Subject: Christ's words

From: "Vinton A. Dearing" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 13:29:55 PST

The Christian Science point of view is set forth in Science and 
Health, by Mary Baker Eddy (final edition 1910): 
  "The decisions by vote of Church Councils as to what should and 
should not be considered Holy Writ; the manifest mistakes in the 
ancient versions; the thirty thousand different readings in the Old 
Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New, -- these facts 
show how a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, 
with its own hue darkening to some extent the inspired pages. But 
mistakes could neither wholly obscure the divine Science of the 
Scriptures seen from Genesis to Revelation, mar the demonstration of 
Jesus, nor annul the healing by the prophets, who foresaw that `the 
stone which the builders rejected' would become `the head of the 
corner.'" (p. 139)
     "We must have faith in all the sayings of our Master, though 
they are not included in the teachings of the schools, and are not 
understood generally by our ethical instructors. Jesus said (John 
viii. 51), `If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.' That 
statement is not confined to spiritual life, but includes all the 
phenomena of existence. Jesus demonstrated this, healing the dying 
and raising the dead." (pp. 429-430)
     "The progress of truth confirms its claims, and our Master 
confirmed his words by his works." (p. 94)
     "It is possible, -- yea, it is the duty and privilege of every 
child, man, and woman, -- to follow in some degree the example of the 
Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and 
holiness." (p. 37)
     In short, while the Gospels may not transmit all Jesus' words 
verbatim, their essential accuracy and consistency can be
demonstrated by anyone who turns to spiritual healing for evidence.
     Speaking for myself,  the evidence that Jesus could speak Greek 
is now sufficient for me to believe that in his conversations with 
Pilate we may well have his very words (presumably recounted by him 
to his followers at a later time). I particularly like to believe 
that he did say exactly this: EGW EIS TOUTO GEGENNHMAI KAI EIS TOUTO 
ELHLUQA EIS TON KOSMON INA MARTURHSW TH ALHQEIA PAS O WN EK THS 
ALHQEIAS AKOUEI MOU THS FWNHS.
     Pilate's reply is famous. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The women at the 
cross could have answered Pilate's question. They knew what had 
inspired their devotion, winged their faith, opened the eyes of their 
understanding, healed the sick, cast out evil, and caused the 
disciples to say to their Master: `Even the devils are subject unto 
us through thy name.'" (Science and Health, p. 49).
     I hope someday to write an essay for this forum on the 
importance of spiritual healing in textual criticism of the New 
Testament. For example, UBS4 omits KAI DIELQWN DIA MESOU AUTWN 
EPOREUETO KAI PARHGEN OUTWS from John 8:59, and Metzger, Texual 
Commentary, p. 227, explains that the fuller text was the work of 
copyists who wished to give the impression that Jesus had escaped by 
miraculous power. Why conclude that Jesus' escape was not empowered by 
the same understanding of God's love as the escape recorded in Luke 
4:30? Why not conclude instead that the omission came about through an
eyeskip from KAI  before DIELQWN to KAI before PARAGWN (9:1)? 
     I recognize that among the manuscripts having DIELQWN there is a 
preceding KAI only in 01c, 04, 019, 044, 0211, 33, and 892, but 
I suppose that in an ancestor of the others it was at the margin and 
got lost among the marginal markings; I am encouraged in the idea of 
eyeskip by the fact that 02 skips from the KAI before DIELQWN to KAI 
before PARHGEN. 
     If we accept the TR then the narrative takes on a wonderful
glow of inspiration. Jesus was completely untouched by the hatred
he had aroused -- no "not again!" not even "whew!" --  and was at once 
ready to heal the man born blind. The time has not passed when some 
Bible scholars reject the biblical record of spiritual healing, but the 
time has already come when those engaged in healing, physicians, 
psychologists, nurses, have begun to welcome the power of prayer and 
to declare that it has been satisfactorily demonstrated.
     If any member of our colloquium does not have a copy of Science 
and Health, I'll be glad to send him/her one. It has been my guide to 
life and health and a treasured key to the Scriptures for more than 
75 years.
     Vinton A. Dearing