Accession: A10879
Editorial Title: Behold Israel After the Flesh
Author: Mary Baker Eddy 
Scribe: Calvin A. Frye 
Date: February 8, 1885
Manuscript Description: This sermon was handwritten by Mary Baker Eddy and Calvin Frye, with edits by both.
Archival Note: Please note that the original archivists appear to have labeled the manuscript pages out of order in the section that is in Calvin Frye's handwriting. Also, manuscript pages in this section that appear to have been in the original are not extant: pages 7 and 9 appear to be missing. This transcription follows the original page order as found in Eddy and Frye's handwriting.
Editorial Note:

This sermon, given by Mary Baker Eddy at Odd Fellows Hall on February 8, 1885, was a Communion service that included the admittance of new members. Over 800 people heard her preach and the historical record of the service includes drafts of her sermon text, both a handwritten and a printed Order of Services, a list of names of those admitted to membership, as well as the questions asked of those joining the church and the tenets they agreed to follow.

The February 1885 issue of The Christian Science Journal offered the following report of this sermon: "The Sermon of the Rev. M. B. G. Eddy, pastor of the Church of Christ, before a large audience, Communion Sabbath, Feb. 8th, cannot be reported in the columns of the 'Journal' as was hoped, for the stenographic notes were found unavailable. The services were especially impressive, and the high spiritual interpretation of the text, I Corinthians 10:18, elicited warm commendations from many clergymen present. After the sermon, fourteen candidates were admitted to Church membership."

Related Versions: See alternate versions of text: A10898Click link to view A10898 document in new window, A11459Click link to view A11459 document in new window
Related Topic: See related documents: A10636Click link to view A10636 document in new window, A10636AClick link to view A10636A document in new window, A10636BClick link to view A10636B document in new window, A10636CClick link to view A10636C document in new window, A10636DClick link to view A10636D document in new window, andA10636EClick link to view A10636E document in new window; Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, pp. 161-168; and The Christian Science Journal, February 1889, p. 541.
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1st Cor. 10.18.

Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifice partakers of the altar I Cor 10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

All can see the possibility of a spiritual life apart from creeds or ritualism Truth cannot be fixed in a symbol The most perfect human creed is inadequate to represent the divine side of religion namelyAs Written:namly Christianity But Truth can be reached though the heart of an individual before its full orbed significance has broken upon the world And because Christianity giveth Spirit and Life it is perpetually renovating its expression

To behold the Israel after the flesh is to trace without prejudice the material history of religion a religion of human opinions and belief whose birthright is the head and not the heart Through sympathetic error by which one belief is made to act upon another the organ of veneration is excited to praise and prayer prayer and praise but sweep over the opposite chords of feeling the same subtle influenceAs Written:influce and the lips that prayed devoutlyAs Written:devoutedly may profan and blaspheme is of the Israel after the flesh whose religion has a material origin starts in his brain and as matter and is subject to the different phases of humanity in thought feeling and passions which stimulates its possessor through his cups perhaps tea and coffee but is not stable in all its ways covering with consecrated robe reaching deep down into the whole being human life to healing it of all error sin sickness and death and whose history has well nigh deluged earth in blood This is the Israel to whom the meek and mighty NazareneAs Written:Nazaren addressed the most scathing eloquence of condemnation a kingdom divided against itself

Israel after the flesh scorning the precept and practice of our Lord and his command Heal the sick cast out devils and preach the gospel to the poor gives the diploma and place of honor to a material rather than the spiritual means of healing and preaches in lofty edifices with lordly rentals the so-calledAs Written:socalled gospel to the rich

Arrogant wealth, pride of power, and love of self enters largely into a fleshly religion the Catholic burns the protestant the protestant persecutes the puritan and the puritan ousts the next in [?] Unclear or illegible  heretics of yesterday day are found the martyrs of today

An unspiritual religion has let lose the worst passions of men first in a war of words afterwards to settle questions of slight import on the scaffold or at the stake

The Israel of the flesh has poured human blood in torrents in controversy over the validity or the efficacy of the blood of Christ Until the peaceful Christianity of Jesus whose baptism was of heaven and not of men and Israel after the Spirit and not the flesh and gave this Israel power over the flesh we had no Church built upon his foundations whose builder and maker is God On the Rock of Truth and Love he established his ChurchAs Written:Chuch no creed no rite but the eternal divinity known by its humanity its healing virtues its power to bless and save And the stone that the builders have rejected the same has become the head of the cornerMatt 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: Luke 20:17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

