Peggy M. Brook JOHN W. DOORLY and the SCIENTIFIC EVOLUTION
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JOHN W. DOORLY AND THE SCIENTIFIC EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE '. Peggy M. Brook JOHN W. DOORLY AND THE SCIENTIFIC EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE THE FOUNDATIONAL BOOK COMPANY for THE JOHN W. DOORLY TRUST LONDON, ENGLAND First published January 1973 Second Impression May 1993 ©Peggy M. Brook 1973 ISBN 85241-094-8 Printed in Great Britain by Unwin Brothers Limited The Gresham Press, Old Woking, Surrey, England. A member of the Staples Printing Group Author's Foreword It was in 1937 that I came to John Doorly as his secretary at the time when he was still a prominent teacher and practitioner in the Christian Science movement. I had been a pupil in the Christian Science Sunday School of First Church of Christ, Scientist, London, England from the age offive until twenty. Within a year ofleaving Sunday School I had joined John Doorly and remained with him latterly as his assistant-until his passing in 1950. In 1944 I married John Edward Brook, a pupil of John Doorly. He was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and served in World War II; in the same year he flew on a "pathfinder" mission, from which his aircraft never returned. A brief account of how I came to be secretary to John Doorly may help to indicate the impersonal and spiritually impelled origin of our relationship, which was the basis of an increasingly inspiring, close, and very blessed association throughout the thirteen years. Because of difficult relationships amongst the executive in the office where I was previously employed, I had thought of looking for another job. Then it came to me that if there is a Principle of harmonious relationship, it must be operat ing where one is and cannot be found merely by going to some other place or set of circumstances. The principle of arithmetic would not work better in one place than in another, so why should the Principle of being? No sooner had this become clear than the entire picture changed. viii AUTHOR'S FOREWORD unexpectedly in that office and harmony prevailed. It was then that Mrs. Doorly told me of a Christian Science practi tioner needing a secretary and she asked me to go and see John Doorly, who would give me all the particulars. At that time I knew of him only by repute, as a well-known Christian Science lecturer and teacher. He outlined the specific secretarial duties, referring to the requirements of "this practitioner"-never mentioning that he himself was the one involved. Finally he said, "Of course if you want to progress in Christian Science this job would help you to progress more than anything would." As he said this, it seemed as though everything in life was unimportant but Truth and seeking Truth. This was all that was worth while, and I said as much, adding, "So if this practitioner will have me, I would love to take that job!" When Mr. Doorlyasked me if I would like to know the name of the practitioner, I replied, naively perhaps, that it did not matter to me as I felt they were all the same-all equally inspired individuals! To my great surprise he then told me that I had accepted a position as his secretary. In 1939 I had Primary Class instruction from John Doorly, although he never persuaded me to take this step nor felt that he should necessarily have a Class-taught student as his secretary. When he was excommunicated from the Christian Science church organization during the spiritually progressive yet tumultuous years of 1943-1946, I was among the large number who went forward with the growing understanding of the pure Science of Christian Science, for everything within one responded to this new light as being true, basic, living, and essentially loving. It lifted Christian Science out of the concept of being a religious teaching separated from the rest of the world into the realization that it is the univer sal Science of being. Author's Foreword ix From 1945 onwards John Doorly devoted much" time to a deep study of the Bible and I helped him in this spiritual research, and also in the preparatory work for his Talks and Summer Schools and the editing of the verbatim reports which were afterwards published. Today I realize more than ever the value of such an experience and am grateful for it beyond measure. In 1946 The Foundational Book Company was formed and I was one of its directors, remaining the sole director today and trustee of John Doorly's works. I was also an editor of Metaphysical Notes, a periodical started by John Doorly in 1947, and now-together with Rosalie Maas and Ronald]. La Fontaine-am one of the editors of its successor, Ideas rif Today. For the last twenty-five years I have given talks on Christian Science with particular emphasis on the Science of the Bible, publishing several writings on this subject, as well as being engaged in a busy practice from all over the world. In company with many others, I count it as one of the greatest blessings in my life to have been closely associated with this progressive and important revelation of the pure Science of Christian Science. PEGGY M. BROOK 4 I Pelham Court Fulham Road London, SW3 6SH England January 1973 ABBREVIATIONS OF THE TITLES OF WRITINGS REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK THE BIBLE: Gen. Genesis Matt. Matthew Cor. Corinthians Phil. Philippians MARY BAKER EDDY'S WORKS: S. & H. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mis. Miscellaneous Writings Ret. Retrospection and Introspection Un. Unity of Good Rud. Rudimental Divine Science No No and res My. The First Church of Christ Scientist and Miscellany VR = Verbatim Report All books other than the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's writings mentioned in the footnotes are published by The Foundational Book Company Limited, London, unless otherwise indicated. Contents Author's foreword Vll Introduction XIll PART I: THE HUMAN HISTORY Early years I Active service in the Christian Science organization 3 Excommunication from the Christian Science organization 8 The progressive development of Christian Science free from organization 12 PART II: THE UNFOLDING REVELATION OF THE PURE SCIENCE OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE From the Old Testament to the discovery of Christian Science 24- The founding of the Christian Science movement 29 The scientific evolution of Christian Science- the oneness of Being 33 Divine order and spiritual development 37 The revelation of divine order 39 XU CONTENTS The revelation of the importance of the definition of God through the seven synonymous terms- Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love 42 The revelation of Science and system 46 The fundamentals of Science identified (I): the days of creation as "numerals of infinity" climaxed as Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love 49 The fundamentals of Science identified (2): the divine infinite calculus of the Word, Christ, Christianity, and Science 61 Spiritual teaching and numerology 65 A turning-point 69 The unfolding of the whole Bible record-"a thousand years as one day" 75 The four orders of the synonymous terms for God 81 The letter and the spirit 9 I A higher sense of the symbols results in human progress 95 The book of Revelation-a divinely subjective and all-inclusive vision 100 The unfolding of the "matrix" of spiritual calculation 103 Divine Science, absolute Christian Science, and Christian Science II 2 The approach to Science, and Science itself 119 The handling of evil 123 The "Key to the Scriptures" unlocks the Science of the Bible 134 Christian Science practice 153 Scientific obstetrics 169 The wholeness of Science 179 No end to revelation 183 Appendix 188 Introduction The test of any new light of Truth as being fundamental to a subject lies in whether it remains essentially valid, even after the one on whom the light has dawned has left this earthly scene. Another criterion is whether the conclusions he has put forward are in themselves capable of inspiring further revelation in a progressive and ever-expanding way. The contribution made by John Doorly towards the appre hension of the pure Science of Christian Science satisfies both these criteria. Over twenty years have elapsed since his passing, yet what was revealed to him of the basic Science and system of Christian Science, which fully justified this subject being termed science, continues to advance and expand with unceasing confirmation on a universal scale of its truth and its vital import. This book has been written in response to many queries as to who was John Doorly and what exactly was the nature of the contribution he was destined to make to the under standing of the Science of spiritual reality. As with most spiritual pioneers the answer is best found through a study of his own inspired writings, but for the purposes of record, and because what John Doorly revealed of the pure Science of Christian Science constituted a major development in the line of spiritual light, this short history is offered to the reader. The purpose of this work, therefore, is to trace this XIV INTRODUCTION unfoldment of spiritual light and in a way that helps to show the inevitability of the new revelation that is dawning today and will continue to dawn. It is not designed to be a detailed biography or to glorify any person. For this reason Part I (The human history) is comparatively short, whilst Part II (The unfolding revelation of the pure Science of Christian Science) comprises the greater portion of this book. Mary Baker Eddy was the discoverer and founder of Christian Science.