BIBLE
¶ And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: ...
Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, ...
And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. ¶ And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
(Genesis 8:6, 8, 9 (to 2nd ,), 10–13)
Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. ...
Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. ...
I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. ...
As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. ...
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
(Psalms 55:1, 5, 6, 8, 16, 22)
O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
(Psalms 31:23, 24)
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; ...
John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. ...
And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. ...
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, 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. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.
(Mark 1:1, 4, 7–11, 14–28)
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. ...
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. ...
... ¶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
(Matthew 10:1, 5–8, 16)
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
(Romans 5:1–5)
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
(Philippians 4:8)
SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 45:16)
DOVE. A symbol of divine Science; purity and peace; hope and faith.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 584:26)
Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the soft-winged dove descending upon you. The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 574:25–30)
Christians rejoice in secret beauty and bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God. Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers. Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings. Trustworthiness is the foundation of enlightened faith. Without a fitness for holiness, we cannot receive holiness.
A great sacrifice of material things must precede this advanced spiritual understanding. The highest prayer is not one of faith merely; it is demonstration. Such prayer heals sickness, and must destroy sin and death. It distinguishes between Truth that is sinless and the falsity of sinful sense.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 15:25–6)
Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of matter, — and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is turned into joy when the body is controlled by spiritual Life, Truth, and Love. Hence the hope of the promise Jesus bestows: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; . . . because I go unto my Father,” ...
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 14:12–21 (to ,))
The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed, but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us; and this advance beyond matter must come through the joys and triumphs of the righteous as well as through their sorrows and afflictions. Like our Master, we must depart from material sense into the spiritual sense of being.
The God-inspired walk calmly on though it be with bleeding footprints, and in the hereafter they will reap what they now sow. The pampered hypocrite may have a flowery pathway here, but he cannot forever break the Golden Rule and escape the penalty due.
The proofs of Truth, Life, and Love, which Jesus gave by casting out error and healing the sick, completed his earthly mission; but in the Christian Church this demonstration of healing was early lost, about three centuries after the crucifixion. No ancient school of philosophy, materia medica, or scholastic theology ever taught or demonstrated the divine healing of absolute Science.
Jesus foresaw the reception Christian Science would have before it was understood, but this foreknowledge hindered him not. He fulfilled his God-mission, and then sat down at the right hand of the Father.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 40:31–25)
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. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 96:12)
The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith.
Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 9:5–24)
As human thought changes from one stage to another of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy, — from fear to hope and from faith to understanding, — the visible manifestation will at last be man governed by Soul, not by material sense. Reflecting God’s government, man is self-governed. When subordinate to the divine Spirit, man cannot be controlled by sin or death, thus proving our material theories about laws of health to be valueless.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 125:12)
The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love. Regardless of what another may say or think on this subject, I speak from experience. Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God’s gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 1:1)
Let this age, which sits in judgment on Christian Science, sanction only such methods as are demonstrable in Truth and known by their fruit, and classify all others as did St. Paul in his great epistle to the Galatians, when he wrote as follows:
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 106:15)
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, ... of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 106:20 (only, to ,), 24 of)
HYMNS
Come to the land of peace; / From shadows come away; / Where all the sounds of weeping cease, / And storms no more have sway.
Fear hath no dwelling here; / But pure repose and love / Breathe through the bright, celestial air / The spirit of the dove.
In this divine abode, / Change leaves no saddening trace; / Come, trusting heart, come to thy God, / Thy holy resting-place.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 44)
Brood o’er us with Thy shelt’ring wing, / ’Neath which our spirits blend / Like brother birds, that soar and sing, / And on the same branch bend. / The arrow that doth wound the dove / Darts not from those who watch and love.
If thou the bending reed wouldst break / By thought or word unkind, / Pray that his spirit you partake, / Who loved and healed mankind: / Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain, / That make men one in love remain.
Learn, too, that wisdom’s rod is given / For faith to kiss, and know; / That greetings glorious from high heaven, / Whence joys supernal flow, / Come from that Love, divinely near, / Which chastens pride and earth-born fear,
Through God, who gave that word of might / Which swelled creation’s lay: / “Let there be light, and there was light.” / What chased the clouds away? / ’Twas Love whose finger traced aloud / A bow of promise on the cloud.
Thou to whose power our hope we give, / Free us from human strife. / Fed by Thy love divine we live, / For Love alone is Life; / And life most sweet, as heart to heart / Speaks kindly when we meet and part.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 30)
Thou whose almighty Word / Chaos and darkness heard, / And took their flight; / Hear us, we humbly pray, / And where the Gospel-day / Sheds not its glorious ray, / Let there be light.
Christ, thou dost come to bring / On thy redeeming wing / Healing and sight, / Health to the sick in mind, / Sight to the inly blind; / Ah, now to all mankind / Let there be light.
Spirit of truth and love, / Life-giving, holy dove, / Speed forth thy flight; / Move on the waters’ face, / Bearing the lamp of grace, / And in earth’s darkest place / Let there be light.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 401)