When was the term Israel given to the child of God who is born not after the flesh but after the Spirit

What is the Godhead of this Israel

What the atonement

What .. forgiveness

What .. resurrection

What its Baptism

What its Sacrament

Paul to the CorinthiansAs Written:Cor finally brethren be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind and the God of Love and peace shall be with youII Cor 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

[*]Archival Note: From this point forward, vertical lines have been drawn through each page of text. The order of the remaining text has been transcribed according to handwritten page numbers on the manuscript and not according to the order in which the pages were scanned. Several pages seem to be missing and the next section of text seems to begin mid-sentence.

helped nor hindered by a supposition of what is not . Whence is there something beside Him that is not the counterpart but the counterfeit of his Creator, a sinning mind Not from Him He made all and made man in His own image and likeness Whence is the atom or molecule of matter? Hath attraction and cohesion formed it and what are these forces, laws of matter or of Mind Laws of Mind whose forces are His thoughts and thus consolidating the myriad manifestations and identities of beauty and good into forms and reflections of Life Truth & Love Matter is one of mortal mind's misstatements of Mind a misconception an error declaring against Truth death at war with Life idolatry having other gods evil claiming power and presence . over Omnipotence and Omnipresence. Here observe that mortal mind is a myth since there is but one God one Mind. Mortal feet tread on forces and these forces defy his reason and his strength when misnamed matter or belief saith man shall bow the knee to Belial. error, misnamed mind

For matter to be matter it must have been self created Mind hath no quality out of which to ⇉ Handshift:Calvin A. Frye Matter could created only as the opposite of Mind and this were impossible in science since science reveals Mind, law, Deity and never hides him, or reveals whatAs Written:wha is unlike Him. What is matter ? A suppositional supposition of something besides God, a contradiction of the omnipotence and omnipresence of Mind an inward misconception of what is outward, a material sense of what is spiritual a species of the opposite species etc

Now let us have a clearing up of abstractions let us come into His presence and bow before Him let us name Science where it our reaches our religious sense with conviction and awe. As when we open our heart affections to Truth and Love the Principle of the science of Mind healing and they are found to mould the character to meekness patience self-forgetfulness charity. Now we have found the actual of the science of Mind that casts out evils and heals all manner of diseases and have found it a method of God whereby he declares Himself and never declares Mind through any other manifestation uttered or understood. Now have we the hoary Intelligence that is without beginning and without end the self

[*]Gap: one page.Archival Note: Page 7 of the manuscript would go here, but the page is not extant. Manuscript page 8 begins here instead.

-talking. Now this fancied talk of the five personal senses is hushed the leaven of error being cast out. “The kingdom of heaven”Editorial Note: “Kingdom of Heaven” is used in the New Testament as a synonym for “Kingdom of God”. The coming of the Kingdom of God is a central New Testament theme. is the state of Mind not matter and Jesus said it is already within youLuke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. and taught us to pray “thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as in heaven”Matt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. . We are not to wait or look for death to usher in this spiritual state of existence but find it here and now. Then shall we not need the flesh to inform us of happiness heaven or need die to find it but shall overcome the last enemy, deathI Cor 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. and find the kingdom of heaven nigh even at our door. This is the natural sequence of divine science and divine science is the leaven that leavens the whole lump and which a woman a spiritual idea takes and hides in three measures of mealLuke 13:21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matt 13:33 ¶Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. in our advancing sense of life substance and Mind and it makes them all spiritual and no longer seen as material. The measures of meal are the degrees of Truth and Love that we attain and which feed existence not with the leaven of the Scribes and PhariseesMatt 16:6 ¶Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matt 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Matt 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Mark 8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

[*]Archival Note: Page 9 of the manuscript would go here, but the page is not extant. Page 10 begins instead.perfect in the weakness of a lie it is the kingdom of heaven the leaven of Truth that dropped into this whole lump of sin sickness and death changes them from error to Truth and sorrow becomes joy weakness strength sickness health and "thy kingdom has comeMatt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

A10879
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Copied document link to clipboard.

