God shall reign eternally. Now
this is explained literally. It is believed that all this was communicated to Moses
on the Mount and that God came down and talked to Moses, giving him a code of
laws or belief that man must accept in order to gain a place in this new heaven.
This theory God caused Moses to write down and it was called the
commandments of God, given to Moses for the happiness of the children of
Israel, to be taught to them while he was leading them through the land of Egypt
into the land of Canaan.
This belief was to counteract some false idea that the people had, for they were
very ignorant and full of all sorts of superstition. There were no principles
regulating their conduct towards each other but might was right. The strong
oppressed the weak and there was nothing to prevent their perpetrating any
abuses. It was Moses' aim to stop these abuses and free his people from their
bondage and degradation. So he instituted a more just and liberal code of laws
attaching penalties to abuses that he could not prevent and putting restrictions on
men to bring about a better state of society. He did not try to instruct the people
but only sought to bring them under his standard by which their oppression would
be lessened and their condition improved. Neither did he attempt to establish any
kind of worship or belief about God, but his regulations appealed to the interests
of men and were as good as the people could carry out. They made man more
cunning and crafty and overbearing, but they did not analyze motives, leaving
them as arising from the natural world. This state of things continued for a long
time. Religious doctrines never entered into men's heart, but the wise men were
engaged in developing the mind of man. All evils that were suffered were from
their acts and their acts were the offspring of their belief and their belief was
made by the leading spirits of the age.
If the person who gave direction gave it intelligently so that it could not be
bettered, then the world was wiser or better for their opinions. But if directed by
ignorance and superstition, then the people had to suffer for their belief; for our
happiness or misery is in our belief. Now as the belief of the people did not
embrace any kind of a religious opinion in regard to another world, they could not
get sick on that subject. The evils that troubled them were of this world and
confined to the laws of Moses. These made them nervous but did not create
disease. Now as truth progresses, it has to contend with error. And as Moses put
restrictions on the people they murmured and complained. So in order to keep
the people in subjection, the leaders had to invent all sorts of beliefs. Therefore,
prophets were introduced and the priests and prophets led the people, but truth
or science is not under the control of either. It moves along like the rising of the
tide. It is the only enemy that priests and doctors have to contend with, for it is
death to both, and life and happiness to all who get it. Happiness is what follows
our belief and the life of the priest and doctor is in their belief and their interest is
in the misery of their belief. For if the people have no belief, they would have no
disease, as disease is their belief. So it is the intent of the above classes to keep
the people posted up on all their beliefs to insure them a good living.
One of the old honest prophets knew this trick and said that the prophets
prophesied falsely and the priests ruled by their means and the people love to
have it so and what would they do in the end thereof. (Jer. 5:31.) As science
progressed, the priests had to give way, for there never was one particle of
knowledge or progression in either of the above theories. Science only leads the
world in true philosophy, never making man sick or diseased. Disease is not the
offspring of science but of error, and as priests and doctors have taken that part
of philosophy into their hands, all other sciences in regard to all other facts have
let the science of life alone, supposing it to be in the hands of scientific men. All
knowledge of the scientific world has had this error to contend with and the
priests and doctors have been driven from their ground and have taken their
stand just where public opinion places them. They do not lead science, but
science leads them. There was a time when they led but as their craft became so
apparent to scientific minds they had to yield. If any one will just follow along the
progress of the development of the human mind since the laws of Moses, they
will see a steady progress of science and an annihilation of priestcraft. Error has
assumed more forms than the colors of the rainbow and to every form the misery
is shown in its believers. It has shown itself in all kinds of superstition but it has
had to yield to more liberal belief.
All error in the Bible has been modified by the wars of its own party. Its opposers
were of that class of minds that could tear down if it could not build up, but in the
tearing, science made some progress. For when rogues fall out honest men get
their due.
All new theories in the Old Testament were illustrated by some phenomena that
the people were acquainted with. So the science advanced and showed itself in
some leading spirit of its age, as in Noah: his theory was represented by a flood,
for it swept away all the old world or superstition of his age. Then Moses' theory
was leading the children of Israel out of Egyptian darkness into the land of truth
or science. But as Moses never entered the land of science, he saw for others
what he never was permitted to enjoy. So science crept along in the hands of
some of the prophets and other theories are represented by altars and the
science of truth was the sacrifice. There was Balaam; his theory had false
prophets who knew just as much as some physicians in our day. His ass spoke
and so do such now. When Joshua showed the absurdities of the people's
theory, they left it and followed him, so the magicians and sorcerers and all such
deceivers had to fall back for the true science.
In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, the magicians and sorcerers had complete
power over the masses and as the king was in advance of them, he saw that all
their pretended knowledge was false. When he was sick and sent for his
magicians and sorcerers to interpret his dream, they said, as the quacks of these
days, Tell us how you feel, or your dream, and we will tell you what the matter is
or give the interpretation. But he said, No, tell me my dream or how I feel, first.
This they could not do and complained at such an unreasonable request. And
when Daniel told him his dream or how he felt, these magicians put him into a
fiery furnace, which means they put him through a course of questions which he
answered, showing knowledge superior to theirs. This made them angry and they
tried, as the doctors do now, to put it down with contempt. They did not stop the
investigations for when Darius came into power, they tried to smother this truth
and persuaded the king to pass a law that no person such as Daniel should
practice. But Daniel took no notice of it and he was cast into the lion's den or
company and when the meat was thrown in to test the science, these lions'
mouths were shut and Daniel come off conqueror.
Thus truth has had to fight error step by step and the truth has been revealed to
the wise and opposed by fools and the ignorant; so wisdom crept along till the
time of John, the Baptist. Here was a new development of truth, far above
anything reached yet. It held out a new motive to man, placing him above the
superstition of the world or error. At the time of John, the world had been
embracing false doctrines, not in regard to another world but to this world. They
had a vague idea of a world after death and the priests, to strengthen their
authority and hold on the people, invented all sorts of ideas, pretending to be
empowered with authority to pardon their sins. They held out to the people that
the dead should rise at the end of this natural world. All this was not taught by
Moses but crept into the church, which itself is only a sort of popular religious
opinion and carries sway in men's minds even to this day. The church contained
the belief of the people and as science was developed, the priests lost power
over the people. And at the time Jesus appeared, they acted as doctors and
cured the diseases of the people. When John appeared his teaching struck at the
root of all this error and he said, The axe of science is laid at the root of the trees
or theories and every tree or theory that cannot sustain ideas must be hewn
down or destroyed. The fire of truth would burn them up. Their beliefs made
people sick, just according to the penalty attached to the crime or belief. For
instance, the Jews believed that eating pork would produce scrofula; therefore
they would not eat it and those who did eat could not help being disturbed by this
belief. Where this error started I cannot say. Only, it was to satisfy the ignorant,
so they would be better off not to eat the meat. This was for the poor at first and
the aristocracy took advantage of it, just as the priests lay restrictions on the
people but do as they like themselves. So you see scrofula was the result of their
belief and the remedy was total abstinence from pork; but as priesthood went
down and their theory was exploded, the idea that pork produced scrofula was
absurd. This last belief was worse than the first, for it made this disease a thing
independent of pork and therefore the people were afraid of it. Here you see one
disease let loose in society. Now to get rid of this disease, mankind must get
nervous and wrought up to a very high state of excitement, ready to embrace any
idea that the priests could invent. And as the priests lost their hold on the people,
medical men were introduced. And at the time of Jesus, it was the complaint that
the poor paid all they had to the priests and doctors and got no relief.
As the doctors got control of the popular mind, they invented diseases to humbug
the people as the priests had done. At last they made a sort of compromise, the
priests taking the souls of men into their charge and the doctors their bodies and
between them both they almost destroyed body and soul. This was the state of
society at the time of Jesus' appearance. John saw all this humbug and warned
the people against this pretense and foretold that someone would come who
would put an end to all this priestcraft and doctoring. He did not know that
disease was all in the mind, but thought that the mind had a great influence upon
it. Jesus hearing of John and knowing that he taught a new theory went to hear
him explain his ideas. This was called baptism. So John baptized or explained to
Jesus his ideas of priestcraft and its effect on the mind, but its remedy had never
occurred to him. When Jesus heard John's thought or was baptised, as he came
from the water or understood his ideas, the heavens or truth was opened unto
him and its voice descending from God or Science, said, This truth is the Son of
God or Science.
Then he was led up into the mountains of his belief to be tempted by the errors of
the world for the people were all ready to embrace him as king and the
temptation he had to go through was against his interest as a man, for preaching
this truth and opposing all the errors of his age was not a very pleasant thing. But
he overcame them all and took his stand in opposition to all the world,
denouncing the priests and doctors as a set of quacks who opposed the people,
bound burdens on them and robbed widows and orphans. This made them sick
and nervous and the doctors came in for their share.' Thus they suffered by these
blind guides. Here is the difference between Jesus' ideas and the rest of the
world. The belief of the world was confined to matter. They had never been
taught that the senses were a separate identity from the body's identity but they
believed that man as you see him is all there is of him and when the body ceased
to act it was dead and this ended man till the resurrection at the end of the world.
Some had a different belief but they were all confined to this world.
To keep man in subjection to the laws, certain penalties were attached to every
act, thus putting restrictions on the people for the benefit of society. These
restrictions were called burdens and the people complained. They had no idea of
right and wrong as we have now, but their only interest was in keeping clear of
the laws or lash. If a person wanted anything belonging to his neighbor, he did
not reason as we should, but like the beast, sought how he could get it without
being caught. They reasoned like any person running a risk where dollars and
cents are concerned. Not that their happiness or misery was involved in the act,
but how to get what they wanted. How shall I get it was the question, not is it right
or wrong, but shall I get caught and if so, how much shall I have to pay. So it was
a speculation. The happiness was in stealing and evading the punishment and
the misery was in paying the fine. This was the whole story and all their study
was to take advantage of each other. Their religion was their laws which were all
confined to their lives. So when they died they were free from the law and death
ended their religious opinions and everything else. Therefore the living mourned
for the dead and often hired others to help them mourn. Not that the dead knew
anything, but that the living lost something. Neither was this mourning because
they loved them, for they would kill any one to make a little money. In the case of
selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites, they cared nothing about his life. Money was
their God. So it was with Judas. He cared nothing for Jesus' life; money was his
object, for he had not yet the Christ or truth that Jesus taught.
