It seems obvious that no greater demand could be made upon the resources of our credulity than to tell us that all that is visible or tangible to our objective senses has no real existence. And yet that is what the patient of Christian science is invited to believe as a condition precedent to his recovery. Of course he feels at first that his intelligence is insulted, and he protests against such a palpable absurdity. But he is quieted by soothing words, and is told to get himself into a perfectly passive condition, to say nothing and to think of nothing for the time being. In some cases patients are advised to hold themselves in the mental attitude of denying the possible existence of disease. The essential condition of passivity being acquired by the patient, the healer also becomes passive, and assumes the mental attitude of denying the existence of disease in the patient,--or elsewhere, for that matter,--and affirms with constant iteration the condition of perfect healthfulness. After a séance of this kind, lasting perhaps half-an-hour, the patient almost inevitably finds immense relief, and often feels himself completely restored to health. To say that the patient is surprised, is but feebly to convey his impressions; he is confounded. The healer triumphantly asks, "What do you think of my theory now?" It is of little use for him to reply that he does not see that the theory is necessarily correct because he was healed. Most likely he fails to think of that, in his gratitude for restored health. But if he does, he is met by the triumphant response, "By their fruits ye shall know them." To the average mind, untrained to habits of logical reasoning, that settles the question; and Christian science has scored a triumph and secured a follower. He may not be able to see quite clearly the logical sequences involved, he may be even doubtful whether the theory is necessarily correct; but not being able to formulate his objections, he contents himself with the thought that he is not yet far enough advanced in "science" to understand that which seems so clear to the mind of his teacher. In any event, he ceases to antagonize the theory by any process of reasoning, and eventually believes, objectively as well as subjectively, in the substantial correctness of the fundamental theory. In the mean time it is easy to see that his subjective faith has been made perfect by his passivity under treatment, and that his objective faith has been confirmed by his restoration to health. In all systems of healing, the processes, or rather the conditions, are essentially the same, the first essential condition, as before stated, being the perfect passivity and receptivity of the patient. That is always insisted upon, and it is the essential prerequisite, be the theory and method of operation what they may. The rest is accomplished by suggestion. Thus, the whole science of mental healing may be expressed in two words,--passivity, and suggestion.