1st Cor. 10.18.

Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifice partakers of the altar I Cor 10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

All can see the possibility of a spiritual life apart from creeds or ritualism Truth cannot be fixed in a symbol The most perfect human creed is inadequate to represent the divine side of religion namlyCorrected:namely Christianity But Truth can be reached though the heart of an individual before its hasDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy full orbed significance has broken upon the world And because all Christianity giveth Spirit and Life it is perpetually renovating its expression

To behold the Israel after the flesh is to trace without prejudice the material history of religion that a religion whose origin of human opinions and belief and whose birthright is [?] Unclear or illegible  tal thought and brains in mortal man the head and not the heart Through sympathetic error by which is one belief is made to act upon another belif the organ of veneration and is excited to praise and prayer [?] Unclear or illegible  devotion prayer and praise but sweep over the opposite qualities of thought chords of feeling the same subtle influceCorrected:influence and the lips that prayed devoutedlyCorrected:devoutly may are stained with profanity or and blaspheme This is of the Israel after the flesh whose religion has a material origin starts in his brain and as matter and is subject to the different phases of humanity in thought feeling and passions which stimulates its possessor through his cups perhaps tea and coffee but is not stable in all its ways covering with its consecrated robe reaching deep down into the whole being human life of man to healing it of all error sin sickness and death and whose history has well nigh deluged earth in blood This is the Israel to whom our the meek and mighty NazarenCorrected:Nazarene addressed the most scathing eloquence of condemnation a kingdom divided against itself

Israel after the flesh scorning the precept and practice of our Lord and his command Heal the sick cast out devils and preach the gospel to the poor gives the diploma and place of honor to a material rather than the spiritual means of healing and and preaches in lofty edifices and with lordly rentals the socalledCorrected:so-called gospel to the rich The religion formulated of the flesh is rife with a trite triad three persons in one and this one although acknowledged Omnipotent Spirit deemed insufficient in power to do the work of insensate matter

The Arrogant of wealth, the pride of power, and love of self enters largely into a fleshly religion and the Catholic burns the protestant the protestant persecutes the puritan and the puritan ousts the next in [?] Unclear or illegible  heretics of yesterday day are found the martyrs of today

An unspiritual religion has let lose the worst passions of men first in a war of words afterwards to settle questions of slight import on the scaffold or at the stake

The Israel of the flesh has poured human blood in torrents in controversy over the validity or the efficacy of the blood of Christ Until the peaceful Christianity of Jesus that whose baptism was of heaven and not of men and it [?] Unclear or illegible  Israel after the Spirit and not the flesh and gave them this Israel power over the flesh we had no Church built upon his foundations whose builder and maker is God On the Rock of Truth and Love he established his ChuchOriginal:Church no creed no rite but the eternal divinity known by its humanity its healing virtues its power to bless and save And the stone that the builders have rejected the same has become the head of the cornerMatt 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: Luke 20:17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

When was the term Israel given to the child of God who is born not after the flesh but after the Spirit

What is the Godhead of this Israel

What the atonement

What .. forgiveness

What .. resurrection

What its Baptism

What its Sacrament

Paul to the CorExpanded:Corinthians finally brethren be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind and the God of Love and peace shall be with youII Cor 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

[*]Archival Note: From this point forward, vertical lines have been drawn through each page of text. The order of the remaining text has been transcribed according to handwritten page numbers on the manuscript and not according to the order in which the pages were scanned. Several pages seem to be missing and the next section of text seems to begin mid-sentence.

