Matthew 4:23 narrates the beginning of Jesus’ public life: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.”

Most of Jesus’ demonstrations of which we have any record were for the cure of the sick. It seems that no call came to him from a sincere soul that was not answered. Throughout all of his ministry, he took no credit for himself, always giving glory to he Infinite Presence. He understood that the healing energy of Spirit works from the inside out, from center to circumference, from mind to manifestation. In Divine Science, we call this the Law of Expression.

Jesus told his followers that they could do even greater works if they had faith and trusted (John 14:12). He knew that the energy given to him was ever ready to diffuse itself through all human souls.

The growth of the early Christian movement was remarkable because of the dedication and enthusiasm of its members. Spiritual healing continued in the church as attested in the New Testament Book of Acts and in the epistles. Over a period of time, however, this early fervor diminished, and spiritual healing ceased to be a vital part of Christianity.

“To Heal” comes from the Anglo-Saxon, meaning, “to make whole,” and Divine Science is a spirituality of wholeness. Healing is basic to the spiritual life, because it denotes an awareness of the Christ Mind within the individual. “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32)

The Divine Science practitioner, though he normally becomes skilled in psychology, does not hold himself out to the public as a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, or seer. His business is prayer therapy or spiritual treatment, knowing that prayer is the “key” that unlocks the door, for the student, to God. The living Truth is that which reveals and heals.

Dr. Robert Winterhalter

Tolle, Eckhart; A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose; The Penguin Group, New York, c. 2005, trade paperback, 313 pp., $14.00

A New Earth, and other books by Eckhart Tolle, show a remarkable affinity with the works and sermons of Meister Eckhart, a German mystic of the Middle Ages (1260-1328). Whether Eckhart’s name is a “coincidence,” or whether the modern writer deliberately changed his name to that of the earlier Eckhart, is not known. The earlier Eckhart declared, “der warbeit bekennet, der weiz daz ich war spriche.” Translated from the Medieval German, this means, “He who knows the Truth, know that I am speaking the Truth.”

The same can be said of A New Earth. Eckhart Tolle, as his predecessor, is a strong advocate of spiritual awakening. It is an awakening that he sees as leading to a new earth, meaning a new and harmonious outward expression of spiritual consciousness. This is to be both an individual and a social experience. There is no trace here of the notion of “original sin.” To the contrary, Tolle affirms original righteousness and blessing. As he writes, “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness.” (P. 13)

Focusing on the present moment is central to Tolle’s method. By focusing on the present, we find ourselves focusing on the Infinite Presence. This tends to replace worry over the past and fear of the future, which are the central human difficulties. At the same time, the author says nothing to refute the pragmatic traditions of New Thought, and a good deal to support them, and even to express them in a broader context. For example: “There is a deep interrelatedness between your state of consciousness and external reality. When you are in the grip of a mind-set such as ‘war,’ your perceptions become extremely selective as well as distorted. In other works, you will see only what you want to see and then misinterpret it. You can imagine what kind of action comes out of such a delusional system. Or instead of imagining it, watch the news on TV tonight.” (P. 76, emphasis supplied by the reviewer)

There are great treasures in A New Earth, for those who read this book in earnest. In words that remind one of Emma Curtis Hopkins’s affirmations, but in a far clearer and easier style, Tolle summarizes the Biblical vision of a new heaven and a new earth: “We need to understand here that heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. This is the esoteric meaning of the word, and this is also its meaning in the teachings of Jesus. Earth, on the other hand, is the outer manifestation in form, which is always a reflection of the inner.” (P. 23)

A New Earth has my highest recommendation, both for private reading and for public discussion.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Winterhalter