In explanation of my dedicatory letter to the Chicago church (see page 177), I will say: It is understood by all Christians that Jesus spoke the truth. He said: “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.” I believe this saying because I understand it, but its verity has not been acknowledged since the third century.
The statement in my letter to the church in Chicago, in substance as follows, has been quoted and criticized: “If wisdom lengthens my sum of years to fourscore, I may then be even younger than now.”
Few believe this saying. Few believe that Christian Science contains infinitely more than has been demonstrated, or that the altitude of its highest propositions has not yet been reached. The heights of the great Nazarene's sayings are not fully scaled. Yet his immortal words and my poor prophecy, if they are true at all, are as true to-day as they will be to-morrow. I am convinced of the absolute truth of his sayings and of their present application to mankind, and I am equally sure that what I wrote is true, although it has not been demonstrated in this age.
Christian Scientists hold as a vital point that the beliefs of mortals tip the scale of being, morally and physically, either in the right or in the wrong direction. Therefore a Christian Scientist never mentally or audibly takes the side of sin, disease, or death. Others who take the side of error do it ignorantly or maliciously. The Christian Scientist voices the harmonious and eternal, and nothing else. He lays his whole weight of thought, tongue, and pen in the divine scale of being — for health and holiness.
