Editorial January 13, 1906 Issue

The Divine Completeness

Annie M. Knott

At the present time, as never before, there seems to be a willingness to permit the fair and free discussion of religious subjects, and this is surely evidence of a deep desire to know the truth. It is true that these discussions are usually along the lines of popular belief, and yet they point to the possibility of reaching something beyond it. No professed Christian can well deny that the truth is knowable. since Christ Jesus has said, "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth;" and the knowing of truth is surely the one all-important consideration for humanity, inasmuch as the great Teacher never intimated that aught else could bring deliverance from bondage. He said "The truth shall make you free."

In the text-book of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy says, "The time is not far distant when the ordinary theological views of atonement will undergo a great change" (Science and Health, p. 24). In fulfilment of this we find the following recent statement by a prominent religious writer: "God never needed to be atoned into love, nor did He ever require from His perfectly holy Son the endurance of unspeakable suffering as a substitute for sin's penalty, for the vindication of His honor or His government." This sentiment, which would have been considered heretical a few years ago, but expresses the "great change" of belief which has come respecting this question. Linked to this, however, is the belief that not only is suffering a necessity of man's being, but that it is inseparable from the divine nature. Such a belief is unquestionable based upon the evidence of physical sense, which does not rise above the material plane. Suffering implies imperfection and has no relation to Spirit or spiritual being, according to Science and the testimony of Holy Writ.

Christian Science teaches that God was and is perfect; that the divine nature is not subject to any evolutionary process by which perfection is reached. The Psalmist says, "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God,"—absolute good. Christian Science does not deny that a sense of suffering attends the human belief in error, whether it be entertained ignorantly or wilfully. until the error is overcome, and it teaches that the overcoming of both sin and suffering is reached only by knowing the truth about God and man; namely, that in God neither the one nor the other can exist. The divine perfection is therefore the glorious hope which Christian Science holds out to those who are struggling to escape from the bondage of suffering, for while suffering may impel the wanderer to seek the Father's house, the abode of Spirit, it can have no place therein. When this truth is scientifically known the atonement is found to be as truly available for all human need as it was in the blessed ministry of Christ Jesus.

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