THE SCIENTIFIC MAN      

The first question should be: 

What was Jesus trying to establish?
- Not take it for granted it was another world. 

It is generally believed that
it was to establish a belief
in a future state
- or world beyond this material world -
and it was necessary for him
to come from heaven to earth
in order for him to teach this great truth
and to show the people
that he really did come from heaven -
and to make them believe,
he must show a sign -
or do something
a little above the rest
of mankind.

How natural it is to mystify everything
so that the ignorant cannot understand! 

Men do not want to think.

So if they can only get rid of
investigating
a phenomenon
and attributing it to an
“invisible power” -
so that they stand
just as well
as their neighbors -
that is all they want.

There is another class
called the "wise men”
who have been set up
as oracles of wisdom.

To them everything that
starts up
must take its rise
from their fountain -
or they will open their flood gates
and overflow the little streams
that are trickling over
the rocks and pebbles
of their superstition.

It is too much labor to be a hewer of wood.

So if you take a person of eminence
and make him a laborer,
he will say
- like the slothful servant -
that truth is a hard
"master." 

So such persons will
"hide their talent"
because they will not
put themselves on a level
with the thinkers of their age,
but rather lie still
and cry,

“Crucify him, for our craft is in danger!”

The people take the cue
and fall upon him
with staff and stone
(or ridicule)
until they have put him down.

Then those
“wise men”
rise in their majesty
and praise the people
for their
“good sense”
in putting down
the very person
who is their friend. 

This was the case with Jesus.

The opposition
came from the
“wisest men” -
or class of men
who led the people
“for their own good.”

This course,
taken by the wisdom of this world,
has always opposed all science
ever since the commencement of the world. 

For when science is established,
the wisdom of this world has to yield -
but a hard battle must be fought
before the science is established.

So when Jesus commenced his reform
he was despised of all men,
misrepresented by fools,
and construed by knaves,
and hated by priests and doctors.
They thought as they do now:

Our craft is in danger! 

So they called him
“infidel”
and
“impostor.”

When they crucified Jesus,
they put such a construction
on his acts
as they pleased,
and instead of giving his ideas -
they gave just such an opinion
as anyone would expect
from those
who wanted
to keep the people
in subjection
and
ignorance.

Thus they have explained Jesus' meaning -
just according to their ideas.

Now the Bible
is in the hands
of the people,
and they can all read
and judge for themselves -
and everyone has a right
in this land of liberty
to give his own opinion
in regard to the Bible. 

I will avail myself of the same liberty as others.

All I ask of you
is to lay aside all prejudices
and listen to my explanation
of Jesus' mission in the world. 

I will state what I intend to prove,
and afterwards
I will prove it
by his works
and my own,
and leave it to the people
to judge
which is the most
natural construction -
the priests'
or mine.

I will now give my opinion.

I take this ground -
that Jesus
never intended
to teach
any
kind of religion
acknowledged by
any
religious class of people,
but opposed
all
kinds of religion
of his days
and
ours. 

Secondly,
I say
he never meddled
with any institution
or laws
made by the people. 

Thirdly,
he never put any restrictions on man,
but left him a free agent
to do just as he pleased,
but subject to the laws of men -
for God never made a law. 

All laws are the inventions of men
- not of God -
and Jesus' kingdom
(or truth)
was not of this world,
but of science.

His religion was a science -
and science
was never known
to have any connection
with ignorance.

There are two standards:
one is ignorance
and the other is science.

One belongs to that class
of intellect or wisdom
that is of this world
and can be detected
as easily
as you can detect
any other error. 

The difference between the two is this: 

The wisdom of this world
tells what others know.

It
takes
memory
of events
and the
history
of the
learned
for
science. 

But science
talks
what it
knows
and
stands ready
to prove it
by works.

Here is the difference in men: 

A great man
is one who can remember
anything he ever heard
and repeat every person's opinion -
but has no idea of his own. 

He stands ready
to prove all he says
by his standard.

So if he is doubted
he shows you his
authority.

Thus he is a sort of
“court”
or
“town record”
that is ready to receive
any opinion
that is supposed to be true.

Having the court or town stamps -
this makes a learned man.

A truly scientific man
is a book of nature
understood -
so that he can
prove
all he says. 

