But although we have no clear or complete account of the verbal teaching of Jesus, even the meager, fragmentary outline of his public career, given in the four Gospels, furnishes unquestionable testimony regarding the spiritual aspect of his life; on that point the story leaves little to be desired. If we seek to understand his recorded words in the light of the revelations of his life, we shall find it a sufficient commentary on them. He recognized and appealed to the Absolute or Infinite Self of every man, not its…

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It is far more profitable to cultivate his spirit of life than to try to ascertain the exact meaning he intended to convey in certain utterances which seem to us obscure, because of our unfamiliarity with the conditions under which they were spoken. As it was not his aim to establish intellectual beliefs, the terms he chose in which to illustrate spiritual principles, were such as came to hand most naturally. Whenever his hearers held traditional beliefs that did not involve moral wrong or conduce to hypocrisy, instead of entering…

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But the whole life of Jesus demonstrated the absolute freedom of Spirit and the impossibility of making it subject to forms.Jesus did not estimate men by their deeds, but by their motives and their receptivity to spiritual truth. The poor widow who cast a mite into the treasury, gave more than the rich who contributed liberally. Although the polished counterfeit outsparkles the rough gem, it does not deceive the connoisseur. Jesus saw in the uncouth peasant fishermen, Peter and John, and the detested tax-gatherer, Matthew, the crude material of divine…

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In seeking to impose forms of belief or action upon others, we are violating the spirit of Christianity, which insures absolute freedom of choice to every individual. In past ages multitudes were imprisoned or tortured for refusing to accept dogmas which have long since been discarded by all intelligent people; and while today, in civilized communities, such drastic measures are not resorted to as a means of suppressing heresy, there are still evidences of the same spirit at work in milder ways, seeking to restrain or define the scope of…

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Christianity is a spontaneous expression of the vital, creative Spirit, which cannot be confined in forms of any kind. As human consciousness develops, there is a steady progression from purely external, toward purely internal conceptions of truth. The untutored mind associates it largely with the exterior aspect of things facts, events and appearances. The educated mind of the conventional type commonly identifies it with opinions, beliefs, thoughts; but even those are only semblances of truth, not its absolute Substance. Manifestations of the Truth are not restricted to the Biblical record,…

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For centuries men have wasted their efforts in sectarian strife, because of the assumption that Jesus intended to inculcate a theological system or scheme of intellectual beliefs in some way essential to a realization of the spiritual life. Had his intention been such, he would most assuredly have taken care to deliver to the world the doctrines of this scheme in some definite, unmistakable form, so that they would have been intelligible to all men alike, beyond the peradventure of a doubt, instead of clothing his ideas, as he did,…

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Even the desire to prolong his earthly career until the precepts he had been inculcating in his disciples had become more firmly established in their lives as the spirit of prudence and policy, which too often dictates the course of moral and religious endeavors, would have suggested, did not induce him to abandon his sublime purpose. Instead of encountering the opposition of the Jews by publicly teaching in Judaea, he could easily have retired to some less frequented locality where, unmolested by his enemies, he might have instructed his disciples…

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7.CHRISTIANITY. As the light of this nineteenth century is reflected back over the historical narrative of the New Testament, the fragmentary incidents there recorded grow luminous with a suggestiveness which enables us now to restore, in its original perfection, the Christian philosophy of life, after it has reposed for centuries beneath the surface debris of traditional interpretations; just as the paleontologist is able to reproduce the complete likeness of some extinct species, by the aid of a few scattered fossil impressions. It was impossible for men to be conscious of…

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One finds in his orchard a wild, gnarly apple tree producing sour, unpalatable fruit. He cuts off the top, and grafts shoots of some choice variety on to the old trunk. The whole appearance of the tree is thereby altered. Henceforth it yields foliage and fruit of a new order. The wild variety does not develop into the cultivated, neither does the material consciousness grow into the spiritual; they are quite independent of each other. Not until one assumes the spiritual view-point, and begins life anew from its level, will…

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If, then, one is to satisfactorily determine or control his experiences, he must have access to the key to all experience, the basis of all that is thought or perceived the spiritual consciousness; for all definite mental states and thoughts are evolved from it, as are forms of matter from the ether. It is only from this subjective viewpoint that we are able to perceive the unity and true relations of objective phenomena. In proportion to the degree in which we realize this consciousness, are we able to work changes…

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The world in general still continues to assiduously pursue the clumsy, crude, roundabout, cart before the horse method of realizing ends, in spite of the magnificent example of Jesus and the early Christians, and the marvelous achievements that attended their adoption of the reverse method. “Narrow is the gate and straightened the way [spiritual consciousness] that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.” Jesus rejected the objective method in toto. He healed only such as were inwardly receptive to the Truth in a degree sufficient to enable…

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It is not sufficient to hold in mind and emphasize specific thoughts of good, definite personal ends, or objects of selfish desire. That is why so many who long to attain to the higher life go faltering, stumbling, and halting along, beset by all kinds of perplexing problems, apprehensive lest they shall fail to reach the goal. The spiritual consciousness is a soul atmosphere not one of many states of mind to be sought after, but the very mind substance itself, out of which grow all subjective states and their…

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In the spiritual consciousness lies the potency of the fulfilment of one’s desire, not only subjectively, but also objectively; for the subjective and objective factors in the case are blended together. “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.” To be actuated by this Spirit, is to…

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