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Chapter 2 - Scientific Metaphysical Healing - A Quest for The Truth.
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Again, a credibility gap unfolded as the pioneer had moved beyond the models of the time. By it, there very Science, itself, became mystified, and the discoverer became deified. The only thing that was less and less focused on, were the fundamental principles on which the discovery was based in the first place. This sounds cruel, but it is still the problem of this modern age.
To explore this problem, let us explore the principles that underlie one of the great parables of Christ Jesus, which deals with the process of healing. It is the parable about a man who fell among thieves and was robbed and injured, and left by the wayside. The parable explores the reactions to the man, of three people that came by that way: a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. The priest, upon recognizing what had happened, made a detour, so as not to come near the man. Likewise the Levite. Both were honored classes on the society. But a Samaritan came, one held in low esteem. He had compassion on the man and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and put him on his own mule and brought him to an inn, where he paid for the man's upkeep and care. The question must be asked: What principle does Christ Jesus illustrate here?
Or let us rephrase the question: Was the response of the Samaritan to be regarded as a nice and noble one, an extreme ideal? Or did it represent a minimal demand? The parable was presented in response to the question, "And who is my neighbor?" The obvious response is: Everyone! This renders the Samaritan's response a minimal demand. In other words: Nothing less will do. Nothing less will meet the demand of the fundamental principle on which healing and the advance of civilization rests.
If one compares the world's response to the same setup, it is evident why Christ healing has all but disappeared. The wounded man was the human society on its course towards the greatest economic development project ever imagined, that would involve a railway transportation link stretching from Paris to Japan, right across the vase expanse of Asia. This project came under attack by Britain's diplomacy and was destroyed. In the course of it a century of wholesale slaughter began that became World War I, World War II, The Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the war in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Zaire, Dessert Storm, and countless other little wars. Against this background of slaughter of human beings, the minimal commitment that Christ Jesus has laid out as a fundamental principle for healing was a far out of reach as the moon is to the touch of anyone standing on the planet Earth. Nor has the current reaction along this line ended. In the tiny country of Bulgaria, for instance, the prevailing IMF austerity demands have deprived most of the population of the country of food and heating fuels, so that a mass dying by starvation and freezing to death will be the lot of hundreds of thousands during the 1996/97 winter. As of this writing, none of the rich nations of Europe care to spare a dime in the form of emergency food and fuel relief.
The same must also be said about the world's response to Bosnia. No meaningful reconstruction aid is offered to rebuild this war-torn part of the world. Only debt service demands are raised. Mankind cannot afford to maintain this royal indifference to the suffering imposed upon these people, because in so doing it removes itself further and further from the fundamental principle on which healing rests. By this indifference towards its neighbor, mankind condemns itself. It literally does. It closes the door to its own renaissance, and a bright future for itself, and allows oligarchism, imperialism, and fascism carry the day.
Mary Baker Eddy's Outline.
The outline of that scientific structure that Mary Baker Eddy presents throughout her works, has many facets. As has already been stated, the largest part of her outline is specifically indicated by means of a biblical citation that she used twice in a unique fashion as a pointer to it. The citation is from a text from the book of Revelation; it talks about something called "the key of David." The text also talks about a door that is about to be opened that no one can shut, and a door that is about to be shut that no one can open again. The verse foretells a great overturning, a universal breakthrough that can never be turned back. The metaphor is similar to that which Christ Jesus used to foretell the "new Comforter" that is destined to guide humanity into all truth. Mary Baker Eddy writes about this comforter: "This Comforter I understand to be Divine Science."*(Science and Health 55:27) Her structure is evidently closely related to it. Except the nature of a key is quite unrelated to a process of development. They attainment of the key, therefore, must be the object of development. Logically, it must lie above and beyond the structure that supports the scientific development towards it - a dimension beyond the structure - while the key itself merely opens the door to infinity.
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