Now where does Jesus differ from all other teachings? In every particular. His
belief is founded on truth and is not of man, but of God or Science. Therefore, his
priesthood was not of this world and contained none of the church forms or ideas
but taught that misery would follow our acts. His theory was that the senses were
not a part of our body and that they were affected by our belief, their happiness
or misery being in our belief, which belief was matter and could be changed by a
power independent of itself. The science was to put people in mind of this fact, so
it was necessary to produce cures on the people independent of anything but his
word, for his words were the destruction of matter or disease. This showed man
that his belief made his trouble, so he warned them against the bread or the
doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees, for they made them sick.
This was his mission to show that if they robbed or otherwise injured their
neighbor, rendering an equivalent would never cure the evil, but that their
neighbor like themselves had eternal life. And just as they measured out it should
be measured to them again, for action and reaction are equal and the knowledge
of the result is in the thought or idea. For instance, if you want to put your hand in
the fire, the knowledge of the result is in the thought. So it is in every act or
desire or our lives. If we desire to get something from our neighbor without
returning an equivalent, the answer is in the desire and the misery is in the
answer. It will be as certain to follow, as a weight thrown in the air is sure to
return with as much force as it received. Jesus tried to teach this and that was all,
for his other world was this truth-that although they destroyed his identity of a
body of flesh and blood, this Christ or science would exist and could take a form
again. This truth is what he strove to teach his disciples and when he was about
to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies, he sat down and performed his last
act by talking over this new theory.
When he broke the truth and gave it to his disciples, he said, Eat this bread or
theory for this is my Christ or truth. And then he said, Take this cup, or the result
of our belief, which is the life of this truth or Christ and as long as you are
interested and think about it, you do it in remembrance of me or Christ, till the
Science is established on earth as it is in heaven. This was his last conversation
with his disciples. Now how long did his disciples continue in this belief and how
much did they understand of what he said? How much of a reform did he effect
through them according to his desire? Time has shown. The very moment he
was arrested they left him and denied their action with him.
Judas had an idea of what he taught but it did not penetrate to the destruction of
his old belief. His senses were in the two beliefs and when Christ or Jesus' belief
was in him, his old belief of dollars and cents was present, prompting him to
make a little money. So he betrayed Jesus into the hands of his enemies. Jesus
saw and knew this at the time he was talking over his belief in the form of a
supper. He saw that Judas was honest but ignorant of Christ when he said, He
that dippeth his finger in the cup shall betray me. Judas tried to understand more
than all the rest and thought he did. Jesus knew that he did not understand and
knew that when the time came for him to stand up and defend the truth he would
shrink. This was to him perfectly plain and so it was in regard to them all. The
fact was that Jesus taught a new doctrine so hard to understand that it was
impossible to teach it to the people. The disciples thought they understood it, but
when asked to prove it they were unable to explain, and so denied him. But the
females who always have more sagacity than the men, though of more delicate
physical structure and of silent influence, understood him. They were the ark
wherein were deposited the tablets of stone or Moses' laws and all of the rules of
the world in regard to spiritual knowledge that the wisdom of men do not contain.
They had more to do with the crucifixion of Jesus. The women bore the ark in
Moses' day. They have always been a sort of reservoir to hold the new ideas that
the world has brought forth in their ignorance. They are the first to catch any new
ideas and the last to let them go till every particle of truth is drawn out, as the
humming bee finds honey in the flower where the wasp sees none. Now at the
time when Jesus was put to death, he had been teaching this truth, that the
senses of men were not confined to this body, but could act apart from it, and
what a person believed, he, that is the power that governs the senses, could put
his senses into and then the senses would be affected just according to his
belief. So that our happiness or misery is in our belief. This is what he tried to
prove and did, but the disciples did not understand it till he put this part of it into
practice. Then their minds were changed. They saw him dead; to them this was
all there was, the end of all men, as they were taught. Now to see him rise again
was the introduction of the new heaven or belief. This was a very exciting thing. If
he did not rise, then their talk was all in vain and all Jesus said went for nothing.
The people could eat and drink as they had done and there was no proof that the
senses were not really confined to flesh and blood.
This of course excited mankind and this was the great problem to be solved, but
how it was to take place was a mystery. So various opinions came up as to how
the dead should rise. Now in all this excitement there were some enthusiastic
persons, who never get anything right except what they cannot help. These often
try to help a matter on, as the Spiritualists help on the communications from the
dead when they are produced with difficulty. It was so with this problem. There
were those who did not understand that Jesus never alluded to his flesh and
blood but to his senses (which was all that ever had any life), that they should
take form and be seen by his disciples to prove that all men had the same
senses as Jesus had. This they could not understand, so they did what all crazy-
headed enthusiasts would have done. They stole the body of Jesus away, for
fear that the body of Jesus should not rise and then all this new theory would be
exploded. So when the Christ or Science took form and showed itself to the
people they were afraid and trembled. This was natural, but when assured it was
the Christ taking the form of the man Jesus, they believed. This would lead some
to suppose that the crucifixion was all a humbug and that Jesus was not dead.
So they went to the sepulchre to see if the body was there. Now if Jesus' body
had been there, as it ought to have been, then the problem would have been
solved, but lo! and behold! the body was gone! This left the people in the dark
and gave them a chance to call up doubts whether he was really dead or not and
these doubts which exist to this day commenced the controversy on that subject.
Paul speaks of it and it has never been explained if these enthusiasts had left the
body of Jesus in the tomb, this was proof enough to establish the truth of Jesus'
doctrine: that the senses could exist independent of this idea or body. Now if the
senses exist independent of the body, then the body is nothing but an idea that
the senses are attached to. So when the senses are attached to anything, they
are a part of the same. When we attach the senses to anything that has life, its
life or identity has around it an odor or heat that is the prison that the senses are
confined in. And to liberate the senses is to destroy the prison or atmosphere,
that they may act freely. As all our unhappiness arises from our belief, it is
necessary that we should understand what influence is controlling us. We are
told that God brought to man all living creatures to see what Adam would call
them and he gave names to all of them so that to every sensation made on the
mind, the senses had to give a right explanation in order that man should not be
led away by false explanations. The science is to separate the error from the
truth or the law from the gospel.
The laws of Moses have passed through many modifications and some have
been repealed, others modified and amended to suit society, up to this day. The
laws of Jesus are the same today as they were when they fell from his lips and in
all his teaching no word ever escaped him that put any restrictions on man. If
Jesus ever gave an opinion, he gave it as such not as a truth but as an opinion of
the man Jesus, but when he spoke of Christ, he spoke no restrictions or
commands. I will give a few of the teachings of Christ, showing the difference
between his opinions of mankind and the religious opinions of the world. These
last never imposed any moral restraint: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Self was the ruling passion and all laws were made with the idea of restraining
the people to keep them under so that the rich could ride over the poor. This
made them jealous and crafty. The priests never instructed the people in the idea
of taking care of themselves, but bound burdens on them in the form of beliefs.
These beliefs embraced all kinds of evil spirits. This made them nervous and
according to my belief would make them create in their minds all kinds of evil
spirits, thus making them more nervous. This was worse than the old Mosaic law,
for that put the misery in the penalty and their penalties only made the misery.
The priests found that their laws were not sufficient to lead the people, so they
invented evil spirits or ghosts to frighten them so that they could control them. I
will show you how to form an evil spirit and how it will get hold of you. Take a
child whose mind is all right.
You have something that the child wants and the law says if I take it I must pay
four times its value. Now the child wants it and contrives every way to get it. This
makes it nervous and it grows more and more nervous to have its desire
gratified. It knows no principle of right or wrong and thinks it has a right to
whatever it sees. It is under no restriction except the law and this law is of no
force to the child. So some evil or ghost is invented to frighten the child into
submission. Now the introduction of this last evil has given rise to more evils than
all the laws of Moses, for then if a person wanted to steal anything, the
punishment was in the detection or fine. If the child stole a thing of no value the
law could not take cognizance of that, so they were obliged to get up some other
humbug to keep the young in subjection. This brought out all the talent of the
wise who invented all kinds of evil spirits or introduced the old Egyptian errors
into the world again and now you will see relics of Egyptian superstition.
Moses tried to free his people from it, but as his laws never reasoned at all, the
people obeyed them through fear. So the world has been humbugged even to
this day by blind guides leading the blind. Ignorance and superstition have
invented all sorts of beliefs and as the senses are something independent of our
belief we put them into our belief and all the misery that we suffer is the heat or
odor that arises from our belief. This heat or odor is matter and our senses are in
it like a person in prison. And when I come into this prison or atmosphere it
affects me just as it does the person who is in it. This atmosphere is the prison or
place of torment and this is heated up by their belief. So when I change their
belief the fire of ignorance or the heat subsides and their senses are relieved
from a burden that binds them down.
As disease is a belief, it has never entered into their minds or senses that their
belief is the cause of their trouble. Let this be made plain to the people and then
they will not say one to another, Know you this truth! but it will be so plain that
any person of ordinary ability can see it. These beliefs will give way to Science
and superstition and bigotry will be driven out of the minds of men and the Bible
will stand on the rock of Science. Then when a person undertakes to say to you,
Believe this or that, the people will say to such, Show me your belief by your
works to the sick, as Jesus showed his belief in his day. Then all hypocrisy and
deception will be driven from the land. The minds of men will take a more
elevated stand and men will be just what their works show them to be. Then
when a doctor comes to you and you have to tell him all your feelings and your
health is in his belief, you will see that his belief is not one whit better than the
priests, who tell you a story about what they have not the slightest evidence of in
truth. Then the people will take their beliefs into their own hands and will purge
their minds from all these false superstitions that lay burdens on them and bind
them on their '' shoulders in the form of rheumatism, neuralgia and a thousand
other diseases for the benefit of the profession.