He is made
not
of opinions
but of wisdom
and never refers
to old authors -
but proves
all things
by his
science. 

His memory
of events
or names
or places,
he has no shelf to put on -
for to him
they are only
as an amendment. 

He listens to persons having that knowledge
as a parent listens to a child -
to hear him give an account
of some play or story
that amuses him
for the time. 

In his leisure hours,
he seeks such men
as a person goes to a play
- for the sake of amusement -
not expecting to realize any true wisdom. 

This sort of amusement is of this world
and is well-expressed by Shakespeare
when he says,
“All the world's a stage
and all men are players,” etc.

This is the case
 - and as science is a stranger to this world -
it comes into this world
and pays tribute money
to be instructed
in all things
pertaining to the world. 

It pays the clergy for their opinions of truth
(or science of this world)
for its own amusement.

It asks questions of the
"wise men"
about
itself
as science
- as Jesus did -
to hear
what kind
of answers
they gave
to this spiritual world. 

This world is very strict.

It worships science as a
“power not known”
and is very strict
in regard to its followers. 

It erects standards
to this
“unknown God”
(or science)
- for it is a God not known to this world -
but the world of science is in it.

Now as Jesus came from this
world of science,
he was a stranger in this land
and liable to its laws.

So that his mission
like all science
- being to destroy error -
he must come into the world of error
to lead the science
that is imprisoned in this
world of error
to the truth
(or health). 

Jesus knew that God
(or science)
was not in their worship -
that all it did
was to keep science down
and retard it. 

So he must,
like Sampson,
throw firebrands
into their minds,
so as to get up a dis-union,
in order to dissolve the bands
(or burdens)
that kept them down.

He knew that
the people knew not
what they did
or believed.

They never had any science
about their belief
and had not the slightest idea
of what it was
or how it could be
"altered." 

They never dreamed
that to be good
was a science,
so that all their
“goodness”
was based on fear -
either of being punished
by the laws
or being destroyed
by the science
that they called
“God.”

Thus all their prayers
were to this
“science”
not to destroy them.

For as the truth came,
their life
(or error)
was destroyed.

So Jesus said,
in the name of
Christ
(or Science),
“He
(that is error)
that loseth his
life
(or opinion)
for my sake
(or science)
shall find it.”

So to understand Christ
(or Truth)
was to forsake opinions
and embrace truth -
and not to receive an opinion
from anyone
who knew nothing
about what he affirms.

He told them how to know the difference: 

“If any man say
'I am Christ'
and have not the evidence
- only resting on an opinion -
believe him not;
for there shall be many
theories
and
beliefs
founded on
opinions. 

So try them
and see
whether
they are based
on science
or error.”
(Mark 13:21). 

If they are based on science
they can stand
the test
of
investigation. 

But if based on error,
you will hear a voice
like the mighty winds...
and the earth shall be shaken
to its foundation...
and every idea shall arise...
and they will make as much ado
as the devils did
when Jesus told them
to depart.

Men have to be questioned
in regard to their belief -
for it won't stand
the fire of science. 

So they rail and foam,
and if that will not do,
they escape into the wilderness
or run headlong into
the sea of public opinion,
where the common opinion holds them. 

To attack public opinion is a risk. 

This Jesus had to run.

Now Jesus' world
that God
(or Science)
was in -
was science.

And when he came from science,
he came to this world
of ignorance and superstition. 

It may be necessary
to give some idea
of Jesus' knowledge
of this other world
and where he differed
from the leaders of his time.

Jesus' two worlds were science and ignorance.

Therefore science
can come from its world
and go to error
and release that science
that is bound
by error. 

These are the two worlds -
and Jesus never intended to teach any other.

Now what the difference is
between these two worlds,
I will try to show. 

This world is made up of all kinds
of deception,
superstition
and ignorance,
all based on heathen superstition,
governed by leaders of theories
which are based on opinions
and do not have
the slightest foundation
in truth. 

These two worlds are in and around everyone. 

THE NATURAL MAN

The
“scientific world”
is outside of man
and sees all
the natural man's
ideas of science,
as the musician
sees the errors
of the natural man
in regard to music

All science is inspiration
and from a spirit world
far above
the natural man.

