Article January 24, 1920 Issue

Come Out and Be Separate

EVELYN SYLVESTER KNOWLES

Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, after making emphatic statements and urgent appeals to overcome the carnal instincts and turn wholly to Spirit, quotes from an ancient writer this command: "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." In his own struggles with and conquests of the flesh, he had proved that obedience to this command is not only a possibility but a necessity, in order even to approach the divine model set forth in the words, "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." It may not be assuming too much, however, to assert that until Christian Science came, revealing more clearly the spirit of both the Old and the New Testament teachings, many of the ancient sayings, including those of the greatest of all teachers, were not spiritually comprehended in their day or ours. The text under present contemplation, for instance, was grossly misapprehended by the early Christians, who felt that to "come out from among them," meant literally to separate themselves from others whom they deemed less consecrated, and depart into places apart, whence no "unclean thing," apparently, could appear to tempt them.

We see to-day, of course, how woefully wrong was their interpretation of this truly wonderful passage. Perceiving only the letter which, according to Scriptural authority, "killeth," they missed altogether the spirit of the command which, according to the same authority, "giveth life." This misconception did indeed kill not only the ability to follow the intent of the Biblical teachings but the moral and spiritual perceptions along many lines, so that apparent obedience to divine commands frequently resulted in the destruction of the sense of morality, and the worst atrocities to which mortal mind is supposed to be heir were committed in the name of obedience to God's commands.

In the passage we are considering, who is commanded to "come out"? And from what is he to separate himself? Is it not mortal man, who is adjured to forsake his false beliefs about God, himself, and the universe? And what is this man? Surely not a material body subject to decay and death. In Proverbs we read that as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." The thought, then, is that which is to be held aloof from all contaminating influences, which is to abide "in the secret place of the most High." And is it not the carnal mind from which he is to "come out," which is "enmity against God," whether manifested through himself or through another? A high light is thrown upon the passage under consideration, by the fervent appeal of our Master in behalf of his precious disciples: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

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