CHAPTER XII.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PRACTICE.
| Why art thou cast down, oh my soul [sense], |
| And why art thou disquieted within me? |
| Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, |
| Who is the health of my countenance and my God. — Psalms. |
And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. — Jesus.
IT is related, in the seventh chapter of Luke's Gospel,
that Jesus was once the honored guest of a certain
A Gospel narrative.
Pharisee, Simon by name, though quite unlike
Simon the disciple. While they were at meat,
a strange incident occurred, as if to interrupt the scene
of Oriental festivity. A “strange woman” came in,
having heard of Jesus' presence in Simon's house.
Heedless of the fact that she was debarred from such
a place and such society, — especially under the stern
rules of rabbinical law, as positively as if she were
a Hindoo pariah intruding upon the household of a
high-caste Brahman, — this woman (Mary Magdalene,
as she has since been called) approached Jesus.
According to the custom of those days, he did not sit on
a chair, as we sit at table, but reclined on a couch,
or lounge, with his head towards the festal board, and