The natural man
has found it out
and submits to it
as a science. 

Now in all science
God is not known
by the natural man.
His God
is in his ignorance
of himself.

So when he prays,
he never prays to any science
(or wisdom). 

Therefore
he thinks
all the phenomena he sees
are the natural result
of the development of man.

But being ignorant of science,
he is not a fit judge
of the phenomena
that he may chance
to see or hear.

And being ignorant of himself,
he applies the same rules to others. 

It may be a good rule
- but there are exceptions to all the rules - 
so I will make an exception to this;
for error
is not accountable
for its acts
as truth is. 

If a scientific man does wrong,
he knows it.

But if he is wrong
from ignorance,
there is no “right” in it -
so there is no “sin” to him.

Science tells you
that fire will burn your hand,
and you cannot put your hand into the fire
ignorantly
when you know it.

So you cannot commit that wrong
without suffering punishment,
for your punishment
is in your knowledge -
and not in the fire.

Now suppose you are a child
and do not know fire.

You see it,
and as all children do,
you want it -
or a piece of the red-hot coal. 

Your ignorant desire for the coal excites you,
and you put your hand into the fire.

The sensation frightens you
just as much as though
you had put your hand
into a dog's mouth
and been bitten. 

The sensation produces fright. 

Then comes reason. 

You reason about the fire
as though it contained life
and would hurt you.

So the fire
and the dog
are to you
just the same.

As you stand weeping
someone comes up
and tries to soothe you
by telling you
to keep away from the fire
(or dog)
and not get hurt -
but makes no distinction between them. 

So the child sees
the dog
can move around
and thinks the fire
is the same as the dog.

He shuns them both alike -
but puts intelligence in the fire.

Now the child grows up
with all the ignorance of his youth
until he becomes a man.

Then he takes his place with other men
and knows nothing of science. 

So it sees a sort of
“intelligence”
in everything
it does not know
and reasons
how to keep clear
of every phenomenon
it happens to see. 

At last,
in its ignorance
it prays to this
“enemy.” 

So it worships
all things
that it cannot comprehend.
 
It puts God into everything.

Therefore
in its ignorance,
it gets up a sort of
“creed”
(or belief)
to offer up a prayer
to this invisible power
to which it has given
the name of
“God" -
and it lives
and dies
in the fear of it. 

It worships and pretends to adore it.

So when it goes into the water,
it prays that the water will not drown it.

It sees God in all danger
and prays to it
to have mercy on it
until it can get clear
of the enemy it worships. 

This is the religious man.

Jesus knew
that all this was
hypocrisy,
fear
and
ignorance.

He made a difference between his God
and their God. 

He knew that their God was a
“devil,”
so he said to them,
"You worship ye know not what.
I know what I worship.” 

Again he says,
“You are the children of the devil -
he was a liar and abode not in the truth.”

The people
in their ignorance
want leaders,
and they will hire them.

These leaders know that the people put trust in them,
and they know that they are not worthy
of taking the high responsibility
of leading
or
instructing them. 

So their first prayer is correct
when they say
that they are not worthy
to take the Lord's
(or Science's)
name upon their lips.

This is true
- for God is true -
and those who worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

So when a person is all the time crying,
“Lord!”
or
“Truth!”
never showing any fruits -
beware of such;
for they are wolves in sheep's clothing. 

Jesus told them
all this was hypocrisy,
and this made them crucify him. 

The priests never taught the people anything
except for the benefit of their craft.

(The leaders must have a living - and a pretty good one!)

This deception could not be kept up
but must go down
before the progress of science
in the people's minds. 

All science was confined to the leaders and was of this world.

It made them crafty
and inventive
of all sorts of
“humbug”
to keep the people in subjection.

This kept the people superstitious
and led to sorcery and witchcraft. 

So deception became the
“order of the day” -
so much so
that they got frightened
at their own beliefs
and passed laws
to keep it down -
just as though
the development of science
must be under the ignorance of this world!

Jesus saw all this,
and as the people were groaning
under the yokes
(or beliefs)
that bound them down,
he said,
“Come unto me
all ye that labor
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest..."
(to your soul,
by explaining to you
the cause of your trouble).

