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I am satisfied that Jesus did make blunders - he could not have followed out the human consciousness without doing so, but he demonstrated over them. We blunder and make no apology to the transgressed law, while Jesus always saw through and beyond the mortal transparency, and thus rose above all earthly temptations.

The allegory of Jesus and satan in the wilderness, after the baptism by John, shows that he came under the temptation of the self in acquisitiveness, earthly ambition and occult vanity. But he knew these to be adverse to spiritual advancement, and he put them behind him. We all find that we have to meet these satanic worldly suggestions, and mentally analyze, see through, and rise above their temptations. is not a single experience, but is repeated in many ways and under many guises, in the lives of those who are "overcoming with Jesus."

This

This knowledge that Jesus did pass through the experiences that I am passing through; that he fell under sense temptation as I fall under it, makes him doubly dear to me. I feel his sympathy with my shortcomings, and through that sympathy he is a mighty help to me, and all those who realize that he is now a great world-wide helper. Jesus is very close to me in my work, and he helps me just as far as I, in my present state of consciousness, will allow him. He stands by me through all my blunders, because he knows that at heart I am earnestly trying to help people the very best I know how. I know that Jesus is in the world of human affairs today in ways that few realize. He has been deified and put upon an exalted glorified throne away up in an ideal heaven. This is the human concept of the Son of God, but there was also the Son of Man, the human, the "man of sorrows," and "acquainted with grief." Where is that part of the Divine Man? Right here in our midst, working with us and for us, bearing our burdens and giving us his substance and life as never before.

This Jesus is with me every day, and he

seems to me just as human and sympathetic, just as plain and common-place, as my fellow-workers in the flesh. I am sure he would not be offended if I called his attention to his shortcomings when he wore the mask of Jesus of Nazareth, and I would ask our good friends, and his champions, not to be offended on his account because of expressions.

a

my blunt

A few of our readers have objected to our adopting the Revised Version in our Bible texts. We made this change at the request of others, who wrote that the Revised Version was being adopted everywhere by those who sought truth instead of sentiment in the Scriptures. It is a fact that we love the old songs and the old poems and the old Scripture quotations because they are endeared to us by association. When a new word or meaning is introduced, the mental image is disturbed, and we feel the confusion and are uncomfortable. But isn't it better

to know the truth and let the sentiment go?

The Revised Version clears up so many obscure passages, and gives force to so many weak ones, that it is greatly prized by those who want the truest statements, regardless of the weakened creed and theology that may result. The strength of Paul's poem, the greatest ever written on Love, according to Henry Drummond, is enhanced a thousand fold by eliminating that weak and beggarly word "charity." Some twenty thousand similar errors were found by the revision committee. Under the old version we are commanded to "Search the Scriptures," and the impression was always conveyed that in them we would find "eternal life. The revision changes the whole character of the passage, and instead of a command by Jesus to study the Scriptures, we find he was rebuking the Pharisees for doing that very thing. He said, "Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think in them ye have eternal.

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life; and these are they which bear witness of me.' "But the witness which I receive is not from man." Instead of commanding the study of the "witness," or testimony of men about spiritual things, Jesus would have his followers open to the Spirit of Truth, "who will lead you into all truth." Instead of quoting the opinions of men about the character and commands of God, Jesus would have us hear the Father's voice. Yet there are those in this day even, who are in the Pharisaical state of mind, and who try to find "eternal life" in the fallible, and often contradictory, statements of religious writings, given so long ago that we are not certain of the authorship of any of them; except probably some of Paul's. It is to these Pharisees in every age that Jesus says, "Ye have not heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form."

A striking illustration of the foggy meaning of many passages in the Old Version is found in Isaiah 8:19, "Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" The Revised clears this up in this wise: "On behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?"

Those metaphysicians who do not want their appetites disturbed love to quote, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink." The new version reveals that Jesus was giving his followers a fine treatment against "anxiety." "Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink." This is reasonable and scientific. Anxiety about temporal things is a widespread cause of human suffering, and we know that it never "added a cubit" to any man's stature, though well directed thought might do so. Trust in the Divine Goodness, as do the birds and the flowers, and you will find as Jesus stated, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousnes; and all these things shall be added unto you.

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Why should we countenance and perpetuate by

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use such gross errors as "devil," "“hell '' and “damnation," which are admitted by all Bible students as having no place in the originals from which the King James Version was translated? In the Old Testament the word "sheol" occurs sixty-six times. In thirty-three cases it is translated "grave," in two cases "the pit," and in thirty-one cases "hell," and in these the marginal notes have, "Hebrew, grave." This is the original meaning of the word, that is, "grave," or the "death state. " Archdeacon Farrar says that by no stretch of the imagination can it be made to mean hell, in the popular acceptance of the term. "Hades" in the New Testament is the same word as "sheol" in the Old, and should be translated "death state." Death is the penalty of sin, and carries its own "condemnation," which is "judgment." "Devil" is from "satan," or "adversary," which means a state of mind opposed to Divine Mind. When, through the quickening power of the spiritual baptism, Jesus had stirred up within him the subjective consciousness, there he found this "adversary" in the "wilderness," and it "tempted" him to do certain things that are not in harmony with the higher perception of Truth. His spiritual discernment

showed him how to meet and overcome these shortsighted ambitions of his adverse consciousness, and he thus escaped condemnation by putting satan to

the rear.

"There is no monotony of living to him who walks through even the quietest paths with open and preceptive eyes. The monotony of life-if life is monotonous to you - is in you, not in the world."

According to our ideas our lives must become, for the Force of forces, Primal Energy itself, works to bring them to actuality; works to bring this highest dea to embodiment as a God-man in the world.

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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.

BY JENNIE H. CROFT.

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175. Is it strictly true to say, "There is no life, substance or intelligence in matter"? - C. W. B. This one of the basic statements of Christian Science is, in our estimation, a mis-statement of the truth. We believe that God is all and in all, and that God is life, substance and intelligence; consequently, there is no thing which does not, in its degree, manifest life, substance and intelligence. Our bodies are but a lower rate of vibration or activity of that Infinite Energy, of which the mind or soul is the higher. The rocks are endowed with life as has been proven by science.

If there is no life in matter, then there must be its opposite-death, a state which science does not admit. If all is God, if all is mind, then matter is God or mind in expression, the same as everything else is. It is a more correct expression of truth to say, "There is no absence of life, substance or intelligence in matter."

176. I am a nurse, and it troubles me somewhat to be with people all the time who are so dependent upon material remedies, when I know there is a better way. How can I harmonize my work with my belief and yet not make myself obnoxious to the patient? - M. D.

There are many ways in which you may put your metaphysics into practice in your profession. Whatever you do for your patients, put with it the right healing thought. If you give them food say to them mentally, "This food is not material but spiritual, and nourishes and strengthens your soul as well as body." If you smooth their pillow declare that the presence of the Spirit is now soothing the pain and bringing peace. Above all talk of health. Be cheery, and tell of all the pleasant things you know, but never allow yourself to speak of the trying things you may have met. You will find many an opportunity

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