"Mr. Williams, when you were attending school, suppose the teacher had
given you a mathematical problem to solve, and had said, 'You will
find the rule by which this example can be worked on page 105, and the
correct answer is 18.' You would have looked up the rule and started
to work the example. If when you were done the answer you got was 18,
you would know at once that you understood the rule, and had applied
it correctly. Thereafter you would not merely believe that you knew
the rule, but you would know that you understood it. So it is with the
sick; take your son's case, for instance; he found a 'Science and
Health,' began to read and study it; in it is printed the rule of
health. After a little study he understood this rule. He then applied
it correctly and got the answer, _health,_ and this is sufficient
proof to him that the scientific method of healing the sick as Jesus
Christ did, is contained in this book, and no amount of argument to
the contrary can ever convince him that it is not true, any more than
it would have been possible to tell you that you did not understand
the rule by which you solved your mathematical problem after you had
secured the correct answer. Correct answers are the signs following,
or proofs of understanding, of any science."
"Then it is not God that does the healing, but the correct application
of a rule," said the pastor quickly.
"Oh, yes, it is God that heals the sick; for instance, when you were
working the problem mentioned above, you found the rule on the page
indicated by the teacher, but the rule did not do your problem, neither
did the mere application of the rule do it, but it was your
intelligence, or mind, that directed the correct application of the
rule that solved the problem; so to Mind must be given the credit of
the solution, for the rule could not do anything without Mind to direct
the application. And so it is with the rule of health; it is in 'Science
and Health,' but to be benefited thereby it must be correctly applied
by the intelligence of man, which is his mind."
"But this statement contradicts your first statement."
"In what way, Mr. Williams?"
"In the first instance, you said it was God that did the healing, and
now you say it is the intelligence of man, or mind."
"Mr. Williams, do you believe God is all intelligence?"
"Yes, certainly."
"Then He must be the intelligence of man, or his mind, otherwise God
would not be _all_ intelligence." The pastor sat perfectly still,
fully absorbed with his own thoughts. Mrs. White waited a few moments,
then continued: "What I have said in regard to applying the rule is
in full accord with the teachings of Jesus Christ wherein He
demonstrated the necessity of us working out our own salvation."
"Mrs. White, you say that God is the intelligence of man, or his mind."
"Yes, for God is _all_ intelligence."
"You also say that God is good only."
"Yes, God is _all_ Good."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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