The Word _Faith_ in its Application to Psychic Phenomena.--Its Definition.--An Epitome of the Law of Suggestion.--Subjective Faith only required.--Illustrative Incident.--The "Spoken Word."--Jesus knew the Law, and always acted within its Limitations.--Intuitive Perception of the Laws of the Soul.--His Manhood and its Limitations.--Our Warranty of Title as Sons of God.--Christ constantly controlled by Reason.--His Subjective Powers subservient.--The Three Temptations illustrative.--The Great Lesson to Mankind.--The Normal Exercise of Subjective Power.--Simon the Sorcerer.--Miracle not a Necessary Explanation of the Power of Christ.--Conclusions. In proceeding to make a more direct application of our hypothesis to the doctrines of Jesus, it will be necessary first to consider the meaning of the word _faith_ as it was employed by him, and as it must be understood in its application to all psychic phenomena. In the common acceptation of the term, faith is "belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony."[49] "The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind which is called 'trust,' or 'confidence,' exercised towards the moral character of God, and particularly of the Saviour."[50] It is obvious that neither of these definitions properly characterizes that emotion of the mind, called _faith_, which is the necessary prerequisite condition of the mind of a person to enable him to confer or to receive the benefits of psychic power. It has been shown in a former chapter that the faith necessary to enable a person to be healed by mental processes is subjective faith; that is, the faith of the subjective mind, or soul. It has been shown that this faith may be entertained by the subjective mind in positive opposition to the faith, or belief, of the objective mind,--that it may be forced, upon the subjective mind in defiance of objective reason or the evidence of the objective senses. It is not deemed necessary, therefore, to enter at this time into a full discussion of this branch of the subject, and the reader is referred to the chapters on psycho-therapeutics. In this view of the question it is obvious that the definition of the word _faith_ must be revised if we would understand it as Christ understood it, and make it conform to the facts demonstrated by modern science. In other words, we must define that particular kind of faith which pertains to the development and exercise of psychic power,--that faith of which Christ was the first to proclaim the necessity and define the attributes. Faith, therefore, in the sense in which Jesus employed it, may be defined as the assent of the soul, or subjective mind, to the truth of what is declared to be true.