helped nor hindered by a supposition of what is notInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy it. Whence is there something beside Mind and its manifestations in existence form color etc?Deleted by: Mary Baker Eddy Him that is not the counterpart but the counterfeit of its his Creator, a sinning mindInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy Not from Him andDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy for He made all and he made man in His own image and likenessInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy Whence thenDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy is the atom or molecule ofInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy calledDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy matter? Hath attraction and cohesion formed it and whatInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy are these forces, laws of matter or of Mind? They areDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy Laws of Mind whose forces are His thoughts and thusInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy inDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy consolidating forms andDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy theInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy myriad manifestations and identitiesInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy of beauty and good into forms and reflections of Life Truth & LoveInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy What then is matter? The opposite and absence of something therefore properly termed it is nothingInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy Mind being ever present and omnipotent matter is but Matter is one of mortal mind'sInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy misstatements of mind it is errorDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy Mind a misconception and an errorInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy declaring against God againstDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy Truth death at war with Life and TruthDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy idolatry having other gods yea it isDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy evil claiming power and presence despite the all power and everpresence of goodDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy. over Omnipotence and Omnipresence. Here observe that mortal mind is a myth since there is but one God one Mind.Inserted by: Mary Baker Eddy The feet ofDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy MortalsDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy feetInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy mayDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy treadsDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy on forces andInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy these forces defy hisInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy reason and hisInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy strength when he names themDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy misnamedInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy matter andDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy or belief saith man shallInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy bows the knee to Belial. error, misnamed mindInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy

For matter to be matter it must have beenInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy beDeleted by: Mary Baker Eddy self created Mind hath no quality out of which to ⇉ Handshift:Calvin A. Fryecreate it and MatterInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy could created onlyInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy it only as the opposite of itselfInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy MindInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy and this were impossible in science since science reveals God Mind, law, Deity andInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy never hides him, or reveals whaCorrected:what is unlike Him. That which is termed What isInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy matter ?Inserted by: Mary Baker Eddy is but the AInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy suppositional supposition of something besidesInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy God, the aInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy contradiction of the omnipotence and omnipresence of Mind an supposed inward misconception of what is outward, a material sense of what is spiritual a species a of the opposite species etcInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy

Now let us have a clearing up of abstractions where Mind is made manifest and they touch let us come into His presence and bow before Him let us name Science where itInserted by: Mary Baker Eddy our reaches our religious sense with conviction and awe. As when we open our heart affections to Truth and Love the Principle of the science of Mind healing and they are found to mould the character to meekness patience self-forgetfulness charity. Now we have found the actual of the science of Mind that casts out evils and heals all manner of diseases and have found it a method of God whereby he declares Himself and never declares Mind through any other manifestation uttered or understood. Now have we the hoary Intelligence that is without beginning and without end the self

[*]Gap: one page.Archival Note: Page 7 of the manuscript would go here, but the page is not extant. Manuscript page 8 begins here instead.

-talking. Now this fancied talk of the five personal senses is hushed the leaven of error being cast out. “The kingdom of heaven”Editorial Note: “Kingdom of Heaven” is used in the New Testament as a synonym for “Kingdom of God”. The coming of the Kingdom of God is a central New Testament theme. is the state of Mind not matter and Jesus said it is already within youLuke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. and taught us to pray “thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as in heaven”Matt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. . We are not to wait or look for death to usher in this spiritual state of existence but find it here and now. Then shall we not need the flesh to inform us of happiness heaven or need die to find it but shall overcome the last enemy, deathI Cor 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. and find the kingdom of heaven nigh even at our door. This is the natural sequence of divine science and divine science is the leaven that leavens the whole lump and which a woman a spiritual idea takes and hides in three measures of mealLuke 13:21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matt 13:33 ¶Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. in our advancing sense of life substance and Mind and it makes them all spiritual and no longer seen as material. The measures of meal are the degrees of Truth and Love that we attain and which feed existence not with the leaven of the Scribes and PhariseesMatt 16:6 ¶Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matt 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Matt 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Mark 8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

[*]Archival Note: Page 9 of the manuscript would go here, but the page is not extant. Page 10 begins instead.perfect in the weakness of a lie it is the kingdom of heaven the leaven of Truth that dropped into this whole lump of sin sickness and death changes them from error to Truth and sorrow becomes joy weakness strength sickness health and "thy kingdom has comeMatt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 
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From this point forward, vertical lines have been drawn through each page of text. The order of the remaining text has been transcribed according to handwritten page numbers on the manuscript and not according to the order in which the pages were scanned. Several pages seem to be missing and the next section of text seems to begin mid-sentence. “Kingdom of Heaven” is used in the New Testament as a synonym for “Kingdom of God”. The coming of the Kingdom of God is a central New Testament theme. Page 7 of the manuscript would go here, but the page is not extant. Manuscript page 8 begins here instead. Page 9 of the manuscript would go here, but the page is not extant. Page 10 begins instead.