Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-26
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
CONCEPT OF DEITY
Necessary to Clear Ground of Ideas Falsely ASSO.
Ciated with Supreme Being Before One Gan
Point Way to Practical Understand
ing of His Nature
BY GEORGE H MOORE


judgment The far-reaching cruelty of
this teaching is In its hopelessness, in
it's assumption that Gods attitude to-
ward men, that is, His judgment OF
men, is retrlbutive and spectacular,
consigning men to an irrevocable des-
tiny of bliss or Of suffering according
to their blind stumbling or their palsied
indifference or bravadO during a few
ill-guided years. The fear of God and
the fear of death, which so harries hu-
man life, find perfect justification in
this teaching, for death means to the
individual, who accepts this theory,
peremptory closing of all opportunity
and summons him to an ordeal which
would be a travesty on justice and
betrayal of his legitimate trust in Gods
love- Christian Science destroys this
fear of God and fear of death, by eX-
posing the falsity of this harsh concep-
tion of divine justice. 1t teaches that
divine Judgment is purely redemptive
and never retaliatory; that the door of
opportunity is never closed, here or
hereafter; and that death is but an
! incident of human belief, utterly pow
erless to shut man out from Gods s
| love.
This Love, Christian Science asserts
to be absolutely irresistible and that
1t cannot by any means be deprived of
it's object. 1t declares that divine Love
cannot lapse into Indifference or be
transmitted into vengeful hate, nor
can his kingdom be divided. AS a re-
| ligious body, Christian Scientists as
sumo no precedence in extolling Gods
love as comprehensive of all men. They
go much further, however, in asserting
| that divine Love is even now an avail
able human resource, in which men
may find cure for every ill that besets
their thought, and so finds expression
| in their lives.
Attracts True Metal
In material terms. the operation of
divine Love may be illustrated by the
action of the magnet, which attracts
to itself and endows with its own
power particles of true metal but
shows neither attraction nor recogni-
ton of their encumbering dust. The
divine judgment as a proclamation
of the right" involves of necessity the
rejection of the wrong, including every
thing that would defile or distort Gods
perfect creation: but it rejects no in
tegral part of that creation. Divine
| judgment separates men from sin; and
| sin thereby exposed as unreal, untrue,
and having no part in Cod man, or the
universe, is destroyed. The traditional
concept of divine judgment often tends
to make of human life daring gam
BILE with sin and repentance, based
on the hope that repentance may pre-
cede death and so cheat sin of its
penalty An understanding of Chris
| tian Science quenches the desire for
sin by showing that suffering is con-
current with sin, and that sin in
vents and applies it's own torment. The
| divine Judgment is to be interpreted
not so much as Intervention in human
affairs TO arrest guilt and TO reward
virtue as it is prevention, leading us
into apnreciation of Gods kindly pro-
Saplyinp his WaVS. one
seeks readiustment of ones thought TO
his law and so finds redemption from
the chaos Of material and of evil think
ing Divine judgment is therefore
never to be feared as an ordeal, but
| is to be eagerly anticipated and de-
sired as a return of consciousness to
its spiritual birthright and dominion.
In Awe of Power
Physical science has not yet declared
Alright that mysterious force called
| gravitation, which holds the earth to its
orbit and l .aintains its rhythm with the
rest of the universe. The best that man
has vet done is to stand in awe OF the
marvellous reach of it's power and to
rest in it's security. But the astrono-
mer's story of the evolution and control
of the physical universe through the
operation of omnipresent force is but
poorly worded Interpretation of the
all-encircling unity and power of Di-
vine Principle, which holds not only the
stars to their courses, but guarantees
to all Gods ideas their security in His
love and care. This ever-present love
manifests itself in ever new avenues OF
light revealing His power in multi
! tude of ways, according to the impulses
| of humanitys varied needs. To the
Christian Scientist, God is in very deed
a guardian presence. satisfying every
human need, filling thought with conf
| dence and -ood cheer, and opening up
a vista of spiritual understanding and
dominion which is without parallel and
without limit.
The Christian Science concept of God
is scientific, because within the ever
widening range of human experience it
is verifiabl.- true; because it is well
ordered Knowledge" gained through in
teligent appeal to Principle: and be-
cause it robs error Of it's seeming real
ity and assumed power AS individual
thought broadens to grasp the majes
tic sweep of divine revelation, and as
thereby human conscience more and
more closely reflects the divine, the true
| concept of God, that is of life, directly
and inevitably manifests itself in more
orderly, more sane, more healthful and
more efficient living. The practical
efficacy of the teachings of Christian
| Science is the sufficient confirmation of
their truth, and of its discoverers Sc
cure place in history as one of the
worlds greatest benefactors.
! Human theories may continue to
come and go. Human PHILOSOPHERS may
continue TO battle among themselves
for a supremacy which can never be
won. The only unity of thought pos
sible to mankind is the unity already
existing in the divine Mind. AS the
years go On all humanity evolved sys-
TENS of thought must lay down their
arms before divine revelation, the one
unerring pource of truth.-From The
Arena.