Editorial January 29, 1910 Issue

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Annie M. Knott

The third commandment reads: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." The reason for obedience to the commandments is given in their prelude, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." It is therefore evident that, in order to escape further bondage, the freedom-bestowing power of divine law should be recognized; it is also evident that obedience thereto is "for our good always." To this end Paul admonishes us: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." To this he adds, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh;" which surely means that if we walk in the Spirit we shall fulfil God's law, for not otherwise can we do so.

In Christian Science we have an ever-broadening sense of the meaning of the commandments, and their application to all the problems of life. Time was when the third commandment was regarded by many as mainly a prohibition of profanity, and thus viewed its deeper significance was overlooked. People who did not swear were apt to justify themselves on the ground that they did not take God's name in vain, and thus they missed the blessing which intelligent and whole-hearted obedience invariably brings. Moses warned the Israelites against the tendency to cling to the errors which hindered their progress. He said, "Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you." He then explained to them that these people had been driven out because of idolatry, and that the Israelites need not expect to possess the land unless they loved and served God with all their heart and soul and might. It therefore rests with us to do this and no less,—to do nothing which would make us "forget" even momentarily our obligation to serve God, not mammon.

As Christian Scientists we have covenanted with Truth to turn away from materiality, its false pleasures and allurements,—"to abandon as fast as practical the material, and to work out the spiritual which determines the outward and actual" (Science and Health, p. 254). If we do less than this, can we honestly claim that we are obeying the third commandment? If we are living upon the same plane of worldliness that we did before the truth came to us, what proof can we offer to the enquirer that our religion is a purely spiritual one? Our revered Leader says, "Better the suffering which awakens mortal mind from its fleshly dream, than the false pleasures which tend to perpetuate it" (Ibid., p. 196). The pursuit of worldly pleasure has been the chief hindrance to the advance of spiritual religion, and while its votaries may claim to be followers of Christ, it may be asked whether they are not serving false gods and thus taking God's name in vain. It surely needs all the spirituality we can attain to heal ourselves and others, and to gain perfect freedom from the bondage of sin, disease, and death. This being true, it is well to ask ourselves if a divided allegiance is worth while; if we can claim loyalty to God by seeking the aid of Spirit in our sickness, while we seek our happiness in material things?

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