The people will see that God never bound anyone, only by love for one another
and this love knows no ill-will towards its neighbor. It calls no one master but one
and that is God or Science and Science never made man or child unhappy to
know it. It sometimes makes them unhappy in getting it. This is where all the
trouble is. Men who are lazy would rather give an opinion on a scientific subject
than to investigate it. All religious opinions are embraced without the slightest
investigation, for if they try to investigate, it makes them nervous. This makes
them create in their mind the identity of their belief. They attach their senses to
their ideas and their misery is in their belief. So it has always been; men would
always rather give an opinion than investigate a principle. Phenomena have
always taken place which the wisdom of the world has undertaken to explain. So
when such take place, they are handed over to the wise men to explain as
though God's laws depended on man's wisdom or intelligence for an explanation.
All new theories are opposed by the wise who never admit them, till the truth of
them is so apparent that their opinions are not wanted for their success. Then
they come in and steal the thunder, claim the discovery, cheating the inventor out
of his birth right by pressing him till he, like Esau, will sell all for a mess of
pottage. This is human nature. It was just so in Jesus' days. The priests and
doctors tried to buy him out but Jesus told them that to put his ideas or truths in
theirs would be like putting new wine into old bottles, their bottles being of leather
would burst and the wine would run out. To the priests he said that their theory
was like an old worn garment and to put his truth into theirs would be like
mending an old garment with new cloth. It would tear out and make the rend
wider. So when they saw that they could not do anything with him and that he
was going to make his theory or doctrine popular, they were afraid and said, Our
craft is in danger. So they got the people enraged by telling lies and representing
him as their enemy while he was their best friend. They cried, Crucify him, for our
craft is in danger!
The silversmiths would lose their chance of selling their gods, for his ideas struck
at all idolatry. So they crucified the man Jesus, thinking that they were destroying
the Christ, but when this same Christ appeared again, they were afraid. Jesus'
belief was very simple but the people's superstition has put a false construction
on it and it was a stumbling block to the Jews and to the Greeks, foolishness. But
truth proves itself.
If was then and is now believed that Jesus was trying to prove another world
apart from this. Now there is not the slightest evidence that he ever hinted at a
world independent of man's senses. On the contrary, all his acts went to show
that he never harbored such an idea. I will now state what I believe Jesus' belief
was and the people may take it for what it is worth. Jesus never believed in any
world at all as the people do now. The old world was the old beliefs of the old
testament and no one believes that the writers of that refer to anything but their
beliefs, for their own safety; for at death all was ended. Jesus believed that our
senses were not a part of this natural body; that death was an unbelief and that
the senses lived. So if the people could understand that their senses lived, then
death was swallowed up in victory and that belief vanished.
This was all taught as doctrine. This if believed would put away all superstition
and upset all forms and priestcraft, so they said, Crucify him! It would not do to
have such a fellow among us. And after the deed was done, the priests and
doctors gave a turn to public opinion and explained Jesus' ideas on their own
ground and the people could not see the cheat but embraced it. So what is
religion now? It is about as near Jesus' ideas as democracy is near the old
fashioned republicanism of Jefferson's day. And if the disciples were here now,
hearing the ideas advanced, it would be as new to them as their ideas would be
to the people in our days. Religion like politics is undergoing a change all the
time and has just about as much to do with enlightening the minds of the men as
political parties. It is like a sort of irritation to keep up investigation, like any error.
The church is good in its place and like laws will act upon the simple and ignorant
till they are ready to embrace Christ's truth of doing to another as you would that
another should do to you. As this is understood, the religion of man goes out of
fashion. But it will be a long time, for they have decked it up like a fashionable
saloon equal to Solomon's temple.
If Jesus was here now he would not be permitted to talk in the churches. And if
he had the privilege he would not find that class of people that he associated with
when on earth, for they can't attend meetings; it is too expensive. It takes quite a
sum to hire seats for a whole family so only one or two can afford to be religious;
the rest have to stay at home or go to a cheaper kind. Like saloons, there are all
kinds of religions to suit customers and like doctors, they want to make
something by their profession. So you see it is the same as it was in Christ's day.
They have turned the houses of the Lord into houses of merchandise and fancy
goods and preach for doctrines the commands of men. They thus show that
there is not one particle of truth in all they say, for if it was true it would not
change and religion like all other fashions changes every year, showing it does
not contain one single true idea or one atom of science. Now let Christ or truth be
preached: that man's senses will always exist; that he is just what he makes
himself and that his happiness is in his belief and his belief contains his
character. It must be taught that man's act are governed by his belief, his
happiness or misery being the fruits of his belief. His belief is the two worlds. To
be in ignorance or error is in one world, misery and pain being the fruits. Science
and truth is the other and happiness and peace is the reward. So man has these
two worlds in him and he is the subject of the one he obeys and God rewards
everyone according to his acts. I find no allusion to any world independent of
man's senses, only in the brain of a superstitious world.
1860
What Is Religion?
BU 99:31, LC 3:126
This question is more easily asked than answered; for when you ask to have it
defined, it vanishes as a thing and only remains as a belief. All persons have a
right to a belief, so all persons can have religion if they have any desire to get up
a belief. I have tried to find if there is any such thing defined in the dictionary, but
I find the I definition of religion to be, "A system of faith, worship and pious E
practices." Then pious means "religious, godly," so you get right back where you
started from, just as in thousands of errors founded on error.
The definition of mesmerism, for instance, is fully as intelligent and satisfactory. It
is psychology and that is magnetism and magnetism is a power which one man
has over another. What is that? Why, mesmerism. It is the same in defining a
disease. Ask physicians what disease is-they begin to give an opinion. For
instance, ask them what causes pains in the shoulders or side-answer,
rheumatism. What is that? Neuralgia. What is that? Nervous affection. So they
will go on from one thing to another till you get them angry and drive them back
where they started from. So it is with all theories based on ignorance and
superstition. Is it so in science? No. The chemist does not give an opinion. He
tells the truth and if you do not believe, he shows you the facts so you have no
doubt. Now in all the above theories there are phenomena which cannot be
accounted for by the natural man, for they do not come within man's reason. Man
reasons in matter and all his experiments are proved in matter for all phenomena
are developed in matter or the natural man. The natural man never can
understand the things of the spirit and all these are governed or created in the
heavens or spiritual world, and this spiritual world is science. And in all I say, I
never mean to give any other meaning to spiritualism than the phenomena
produced in developing science.
In chemistry, phenomena are produced and not always according to the known
laws of chemistry, but they are accidents as they are called. When these
accidents are produced, men look for the cause and then they reason and have
opinions. This is the religion of this world but when the science or truth comes,
wisdom takes the place of religion and this world of opinions gives way to the
scientific world. Then is established Christ's kingdom or science or religion in this
world as it is in heaven. This world means just what it did in Jesus' day; the
natural world of Jesus' day was all the wisdom of the Mosaic laws or religion.
Their religion was their belief. They had some wisdom in regard to science.
Jesus knew all their beliefs, and then as now, the people were discussing all
sorts of theories and beliefs and when some new idea or theory started, it came
from the sea or belief of the old school. The old school was like the river Jordan,
and to wash in that or understand, you could withstand all the enemies' fire or
darts. So the sea was the great popular belief and all the little streams ran into it,
just as the old allopathy is the sea, and all other doctoring runs into it and that
swallows up all the rest, for it is made up of all these little streams and when they
can't stand the tide, they fall back and mingle with the great sea of allopathy. So
it is with religion. The Mosaic priesthood is the great ocean of religion and all the
streams or creeds run into that and the fishes or ideas that swim in that sea have
kept the people in food ever since it was discovered.
1860
Clairvoyance
BU 3:11, LC 1:16
[orig. untitled]
Clairvoyance is a state of existence independent of the natural senses or the
body which has no matter, no reason, but is perfect knowledge. Thought-reading
is a lower order connected with mind but superior to the natural man. This state
is what would be called spiritualism and contains the knowledge and reasoning of
this world. Clairvoyance is a higher state which is entirely disconnected with the
natural man but can communicate through him, while in a dreamy or mesmeric
state, information which the company cannot know. This principle is in every
man. The understanding of it is eternal life. This eternal life was in Jesus and was
Christ. It has manifested itself in various forms in all ages of the world whenever
science has been discovered. This ignorance of the world with regard to this
higher state of knowledge looks upon the manifestation of the thought-reading
state as the highest development of man while this state dies and the clairvoyant
state rises from the dead. It is all that is left. It can act on mind. It has an identity
and never knew of its beginning nor ending. It is all the intelligence in man.
January 1860
How Dr. Quimby Cures
BU 153:1, LC 1:18
[orig. untitled]
Every phenomenon in the natural world has its origin in the spiritual world. The
world gives credit where it is not due, mistaking noise for substance. No man
should have credit over his fellow men unless he shows some superiority over
the errors of his age, and to show that he is superior is to reduce to a science
some phenomenon which has never been explained, music for an example.
Before music was reduced to a science, it was a phenomenon. People could
whistle and sing, but no one supposed that the one who made the most noise
was entitled to any credit above the rest. Credit was due to him who first reduced
it to a science.
Take diseases. The world is full of sickness, arising from various causes; the
phenomena exist in the natural world, while the causes originate in an invisible
world. Doctoring is confined to the natural world and admits the causes of the
disease to be all in the natural world.
Doctor Quimby, with his clairvoyant faculty, gets knowledge in regard to the
phenomena which does not come through the natural senses, and by explaining
to his patients changes the direction of the mind, and the explanation is the
science or cure. To illustrate. Suppose a patient calls on Dr. Quimby for
examination. No questions are asked on either side. They sit down together. He
has no knowledge of the patient's feelings through his natural senses till after
having placed his mind upon them. Then he becomes perfectly passive and, the
patient's mind being troubled puts him into a clairvoyant state, together with his
natural state, thus being in two states at once when he takes feelings,
accompanied by their state of mind and thoughts. A history of their trouble thus
learned, together with the name of the disease, he relates to the patient. This
constitutes the disease and the evidences in the body are the effects of the
belief. Not being afraid of the belief he is not afraid of the disease.
The doctors take the bodily evidence as the disease. Disease with him does not
come to the natural senses; therefore he cannot explain to the well his mode of
treatment. The well take no interest in it and his theory is of no use to them. Then
what use is it to the world? To give the sick such confidence that they will not be
frightened by opinions of disease, for disease is itself an impudent opinion. He
throws off the feelings of the sick and imparts to them his own which are perfect
health, and his explanation destroys their feelings or disease. His belief in this
respect differing from any other's is the result of the science of his practice.
Therefore when he is with the sick, they feel safe. He is like a captain who knows
his business and feels confident in a storm, and his confidence sustains the crew
and ship when both would be lost if the captain should give way to his fears.
Dr. Quimby comes to the sick as a pilot to the captain of a ship in a storm or fog
when dangers threaten and inevitable destruction seems their doom. He learns
the trouble from the captain, and quieting the crew by his composure inspires
them with confidence, gives other directions, and brings them into harbor.
January 1860
My Religion
BU 57:13, LC 1:37
When I talk to the sick, I talk my theory; when I talk to the well, talk about it. It is
so with my religion. I have no religion independent of my acts. When I am
religious, I talk it and put it into practice. When I am not putting my religion into
practice for the benefit of the sick and those whom I can help, then if I talk I am
talking about it. Here is a distinction that may at first seem curious to some, but if
you will look at it rightly, you will see that there is more in it than you would at first
suppose. One of Christ's followers made a remark like this in regard to the same
distinction, only he called their talk or belief, faith, which is religion put in practice.
He said, Show me your religion or faith independent of works, and I will show you
my religion or faith by my works. There is no such thing as goodness of itself.
January 1860
Truth II
BU 57:1, LC 1:28
[orig. untitled]
Eighteen hundred years ago, while Jesus was disputing with the Pharisees upon
the old scriptures, He asked the question, What do you think of Christ or this
truth? Has it a father and if so, who is he? The answer, "David," for this truth is
David's ideas or theory. Jesus said, "If David is the Father of this Christ or theory,
or ideas, or truth, why did he call it Lord if it was not his son?" Here they both
admitted a truth independent of the natural man. The Pharisees believed it was
the offspring of David, and therefore called it David's son or theory. Jesus knew it
was not of this world, but of God or truth and that it could be reduced to a
science. This has been the rock upon which the people have split. This is the
very thing to decide, whether there is a knowledge independent of man or
whether it is the offspring of an organized being. Jesus called this truth the Son
of God or Elias. Peter called it Christ. The people's ignorance confounded the
two together and called it Jesus Christ. This last construction has given rise to all
the religious wars and bloodshed since the Christian era. Decide this question
and you shut the mouths of all the lions of the world.
Now let us look at the controversy of the two parties. This makes the two worlds-
ignorance the one, and science the other. These two powers act upon every
man. One is identified with the body and a part of it. Jesus gave some of the
traits of that power when He said that it is of the earthly man and when He said,
"Out of the heart proceedeth all kinds of evil thoughts." These thoughts are
matter and are the result of error, superstition and ignorance, without any
knowledge of God or Science. Science is the opponent of the above and as it
accounts for all the phenomena, ignorance is destroyed. All science has had to
fight this battle with the world of error and ignorance before it could establish its
stand and take its position above the natural man. Then it is acknowledged and
worshiped in spirit and in truth. Before it becomes a science it is under the laws
of ignorance and superstition, directed by blind guides leading the blind by the
knowledge of this world, and this Jesus called foolishness with God or Science.
Now to separate these two, so that the wisdom of this world shall become subject
to the knowledge of God or Science, is not an easy task. Almost all who have
ever tried to do so have lost their lives.
I will not go back further than John the Baptist. He is the only one that Jesus
seemed to put much stress upon. John saw that the time was very near when his
truth or Christ would become a science. Therefore, he says, As the truth is laid at
the root or foundation of their theories, every tree or supposed science that
cannot stand the test of true science must be hewn down. Therefore he spoke of
a science that he could not prove but knew that it would soon be explained and
become a science. Therefore his belief was like water that could wash away
some of the errors, but when the Truth or Holy Ghost should come, then it would
be reduced to a science. At this time Jesus had not received the Holy Ghost or
knowledge, so as to explain it. Therefore He went with others to John to be
baptized or hear John's ideas for truth. So when Jesus asked John to explain to
Him, John modestly replied, "I have need to be baptized or taught by you." Jesus
declined explaining, so John then went on to tell his ideas or belief. Jesus
entered into the water or belief, and understood it, and when He came out of the
water, the heavens were opened to Him and the Holy Ghost descended like a
dove and lit upon Jesus and a voice said to Him and Him alone, This is my
beloved Son or Science in whom I am well pleased. At this time, this science had
no name till Peter gave it the name of Christ as an answer to a question put to
him by Jesus. "Whom do the people say that I, this power, am?" Peter answered,
"Some say Moses," etc. Jesus then said, "Whom do you say that I am?", not
Jesus as is supposed, but this power; for all the persons that Peter had named
were dead, so of course Jesus did not include Himself, but His theory. Peter
answered Him, "Jesus, the Christ, the living God or Science." This science he
called Christ. Then Jesus said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you." It
must have come from the same power that Jesus had. Therefore He said, "Upon
this rock or truth I will build my church or theory and the gates of error and
superstition shall not prevail against it." This Truth or Christ is what Jesus taught.
This broke the locks and bars, opened the prison doors and let the captive free
from the old superstition and ignorance. By this power He healed all manner of
diseases, cast out devils, established health and happiness, brought peace and
good will to man.
This theory came in contact with all other theories, for there were false ones, and
Christ warned the people against them. He said there were false Christs and told
them how to distinguish between the false and the true. Now as Jesus became
popular with the people, the chief priests and the doctors or scribes sought how
to put Him down, and they tried in every way to catch Him. At one time while in
the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to ask by what
authority He did these things. Jesus answered them by asking them a question
which, if they answered, would tell them how He performed His cures. The
baptism of John or his theory, was it from heaven or of man? And they reasoned
among themselves, saying, If we say, from heaven, He will say, Why then did ye
not believe it? for they had killed John as a prophet. And so they answered, "We
cannot tell." "Neither will I tell you how I do these things."
As it never has been explained how Jesus did these things, the people have
looked upon them as miracles. But to suppose Jesus performed a miracle is to
suppose Him ignorant of the power He exercised, and if so, He was just as much
a quack as those He condemned; for He said, when accused of curing through
ignorance or Beelzebub, If I cast out devils through Beelzebub, my theory or
kingdom cannot stand, but if I do it by a science, it is not of this world but of God
or Science, and it will stand. Here He makes a difference between ignorance and
knowledge. Again, if Jesus was ignorant of His power and did not know how to
explain it to others, why did He tell His disciples to go out into all the world and
heal all manner of disease? If ignorant of what He said and gave no explanation
of His manner of curing, He was as ignorant as they. But I am certain that He
knew more than His disciples could understand, and after Jesus was crucified,
the cures ceased to be done by a science but went back into the hands of priests
and magicians and have been a miracle ever since, and the Christ that prompted
Jesus' acts is not known at all. That Christ never taught doctrines nor creeds, nor
offered up prayers. It did not belong to this world and it did not talk about any
kind of religion. It talked itself. Itself was its life, and its life was the healing of the
sick and distressed. It takes the feelings of the sick and knows their wants, and
restores to them what this world has robbed them of. This is the Christ that was
crucified eighteen hundred years ago. Now the only thing we hear is what was
said about Him. Yet He is in the world but has no identity as a science.
January 1860
What Is My Theory?
BU 152:14, LC 1:14
The question is often asked if I am a spiritualist. My answer is that I am not, after
the manner of the Rochester rappings, but I am a believer in the spirits of the
living. Here seems to be a difference of opinion. The common opinion of the
people in regard to the dead I have no sympathy with, from the fact that their
belief is founded on an opinion that I know is false; yet I believe them honest but
misled for the want of some better explanation of the phenomenon. We see men,
women and children walking around; by and by they pass away from us, and
their bodies are laid in the earth.
This is one of the phenomena of the world. We look on the scene and pause. A
cold icy sensation passes through our frame. We weep from our ignorance. We
have seen the matter in a form moving about as though it contained life. Now it
lies, cold and clammy, and our hope is cut off. Perhaps it is a son or a daughter
in whom we had our hopes raised to the highest extreme of seeing them stand
before the world, loved and respected for their worth, now gone forever. Doubts
and fears take possession of our minds. We want to believe that they will know
us, and in this state of mind, we often ask this lump of clay if it does know us, but
no answer returns. We weep and repeat the question but no answer comes, and
in a convulsive state of mind we leave and retire to some lonely spot to pour out
our grief. Some kind friend tries to console us by telling us that our friend is not
dead, but still lives, by talking what they have no knowledge of, only a desire that
it may be so.
Their sympathy and ignorance mingle in a belief, and we try to believe it. This is
the state of the people in regard to the dead. Their belief rises from the necessity
of the case, but it keeps them in ignorance of themselves and all their lives
subject to bondage.
Now where do I differ from all this belief? In every respect. My belief is my
knowledge, my knowledge is my practice, and my practice gives the lie to all my
former belief. I believed as all others did, but my theory and practice were at
variance with each other. I therefore abandoned all my former beliefs as they
came in contact with my practice, and at last followed the dictates of the
impressions made on me by my patients. In this way I got rid of the errors of the
world or my old opinions and found an answer to all my former opinions. These
former opinions embraced all sorts of disease and ideas that contained error,
disease and unhappiness which lead to death. The unraveling of my old opinions
gave me knowledge of myself and happiness the world knew nothing of, and this
knowledge I found could be taught to others. It teaches man that he is not in the
body but outside of it, as much as the power is outside of a lever; and the body is
to the soul as the steam engine is to the engineer, a machine without knowledge
or power, only as it is given by something independent of itself.
January 1860
Happiness II
BU 57:14, LC 1:38
[orig. WHAT IS HAPPINESS?]
What is happiness? It is what follows any act of the law of science, but it is not
always understood. Sin and misery are the effects of our belief put in practice,
governed by a law of sin and death. Man is the medium of these two laws; the
one, chance or ignorance, which is of this world; the other, God or Science,
which is of a higher. The wisdom of one is called the law; the knowledge of the
other is the gospel or science. These two laws enter into all our acts.
Mathematics contains the two laws. The solving of a problem does not establish
the science, although it may be right, but it develops a phenomenon for a more
wise and excellent law called science so that the world may be benefited by it. So
by establishing the law of science we destroy the law of ignorance. This holds
good of all the laws of science; the introduction of the one is the destruction of
the other, to all who understand. To such there is no offering up of sin or
sacrifices but a fearful looking for judgment or acting wrong that will get us into
trouble. This keeps us on our guard. Now, it has not entered into man's heart to
conceive a more excellent law whereby man may be saved from his sins or
errors that bind him down by the laws of sin and death. To introduce a science
that can explain the errors that keep us in trouble is what prophets foretold and
wise men have looked for ever since the world began. This knowledge has been
called by various names. It was called the New Jerusalem that came down from
heaven and it was called the kingdom of heaven. This is the law that was written
in the hearts; it is the knowledge of ourselves that can see the evils of our own
misery.
It may be asked, how can we distinguish between the two, for everyone has a
right to his own opinion. That is true, but science does not leave it answered in
that way, but proves it so that there can be no mistake. Now as disease is an
error, so the mind, as in any error, must be corrected by a power independent of
itself, and this power must be governed by a science in all cases; though it may
not be necessarily understood by the person applying the power. As science, like
God, never acts except like a balance which judges correctly, it contains no
thought or reason but judges everyone according to his worth. As error is a
chemical action and contains all of the above, it is like two rogues at war with
itself. There is an old saying, and a very good one, that when two rogues fall out,
an honest man gets his due; so when error is at war, it develops some truth or
science. As the degrees from total darkness or ignorance are progressive, they
embrace all kinds of talents, like teachers from the lowest classes of this world to
the highest of the spiritual world. All science to the natural world is looked upon
as a mystery, witchcraft, sorcery, etc., because it cannot see anything beyond
itself. But there is a mind that can teach it and another that can learn it and so on
until it reaches a science. Then comes the end of the world of error and the
introduction of a more excellent law of God or science. As a person's happiness
is the effect of his knowledge, to be good is the first of science. All religion that
embraces creeds is of this world and is governed by laws and contains rewards
and punishments; therefore holding out inducements to be good with one hand
and retribution with the other is not the religion of Christ. He is in us, and a part of
us, and to know ourselves is to know Christ and to preach Christ is to help each
other out of our troubles, destroying the enemy that has possession of us.
Thus to lay down your life for your friends is not so easy a matter as some might
think. It is easier to talk about religion than to talk it. To talk it is to put it into
practice, and to put it into practice is to give it to those who ask, for to give them
a stone when they ask for bread is what anyone can do, as then you part with
nothing. To give to everyone that asks of you some spiritual food or knowledge
that will cool their feverish tongue or soothe their excited brain, and lead them
like the good shepherd to their home of health where they can rejoice with their
friends is not so easy as to sit down and thank the Lord that you are not like other
men. To be a follower of Christ is not an easy thing but to be a representative of
the kingdom of heaven is not very hard; it only requires one to become as
ignorant as a child. The majority of men have not much to sacrifice to become a
representative of the kingdom of heaven, but to become a follower of Christ is not
so easy a task.
To call yourself a follower of Jesus is to call yourself a pattern of goodness and
that was more than Jesus said of himself, for he never sounded the trumpet of
his own praise. We are called upon to become followers of Christ or science so
that the world may be benefited by His truth. This is our happiness and the
happiness of others, for we are all workers of the same truth. Therefore forsake
error and embrace the true science or truth and fight the enemy of health, like a
soldier of science.
February 1860
Do People Really Believe What They Think They Do?
BU 1:82, LC 1:55
[orig. DO PERSONS REALLY BELIEVE IN WHAT THEY THINK THEY DO?]
To some this may seem a strange question but it involves more of our real
knowledge than we think it does. Our belief involves all of our religious opinions.
Our opinions are the foundation of our misery, while our happiness is in the truth
that comes out of our opinion, and the happiness is in the knowledge that follows
the solving of the problem or error.
To illustrate: when you are solving a problem, you have wisdom and opinion and
are in some trouble about it. But when the answer comes the happiness
accompanies it. Then there is no more death, or ignorance, sorrow or
excitement. Error and ignorance have passed away, all has become new and we
are as though we never had been. We have got all the happiness we want; the
misery is gone and the spirit returns to the Great Spirit, ready to solve another
problem.
Now the problem I wish to solve is what I first named. Do we really believe in
what we think we do? I answer, No, and shall show that we deny what we
profess to believe in almost all we say and do, thereby proving ourselves either
hypocritical or ignorant. We profess to believe in Christ, that He is God, that He
knows all things and is capable of hearing and answering our prayers. We also
believe that man is a free agent, that he is capable of judging between right and
wrong and believe that if man does not do right he will be punished.
When asked for proof of all this, we are referred to the Bible. When we ask an
explanation how Christ cured, we are told it was by a miracle. If we ask if Christ
did not know all things, we are answered "Yes." Then did He not know what He
was about, what He did, and how He did it? "Yes." Then if you ask how He knew,
the answer is, "It is a miracle," or "The ways of God are past finding out," and
thus you are left in the dark. Now this mode of reasoning does not come into any
other mode. Those that reason this way will not accept any fact based upon any
other way of reasoning. You must bring the strongest kind of proof to convince
them of a fact that is produced in the same way or appears to be, or they will not
believe. The fact is they don't reason or compare at all, and they admit what they
haven't the slightest proof of, except the explanation of some person of doubtful
existence.
Now when I can show that I can produce a phenomenon that to all appearances
is just like some produced by Christ and on the living who can speak for
themselves, I should like to know by what authority anyone dares to say that it is
not done in the same way that Christ did His works. If they cannot tell how I do it,
or how He did, how do they know but that it is done in the same way? Their only
objection can be that it happens to be contrary to their own opinion which is not
worth anything and they admit it, for they will say it is a miracle to them. This
makes them just what Jesus said of such guides. He called them blind guides
leading the blind, and warned the people against them. He called them whited
sepulchers and all kinds of names, and the world has been led by such guides
ever since.
Jesus told the people how they should know them. He said, "Not all who say
Lord! Lord! shall enter into this theory or kingdom but he that doeth the will of the
Father that sent him." Now what do they do that Jesus did? Nothing. Yet you
cannot point to one act that Jesus did that these guides do. All who do good
according to Scripture imitate the Pharisees in every respect. He called them the
children of the devil and He said their father or error was a liar from the
beginning. Jesus judged them by their works and told the people to do the same;
for He said, "By their fruits ye shall know them."
March 1860
How I Cure the Sick
BU 165:1, LC 1:53
[orig. untitled]
I will illustrate to you the way in which I cure or correct the sick. You know I speak
in parables to you. To the well this is of no consequence, for they cannot see any
sense in my talk. So it is in every science with those who are ignorant of the
meaning the person wishes to convey. This was the trouble Jesus had to
contend with. All His knowledge of science must be explained by parables, for
the people's belief was in themselves and in the thing believed. Therefore to
reduce their belief to a science was a very hard task, for it had to be done by
parables of things that each person could understand. When He talked to the
multitude it was about the science or principle that was intended to be applied to
each person's individual case.
The parable of the sower illustrated the principle like an illustration on some
science. It was not intended to be applied to any individual; therefore when the
disciples heard the parable, they did not understand it as it did not apply to their
case, and they wanted an explanation. Now His explanation to them is as much
of a parable to the rest of the world as His parable to the multitude was to His
disciples.
So a parable of mine is of no use to the well, for it is not intended for them but is
for the sick and must be varied to suit the case that calls it out. Like a lawyer's
argument, it depends upon the case to be tried; one plea does not answer. for all
cases. So it is with the sick; each one's case must be explained to himself. The
science can be explained to the well, but not by the same parables that are
necessary to be applied to the sick.
I will illustrate. A lady called on me whose feelings were as follows. She felt so
weak that she could not keep from stooping over; it was with much difficulty that
she could sit up. This feeling I could feel but the woman who was with her could
not. Therefore to cure her and make her sit up, the work must be done by an
explanation that she could understand, and this must be done by a parable
because the lady's identity was in her belief.
It seemed as though I could see the lady sitting in that posture but her body had
an identity separate and apart from the earthly body, and this sick (spiritual) body
is the one that tells the trouble. This body is the belief, and it seemed to be
holding up the natural body till it was so weak it could barely sit up. These were
the lady's feelings. This spiritual body is what flows from or comes from the
natural body and contains all the feelings complained of. It speaks through the
natural body and, like the heat from a fire, has its bounds and is enclosed by
walls or partitions as much as a prison. But the confinement is in our belief, its
odor is its identity, its knowledge is in its odor, its misery arises from its false
ideas, and its ideas are in itself and connected with its natural body. This is all
matter and has an identity. The trouble, like sound, has no locality of itself but
can be directed to any place. Now as this intelligence is around the body, it
locates its trouble in the matter or body and calls it pain or some other name.
Now the sick soul is imprisoned in this prison with the body, which body feels as
though it contained life. But the life is in the spiritual body which being ignorant of
itself places its own identity in the flesh and blood. This is because the heat from
the body contains the identity, and the soul puts such construction as has been
taught, and thinks its own trouble is in and a part of the natural body. This is the
prison that Christ, not Jesus, entered and broke the walls by His word or power
and set the captive free. At this door He stands and knocks, and if we will let Him
in, He will explain away the error or forgive the sin and save the soul. He will
deliver us from our earthly hell that is made by the wisdom of the world.
March 1860
Jesus and Christ
BU 165:5, LC 1:58
[orig. untitled]
When Jesus asked Peter, "Whom do the people say that I am?" Peter and the
disciples said, Some say, John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets. Now all of these were dead; therefore they did not mean to
confound the man Jesus with them. But they believed the spirits of these men
came back and entered the living and talked to the people. Jesus knew that this
was their belief and they knew it. When Jesus asked His disciples the question,
He never intended to convey the idea that He wanted to know who He, Jesus,
was, but who this power was. They thought it must be the spirit of some person
who had been on earth and when Peter said it was the Christ or God or Truth or
Science, this was a new idea, and Jesus answered, "Flesh and blood hath not
revealed the explanation to you," and upon this explanation He, Jesus, would
build His Christ or Church or Truth, and the gates of error could not prevail
against it. He, that is, Jesus, would give Peter the keys or explanation so that he
could understand and practice it for the benefit of mankind. This knowledge
would give him power to loose those who were bound in heaven or in the mind,
and loose those bound in their earthly body. The idea that the man Jesus was
anything but a man was never thought of. Jesus never had the least idea of such
an explanation.
The prophets had foretold of a Messiah that should come and when the child
Jesus was born, the people believed that David's spirit had come and taken
possession of his body. So they called Jesus the son of David. But they meant to
be understood that it was David's spirit speaking through Him, Jesus, and some
called him the Son of Man.
Now, everyone admitted the power that Jesus had, but there was a difference of
opinion in regard to it. All men have a power, but to have a power superior to the
natural man has been a question ever since the world began. Upon this question
the people split. To believe is to believe in a power the natural man cannot
explain. If Jesus had a power, we must admit a knowledge superior to it, that
governs and directs it, and if we do admit it, where does it come from? All will
answer, from God. All will admit that there is another power that affects man for
evil. There must then be a sort of bad knowledge or false Christ that governs it.
Then we must admit a true knowledge and a false knowledge which act upon His
power. Now how are we to know the good from the bad? Only by the fruits or
direction. If we must take an opinion, then we have no standard; for everyone
has a right to his opinion and by doing so we throw away Christ's or Jesus'
opinion when He says, By their fruits men ought to be judged. We judge them by
their works. What are their works? I suppose Jesus knew what He meant and He
meant to give His disciples the true idea of His meaning when He called them
together and gave them the power to heal all sorts of diseases and cast out
devils. Did He mean to give the power without any knowledge how to apply it, or
did He give the knowledge with the power? If He gave the knowledge so that it
could be applied, are not the ones who apply it better acquainted with the power
than those who are ignorant both of the power and the knowledge?
I will try to illustrate what Jesus meant by these powers when He was accused of
curing by ignorance. You may have seen in the papers an account of a young
lady being cured by the prayers of a Mormon preacher. I have no doubt that he
raised her up by his prayers and the belief in Mormonism would naturally be
established in the young lady's mind. This cure, as far as it goes, is to establish
Mormonism. Now if the Mormons established all their beliefs and that is right,
why do not all people who believe in prayer embrace Mormonism and all that the
Mormons preach?
When the disciples said to Jesus, We saw men casting out devils in thy name
and forbade them, He said, "Forbid them not, for they that are with us are not
against us, and they that are not with us scattereth abroad." Here Jesus made
the difference between His knowledge and theirs in using this power. They cured,
but the world was not any wiser for their cures, so they scattered abroad. The
cure was right, but it was done through ignorance.
This is the way with prayer. Prayer contains no knowledge and only leaves men
in ignorance and superstition. Seeing this account in print and knowing how it
was done, I thought I would try the same experiment on a lady myself according
to my way of curing disease. I have no creed or belief. What I know I can put into
practice, and when I put it into practice I am conscious of it and know what will be
its effect. I sent to the lady (the subject of my experiment) who lived out of town a
letter, telling her I would try my power on her from the time I commenced the
letter which was Sunday, and visit her at different times until the next Sabbath;
and on the next Sabbath I would come between the hours of eleven and twelve
and make her rise from her bed where she had been confined by sickness,
unable to walk for nine months. At the time appointed I went and used my power
to restore her to the use of her limbs and to health. On the Wednesday following
my letter, her husband wrote me that on Monday night she was very restless, but
was better the next day. On the Monday following that, I received a letter from
her saying that at the time I appointed for her to rise from her bed, she rose from
her bed, walked into the dining room and returned and laid down a short time.
She then rose again, dined, and also took tea with the family, rested well that
night and continued to do well. Now I suppose all of this transaction would be
accounted for by the religious community by the power of the imagination of the
patient. Suppose you do give it that explanation. How was the lady cured by
prayer? On the same principle, I suppose. If so, how was it with the centurian
who came to Jesus, saying that he had a servant lying sick with the palsy,
grievously tormented? Jesus said unto him, "I will come and heal him." The
centurian said, "Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed." Then
Jesus told him to go his way and the servant was healed in that self-same hour.
Now who cured the servant? Jesus, or the centurian, or the servant's own
imagination? Settle this question among yourselves.
Another case: when Jesus came into Peter's house, He saw the mother of
Peter's wife lying sick of a fever. He touched her and she arose and ministered
unto them. Now if you cannot tell how this was done and yet admit it, you must
admit a power that you cannot explain or understand, and if you cannot
understand it, it is an unknown power. Now to exist in any individual this power
that you admit and from which you hope to derive benefit is to worship an
unknown God or principle. This principle which you ignorantly worship, this I
declare unto you by explaining it.
March 1860
Prayer I
BU 161:1, LC 1:41
Can any good come out of prayer? I answer Yes, but not in the sense that is
supposed. A phenomenon can be produced in the same way that is brought
about by mesmerism, and the world is put in possession of a fact but no
knowledge, for there is no knowledge in the church prayer. It is the effect of
superstition and ignorance. It is not of Christ but from a lower superstitious mind
which is ignorant of itself and God. No man prays but he who expects to get a
favor or be rewarded for more than he deserves or perhaps has more of this
world's goods than his neighbor. Witness the effects of the prayers on this world,
those who pray to the earthly man. They belong to the begging, hypocritical,
lowest class of mankind. No man of character will beg or pray for the sake of
gain.
Prayer is the desire of the heart and if the heart is right the prayer will be
answered. For as the heart is only the figure or emblem of our knowledge, a true
heart or mind must be scientific knowledge of ourselves and a corrupt heart or
mind must be full of superstition and ignorance, deceit and hypocrisy.
It is generally admitted by most of the world that prayer is of divine origin, but if it
is to be offered to God this is not the case. If it is of the devil, I will admit that it is
as old as its father, for we read that the devils prayed, and the devils asked
prayer as when the devil wanted Christ to worship him. So do all men of narrow,
contracted minds like to be worshiped. One great argument in favor of prayer is
that Christ said, He who humbles himself shall be exalted. What is required of a
person to humble himself is to get down on his knees and hold up his hands and
in a hypocritical cant ask of God some favor which he is not entitled to. God
rewards everyone just according to his acts and He knows our wants before we
ask. So to ask of a Being whom we acknowledge knows our wants is either to
curry favor or flatter Him with the idea that we think He will be pleased to see
how much we honor Him. This is the wisdom of this world, but not the wisdom of
God, for God asks no such worship. To worship God is to worship Him in Spirit
and in truth, for He is in the truth but not in the error. Our reward is in our act and
if we act rightly and honestly, we get the reward. If we act selfishly we get the
reward also. He who expects God to leave science and come down to ignorance
and change a principle for a selfish motive to please him is either a knave or fool
and knows not God. God does not act at all but is like the heat or fire that throws
heat or fire on all around. Those who will come can enjoy the heat or love, but if
we choose to stand out in the cold, we cannot expect exclusive privileges; for He
has no respect to one over another. I have no account with God. He pays me as
soon as my work is done and I ask no favors of Him out of His principles. If I act
wrongly He will not step out and correct me. I must do it myself. If I act rightly I
get my reward, for our happiness or misery is in our acts; and as we are a part of
each other, our happiness is in our neighbor, and to love our neighbor as
ourselves is more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. If you understand this,
Jesus said, You are not far from the kindgom of heaven. Jesus had no sympathy
with the hypocrite's prayer. He warned his disciples and the multitude against all
such prayers. His prayer was that God would forgive them for they knew not what
they did. A desire to know God is a desire to know ourselves and that requires all
our thoughts to come into that happy state of mind that will lead man in the way
to health. This is a science and is Christ's prayer. The ignorance of this is
superstition and belief in all sorts of evil spirits. This is the effect of this world's
prayer; both will be answered but one contains no knowledge and the other
contains science the world knows not of.
March 1860
Prayer II
BU 1:62, LC 1:43
The question may be asked, How I look on prayer? I answer as I do on all other
errors that have been invented to govern mankind and keep the people in
ignorance of themselves and God or Science. You may ask if I would destroy
prayer. No more than I would the law for murder or theft; but I would put into man
a higher law that would teach him to worship God as a God of science and
knowledge and this law would put the law of man or ignorance to death. For
prayer is the law of man, not of God, and makes God nothing but a mere
sorcerer or magician to frighten the ignorant and superstitious. It puts Christ on a
level with all the jugglers of His day. The construction upon the parables shows
the state of intelligence of the church. It makes Christ's mission here of little
consequence to the world of science but puts Christ on a level with the sorcerers
of His day.
Take for instance the parable of the wedding. The turning of water into wine is
quoted as some great thing, as though God took this way to convince men of His
power. But if there could not be a better explanation of this parable than the
church gives them, Christ is merely a magician. The church's explanation has
been the means of making more sickness and death than all the evils flesh is heir
to.
Why should the explanation of Christ's mission, which was to "heal the sick,
destroy death and bring life and immortality to light, be left to a set of persons
who have no sympathy with the sick, but who by their interpretation of Christ
keep man in sickness and ignorance of himself? Of what advantage has Christ
been to the sick according to the common opinions of mankind? Do the priests
relieve them of any burdens? If not, where is the benefit of the church prayer? It
is right in contradiction to Christ's own teaching. What was Christ's idea of
prayer? He called it hypocrisy and a blind guide to lead the blind. He warned the
people against those who prayed in the streets, told them to obey all the laws,
but not to believe in the doctrines, for they laid burdens upon the people grievous
to be borne. Now, if these burdens were their belief, Jesus must have explained
them away in order to relieve them, and His explanation was their cure.
Therefore He said to them, "Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus' explanation was His religion, but their
belief was their religion and that religion was founded upon the old superstitions
which contained all the superstitions of Egyptian darkness, prayers, sacrifices
and burnt offerings.
Jesus did not condemn any of the above, but he had a knowledge of the errors
that man is subject to and His mission was to bring life and understanding to light
or science, in regard to our ignorance or darkness and to put man into a state
where he might, by relieving the sufferings of his fellow men, be of some
advantage to himself and to the world. His religion was not of this world, and the
world knows Him not. Christ is God or Science, and to know God is to know
science and put it in practice so that the world can be benefited by it.
This tells the rules of action. They are not left to the natural man, but they must
prove themselves on some subject that is in need of it. The same subject is in the
world now that was at the time Jesus put His theory into practice. He gave His
disciples knowledge to put the same into practice for the benefit of mankind.
Who art thou, oh man, that shall say to the poor and sick, lame and blind, that the
person who can help you is a humbug or acting under the direction of the devil?
If the devil will take your aches and pains and relieve you, cling to him, and at the
end of your disease you will see that the devil is the same one who was crucified
eighteen hundred years ago, by just such enemies to the sick as they have now.
I, for one, am willing to be called a humbug by all such people. I have the same
class to uphold me that Jesus had, which is the sick. The well opposed Him and
the well oppose me. I do not set myself up as an equal to Jesus, or any other
man, but I do profess to believe in that principle that Jesus taught, which I call
Christ. That I believe in and try to put into practice as far as I understand it, and
the sick are my judges, not the well; for as the well need no physician, they
cannot judge me. Neither am I willing to be judged by the church creeds till they
can show me that their power or belief is above their natural power. I shall not
take their opinions of what they know nothing about. I will draw a line between
the professor of Christ and myself and leave the sick to pass judgment. As I have
the Bible I have the same means of judging as anyone, for we all have the same
Bible and everyone has a right to his opinion concerning it. Yet his opinion is
nothing but an opinion and only valuable in indicating the source from which it
comes. There is no truth in it unless it can be put into practice as Christ put His
into practice. Then it becomes a fact.
What does Jesus Himself say of this power? He admitted it, for He says, "Of
myself I can do nothing," thus admitting a power superior to Himself; and also
when asked a question by His disciples, He said, "No man knoweth, not the
angels in heaven, neither the Son, but my Father only." At another time when
asked by a scribe who had been listening to Jesus, while he reasoned with a
Sadducee, "What is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered, "The first
commandment is Hear, O, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Here He admits
a supreme power and says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and thy neighbor as thyself."
The young man said unto Him, "Well, Master, thou hast said truly, for there is one
God, and there is none other than He, and to love Him with all thy heart and soul
is more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus saw that he had answered
discreetly and He said unto him, "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God."
These questions and answers were given before the whole multitude, and I see
no reason for disputing Jesus' own words by putting a mixed misconstruction on
some passage and making Jesus something that neither He nor anyone else
ever thought of. He was accused of making Himself equal with God, but that was
their ignorance which gave that construction, and if I had not been accused of the
same thing a hundred times, I might put the same construction on Jesus as
others do. But I can see and show to the sick beyond a doubt the difference
between Jesus and Christ, and the difference between the two words gives a
very different meaning to religion. The church construction makes our acts and
lives one thing and our religion another. Jesus made our acts the effect of our
knowledge of Christ or truth or science and in proportion as we understand
science we understand God and acknowledge Him in science and in truth.
This science separates us from this world of sin and death and brings life and
science to light, and this life or science was in Christ or was Christ and was what
Jesus taught. The ignorance of Christ or Science or truth put "Jesus" and "Christ"
together and called it "Jesus Christ." For ignorance and superstition could not
account for any of the cures that Jesus made except it be from heaven, and
although Jesus tried all in His power to convince them to the contrary, He could
not. The religious people of Jesus' day like the Christians of this day made
heaven and hell places independent of man, and although some may deny it,
their acts give the lie to their professions.
All persons pray to a being independent of themselves, acknowledging a state or
place where God is, independent of themselves, and when they pray, supposing
that He listens, ask Him to hear their prayers and relieve their wants. This is
precisely what the heathens did, and Jesus called them hypocrites and
condemned it, for He said this offering up of prayer and sacrifice year after year
could never take away sin or error so that the world could be benefited by such
forms. But once in the end of this world of superstition, Jesus sacrificed His own
of all superstition and embraced Christ or Truth and laid down His own life for the
happiness of mankind. Before this, the world knew not Christ or Truth. This truth
Jesus taught and His teaching was the healing of the nations, and if this truth had
not been misconstructed, the world at this time would have been rid of thousands
of errors it now has. This was Christ's truth or belief, for a truth to a person who
cannot understand it is a belief. So Jesus' truth or Christ was to the people a
mystery and of course embraced a belief. But to Jesus this was science and He
labored to convince the people that it was, that the fruits of it were seen in His
practice and that it could be taught; for He made a difference between His cures
and His disciples' cures and the cures of the rest of the world.
The magicians and sorcerers cured by their belief. They thought their power
came from a spirit world, and they acted upon this belief. They believed that
sickness was sent into the world to torment mankind. The priests had the same
belief. Each one's prayer was to his own God to keep him clear of his enemy.
The priests held up to the people the idea that they must do something different
from living honestly and dealing with mankind as though we were one family, that
a certain belief was necessary to keep us clear of hell which itself had been
invented to torment man.
This doctrine kept the people in ignorance of themselves and made them
nervous, giving rise to a sort of belief in evil spirits. As mankind are all the time
inventing ideas for their own interests, it finally led to the introduction of the
medical faculty. Now it seemed to cover all the ground that ignorance and
superstition wanted; it put the masses into the power of the two classes-the
priests and the doctors. The priests would offer up prayers to their God for the
salvation of souls, and the doctors would offer up prayers for their business. The
people are, in the meantime, in the condition that the prophet told of when he
said, "The prophets prophesize falsely, and the priests can rule by their means,
and the people love to have it so, but what will they do in the end thereof?" Now it
is just so with the clergy and the profession. Both are an evil and Jesus opposed
both by destroying all their ideas. This He did, or tried to do, but they destroyed
Him before He established the science so that it could be taught.
Jesus wanted to introduce this science, which He called Christ. This science
gave the lie to all the old opinions of Jesus' day. He had no heaven or hell out of
man, no happiness or misery outside of us. His God was in Him and us, and His
prayers were in Him and in us, and His life and ours was in this Christ or belief,
and this belief was the law which He put in all of us. If this law could be
understood, it would rid us of all the evils that are bound on mankind. It would not
keep man in ignorance of himself, but would exalt him in the natural world. It
would rid him of the superstition of the world, would make men worship God, not
as a man who could be flattered by our hypocrisy but as a God of knowledge, as
a science that gives to every man just what he learns. Those who seek Him in
prayer desiring to learn His laws will be rewarded just in proportion to their labor.
He asks no prayers for His good, and a prayer made up of words is all lost unless
accompanied by some good to someone, and if we do good to one another our
prayer is in the act. When Jesus said to the righteous, "Come ye blessed for I
was naked and you clothed me," they were not aware that they had done any
good, but He said, "Inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these my brethren,
you did it unto me," or God, and in His answer to the wicked, "Inasmuch as you
did it not to them, ye did it not to me." He put the good and bad in the acts and
not in the words. So true prayer is in our acts, false prayer is in our words and by
their fruits ye shall know them. For He said, "Not all those who say, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven or Science"; not those who say, "I
understand it," but those who put it into practice so that the world shall be the
wiser for the knowledge. Now you see that if this is so, "it is easier for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man" or one learned in the world's
knowledge to embrace this Truth or Christ. But I say to all, strive to understand.
March 1860
Wrong Use of Words
BU 165:9, LC 1:63
We often use words, putting upon them a wrong construction, and think that a
person is bound to believe what we say because we say it. For instance, you
often hear a scientific person make this assertion, that there is no such thing as
weight, that weight is attraction, that its true scientific explanation is attraction.
Now this is easy to say, but hard to prove when we admit that a fifty-six pounder
is heavier than a block of wood of the same size. When we ask what the
difference is, we are told that it is attraction, that there is no such thing as weight.
So you see you cannot convince a man of what does not come within his senses
and he will not believe it because some one says so.
Neither party is right, and both are nearly right. If you place the two weights in an
exhausted receiver, they will both fall at the same time. This proves attraction.
Take them into the open air, and then the iron weight will fall the faster. Now is it
attraction, or must you introduce another word? Why do they not fall in the same
time as in the receiver? Because they have to fall through a medium called
atmosphere or air. This medium is more dense near the earth, but as it recedes
from the earth, it becomes less dense, and bodies are weighed or measured in
this medium. So attraction is of no use except to show that all things have a
tendency towards the earth. To suppose that the attraction is in the thing
attracted is wrong, and so is the idea that the weight is in the matter attracted.
The word weight is the name of matter that is in motion, for when there is no
motion, it is called pressure. Weight in motion makes mechanical power, and as
velocity increases, weight diminishes until weight is lost in velocity; then the
whole is under the law of attraction.
Now as the human body is matter and mind is weight, the natural man knows no
law of attraction any more than the metal knows of the attraction that governs it.
The law or science that governs man is as much in the dark to the natural man
as attraction is to weight. Attraction knows weight is ignorance. As the mind is
like the weight and the soul or truth is like the attraction, as we gain in
knowledge, we lose in mind or ignorance. So as perfect velocity casts out weight,
perfect knowledge casts out mind or ignorance, and truth reigns in all. God is the
attraction of both. Ignorance, like the brute, sees no higher law than itself;
therefore the ignorant act in accordance with their belief. Man, who is a little
above the brute, has discovered that there is a law of attraction, and that same
knowledge sees in man a higher and more intelligent law of knowledge that the
natural man knows nothing of. This teaches man that as he loses in ignorance by
embracing the truth, he leaves this world of error and takes truth for ignorance.
