Editorial July 25, 1908 Issue

"THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD."

Annie M. Knott

IT was the great Teacher who to his disciples, when they were slow to comprehend some of his teachings, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God." A modern definition of the word mystery is this: "Something which has not been or cannot be explained; hence, specifically, that which is beyond human comprehension." A noted writer says that it would not be possible for mortals to comprehend the mystery of the divine nature unless some new mental faculties were bestowed upon them, and perhaps it was this that Jesus implied when he said to his students that they could know that which was mysterious or unknowable "to them that are without." When Nicodemus sought an explanation of Jesus' wonderful works, the great Teacher said to him, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." He insisted upon the spiritual birth as indispensable to the knowing of God and the things of His kingdom.

It may be well to note here that the word mystery and its derivatives are used in the Bible in reference to the things of God and also in reference to evil, which seems to counterfeit good at every point; but the most important statements relate to the ideas of Truth which appear obscure to human sense. We find in Paul's writings frequent references to the "mystery of God" and the "mystery of Christ." He was acquainted with the significance of this term to the Greeks, and while he does not hesitate to use it, he makes clear its new meaning in the light of Truth. In his epistle to the Colossians he speaks of "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations," and he makes his meaning plain when he says that it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." He goes on to say that the reason for this revelation of Truth is "that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,"—a lofty hope beyond all question!

When Mrs. Eddy discovered the divine Principle of Jesus' words and works, her statement of the Science of being was received with incredulity by very many. They believed that spiritual things were mysterious and unknowable—quite forgetting Christ Jesus' positive declaration that it is given to his faithful followers to know "the mysteries of the kingdom of God," and that the demand for spiritual faculties, by which the things of God are cognized, is met by the divine supply. In Science and Health we read, "Neither age nor accident can interfere with the senses of Soul, and there are no other real senses. . . . Nothing can hide from them the harmony of all things and the might and permanency of Truth" (p. 214). And be it remembered, these spiritual senses reveal to us all that is real, within or without. That which may seem hidden or mysterious to "the wise and prudent" is revealed "unto babes,"—those who have been born of the Spirit. As we advance farther into the kingdom, the infinite depths of divine wisdom and goodness open up to our gaze, and we begin to grasp the laws of Truth by which every discordant condition may be healed and Life proved the conqueror of sin and death. No longer is Truth a mystery, for in St. John's wonderful vision we read that after "the little book" was opened, "the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."

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