Article March 19, 1904 Issue

Come Out and be ye Separate

ARCHIBALD WINNE.

Throughout the history of the children of Israel we find a conspicuous separation from the customs and practices of other nations, and this was made necessary by their laws and the teachings of their prophets. And so throughout the history of the world down to the time of Jesus the Christ, every person connected in any way with the religious rites and ceremonies of worship, bore some distinctive mark, or abstained from some of the common practices of the people, as a law of separation from his fellow-men. While this meant much to these people, the entrance of our Saviour upon the scene with his teachings and practices so directly opposed to the theological opinions then prevalent, brought with it a separation of another character and type. This teaching called forth from such as the faithful Paul the earnest exhortation, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers," which was followed by the much misunderstood command. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord."

As in former ages, so on down through the intervening years to the present day. the generally accepted sense of these words has been material in its nature, and therefore impracticable. To literally separate ourselves from all others not known and fully recognized as Christians, and to mingle only with those who are, would be at least for the present, a physical impossibility. besides being contrary to the life and practice of Christ Jesus, who was a friend of the publicans and sinners. But, by applying the spiritual intent of the apostolic command, as explained by our Leader in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," we not only have separate thoughts and a new understanding of the Science of being, but we have different views concerning God and man and their relation to each other, a clearer sense of the nothingness of evil and of the nature of prayer. We have a daily experience of the activity of a living Christ, and this continuously develops within us the understanding of Life which is eternal. We have also the convincing assurance of its being the truth in the fruits that follow,—the healing of the sick and sinful through our obedience to this spiritual injunction.

To separate ourselves from the world spiritually and mentally, as taught in Christian Science, may remove from us friends of old who in thought and act made sin and sickness a reality from which the truth has set us free. Should we then hesitate to obey the command, Come out, and be separate from this deadly material thought, even though we may lose to sense those who are bound to us by ties closer than even friendship? Our text-book says, "Christian learners must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command, to come out from the material world and be separate" (Science and Health, p. 451). Jesus says, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul [sense]?"

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