Article December 2, 1911 Issue

SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION

EMMELINE HASKELL.

Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has said, "Take away the spiritual signification of Scripture, and that compilation can do no more for mortals than can moonbeams to melt a river of ice" (Science and Health, p. 241). When we recall the passages which have been most helpful to us in moments of need, it is probable that even those who are not Christian Scientists can testify that such passages have been those whose spiritual meaning was obvious; or, if capable of material interpretation, it was not the material but the spiritual which was helpful.

Many years ago the Bible seemed to the writer to be contradictory, enigmatical, and in many of the well-known parts commonplace. One of the first passages which aroused the suspicion that the fruitlessness of efforts to find good might not be due to a lack in the Scriptures but rather to a lack in the one who was reading them, was that in Hosea, "They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity ... they have left off to take heed to the Lord." At that time the writer had not heard of spiritual interpretation; the Bible was history, and some people called it inspired; a desire to know why they said this, prompted a study of its pages.

These words of the prophet Hosea could not be taken literally, and their spiritual meaning contained a sharp thrust at a long-indulged habit of so contemplating the worldly-mindedness of some professed Christians as to leave no desire for closer fellowship with them, but to "eat up" sins might reasonably have tended to produce mental dyspepsia, which condition would possibly explain why one had been unable, or had "left off to take heed to the Lord," it being impossible to partake at the same time of both good and evil. This reasoning brought about a contrite and receptive state of mind, wherein both the Bible and its professed followers appeared in a new aspect. A resolution was formed to stop looking for difficulties and inconsistencies, if such existed, but to seek if there might be any helpful statements, and if so, hold to them, letting others pass unconsidered.

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