Enjoy CC Insights on select citations on “Matter” (the Christian Science Bible Lesson for Sept. 17, 2017)

Enjoy a Mary Baker Eddy insight + Cobbey Crisler insights on select Bible citations
from the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Matter” for September 17, 2017

Warren Huff's PS#1—Mary Baker Eddy’s “reiteration” of Paul’s address in Athens (Acts 17:28, RR) and Cobbey Crisler insights on this passage:
**“St. Paul said to the Athenians, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” This statement is in substance identical with my own: “There is no life, truth, substance, nor intelligence in matter.” [S17, 468:9] It is quite clear that this great verity has not yet been fully demonstrated, but it is nevertheless true. If Christian Science reiterates Paul’s teaching, we, as Christian Scientists, should give to the world convincing proof of the validity of this scientific statement of being. Having perceived, in advance of others, this scientific fact, we owe to ourselves and to the world a struggle for its demonstration.” Retrospection and Introspection, 93: 17]

Also, Cobbey Crisler shared these insights on the context of Paul’s words to the Athenians in Acts 17 (RR): “Well, now Paul is heading for the cultural capital of civilization, Athens. And you can’t even go to modern day Athens without appreciating somewhat of what Paul saw, looking around at the remnants of that great city and “the columned buildings that were dedicated to so many gods. It must have moved Paul.” …

“And so he opens his mouth and begins right away to talk in Athens. Now this is a tough area in which to introduce Christianity, except at least they were willing to listen because everybody talked about anything. I mean there were a lot of weirdo sects and ideas that they welcomed without question in Athens because everybody liked to dispute these ideas anyway.

“He’s in the market, the agora, as well as in the synagogue. He runs into Epicureans; he runs into Stoics.” Now Tarsus where Paul came from happens to be a Stoic stronghold. So he must have been certainly aware of that philosophy…

“They bring him to Areopagus, the hill of Mars or Aries, and they asked him to explain what he has to say.” …

Acts 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. (Translated in the Amplified Bible (AMP) as “very religious and devout in all things” as in the Responsive Reading]

Paul, standing there, shows how a lecture can be tailor-made to any environment. And, it’s better than uniformity if you want to get the ear of the locals. And in this way, you will find at no point does Paul mention the Old Testament. Why? (Pause) What would that mean to the Athenians? (See below, Acts 17:23, paraphrased)

Instead, he kind of says, “On my way to the forum…you know. In other words, here I was, and I saw something you had back here. And, it says TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” (See Acts 17:23 …

“Would everybody be listening? It relates. He’s picked up something locally. And, would you also be listening if he said “That monument you put ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD’, I want to tell you a little something about him. He’s unknown to you, but here’s some information that might be helpful… “And then, in Acts 17, verse 24, he describes “that God who made all, and therefore, couldn’t dwell in temples made with hands.” …

We’re reminded of whom? Yes, but since Jesus, we heard that from Stephen, remember? As Saul, himself, he had heard that.

“He dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (paraphrased)

What do you think that comment does when you’re looking at the Parthenon and buildings like it? “God doesn’t dwell in all of this. He made everything. How can you contain Him?” … Very interesting point.

Have we even arrived at that point today in our thinking? … I doubt the Athenians had either.

“The search where God is…” will end up with the conclusion in the last line of Acts 17, verse 27, “that He’s not very far from every one of us.” And then Paul very cleverly introduces lines from local poets: “In him we live, and move, and have our being” and “for we are also his offspring” – parts of poems we have identified, and they even know the authors. (See below, partial)

Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being**; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. [RR]”
After the Master, What? The Book of Acts by B. Cobbey Crisler

W’s PS#2—Cobbey Crisler insights on seeing & singing your new ID, healing, Ps. 30:2-5 (B4)
“Psalm 30:2 Again, the appointment with the physician, the Great Physician, in the Bible is very often this, “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee.” It does not take our being attuned to God to make the appointment. Just as the prodigal son suddenly decided that his really right place was not in that pig pen when he came to himself [Luke 15: 16-18]. There’s a whole new view of one’s identity. He decided that his father’s house held much more. Then you notice the father did not go to the man with the swine to save the son. The son had to do something. Then the father ran to meet him as he was coming [Luke 15:20]. With your back to the Father, you’re not even heading in that direction. With your face toward the Father you’re looking at the Father’s face, which is part of the cure biblically, [that] is to see the divine nature. Then of course, you want to be nearer the source of your nature. Step by step the light grows brighter around your feet. We know where we’re heading. We may not have arrived yet, but it’s getting brighter, and lighter, and our problems are dropping away, our burdens, and the divine nature is becoming applicable nearer and nearer. “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee; you have healed me.”

“One of our modern hymns [#425] has been made out of verse 5, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning.” That word “joy” in the Hebrew is “singing.” Take weeping as the symptom and notice singing is the remedy. Sing, do we do much singing? It doesn’t have to be even with an audible or perceptible sound. It’s in our hearts, the song…. All the things that Jesus mentioned. They have to make room for the joy. It’s fullness of joy. It’s God’s dosage. Everything else has to be eliminated, removed, uncontained. That’s quite a prescription for depression, adversity. It seems difficult to sing in a trial, in a crisis. The Bible is just saying, try it, you might like it. [Laughter] Because it might solve [any and all issues].”
Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from Psalms by B. Cobbey Crisler

W’s PS#3 – Cobbey Crisler on four foundations of the Gospel in Mark 1:14-34 (B3) and nearby verses)
Mark 1, Verse 14. We have "John put in prison." He has already disappeared from the scene. And, ‘‘Jesus comes into Galilee, and his work begins."
Verse 15. There are four foundational aspects to the gospel we need to study. Normally, an architect might refer to just one cornerstone in a building. But let's remember that all four of the corners have cornerstones. To that degree, let's ask ourselves if this is not a clue to understanding Mark. We have a foursquare gospel, and at each corner we have a particular point. If this is true, you should be able to compile the information that follows in the gospel under one of the following four headings.

(1) The announcement that, "the time is fulfilled." What does this mean? Prophecy. The time for the fulfillment of prophesy has arrived. So, everything is just brimming in the gospel of Mark with this great news. All of the expectation is over for the Messianic prophecy: We have a fulfillment now. ‘What could be more exciting than to be living in an era of fulfilled prophecy? Nothing, apparently, because this is what impels the gospel writers to pick up their pens….
Study Mark as if it were a textbook, filled with data that Jesus needed us to know in order to follow him. It is a handbook, so to speak, a textbook where we can find data that can be applied. Those four foundational points, under "the time is fulfilled," you will see over and over again, explicit or implicit, in the text.

(2) The second one, “the kingdom of God is at no distance.” It is right here. Even that idea is radical to Christendom today often because the kingdom of God, or often heaven, is considered to be so far away from any of us now. It is out of reach, and we’re not really behaving ourselves sufficiently to get there. It takes Palomar’s 200 inch reflecting telescope to even get a glimpse of it. But we find the founder of Christianity saying, ''Not so." His theology is based on the fact that "the kingdom of God is at hand."

Do we act like it is? We moan and we groan most of the time. We wouldn't if our state of mind was the “kingdom-of-God-is-at-hand" and the “prophecies-are-fulfilled." But those are only two of the cornerstones.

(3) The third one is “Repent!" That means to change your concept. Now, we’re going very deeply to the roots of what is required of us to get anywhere spiritually. The problem is mental or he never would have stated it in this way.

It would be cruelly misleading if he laid down as one of the four important aspects of his theology the fact that we had to change our concepts of things. The implication is that every human ill, physical, moral, mental, all can be changed mentally. Otherwise, repenting wouldn’t make any difference. Changing one's concept wouldn't make any difference.

This might be where maybe we temporarily get off the train leading to Jesus' theology. We may say to ourselves, if our bodies are riddled with cancer, of what avail would it be to change our concept? How would that affect the body? The implication is that this is the panacea. Repent ye. Change your concept about things.

Do you realize what kind of a religion that suggests? It's very revolutionary in this respect: nothing is incurable from the point of view of Jesus ' theology. If you can change your concept, then everything is curable. That's some good news of victory that has yet to hit the human race with any impact like Mark, the hammer.

(4) The fourth and final cornerstone is to "believe the gospel," That "believe" is not just to hold an opinion that .waves in the breeze. This is a conviction on and a trust in the pronouncements of the gospel of the kingdom of God, and that "kingdom of God is at hand."

With that structure of the gospel in mind, we can do this kind of work together. As a matter of fact, the reward comes from doing this work individually and meeting each other that way. It affects the world's climate by doing this kind of deep research. In your own individual study, try those four columns.

The time is fulfilled,

The kingdom of God is at hand,

Repent ye,

Believe the gospel,

and see how you can outline the whole gospel in that way.

We may just discover that Peter becomes one of the most polished orators of all time. Yet he is regarded as a rather simplistic fisherman who probably stumbled in Greek and was more at home in his Aramaic.”
What Mark Recorded, by B. Cobbey Crisler

W’s PS#4–Cobbey Crisler’s insight on the withered hand healing in Mark 3:1-5 (B15)
“In Mark 3, Verse 1, we have a renewed definition for church where another healing occurs in the church context, namely, ‘the man that had the withered hand.’… According to an earlier, largely lost gospel called the Gospel of Hebrews, we find this man saying to Jesus, “I was a mason seeking a livelihood with my hands. I pray thee, Jesus, to restore me my health that I may not beg meanly for my food.’ According to Luke 6:6, it was his right hand. As a mason, you could not really pursue your craft. If that is an authentic recollection, it just adds a little more enrichment to our comprehension of the story. Again, it’s the Sabbath and we find that prayer is a church activity. It would be hard to find someone that would disagree with that no matter what denomination one belongs to. Healing would have to take place, because prayer is no idle exercise without results. Healing follows prayer…

Verse 3. Jesus stops the order of service again. He says to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand forth.’ Would that electrify most congregational worship today? ‘Stand forth.’ Everything stops. The priority is here.

Verse 4. Then he asks the question, ‘Is it lawful,’ is it a church rule, ‘to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil?’ Notice his definition of ‘doing-good’ here. He must not remain on the surface. Doing-good for Jesus would be what? Healing the man. Doing-evil would be what? Not healing the man. He regarded not-healing as evil. The normality of the spiritual function of healing is underscored here…

Verse 5. Then he says, ‘Stretch forth thine hand.’ Why didn’t he go and stretch it forth for him? Again, the consistency of having dominion. Dominion doesn’t exercise you, does it? You exercise it… ‘Stretch forth thine hand and it was restored whole.’”
What Mark Recorded, by B. Cobbey Crisler

W’s PS#5–Cobbey Crisler insights on Jesus walking on water in John 6:1-3, 16-21 (B16)
[Prequel, Verses 1-15] “John Chapter 6. We come to the one major "miracle," semeion, one major sign that is recorded by all four gospel writers, the only one. That is the loaves and fishes, …

John 6:12. "And everyone is filled." … As Sons of Men become aware what Sons of God are capable of doing, can you imagine what happens? …

John 6:15. They want to make him a king right away. That means, "they wanted him to be the Messiah, to try to force him to be the human Messiah, the king that they were expecting. Instead, Jesus leaves them. "

John 6:16, “The disciples go alone.”

John 6:17, "Over the sea toward Capernaum." That means they had to be on the other side of the sea which is Bethsaida.

John 6:18. The winds that come suddenly sweeping down from the east and the desert, or from the west and the Mediterranean, often stir the sea up without warning. They're having trouble negotiating their little boat. “And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.”

John 6:19, "Jesus is having no trouble approaching them on the sea." This shows that he wasn't really walking on the surface of the sea at all. As my father once pointed out, if the sea were churned up, walking would be more laborious than being in the boat. Jesus, however, has a method that's revolutionary and less laborious. He must be walking above the sea, not in the peaks and valleys. And if he were, then it's walking on air. But what's the difference? They're both rather difficult to do from the human view of it. This sounds mighty logical to me.

John 6:20. When he gets near, he says, "It is I, be not afraid."

John 6:21, “They willingly received him into the ship."

They then learn a lesson in transportation. Space and time, as obstacles, can be overcome. "Immediately the ship, the disciples, everybody is beached. They’re right there at the destination." It's a wooden boat. No one says it ended up in fragments. No one was holding their heads and complaining that they hit their head up against a sonic boom or something.”
Book of John: A Walk with the Beloved Disciple, by B. Cobbey Crisler

W’s PS#6–Cobbey Crisler insights on Jesus walking on water in John 6:63+ (B17)
John 6:62, "What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?" Nativity in the Spirit. There can't be the magnetic pull back to earth if that connection has been severed or proved never to have been a real connection.

In John 6:63, Jesus impinges upon what has been considered laws of physics because he views matter in a radical way. He makes the statement, "It is the spirit that quickeneth.” That is where you find life. So if you want to talk about nativity anywhere, you better deal with origin and Spirit. "The flesh profiteth nothing.”

You see how close one needs to be to Jesus in thought to understand what has been referred to as the Communion Supper. If he is accurate in saying, "the flesh profiteth nothing, "neither would symbolically eating it profit anything. So, it must not be the flesh he is talking about, but that great transformation that he is proving in his life to be possible to the Son of Man. John 1:14 refers to it as "the Word that was made flesh.” The Word connects us to Spirit, not flesh. Here is part of that Word underscoring the message that, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.”

What happened in John 6:66? "Many walked right out," as soon as he had this radical statement to say about matter.

John 6:67. Jesus had to turn to the twelve, and said, "Will you go away?"

John 6:68. Peter had one of those classic remarks that he makes. It's really a lovely one. He looks around to the alternatives and says, "Lord, where will we go? You have the words of eternal life." He got the message. The words of eternal·life, not the flesh of eternal life. "You have the words of eternal life.”
Book of John, A Walk with the Beloved Disciple by B. Cobbey Crisler

You can buy your own transcripts of most of Cobbey’s 28 talks at a new website: www.crislerlibrary.co.uk Please email your order or inquiry to office@crislerlibrary.co.uk, or directly to Janet Crisler, at janetcrisler7@gmail.com