David's sling

[BarbaraW]

It was interesting to me to learn yesterday that armies in David’s time included artillery slingers who were an important and highly effective components, the best very accurate., also that the slings were not slingshots such as we are now familiar with. (Per YouTube)
Presumably David used the same type of sling.

[Michael Pupko]

1 Sam. 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

CSJ Sept. 1889 Christian Science Bible Lesson by Frank E. Mason p.318
In the moment of greatest peril a David appears to free us from the senses’ thraldom. Goliath is the personified expression of one of the five personal senses, a giant who defies the manifestation of the senses supernal. (He was one of five brothers.) These false witnesses must be destroyed by us. We must “work out our own salvation.” Collectively, and using worldly weapons, we are power­less.
p.320
V. 40 : “And he took his staff in his hand,” etc, his support is God. “Five stones ” from the brook. pure thoughts; — Divine logic, — “Out of the brook,” type of the river of life. SCIENCE AND HEALTH the river of Life to humanity. “Shepherd’s bag or scrip,” receptive thought. “Sling was in his hand.” Understanding of Truth. “Hand,” power. “Drew near to the Philistine.” Truth advances on error. To gain eternal life aggressive warfare necessary, until Evil is subdued and its place filled with Truth.
p.321
V. 49: “And David put his hand in his bag,” etc. Divine logic (stone) culled from SCIENCE AND HEALTH impelled with understanding (“sling”) fells to the earth the claim of intelligence (“head”) in matter. Personified expres­sions of evil drop to the earth, shutting out the identity (“face “) of materialism. Deprive evil of its supposed intelligence, and the giants that loom before us will fall. Although evil encase itself with the armor of deception so that the very elect are seduced, yet the forehead is always exposed.

“senses supernal” were discussed last Roundtable appearing in S&H 298:13. An article “The Five Wise Virgins” (CSJ March 1890 p.587) stated it like this: “SHORTLY after I began work in Christian Science, it came to me that the five wise virgins are the five Spiritual senses : intui­tion, hope, faith, understanding, and fruition. SCIENCE AND HEALTH, p. 206, 40th edition”

[BarbaraW]

Your post reminds me that, “The Scriptures are very sacred. Our aim must be to have them understood spiritually, for only by this understanding can truth be gained.” (Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy)
Thank you Michael. I didn’t know the old Journals included anything so exhaustive. Will get back to it now looking for that sacredness.

[Michael Pupko]

Years ago, shuttling family around I had some time waiting for them so after the shopping was done and I had some spare time to use up I’d go to my church and began looking at some of the Journals from the 1800s. I was so amazed at what I found; it was a different language (highly spiritual and to the point) than ‘current day’ writing. When my local CS Society closed, through the grace of God I was able to finagle the bound volumes because we were talking about potentially renting a place to keep our group together and I wanted to preserve the precious volumes for posterity, ironically no one else saw value in them. I remember reading “An Allegory” which I had read in “Prose Works” already and finding it altered in wording so then read them side by side. The meaning was the same but I understood the wordings better in one or the other which I found fascinating because I could understand better what Mrs. Eddy was saying.

Frank E. Mason did a number of Bible Studies that are extremely profound and I concluded from the depth of Mrs. Eddy’s “Genesis” and “The Apocalypse” that he had learned from her how to glean the spiritual import out of the Bible. Now attending Plainfield’s Bible Studies and Roundtables one not only learns a lot from each discussion but also the methods of using commentaries, 1828 Webster Dictionary, and all the other resources to understand better (“Key to the Scriptures”) those spiritual gems as we read on our own.

If one doesn’t have a reading room close by (or if they don’t have the bound volumes anymore since they’re ‘just old’) there are some at different times for sale on Ebay. There is so much incredible spiritual information even if one had only one bound volume I’m sure one could mine it for years and still learn fresh things daily!! Also Longyear Museum has “Arkpublication” computer programs which have the important years 1883 to around 1920. If a limited budget but still want to purchase, buy the earliest ones you can find because Mrs. Eddy was the editor for the first couple years and was better able to pay closer personal attention to content when the movement was a bit smaller:)

[BarbaraW]

As a follow-up to Michael’s first post for those who have access to it I found the following treasure trove:
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSONS
(International Series.)
F. E. MASON C.S.B.
From the September 1889 issue of The Christian Science Journal
Lesson No. 9, … David and Goliath.
Lesson No. 10. … David and Jonathan.
Lesson No. 11. … David Sparing Saul.
Lesson No. 12. … Death of Saul and his sons.
Our source was JSH-Online to which we subscribe for such occasions. Clearly we’ve been missing a lot.
Thank you Michael for both helpful posts and the information about “Arkpublication.”

[Michael Pupko]

Great !! Thanks for mentioning JSH Online, an oversight on my part, if one has that one doesn’t need the “Ark.”

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