Perhaps the early Christian era did Jesus no more injustice than the later centuries have bestowed upon the healing Christ and spiritual idea of being. Now 9that the gospel of healing is again preached by the wayside, does not the pulpit sometimes scorn it?

To suppose that persecution for righteousness’ sake belongs to the past, and that Christianity to-day is at peace with the world 27because it is honored by sects and societies, is to mis-take the very nature of religion. Error repeats itself. The trials encountered by prophet, disciple, and apostle, 30“of whom the world was not worthy,” await, in some form, every pioneer of truth.

    When Christian Science and animal magnetism are both comprehended, as they will be at no distant date, it will be seen why the author of this book has been 6so unjustly persecuted and belied by wolves in sheep’s clothing.

    During his night of gloom and glory in the garden, Jesus realized the utter error of a belief in any possi-4848:1ble material intelligence. The pangs of neglect and the staves of bigoted ignorance smote him sorely.

Could they not watch with him who, waiting and struggling in voice-6less agony, held uncomplaining guard over a world?

    Jesus’ last proof was the highest, the most convincing, 12the most profitable to his students. The malignity of Convincing evidencebrutal persecutors, the treason and suicide of his betrayer, were overruled by divine Love to 15the glorification of the man and of the true idea of God, which Jesus’ persecutors had mocked and tried to slay.

The motives of his persecutors were pride, envy, cruelty, and vengeance, inflicted on the physical Jesus, but aimed at the divine Prin-27ciple, Love, which rebuked their sensuality.

    Their imperfections and impurity felt the ever-present rebuke of his perfection and purity. Hence the world’s Purity’s rebukehatred of the just and perfect Jesus, and the 12prophet’s foresight of the reception error would give him.

    The “man of sorrows” best understood the nothing-ness of material life and intelligence and the mighty ac-21Saviour’s predictiontuality of all-inclusive God, good. These were the two cardinal points of Mind-healing, or Christian Science, which armed him with Love.

    The accusations of the Pharisees were as self-contra-30Defamatory accusationsdictory as their religion.

    The meek demonstrator of good, the highest instruc-15tor and friend of man, met his earthly fate alone with Heaven’s sentinelGod. No human eye was there to pity, no arm to save.

    The priests and rabbis, before whom he had meekly 27walked, and those to whom he had given the highest Cruel contumelyproofs of divine power, mocked him on the cross, saying derisively, “He saved others; 30himself he cannot save.” These scoffers, who turned “aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,” esteemed Jesus as “stricken, smitten of God.”

    The last supreme moment of mockery, desertion, tor-6ture, added to an overwhelming sense of the magnitude A cry of despairof his work, wrung from Jesus’ lips the awful cry, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” ... This was a startling question.

    The burden of that hour was terrible beyond human 27conception. ... The real cross, which Jesus bore up the hill of grief, was the world’s hatred of Truth and Love.

    The lonely precincts of the tomb gave Jesus a refuge 6from his foes, a place in which to solve the great Jesus in the tombproblem of being.

     His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive, demon-30Obstacles overcomestrating within the narrow tomb the power of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense.

    The world could not interpret aright the discomfort which Jesus inspired and the spiritual blessings which 18Inspiring discontentmight flow from such discomfort. Science shows the cause of the shock so often pro-duced by the truth, — namely, that this shock arises from 21the great distance between the individual and Truth.

    Who is ready to follow his teaching and example? All 9must sooner or later plant themselves in Christ, the true Inspiration of sacrificeidea of God.

     His earthly cup of bitterness was drained to the dregs. ... He said that those who fol-27lowed him should drink of his cup, and history has con-firmed the prediction.

    Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of hu -18The stone rolled awayman hope and faith, and through the reve-lation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual 21idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.

Earth has no repayment for the persecutions which 98 98:1attend a new step in Christianity; but the spiritual recom-pense of the persecuted is assured in the elevation of ex-3istence above mortal discord and in the gift of divine Love.