FAIR INTERPRETATION

W. A. BOSWELL

Gratitude for the fresh light that is thrown on the Bible by Science and Health, is often expressed in our churches; and the following account may help to show the wider and more reasonable way in which people learn to read the Bible after becoming interested in Christian Science.

A relative of mine who had been brought up in a very strict Calvinistic family, where the sinfulness of all amusements and the terrors of eternal damnation were constantly emphasized, had often discussed with me the question of future life. The possibilities for further growth, increased activity, and a larger hope, heard of in later life, were, however, generally overshadowed by the early teaching, together with haunting dread that, instead of heaven with its possibilities of increased good, hell with all its appalling accompaniments might be her ultimate destination. One text particularly filled her with apprehension, and she had often mentioned it, saying how terrible it was to think that our Lord might say to her, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity;" for if he said this to some who had "done many wonderful works" in his name, how could those who had never done any wonderful works feel sure that they would not be dealt with in the same way, even though they might have been doing what they thought was right.

Shortly after I had become interested in Christian Science, this lady spoke to me on the subject; but this time, instead of accepting her interpretation of the passage as correct, I looked up the original and found, much to my surprise, that the whole lesson was on the importance, the absolute necessity, of doing the works of Christ instead of talking about them. Beginning with the statement, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven," down to that which says that he who does the works is likened to a man who built his house on the rock, and the man who does not do the works is compared to some one who built on sand, this teaching is made clear; and as one reads it carefully it becomes evident that those were condemned who merely made professions, who said they had done all these things, but who in fact had never done them.

I suggested this interpretation to my friend, who acknowledged that it was reasonable, but somewhat anxiously inquired what authority I had for it, evidently wishing to be assured that it had come from an orthodox source. When I confessed that I could not quote any authority, she was a little apprehensive, but finally the reasonableness or inherent truth of the explanation satisfied her, and the text never troubled her again; that particular difficulty, and to her it had been a very real one, was in fact "healed."

This lady had lived practically all her life among earnest church people, some of them "men of light and learning," and she had no doubt discussed this problem with them, but it had never previously been cleared up: a fair inference being that her clerical friends read the text in the same way that she did. That her interpretation is still current among ecclesiastical dignitaries in England is cvident, because a short time ago a lady, very young in Christian Science and very ardent, was (most unwisely) arguing with an archdeacon, but was, as she said, "dumbfounded" when he quoted this text to establish his contention that the moral and physical healing effected through Christian Science was no proof of the truth of its teaching, and that those who turned to it would no doubt find themselves included among the "workers of iniquity." This ecclesiastic's use of the text seems a fair instance of the way in which isolated passages are made use of to try to establish some doctrinal point, without considering the context and apparently without the slightest attempt to grasp the essential part, the moral or spiritual meaning which we are taught in Christian Science to look for so earnestly.

This essential spiritual meaning is what the "Key to the Scriptures" has unlocked, and it has thus restored "the glorious gospel of Christ," the "good news" of the coming to the human consciousness of the right idea of God, of Life, Truth, and Love, and of man as His image or reflection.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

"THE DISFIGURED PICTURE"

October 24, 1908

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit