Unreality

Section 1

The Bible

1Nahum 1:9 (to :)

9What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end:

2Zephaniah 3:15 the king

15the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.

3Ecclesiastes 3:14 whatsoever (to 2^nd :)

14whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it:

4I John 4:1, 6

1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesby Mary Baker Eddy

1129:5

Truth is ever truthful, and can tolerate no error in premise or conclusion.

2554:8 (only, to 2^nd .), 16 The

Error is always error. It is no thing.

The first effort of error has been and is to impute to God the creation of whatever is sinful and mortal; but infinite Mind sets at naught such a mistaken belief.

3472:24–30 All

Unrealities
that seem real

All reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God.

4339:32

Our various theories will never lose their imaginary power for good or evil, until we lose our faith in them and make life its own proof of harmony and God.

5207:9–10

We must learn that evil is the awful deception and unreality of existence.

Section 2

The Bible

5Exodus 20:1

1And God spake all these words, saying,

6Exodus 23:1 (to :), 20

1Thou shalt not raise a false report:

20Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

7Numbers 22:2, 5, 6

2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

5He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

6Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

8Numbers 23:5, 8 (to 1^st ?), 20

5And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?

20Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

Science and Health

6339:7–10

Evil not pro-
duced by God

Since God is All, there is no room for His unlikeness. God, Spirit, alone created all, and called it good. Therefore evil, being contrary to good, is unreal, and cannot be the product of God.

7207:27–31

The spiritual reality is the scientific fact in all things. The spiritual fact, repeated in the action of man and the whole universe, is harmonious and is the ideal of Truth. Spiritual facts are not inverted; the opposite discord, which bears no resemblance to spirituality, is not real.

8405:1 (only)

The basic error is mortal mind.

9103:6–9, 29

Liberation
of mental
powers

The destruction of the claims of mortal mind through Science, by which man can escape from sin and mortality, blesses the whole human family.

Thought-
transference

In reality there is no mortal mind, and consequently no transference of mortal thought and will-power. Life and being are of God. In Christian Science, man can do no harm, for scientific thoughts are true thoughts, passing from God to man.

10464:23–24, 26 (only)

The right
motive and
its reward

The weapons of bigotry, ignorance, envy, fall before an honest heart.

Falsity has no foundation.

Section 3

The Bible

9Proverbs 1:10 if

10if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

10II Samuel 15:2–6

2And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

3And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.

4Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!

5And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.

6And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

11Matthew 7:15, 16 (to .)

15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16Ye shall know them by their fruits.

12Ephesians 5:11 have

11have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Science and Health

11448:28–30

Adherence to
righteousness

It is Christian Science to do right, and nothing short of right-doing has any claim to the name.

12339:11

A sinner can receive no encouragement from the fact that Science demonstrates the unreality of evil, for the sinner would make a reality of sin, — would make that real which is unreal, and thus heap up “wrath against the day of wrath.” He is joining in a conspiracy against himself, — against his own awakening to the awful unreality by which he has been deceived. Only those, who repent of sin and forsake the unreal, can fully understand the unreality of evil.

13239:13–18

The watchword of Christian Science is Scriptural: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.”

To ascertain our progress, we must learn where our affections are placed and whom we acknowledge and obey as God.

14252:8

Eternal man
recognized

A knowledge of error and of its operations must precede that understanding of Truth which destroys error, until the entire mortal, material error finally disappears, and the eternal verity, man created by and of Spirit, is understood and recognized as the true likeness of his Maker.

Section 4

The Bible

13Psalms 51:10

10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

14Mark 1:14 Jesus, 15, 21 on, 23–26, 39–42

14Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

15And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

21on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

23And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

25And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

26And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

39And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

40And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

41And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

42And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Science and Health

1538:24–26

Jesus mapped out the path for others. He unveiled the Christ, the spiritual idea of divine Love.

16269:5, 21–22

Jesus’ demonstrations sift the chaff from the wheat, and unfold the unity and the reality of good, the unreality, the nothingness, of evil.

The testimony of the material senses is neither absolute nor divine.