When he commenced explaining to the people,
the explanation
was to save them from
the misery of this world
of belief
and to introduce a science
(or kingdom)
where there would be no
offering up of prayer
or forgiving of sins,
but a consciousness
(or science)
that would put them in possession
of a knowledge of themselves -
which the natural man knew nothing of.

When Jesus says,
“Take my yoke upon you,”
he means my wisdom
(or science).

That is easy - for it contains no restrictions. 

This
to the people
was something new,
so they reasoned together
like people
who want to get
some information. 

This
"setting the people to reasoning"
was a stumbling block to the Jews
and foolishness to the Greeks,
for they had no idea
that the people
could govern themselves.

So he took up the laws of Moses
and gave them common ideas of them. 

Then he showed them
a more perfect law
of love
that bound them together
by sympathy
- not of this world -
but of science. 

The people had never known
that a good act
must precede from
a goodness
that they
felt. 

The priests had never taught such a thing.

So goodness was a sort of
“low wisdom”
and only applied to the poor. 

To try to be good
without having any reward in view
was of no use,
and the person
who put any religion into it
was as ignorant as the swine
(or dogs).

Now here was where Jesus struck at the root of error.

He says,
“Every plant
(or science)
that is not planted
by wisdom
shall be rooted up...,”
and goes on
to tell the people
what his
“kingdom of heaven”
was. 

It was peace and joy in the Holy Ghost
(or Truth). 

He explained to them
by illustrating
the difference in the motives
that govern the people. 

Therefore he said,
“Except ye become as little children,
you cannot enter into the kingdom of God"
(or Science).

Now everyone knows
that a little child
has no idea
of what man calls
“right”
or
“wrong” - 
but
“might is right!” 

So to
“become as a child”
means that
you must not be under
any restriction
that prevents you
from doing
just as you please!

Suppose you were in this state
and Jesus and one of the priests
called on you
to teach you
the wisdom of this world
and you should put this question to the priest:

I want my neighbor's ox for my family to eat.
Can I not take it?

The priest says,
“No.”

Why not?

Because it would be stealing - and that is not right.

Why?
I want it -
and I see no reason why
I cannot have it.

I am stronger than he is
and am not afraid of him.

We know that -
and the wisdom of this world
has seen fit
to make a law
that if you steal an ox,
you shall pay five oxen back.

Well... suppose I kill the owner?
Then there will be no one to tell...
What can they do?

The Great Spirit will catch you.

How?

Why,
he has a place
where he puts all
who do not repent of their sins.

What sins?

Stealing from each other.

How must I repent?

By asking this Great power to forgive you.

Will he do it?

Yes...
if you are sincere.

What is that?

Say you won't do it again.

Is that all?

Yes.

Well
- if that is all -
that is easy enough.

Oh -
You must confess it to the priest,
and he will lay your case before the
Great Spirit
and get your sins forgiven.

Why cannot I do it?

Because God has appointed
certain men
to attend to that,
for his
special
purposes.

Then if I steal
- as you call it -
I must pay the man
four times as much?

Yes.

Suppose I steal and he never finds it out.
Will the Great Spirit know it?

Yes.
He knows all things.

What will he do?

Just what I told you -
if you do not confess to the priest
and tell him all you have done.

What does the priest get for his trouble?
Does the Great Spirit pay him?

No.

Who does?

The person who steals.

So...
if I steal...
and you are a priest...
I must pay you
for getting the Great Spirit to let me off?

Yes.

Then he won't hurt or punish me?

No.

Does he not have anything to do with the laws of man?

No.

Then if the laws of man do not catch me -
you can clear me from God's punishment?

Yes.

Well...
I understand!!

So religion
is made up of
rewards and punishments -
not of good works -
lest any man should boast. 

Goodness
is a sort of
“clever fellow” -
always in the way
of the religious man. 

An honest man at heart
is the greatest eyesore
that a Christian can have.

He is as bad as a man
who never drank
or smoked
or chewed tobacco
is
to the temperance party.

He must be of them -
or he is the worst enemy
the party has to contend with.

So it is with all hypocrites.

True goodness
- not hypocrisy -
is the worst enemy
that religion has to contend with. 

For an honest and upright man
is the noblest work of God
(or Science);
but the religious man
is of his father
- the devil -
and his works
he will do.