So as he learns science, he disregards error till all error is swallowed up in truth.
Then one shall not say to another, Know you the truth, but all shall know it from
the least to the greatest. Then disease shall be destroyed and truth shall reign all
in all.
March 1860
Difference of Opinion about the Dead
BU 165:15, LC 1:69
Why should there be such a difference of opinion in regard to the dead? If there
is such a thing as death, what is it? It is of the body I suppose. Now if the body is
matter, has matter life? If it has, then the life is a part of the body; and if the body
dies, then the life dies also, for the life is the body. Now if you mean that this is
the end of man, what lives after the life and body die? You will say, the soul.
Where is the soul? Has anyone ever seen it? Or is it an opinion? The fact is that
the theory of the body and soul is not in keeping with the progress of truth or
science. It leaves everything in the dark. It gives no proof of any phenomenon but
assumes that man must take an opinion of some one who does not undertake to
prove it and admit an opinion of something that took place five thousand years
ago, and renewed eighteen hundred years ago.
Mankind is just the same as it always was and so is the brute creation and all of
God's race. They can be classified from the vegetable world to the spiritual world,
but not as they have been, for there never has been a single philosophical grade
above the brute since Christ.
Jesus tried to establish the kingdom of truth in man so that men would teach it,
but he failed not because he was ignorant himself but because man was not
developed enough to receive it.
It is sometimes supposed that the wisdom of God or science is made manifest in
some simple girl or man. This is the case, and phenomena are continually
occurring, which baffle the world's wisdom to explain, so they are set down as
humbug or deception. By a mesmerized subject I can prove that there is no such
thing as death as it is understood by all Christians. All will admit that a person
can be mesmerized and when in that state can read and travel, going off to
distant places. I can prove that mind is matter and there is no matter without
mind, and death is nothing but an opinion or state of mind made up of matter
which can be destroyed like any other opinion. It is true to the soul that is in
matter, but to the science that is out of matter it is only an idea. The word matter
is applied to man in his lowest state, just a little above the brute. The brute has
his soul, but he is always in matter, for he shows no knowledge over any other
brute. He shows no power of teaching more than the brute before him. This
proves his limits.
The fowls are the same, and all creation have, as yet, shown no science. Now if
it was intended for the above classes to learn and teach science, it is natural to
suppose that they would have shown some symptoms of it before now, so I leave
them as they are and pass on to man.
It is not to be supposed that every man who walks upright is to be set down as a
scientific man, nor is it true that every one who calls himself scientific is so. But it
is he who can show himself so to the world by his acts, who can explain some
truth, thereby putting the world in possession of a fact that it has been ignorant
of, thus increasing the wisdom and happiness of mankind. This is the case with
science.
Now if death can be explained away so that man can be put in possession of life
eternal, then the world will be put in possession of a fact it is now ignorant of.
This I will try to do.
What is life? It is admitted that it is something. It is a consciousness of an
existence, and death is the fear of the annihilation of that consciousness. The
natural man never sees anything beyond the idea of his belief. Therefore he lives
in death and is all his life subject to his own belief. Now convince man that there
is something independent of this belief that is true, that there is no such thing as
matter, only as it is spoken into existence, and he will then see that mind is the
very matter or error that is his belief.
As his belief changes, the matter or opinion changes and as matter or opinion or
mind is all the same, when a chemical change takes place, the mind or opinion is
destroyed and truth or science takes the place of error. Then the soul or science
stands out from the mind or matter and sees how the mind can be made the
medium of any soul to bring about any belief or disease.
When man arrives at that, then death is swallowed up in science; then the world
will rejoice in the science that teaches man that he is nothing but a mass of
ideas, can be destroyed and molded to any belief and take a form to suit its
author. The knowledge of this teaches us that all misery is in ourselves, arising
from some idea that our soul or science is in, like a prison.
The world is the belief, the destruction of the prison is the destruction of our belief
and the liberation of our soul from bondage is life eternal. This is in God or
science.
April 1860
Harmony
BU 165:14, LC 1:68
When two persons are in harmony in regard to a fact, they are as one, for there
is no jar. The fact may be of truth or error, but if they are of the same opinion in
regard to it, then they harmonize. If the harmony is pleasure, it is well; if it is
trouble, it is harmony with them and discord with something else.
Error cannot be in harmony with truth. Ignorance is as a blank, error is the
working of ignorance to arrive at harmony or truth. Truth is a science that can
govern this chemical change in ignorance to bring it in harmony with science. I
will illustrate. Ignorance produces sounds; error arranges them into a tune. Truth
reduces the error to a science so that it can be taught. These then are as one.
Each one is dependent on the other, for if there was no ignorance there could not
be any error. Then there could be no happiness, for happiness is the result of
some act or belief.
Truth contains no happiness, nor misery, but is that power or knowledge that
governs all things according to itself. This truth is in all men, but it is not in the
brutes, for it is not matter but the knowledge of creating matter or destroying it.
Therefore, fear not that power that can destroy the body and nothing more, but
fear that power that can destroy both body and soul, for all the above is matter
and mind.
The power that can create and destroy matter is proved by error, for it is the
destruction of the life of error. Ignorance says in its heart, there is no such power.
Error knows that there is but is ignorant of its locality. To ignorance, this power is
as an unknown God. The knowledge of this power is the harmony of one person
in trouble with another in truth and happiness.
April 1860
Resurrection III
BU 165:18, LC 1:72
[orig. untitled]
It has been generally taught that there is a resurrection of this flesh and blood, or
that this body should rise from the dead. Now if death is anything independent of
ourselves, then it is not a part of our identity and if death is the annihilation of life,
then life dies and if your life dies, then it is not life. This absurdity arises from the
fact that man began to philosophize before he understood himself. Man is
superstitious from ignorance. He sees through a medium of ignorance called
matter; therefore he sees nothing outside of his belief. This belief is his matter
and his reason is a part of his belief; therefore he is to himself just what he thinks
he is. But his belief makes his life and death the same identity. Therefore when
he speaks of life he speaks of saving it or losing it, just as though it were matter
and must go through a chemical change before it could go to heaven or get
separated from itself.
Thus we are taught to believe that our lives are liable to be lost or cast into some
place of torment if we do not do something to save it, just as though life were a
thing independent of ourselves and we must look out for it or we should lose it.
Absurd as this is, it is the belief of all mankind, infidel or Christian.
Now you see, this is the matter or belief that is in matter reasoning about
something outside of itself that may be lost if it is not seen to.
Therefore we are taught to believe that Jesus came to make all right, suffered
and died and rose again to let mankind know that they should rise. Let us see
what was really accomplished by his mission according to his followers' opinions
of him. We are told that man had wandered away from God and had become so
wicked that it was necessary that something should be done or he would be in
danger of being banished from God's presence. What was required of him in
order to be saved was to repent and return to God, only believing that he should
never die. Therefore his life depended on his belief, for if he did not repent or
change his mind, he would be damned. Now, what are we called upon to
believe? In the first place, you must believe that Jesus, the man, was Christ or
God and that he died on the cross and that the man Jesus rose from the dead
and went to heaven, there to appear before God and sit down with God in
heaven. If we believe this we shall be saved. If we do not believe it we must be
damned. Now you see that our lives are in our belief and our belief is made up of
someone's opinion who knows just as much as we.
I, for one, do not reason in that way. I know that man has two identities: one in
this state called Christian or diseased, and one in the spiritual or scientific state.
Each is governed by its own belief, and when one has the ascendency, the other
is the servant. Death and life are the two identities. Life is the knowledge of our
existence and which has no matter. But matter is its servant or medium. Death is
the name of that state of mind that reasons as man reasons and the brutes and
all of God's creatures. The life of this state (death) depends upon its reason. It
reasons that life is in it and a part of it, and at the same time acknowledges that
life is something that can be lost or saved and reasons about it as one man
reasons about another. Death reasons also with the idea that it is saving its life
and invents all sorts of diseases which destroy its state or self. It prays to be
saved, it fasts and observes forms and ceremonies. It is very strict in its laws to
protect its life. Knowledge is its destruction, so it fears God or Science as its
destroyer. Its life is not destroyed but its opinions are, and its opinions are matter.
The destroying of its opinions is death, but not annihilation of matter, but of error
as far as it goes. The matter returns to its former condition ready to be formed
into some other idea. These beliefs are from the knowledge of this world and are
the inventions of man, but the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God or
Science. This world is made up of the above beliefs and is subject to a higher
power.
The wisdom of God does not go into the clouds to call truth down nor into the
deep to call God up, but shows us that God is in us, even in our speech. It sees
matter as a cloud or substance that has a sort of life (in appearance). It sees it
move around. It also sees commotion, like persons running to and fro upon the
earth. It can come into this state called this world and reasons with its followers
or science, who are in this world, imprisoned by a belief, for science not
understood is not safe unless it has an identity. Its identity is a knowledge of
itself, for if you should do right ignorantly, you are not safe. To be clear from this
world is to know that an opinion is not knowledge; and when this is found out, the
opinion is destroyed and knowledge or science takes its place and the identity or
opinion is not in this world only as it is remembered. I will give an illustration. I am
now speaking of the wisdom of this world.
You see your friend walking about and you talk with him. Finally he dies, as you
say. Now his identity with you is that he once lived, but is now dead. But you do
not know but that he may live again, though this is only an opinion. You follow
him with the same opinion or belief and so on. So you never enter into the world
of science, for flesh and blood cannot enter truth, nor can it enter Science. It
cannot understand the separation from this world or belief.
Now where do I stand? I do not stand at all. I know that all the above is the
reasoning of matter and when people learn the truth, they will make matter
subject to science. Then the wisdom of this world will become subject to the
scientific world. This world calls the world of science a gift. To call it a gift is to
say that those who practice it for the benefit of man are either ignorant of this
science, are humbugs or are fools talking about what they do not kno