Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/206

198 is a revelation of divine purpose through spiritual understanding, by which man gains the divine Principle and explanation of all things. Mortal mind-reading and immortal Mind-reading are distinctly opposite standpoints, from which cause and effect are interpreted. The act of reading mortal mind investigates and touches only human beliefs. Science is immortal and co-ordinate neither with the premises nor with the conclusions of mortal beliefs.

The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing evil and mistaking fact for fiction, — predicting the future from a groundwork of corporeality and human belief. When sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is the prerogative of the ever-present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future.”

This lengthy quotation gives the position so well that others need not be recounted. Notice that Mrs. Eddy explains in the same way mind-reading and the prediction of future events. This is logically consistent since to her all events are mental.

Spinoza, attempting to explain to a father how he might have discerned the future of his