Right And Wrong Thinking And Their Results
	The Teaching Of Jesus <  Previous Contents

Thus far the subject has been discussed from scientific, philosophic, ethical, and moral points of view, but it will be incomplete if dismissed without some consideration of its relation to the teaching of Jesus, the Christ. To some minds this will appear important, to others perhaps it will seem to be only a repetition of statements already made, while those who have never examined it in this aspect may find in his teaching a phase not before suspected.

The moral and religious features of the work of Jesus so eclipse all others that he is seldom thought of as a philosopher or a scientist. It is the more general opinion that he promulgated certain rules for the guidance of mankind in their personal and social relations, but more especially in their religious duties, whereby they may attain more harmonious conditions, greater morality, higher spirituality, and therefore more peace and happiness here, and possibly eternal bliss hereafter. Those who hold this opinion think that he did his work without the aid of philosophy or science and without any of the arts of the logician; hence they suppose that he held such matters more or less in contempt, and that there is no connection, association, nor relationship between his utterances and those of philosophy and science. Indeed, scarcely a generation ago it was stoutly declared that science and religion were in open conflict; nor is it so very long since the opinion was widely prevalent that the teaching of Jesus is without system, and that it consists of independent, disjointed declarations, having little or no connection with one another, and some- times, if not often, contradictory -- an opinion which has not yet wholly disappeared.

That there is a basic system, either philosophic or scientific, on which rests all that Jesus said and did, would be emphatically denied by many who think themselves his devoted followers. They venerate his words as the arbitrary edict of a god, and they think that any other theory concerning them or him would detract from the authority of his utterances and the sublimity of his position. They would consider it degrading to suppose that his rules for con- duct are permeated by scientific truths, and still more so to suppose that the authority of his utterances could be strengthened by any recognition of their relationship to philosophic or scientific principles.

It is most assuredly true that Jesus did not elaborate any philosophic theory whatever, nor did he make any pretence to a systematic or scientific arrangement of his subjects, nor did he make any appeal to men's reasoning faculties by the use of logical formulas. It is one of his strongly marked peculiarities that in most cases he merely cast his statements in the axiomatic form and, without argumentation, left their accuracy and truth to be perceived by the same means that the truth of the axiom is perceived.

His complete abnegation of self, his exact compliance with the rules that he promulgated, his measureless love for all men, even for his enemies, -- these have moved men to become his followers and have taken possession of their hearts and minds to the exclusion of other things. This ceases to be a wonder when we consider how far he transcends all others in these characteristics.

Granting the most extreme claims that have been put forth regarding his divinity, still, if those claims are true, -- even because they are true, -- his utterances must be in accord with the absolute basic truths of existence; and science and philosophy at their best are only attempts to set forth and explain the facts of existence, which are the divine truths of

God as manifested in the things about us. The ultimate facts of existence and the knowledge and explanation of them, so far as this knowledge and explanation are accurate, must constitute the only correct, enduring, and elemental basis of either science or philosophy, and equally so of religion. All truths, by whatever name they may be called, must rest at last upon this basis and must be made up of these elements; therefore each must be an expression of its portion of one entirely harmonious whole, and consequently they must all be so linked together in unity as to constitute a perfect system.

If this is the condition, then it must be possible to make such an examination of the utterances of Jesus as to discover their basis in the fundamental truths of correctly stated science and also to find their explanation in the principles of sound and enduring philosophy. The world may not be ready to accept this proposition now, because the statements of neither science, nor philosophy, nor religion are yet either without deficiency or without flaw. When they are so, it will be possible to see that the connection between each part and every other part, which at present appears broken, is complete, and that each is in perfect harmony with all the others. Then it will be possible to show to the whole human race the most powerful and convincing reasons for the existence of Jesus' precepts, and the supreme reason why they should be obeyed. This will immensely enhance the value of those precepts in the eyes of those who look to reason rather than to authority, and it will not detract in the slightest from the veneration and allegiance of those who accept him chiefly on the basis of his deific authority, while it will furnish both classes with abundant reason why his words are as the words of God.

An examination will show that the principles set forth in the preceding pages are inherent in the constitution of man as he has been fashioned by his Creator, and an application of them to the ethical rules which Jesus gave to mankind for the guidance of human conduct in the affairs of social life will show that those rules rest for their foundation and reasonableness, some wholly, others in part, upon these principles.

