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JAINISM, CHRISTIANITY & SCIENCE
fore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."-Matt. xix. 5-6.
Similar difficulties arise with respect to dispossessing oneself completely of all wealth, as enjoined in the Bible.
"Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me."-Matt. xix, 21.
This cannot be done ordinarily: witness the failure of Ananias and Sapphira to dispossess themselves of their wealth.
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The layman cannot also afford to give away his overcoat to every one who lays a claim to his coat, nor turn the other cheek every time that he is hit on one side of his face. These injunctions are really meant for the saints on the higher path, and for only the most advanced of the men in the householder's stage. But we know that it was distinctly said in the Bible, as an explanation of all these shortcomings,
"If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? "John ii. 12.
The proper rule of observance for the novice has already been stated in one of the quotations, and it is this: One should acquire the right faith and then adopt as much of disciplinary conduct as he can. If the faith has enlivened him from within and is working in his heart, very very soon he would himself long to adopt more and more of the purifying discipline, and would soon gird up his loins to face suffering.' The one golden rule of conduct is this: Avoid both shirking and overstraining.
The soul being immortal, the amount of good work
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