Still,
Emma uses Jesus Christ as the main example in all her works
and classes. Her use of bible quotes is one of her main ways
to support her beliefs and teachings.
Emma
coined the words Religious Science, Divine Science, and
others that are used even today. Her works after the middle
1890s often use the word Science with various qualifiers.
The word Science was prevalent in most of the metaphysical
writings in the middle and late 1800s, as well as today. In
the late 1800s all metaphysical study of healing was called
Christian Science, a term developed by Phineas Quimby around
1850, until Mary Baker Eddy won the sole right to use the
name. There were many names used after that. Many
metaphysical organizations still use the word Science in
their teachings.
Emma
is really clear that matter is not the Reality of God. She
expands on Mary Baker Eddy’s premise that God is the only
reality and everything else is what there would be if God
were not all. This concept is one of the hardest to really
grasp as we live in the physical world and have a hard time
believing this is not the true Reality.
Her
writings are written in a poetic form and have a Victorian
flavor. She uses many examples of demonstrations that have
been experienced by historical figures, many of whom we do
not know much about, today. She also uses many examples of
the physical sciences of the day to convey her teachings and
prove God is all there is.
Emma
seldom named the source of her quotes and never used
footnotes. She figured everyone knew the people and
incidents she quoted. There are fewer of these in the Judgement
Series, making this one of the easiest books of Emma’s
teachings to understand. It seems like it was written at a
level most people can understand. This is also the only book
in which she tells the reader which books contain her basic
teachings and which ones have the deeper teachings. She says
her deeper teachings are in Esoteric Philosophy (WiseWoman
Press will be publishing Esoteric Philosophy in the
near future.)
All
of Emma’s teachings are presented in 12 chapters, or
lessons. Her first six lessons always deal with the human
personality or ego. The last six lessons always deal with
expressing in the world. The first chapter is always “the
thing itself,” or God as all there is. The second chapter
has to do with denying anything that is not the Truth of
God. The third is affirming the Truth. Each succeeding
chapter expands on the Truth that God is all. Her
progression in the lessons is designed to have us train our
personal mind to be the one with the universal Mind of God.
It
is very hard to discern if the works attributed to her were
actually written by her. Shorthand was widely used in the
late 1800s and early 1900s, and many lecturers arranged for
people to take down what they were saying, so most of the
works we have may have been transcribed as she taught
different classes. High Mysticism and Resumé
were most likely her own writings, since she kept updating
them until the early 1900s. She also wrote bible
interpretation articles for the Chicago Inter-Ocean News,
(which Wise Woman Press is in the process for collecting for
future publication). These are the only other writings we
can be sure were actually hers.
Each
of her works is aimed at a different depth of understanding.
The Judgment Series seems to be geared to
understanding what she is teaching at the mental level. It
is one of the easiest of her works to understand and to
follow her particular line of reasoning. This book has never
been in wide circulation and it is my hope it will open the
door for more students to grasp her teachings.
May
Emmas' books
open you to a new understanding of the Truth that God is all
there is and that, as she states, “there is Good for me
and I ought to have it.”
by Michael Terranova
