East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1921-05-04


not nm object All objects are effects.
not cause, Therefore God can not
properly be vorshipped as an object
Tho infinite Creator could not be q
creation, the first Cause could not De
Ia thing Nerce God could not .he q
form, however large, For the samr
reason God could nos be a person in
amy l,mited sense OF % form on Cu,liue.
VI popular theology conceive God to
be person in the sense OF form or
cut the, it Ghaadoas thg thought hat
God is omnipgesont, for it is impos-
sihle to conceive Of a form as omni-
present Nevertheless God Is infinite
presence and power. equally and in
stan. V eV": ywnerc. Cod can tn u Oc
considered as person IN the sense of
infinite Person only, the one Being or
Cause. Cause in its Wlujst sense Is
Principle. Mrs Eddy discerneG that
everything that really exists has
Cause or Principle. This Principle
lprpGuCes and controls the object. this
Principle "ives to its object both func-
ltion and identity, it is TO he found Al
vavS IN the presence Of its object and
/ IS inaeparahle from it. The wonder
Of Christian Science is that as one
grdsps the fact that God is divine
Principle, one loses the false belief
| that'He is an object, yet gains the
sense Of His nealness. His everpres
ence. As it becomes clearer that God
| is a God at hand enc can reach out
ana utilize His power. Because He is
! i'riuCiplo, God becomes ava.lab'e for
ones needs, hence the ability of Chris
tiau Scientists to demonstrate God
DIVINE UNITY or GOD AND MAN.
Mrs. Lddy's employment of the
word Principle fer Deity aroused in
! evitahle dissent from those whose
thought included only finite concept
of Principle as one of number of
| material laws and forces. secondary
an derived. yet she boldly proclaim.
ed Goo to be Principle. She recog-
ni,ed Cause without effect to he inn
possible, and so she concluded that
God without His creation, man an,l the
uniS erse, would be irpossible. There
fore fully descriptive term for Deity
must convey also the thought of Gods
handiwork. Principle. as it is used by
Mrs Eddy. includes both Cause and
effect, both God and man.
Very early in the chapter Recapitu-
( lation, ir the Christian Scierce text
book Science and Health with Key tc
the Scriptures, page 46j, Mrs. Eddy
has asked and answered question
which fully expresses tie basis of true
science, theology and medicine Th,
question reads. us there more than
one Mind or Principla?" TIE answer
follows, "2'here is NOT. Principle and
its idea is one. and this one is God
ompipotent, omniscient, omnipresent
Being, and His reflection is man and
the universe" If God is omnipotent
if He possesses all power He must be
that power Itself. otherwise there
would be q, source outside Himself
from, which to derive His power. Paw
says; There is no power but of Cod
(Rom. 1910 If God is omnipresent
and He must be everywhere, for He is
the infinite One. then He must be the
eternal presence. Where shall | flee
from Thy presence" cried the Psalm,
ist. If God is omns2ient, if He know,
all, He mist Himself be the infinite
Mind. Job declared: He is In on,
fmind dob 23:13.) God is thus the
one Being or Principle, who is the ONLY
power, the only presence, and the ONLY
Mind
Mrs, Ejdy's exposition of Cod Il
be Principle brings to the student the
recognition of God and man INSOFAR.
able and the unity of God and mar
! becomes to him a vivid reality. Ht
realizes why Christ Jesus so boldly as
serted: Il and my Father are one, 49,
one as Father and Son, one as Cause
and effect, one as Mind and idea
Failing to comprehend Mrs. Eddy''
use Of the word Principle. some critic!
might at this point cry: "Ah. Mrs
Eddy is a Pantheist!" let us see
Pantheism, simply stated, is the teach
ing that God is quantitatively His crea
ton, that God and creation are syn
onyms that God is everythin.
and everything is Cod" It is to b,
admitted that many religious beliefs
some under the banner of Christianity
do so defy things, and evena man, fol-
do not some teach that Jesus the mar
was God? Does Christian Scienc,
properly come within such category
Emphatically, no. Christian Science
alone of all the denominations teach.
es the oneness, plus the distinctness
of God and man. Is it not clear thai
an idea is the product of Mind? Tt /.
the result Of creation, of the function
ing of Mind. Now an idea is not Mind
nor is there quantitatively any part OF
Mind in an idea. If Mind were ouan.
titatively in its ideas. Mind would de.
plete itself by thinking. Qualitatively
Mind is in its idea, and the idea Is al
ways in Mind. Can you imagine ar
idea outside of Mind. a mindless idea
any more than an idealess Mind
Neither is possible. Then does it not
become luminous what Paul meant
when he quoted: For in Him we live
and move and have our being" thus
expressing the unity of God and man
Paul disposed of the shallow charge of
Pantheism by adding: For we are
also His offspring" thus stating the
Idistinctness of God and man. Paul
knew that critics would say, HE is a
Pantheist, he teaches that we live and
move and have our being in God, that
man 10 part of God" How con-
clusively Paul refuted this accusation
by the declaration: For we are also
His offspring and how divinely guild
ed was Mrs. Eddy when she made
plain the oneness and yet the distinct
ness of God and man by the use Of
Principle and Mind as synonyms of
Deity.