Moral Courage

OCTOBER 3, 2018
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The Bible & Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures By Mary Baker Eddy

PSALMS

91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
16:1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

DANIEL

6:16 … the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions.
19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
20 … and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 590:9 (to 1st ;), 10 (to 2nd ;)
Lamb of God. The spiritual idea of Love; … innocence and purity; …

SH 568:1-5
Innocence and Truth overcome guilt and error. Ever since the foundation of the world, ever since error would establish material belief, evil has tried to slay the Lamb; but Science is able to destroy this lie, called evil.

SH 102:30 (only)
Mankind must learn that evil is not power.

ACTS

6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken;
51¶ … ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him:

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 7:32
Hypocrisy is fatal to religion.

SH 97:21
The broadest facts array the most falsities against themselves, for they bring error from under cover. It requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its inarticulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion.

SH 567:18-22
That false claim — that ancient belief, that old serpent whose name is devil (evil), claiming that there is intelligence in matter either to benefit or to injure men — is pure delusion, the red dragon; and it is cast out by Christ, Truth, the spiritual idea, and so proved to be powerless.

SH 563:27-30
The serpentine form stands for subtlety, winding its way amidst all evil, but doing this in the name of good. Its sting is spoken of by Paul, when he refers to “spiritual wickedness in high places.”

SH 564:4-7
This malicious animal instinct, of which the dragon is the type, incites mortals to kill morally and physically even their fellow-mortals, and worse still, to charge the innocent with the crime.

MATTHEW

5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 514:10-14
Moral courage is “the lion of the tribe of Juda,” the king of the mental realm. Free and fearless it roams in the forest. Undisturbed it lies in the open field, or rests in “green pastures, . . . beside the still waters.”

SH 458:23-25 (to 2nd .)
The Christianly scientific man reflects the divine law, thus becoming a law unto himself. He does violence to no man. Neither is he a false accuser.

GENESIS

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
23¶ And it came to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit:

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 68:9 (only)
Jealousy is the grave of affection.

GENESIS

39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
7¶ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
9 … how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
17 And she spake unto him, according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 327:23-24
Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right.

SH 29:7-10
Christian experience teaches faith in the right and disbelief in the wrong. It bids us work the more earnestly in times of persecution, because then our labor is more needed.

SH 238:12-13
To fall away from Truth in times of persecution, shows that we never understood Truth.

GENESIS

42:1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, …
2 … get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
6 … and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

MARK

11:25 … forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you …

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 589:19
Joseph … a higher sense of Truth rebuking mortal belief, or error, and showing the immortality and supremacy of Truth; pure affection blessing its enemies.

II CORINTHIANS

4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

EPHESIANS

6:10 … my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

SCIENCE & HEALTH
SH 28:32-1
There is too much animal courage in society and not sufficient moral courage.

SH 327:24-26 how
… how shall we reform the man who has more animal than moral courage, and who has not the true idea of good?
SH 405:5-9
Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty.

SH 393:12-13
Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good.

SH 28:24
To suppose that persecution for righteousness’ sake belongs to the past, and that Christianity to-day is at peace with the world because it is honored by sects and societies, is to mistake the very nature of religion. Error repeats itself. The trials encountered by prophet, disciple, and apostle, “of whom the world was not worthy,” await, in some form, every pioneer of truth.

SH 571:15-19
At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
“Moral Courage”
By Robert Ellis Key
Christian Science Sentinel
March 15, 1952

Moral courage never gives way to adverse circumstances. As the instrument of divine Principle, it stands firm and conquers all opponents. Moral courage is the exact opposite of moral weakness. Moral courage upholds justice, honesty, purity. It stands for right in the midst of seething wrong and moves with assurance even when the way seems dark and dangerous.

Moral idiocy attempts to pattern moral courage, but inevitably fails in its attempts. It flagrantly sets aside moral law and employs fear, threats, and evil suggestions to promote its own ends.

No one has ever exceeded Christ Jesus in his ability to apply moral courage to destroy error. He stood up boldly to all forms of evil and destroyed them on the basis of their nothingness. He knew moral power to be capable of defeating immoral forces. He recognized the ability and strength of Truth and held firmly to the power of divine Principle.

In our day Mrs. Eddy could not have discovered and established Christian Science without the exercise of great moral and spiritual courage. She faced the scorn and ridicule of the world when she declared matter to be nought and Spirit the only reality. She did not flinch from her task, but moved boldly forward in the face of almost overwhelming opposition. But her faith in God sustained her. Moral courage and spiritual strength were her close companions. She held firmly to them, and thus she grasped the hand of God and conquered error with Truth.

Today every man and woman, and especially everyone who has named the name of Christ in Christian Science, should be ready and prepared to stand for divine Principle, whatever the odds appear to be against him. Weak compromise in the affairs of individuals as in the affairs of nations will lead to moral and physical defeat.

“The Power of Innocence”
By Harold Molter
Christian Science Sentinel
May 12, 1856

The innocent mind rooted in Christ is safe because there is nothing in it to respond to evil or materiality.

Evil cannot touch the pure in heart, those whose thoughts are rooted and grounded in Truth. Innocence and purity are divine qualities and as such are a law of annihilation to error in whatever form it appears.

When the prophet Daniel was brought before the king and accused of worshiping his own God, he was put into a den of lions. What protected him from being attacked by these beasts? His innocency, his purity of thought, in which there was no resentment, no unlovely response to the evil designs of his enemies to get rid of him.

When asked by the king if his God had saved him, Daniel answered, ‘My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.’

Innocence is one of the qualities of God. And since God is the only power and the only presence—is infinite, All—His whole creation is innocent, pure, holy; therefore it can have no knowledge of sin or discord. Our work as Christian Scientists is to identify our thoughts with the fact of man’s innocence. This supplies us with a strong defense, whereby the claims of error are rendered harmless and helpless, just as the lions were quieted in the presence of Daniel’s innocency.