Because those rules are in accord with immutable principle, they are scientific in the full meaning of the word, and they are as exact and universal within their domain as are the rules of mathematics in the domain of that science. Thus considered, these scientific principles furnish an explanation of his rules and an elucidation of their character which will make them better understood and which, without depriving them of a particle of their authority and sacredness, but instead adding to both will remove them forever from the domain of arbitrary domination and dictation where they have so long stood in the minds of many.

Some may sneer and say that this would place ethics and morality among the exact sciences; but, in view of the inextricable confusion and contradictions among the opinions now held regarding these subjects, even those who sneer must admit that if such a result could be achieved, it would be exceptionally desirable. There must be fundamental principles in morals as well as in mathematics if human beings are not a congeries of haphazard happenings, but are created or developed in accordance with principle; and there must be a true science of morals just as there is of mechanics, and that science must be just as exact in its principles and just as inflexible in its multifarious applications. Each step toward the elucidation of that science must be as much more valuable than the earlier discoveries in the natural sciences and mathematics as morals are of more importance to mankind than are mechanics.

The basis on which so many of Jesus' rules rest for their foundation is not anywhere stated in more directly scientific terms than in what he says of adultery. He recognizes the wisdom and validity of the old law prohibiting the crime, but he sees also that the scope of the law is too limited. As interpreted before his day it included only that part of the crime which is, so to speak, above ground, but it did not interfere with the root from which it springs, the thoughts which precede and produce the act. For the destruction of a plant, not only must the top be cut off, which the law already attempted to do, but the root which nourishes the top must be dug up and destroyed. If the thoughts which pro- duce the crime are allowed to continue, the outward and visible actions are liable to appear with renewed vigor regardless of the prohibition.

These statements are scientific; Jesus quotes the law approvingly and then, because of these scientific reasons, he adds: "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her," that is, whosoever thinks adulterous thoughts about her, "hath committed adultery with her already," thus so interpreting the terms of the law as to include in its prohibition not only the crime but all those thoughts which contribute to it and produce it. He does not destroy the law, but by his interpretation he completes it. Compliance with what might be called his addition to the law would render the law useless as it stood before he made that addition, because the offence against which the law aimed cannot occur if the thought which would cause the offence has been excluded from the mind. His interpretation of the law thus becomes the vital part of the prohibition.

His position in this case rests for its validity upon two distinct points: First, thinking is the cause of the act; second, if the cause is removed by ceasing to think the thought, then that which would be the consequence of such thinking cannot occur and the act cannot be committed; therefore his prohibition of adulterous thinking is strictly scientific, finding the reason for its existence in pure science.

Jesus follows the simple statement of his proposition with the two tremendous illustrations of the hand and the eye: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee." Whatever other meaning these metaphorical words may convey, they surely indicate that whenever one's thought is the cause of his wrong actions, though it may seem to him as desirable as his eye or his hand, that thought is to be plucked out or cut off and as utterly cast away as the eye or the hand might be. This also is as strictly scientific as his interpretative addition to the law.

Thus we see that his words in this instance rest for their basis on sound psychological principles as modern science has discovered and explained them. His form of expression has the characteristics of an exact statement of scientific principle, viz. accuracy and absence of modification or exception. All this removes the precept from the charge of being mere dictatorial domination, vindicates its claim to scientific character, and, because there cannot be any more exception to this rule than to a rule in mathematics, it is at least one step toward placing morality among the exact sciences.

What Jesus says about murder is similar in character. The law prohibited killing. Anger is the root of murder as lust is the root of adultery. When cultivated and intensified, anger finds its final expression and natural result in murder. Jesus affixed the same penalty to unexpressed anger that the law affixed to murder, thus placing the unuttered thought which might cause murder under the same prohibition as murder itself.

Thus, in full accord with the scientific proposition, he makes the thought (the cause) the essential thing, for without it there would not be any consequence. Having dealt with the cause, he has no occasion to deal with consequences, because without causes there would not be any consequences; therefore for murder itself he expresses neither prohibition nor penalty, and this, again, is exactly scientific. When all anger is excluded from the mind there will not be any murder. His method in this is the same that he pursued in his discussion of adultery and is equally scientific.

The completeness with which Jesus would have us exclude anger from our minds is shown in his metaphorical statement: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Note here that the person addressed is not directed to do anything with his brother. His sole offence consists in the fact that he remembers that his brother has something against him, and the one thing for him to do is himself to become "reconciled" to his brother. The literal definition of the Greek word here rendered "be reconciled" is "be changed throughout." Then he must not only put anger out of his own mind, but he must do this so completely as not to remember that his brother has anything against him. When he has done this, he is "changed throughout." This is complete exclusion of discordant thinking.

His precept, " Judge not," is of the same sort, and equally scientific. Judgment is almost universally considered necessary and praiseworthy; yet any one who analyzes mental conditions must recognize that condemnation is the discordant mental beginning of very much that is wrong. Condemnation of others has been both the cause and the justification of the worst acts of humanity, including murder, war, and butchery generally. Each atrocity or outrage has resulted from the condemnation of one man by another because of something that one has done or has failed to do, and each war has been caused by similar condemnation of one nation by another.

All judgment, or condemnation, exists first in thought before it can find expression in either words or deeds. The condemnatory thought is discordant, therefore on scientific grounds alone, considering the purposes of health without regard to any question of morals, condemnation ought to be excluded from the mind. But this proposition applies in an equally scientific way to morality, and as morals are the more important, there is so much the greater reason why Jesus should say, "Judge not," and it is equally a scientific necessity that his requirement should be, as it is, so sweeping as to prohibit all such thoughts.

If the precept of Jesus concerning anger is complied with in the perfect way indicated by the case of the man bringing his gift to the altar, then this one relating to judgment becomes unnecessary, because when the recognition of an offence has been so completely thrust out of mind that one is no longer aware that another has anything against him, there cannot be any condemnation or judgment. On the other hand, if one does not judge (condemn), there will not be any anger. In this way do Jesus' precepts work together and harmonize, each aiding toward compliance with the others.

His precept, "Take no thought for the morrow," has been looked upon as unreasonable if not impossible. "Take no anxious thought for the morrow," is the rendering in the Revised Version, and if this is accepted, even those who object most strongly to the rule as expressed by the earlier translation must acknowledge that as it appears in the later form it is reasonable, wise, and practicable; and it then be- comes another instance of a rule resting on scientific principles for its foundation. Anxiety is a form of discordant thinking, and the conditions of exact science require its exclusion from the mind, just as set forth by Jesus' precept.

Perhaps in no place has failure to understand him been greater than in connection with his precept, "Resist not evil," which, in part, rests on the same scientific foundation as his propositions already considered. This rule is a practical continuation into a more general form of his precepts concerning anger, the recognition that one's brother has something against him, and the one respecting judgment or condemnation. Whoever complies with these in their fullness will not violate this one, for he will not allow his mind to be occupied either by thoughts of the wrong done him, or by anger, or by condemnation. Harboring thoughts of wrong at once arouses condemnation and anger, and from these comes the impulse to defend one's self and to punish the offender -- to resist the evil; but if these are not allowed, then the desire to resist will not arise.

Unnumbered centuries of practice contrary to these precepts have made compliance with them seem ineffective, unmanly, or cowardly; yet evil has never diminished in consequence of such methods. From a little brand which at first could have easily been extinguished by right mental control conflagrations have developed which have brought ruin and desolation in their wake. Hatred, bitterness, blighting of homes and lives, legal strife, murders, wars, and all forms of outrage and wickedness have grown from small beginnings which would have disappeared instantly by compliance with these precepts.

His own course is the most brilliant example of the wisdom of this precept. He did not resist evil under the severest provocations of illegal arrest on false charges, trial before prejudiced judges who had decided beforehand that he must die, and execution by the same authority which had declared him innocent. The result is an ever widening and deepening stream of influence which has gone on through all the centuries since, and which shall continue through the centuries to come, until all error has disappeared from among men.

In the language of the old Hebrew lawgiver, "Thus shall ye put away evil from among you;" and in no other way can the putting away be so thoroughly accomplished as by obeying his precept, "Resist not evil." The influence of the one who obeys this is not limited to himself alone. The power of his good thought extends even to the enemy, and it will soon begin its work of transformation in his mind. Like the rays of the sun, the thought which causes one to refrain from resistance in the way that he ought, penetrates the darkest places, destroying the noxious germs of enmity, bitterness, and strife.

Ruskin said: "There is no music in a rest, but there's the making of music in it;" so, too, non-resistance of evil is a rest in which there is the making of that celestial music which is an expression of the divine harmony.

The advantage of harmonious thinking is scientifically set forth in the Beatitudes. The meek, the merciful, they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the peacemakers have each dismissed some form of discordant thinking, and they are among the blessed. Their blessedness is the result of their mental condition. The climax occurs in what he says of the pure in heart, "for they shall see God." Purity of heart can only be attained by the complete exclusion of every impure or discordant thought, and they who have attained this have already the kingdom of heaven within them, and God dwells in His kingdom and they shall see Him. This, too, is strictly scientific.

