Responsive Reading
Matthew 5:8; Psalms 25:1, 6, 7, 18, 20, 21; 9:7 the (to :), 8, 10, 11
Matt. 5:8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Ps. 25:1Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
6Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
7Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.
18Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.
20O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.
21Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.
9:7. . . the Lord shall endure for ever:
8And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
10And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
11Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
Section 1
The Bible
Habakkuk 1:12 (to ?), 13 (to :)
12Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?
13Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
Isaiah 43:6 bring, 7, 21
6bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
21This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
I John 3:9
9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Job 33:9
9I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
Psalms 26:6 (to 1st :)
6I will wash mine hands in innocency:
Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesby Mary Baker Eddy
470:21–24
Indestructible
relationship
God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect. Man is the expression of God’s being.
515:21 Man
Man is the family name for all ideas, — the sons and daughters of God. All that God imparts moves in accord with Him, reflecting goodness and power.
356:25–27 2nd Does, 31–5
Does divine Love commit a fraud on humanity by making man inclined to sin, and then punishing him for it?
Two infinite
creators
absurd
Was there original self-creative sin? Then there must have been more than one creator, more than one God. In common justice, we must admit that God will not punish man for doing what He created man capable of doing, and knew from the outset that man would do. God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil.”
475:28–31 The
Man
unfallen
The real man cannot depart from holiness, nor can God, by whom man is evolved, engender the capacity or freedom to sin.
67:28
Man delivered from sin, disease, and death presents the true likeness or spiritual ideal.
Section 2
The Bible
Psalms 19:12 cleanse
12cleanse thou me from secret faults.
II Samuel 11:2–4 (to 2nd ;), 5, 14, 15, 17, 26, 27
2And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath–sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her;
5And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
14And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
17And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
26And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
27And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
II Samuel 12:1 (to 1st .), 13 (to 1st .)
1And the Lord sent Nathan unto David.
13And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.
Psalms 51:1, 2, 7 wash, 10, 12, 17
1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
7wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Science and Health
196:6–8
Sin destroyed
through
suffering
Better the suffering which awakens mortal mind from its fleshly dream, than the false pleasures which tend to perpetuate this dream.
537:14–15
Error excludes itself from harmony. Sin is its own punishment.
270:26–27
If sin makes sinners, Truth and Love alone can unmake them.
6:3–5, 11–22
Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the sinner.
To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means of destroying sin. Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach heaven, the harmony of being, we must understand the divine Principle of being.
Mercy without
partiality
“God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. To suppose that God forgives or punishes sin according as His mercy is sought or unsought, is to misunderstand Love and to make prayer the safety-valve for wrong-doing.
329:26
The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction of error. If men understood their real spiritual source to be all blessedness, they would struggle for recourse to the spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mortal mind is plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to Truth.
405:5
Mental
conspirators
Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness, and success. They will deliver you to the judge, the arbiter of truth against error. The judge will deliver you to justice, and the sentence of the moral law will be executed upon mortal mind and body. Both will be manacled until the last farthing is paid, — until you have balanced your account with God. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” The good man finally can overcome his fear of sin. This is sin’s necessity, — to destroy itself. Immortal man demonstrates the government of God, good, in which is no power to sin.
Section 3
The Bible
Psalms 65:2, 3
2O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
3Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
Isaiah 1:16, 18, 19
16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
James 4:8, 10
8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.
10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Ephesians 2:4 God, 5
4God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Science and Health
5:22–25
Cancellation
of human sin
Prayer is not to be used as a confessional to cancel sin. Such an error would impede true religion. Sin is forgiven only as it is destroyed by Christ, — Truth and Life.
8:14–18
If we feel the aspiration, humility, gratitude, and love which our words express, — this God accepts; and it is wise not to try to deceive ourselves or others, for “there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed.”
15:9–11, 16–22
To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed.
Effectual
invocation
In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God’s allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice.
241:19–21
The substance of all devotion is the reflection and demonstration of divine Love, healing sickness and destroying sin.
Section 4
The Bible
Luke 4:14 Jesus
14Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
Luke 5:12, 13
12And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
Titus 3:4–6 the
4the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Science and Health
316:7, 20
Christ, Truth, was demonstrated through Jesus to prove the power of Spirit over the flesh, — to show that Truth is made manifest by its effects upon the human mind and body, healing sickness and destroying sin.
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.
384:3–6
Corporeal
penalties
We should relieve our minds from the depressing thought that we have transgressed a material law and must of necessity pay the penalty. Let us reassure ourselves with the law of Love.
411:10
If Spirit or the power of divine Love bear witness to the truth, this is the ultimatum, the scientific way, and the healing is instantaneous.
Section 5
The Bible
Psalms 19:8
8The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalms 136:26
26O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.
John 9:1–3 as, 6, 7
1as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
Science and Health
63:5
Spiritual
origin
In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.
206:26
Instead of God sending sickness and death, He destroys them, and brings to light immortality. Omnipotent and infinite Mind made all and includes all. This Mind does not make mistakes and subsequently correct them. God does not cause man to sin, to be sick, or to die.
274:12–20
Five senses
deceptive
The senses of Spirit abide in Love, and they demonstrate Truth and Life. Hence Christianity and the Science which expounds it are based on spiritual understanding, and they supersede the so-called laws of matter. Jesus demonstrated this great verity. When what we erroneously term the five physical senses are misdirected, they are simply the manifested beliefs of mortal mind, which affirm that life, substance, and intelligence are material, instead of spiritual.
487:6
Exercise
of Mind-
faculties
There is more Christianity in seeing and hearing spiritually than materially. There is more Science in the perpetual exercise of the Mind-faculties than in their loss. Lost they cannot be, while Mind remains. The apprehension of this gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf centuries ago, and it will repeat the wonder.
346:13–16
It is self-evident that we are harmonious only as we cease to manifest evil or the belief that we suffer from the sins of others. Disbelief in error destroys error, and leads to the discernment of Truth.
516:12–13
Love imparts
beauty
Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.
Section 6
The Bible
John 13:1, 4–9, 12–15, 17
1Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
4He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
5After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
7Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
I Peter 1:22
22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Science and Health
57:23–24
Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying, and elevating it.
19:6
Jesus aided in reconciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, the divine Principle of Jesus’ teachings, and this truer sense of Love redeems man from the law of matter, sin, and death by the law of Spirit, — the law of divine Love.
7:18–21
Emotional
utterances
If spiritual sense always guided men, there would grow out of ecstatic moments a higher experience and a better life with more devout self-abnegation and purity.
324:4
The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
518:15–19
Assistance in
brotherhood
The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good.
Section 7
The Bible
Isaiah 54:8 with
8with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
II Thessalonians 2:16, 17
16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
Science and Health
339:2
Divine
pardon
Divine Life destroys death, Truth destroys error, and Love destroys hate. Being destroyed, sin needs no other form of forgiveness. Does not God’s pardon, destroying any one sin, prophesy and involve the final destruction of all sin?
568:24–30
Pæan of
jubilee
For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts. What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain.