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Soul, being in the image and likeness of Spirit, i. e., spiritual, the opposite in quality of Spirit, and seeing the fruits of itself and all other spiritual things as matter, (the absence of Spirit) such as trees, grass, sun, moon, stars, etc., gave them names by which we now distinguish them. It studied into matter, and produced more and more material thoughts which it likewise mistook for substance, and reasoned therefrom. Thus soul first saw all things as matter, reasoned therein, held matter to be real, and recognized it as substance having wisdom and sensation of its own. Holding matter as substance, naturally gave rise to the thought of wisdom in matter; the thought of wisdom added to that of reality; and all of these thoughts combined, make up what we call a person. This person's wisdom is a material understanding (the absence of the Understanding of God) which the life of a person calls good. The thought that matter is substance gave rise to the thought of

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accident (there is no thought of accident to soul without a material body); the thought of accident produced in the life or soul a confusion; and the thoughts of wisdom and sensation in the body produced the fear of accidents. This fear, becoming attached to the soul or life, causes inflammation which heats the blood, disturbs the pulsation, and produces in the body or coarser fabric of the life or soul, what the life or soul calls sickness, but which is unknown to God. The fear of accidents was the first consciousness of discord in the material understanding, and caused suffering.

Now in the attempt to destroy the effect of these material thoughts or what soul calls sickness in the body, the soul studies into the nature of matter, thus overlooking the cause, and simply covering up the effect. This is like damming a stream and expecting thereby, to dry it up. The result of soul's labor is what should have been expected, the stream or sickness becomes

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deeper and deeper, the higher the dam is built, that is, the more remedies the soul invents and applies, until, at last, the sickness results in death or the separation of soul and body, or the stream bursts the dam and overflows the land.

These same inventions and so-called dis. coveries are a part of what the soul calls wisdom, and are foolishness with God. As St. Paul says, "Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man." "For that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator." This was the tree of knowledge (the inventions or understanding of man, soul) which had no fellowship with the tree of Life (the Understanding of God) for they are as distinct as light and darkness. The more man partakes of the tree of knowledge, i. e., studies into materiality, the deeper in darkness or the farther from Light, which

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is the Understanding of God or tree of Life, does he go. The results of this knowledge are sin and sickness, and the end is death; - all discord from the beginning unto the end and not known to God, while the understanding of God brings peace to the soul. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." The soul's understanding or consciousness of the ever-living God, who is the author of all that was made, and whose creation is good, Jesus peace. It is indeed the

understanding of man.

gave, and called it

peace that passes all The word peace had

a different meaning to Jesus from that which the world gives it. He said, "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." His disciples were never in what the world calls peace, but were ever in outward tribulation.

The understanding of man or the material understanding, the end of which is death, is the fruit of the thoughts of wisdom and power in matter, which thoughts were conceived and cherished by the soul or life of

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man.

James says death is of the devil, therefore the devil is the material understanding or the knowledge of this world, which is the absence of the Understanding of God. Jesus came to destroy the devil, and restore to man the immortal Truth which was hid from the beginning of the world because of the devil (darkness) which was upon the face of the earth. Sickness and death are the final result of the material thoughts of the soul; for since soul, this mortal changeable life, holds matter as substance having wisdom and sensation, it also holds the thought of sickness in matter, and, finally, death; while, in fact, it is the life or soul only that feels pain. Through the unconscious good material thought or seed, the soul produced the matter body, and through the evil or wrong, either conscious or unconscious, material thought or seed, soul produced the sin, sickness and death; thus sickness is as real to the soul as the body is. Soul, confident in its reasoning thus far, con