His precepts touching forgiveness rest on the same basis. The word " forgive " means to let go, to put away, to cast out, to send away; and this is the meaning not only of the English word, but of the Greek word of which it is a translation. The essential of forgiveness, then, lies in casting out of the mind the wrong or offending thought. He would have us always forgive as we would be forgiven. Each one who earnestly desires forgiveness knows that he himself wishes to have the last remembrance or thought of the error which he has committed put away and blotted out forever from the mind of the one whom he has offended; therefore this complete casting away of all the discordant thoughts about another is the essential constituent element of complete forgiveness. It is also required by the principles of exact science as well as by the words of Jesus found in other connections.

This leads to a consideration of the Golden Rule, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise," a precept which includes within its terms all his ethical teaching. Down in the heart of every human being is the desire not only to be exempt from physical injury by others, but also from their evil or erroneous thoughts as well. If each one should avoid discordant thinking about all others as he would have others avoid it about himself, it would terminate all discordant or erroneous thinking of every kind, and therefore all discordant conduct would be ended. There would not be any evil in the world, and its banishment would be accomplished without any resistance whatever; indeed, resistance of evil prevents forgiveness, perpetuates evil, and frustrates the grand object sought, which is its destruction. This is again the application of exact science to questions of morality.

When the lawyer asked Jesus which is the greatest requirement of the law, he answered: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." God is absolute perfection. When a man loves perfection with all his heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, there will not be any place for inharmonious thoughts. God is love; and when one loves love with his whole being, he will not have any discordant thoughts, for in such love and in such loving there is no discord. All this means: Fill the mind full with love for God, and when the mind is full of this love, neither imperfection nor discord can enter, but they will be as a dream of the night which was never remembered.

All this finds its culmination in what may appropriately be called the climax of his ethical precepts, the one which directs men to the supreme act of love: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies." Love is perfect harmony. Hate is discord. Before one can love his enemies, condemnation, anger, hate, desire for revenge, envy, jealousy, covetousness, and even "righteous indignation" toward them, must all be utterly cast out of the mind along with every other inharmonious thought. The precept necessitates this exclusion, because all these are inimical to love and cannot exist in the mind where love is, nor can love exist in the mind where these discordant thoughts are. Love and hate cannot both occupy the same mind at the same time. The exclusion of hate is the preparation for love, and the entertainment of love is the prohibition of hate; hence this precept also stands on a basis which is distinctly scientific.

The language which he used in this connection, when stripped of its explanatory illustrations, reads thus: --

1. " Love your enemies.

2. "That ye may be the children of your Father in heaven.

3. "Ye therefore shall be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

That love which loves enemies has nothing but love for any man. This means the exclusion of every discordant thought. The result of this exclusion will be perfection. Perfection is a dizzy height for man to contemplate. The best men have looked toward it, but have not dared to hope for it, either for themselves or their fellows, except as the result of a miracle; and the scientists, philosophers, and best ethical teachers have never dared more than to hint at it except as the remotest possibility; but Jesus taught it; science and philosophy confirm it; and each Christian with humbleness of heart can look up, take courage, and determine to win it. That this can be accomplished has been made plain again and again in these pages. We can love our enemies only after we have first excluded all discord- ant thinking about them; that done, we can truly love them; and then we shall show forth that we are indeed our Father's children, as perfect as He is perfect; and that is absolute perfection.

Wonderful as this perfection is, yet every precept of Jesus, the Christ, aims at nothing less, and each of them if complied with in its completeness will bring this result. That he did not require impossibilities of us is seen in the logical demonstration that this seemingly most impossible of all his requirements is possible of attainment. Indeed, each one of his precepts which is here considered may be fulfilled to its ultimate by following his method -- the exclusion of discordant thinking from the mind. Therefore no man need be discouraged by the tremendousness nor by the sublimity and glory of the object. Each may say with supreme confidence and humility: "I, too, can master my own mind."

No man is working alone, for God Himself works always with him who is seeking the right.

"Ye therefore shall be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

A LAST WORD

There is no more fitting counsel for the close of this book than is contained in the following words from The School of Life, by William R. Alger: --

"And now there is one more lesson for us to learn, the climax of all the rest; namely, to make a personal application to ourselves of everything which we know. Unless we master this lesson, and act on it, the other lessons are virtually useless, and thus robbed of their essential glory. The only living end or aim of everything we experience, of every truth we are taught, is the practical use we make of it for the enrichment of the soul, the attuning of the thoughts and passions, the exaltation of life. . . . When we do what we know, then first does it put on vital lustre and become divinely precious."