17251:13

Sickness, as well as sin, is an error that Christ, Truth, alone can destroy.

18461:11, 23

Only by the illumination of the spiritual sense, can the light of understanding be thrown upon this Science, because Science reverses the evidence before the material senses and furnishes the eternal interpretation of God and man.

Both sin and sickness are error, and Truth is their remedy. The truth regarding error is, that error is not true, hence it is unreal. To prove scientifically the error or unreality of sin, you must first see the claim of sin, and then destroy it. Whereas, to prove scientifically the error or unreality of disease, you must mentally unsee the disease; then you will not feel it, and it is destroyed.

19447:14–22

Expose sin
without
believing in it

The recuperative action of the system, when mentally sustained by Truth, goes on naturally. When sin or sickness — the reverse of harmony — seems true to material sense, impart without frightening or discouraging the patient the truth and spiritual understanding, which destroy disease. Expose and denounce the claims of evil and disease in all their forms, but realize no reality in them.

20416:24–27, 30

Evil thought
depletes

The sick know nothing of the mental process by which they are depleted, and next to nothing of the metaphysical method by which they can be healed.

Turn their thoughts away from their bodies to higher objects. Teach them that their being is sustained by Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace, and harmony in God, divine Love.

21462:1

Rapidity of
assimilation

Some individuals assimilate truth more readily than others, but any student, who adheres to the divine rules of Christian Science and imbibes the spirit of Christ, can demonstrate Christian Science, cast out error, heal the sick, and add continually to his store of spiritual understanding, potency, enlightenment, and success.

Section 5

The Bible

15I John 5:20 the (to 1^st .)

20the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.

16Matthew 9:1, 18 there, 19, 23–26

1And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.

18there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

19And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.

23And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

24He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

25But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

26And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

Science and Health

22428:3–6

Vision
opening

Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstration of the facts of Soul in Jesus’ way resolves the dark visions of material sense into harmony and immortality.

23332:11–15

The Son
of God

The Christ is incorporeal, spiritual, — yea, the divine image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death.

24298:13–18

Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality. Material sense expresses the belief that mind is in matter. This human belief, alternating between a sense of pleasure and pain, hope and fear, life and death, never reaches beyond the boundary of the mortal or the unreal.

25406:11–12, 20–25 We

The Science of being unveils the errors of sense, and spiritual perception, aided by Science, reaches Truth.

Resist to
the end

We can, and ultimately shall, so rise as to avail ourselves in every direction of the supremacy of Truth over error, Life over death, and good over evil, and this growth will go on until we arrive at the fulness of God’s idea, and no more fear that we shall be sick and die.

26426:23–28

Christian
standard

The relinquishment of all faith in death and also of the fear of its sting would raise the standard of health and morals far beyond its present elevation, and would enable us to hold the banner of Christianity aloft with unflinching faith in God, in Life eternal.

Section 6

The Bible

17Psalms 46:1–5

1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

4There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

18Haggai 2:6

6For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

19Hebrews 12:27

27And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

20Luke 21:9 when (to :), 10 Nation, 11, 18

9when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified:

10Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

11And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

18But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

Science and Health

2796:12–18, 27

Arena of
contest

This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears.

Millennial
glory

As material knowledge diminishes and spiritual understanding increases, real objects will be apprehended mentally instead of materially.

2897:13

The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction. The more material the belief, the more obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being.

29276:12–14, 25

The realization that all inharmony is unreal brings objects and thoughts into human view in their true light, and presents them as beautiful and immortal.

Material beliefs and spiritual understanding never mingle. The latter destroys the former. Discord is the nothingness named error. Harmony is the somethingness named Truth.

30355:11

Let discord of every name and nature be heard no more, and let the harmonious and true sense of Life and being take possession of human consciousness.

Section 7

The Bible

21Isaiah 51:11 the

11the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

22Romans 8:35, 37–39

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Science and Health

31316:20

Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit creates, constitutes, and governs. Christ illustrates that blending with God, his divine Principle, which gives man dominion over all the earth.

32304:16

Harmony
natural

Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man’s happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.