Editorial November 16, 1912 Issue

IDEAS AND SYMBOLS

Annie M. Knott

It sometimes happens that when a student of Christian Science places emphasis upon the spiritual sense of a passage of Scripture, the listener concludes that he therefore denies or ignores the literal sense of the statement in question. To do this would, however, be to ignore Mrs. Eddy's teaching on the subject of Scriptural interpretation. She says, "The divine Science taught in the original language of the Bible came through inspiration, and needs inspiration to be understood" (Science and Health, p. 319). This being admitted, we may well pause and take off our shoes before venturing to express an opinion as to any passage of Scripture. On page 320 we read: "The most distinguished theologians in Europe and America agree that the Scriptures have both a spiritual and literal meaning;" to which is added the statement that "the one important interpretation of Scripture is the spiritual." We must not, however, lose sight of the fact that in Science infinite Mind is represented by "its infinite manifestation" (p. 468).

In the tenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians Paul presents the experiences of forefathers in the wilderness in a metaphorical sense when he says that "they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." This should not, however, be taken as a denial of the literal correctness of the history of the Hebrews as in Exodus, to which reference is often made in the New Testament. It will, however, be observed that Paul subordinates the literal sense to the spiritual, and makes the outward manifestation of the rock symbolize the spiritual idea, for the literal rock did not follow the people in their journeyings, but the real Rock, the Christ-idea, was ever with them, though this was too often forgotten, even as it is today.

Another example of symbolic presentation of the truth is found in the epistle to the Galatians, where we are told in a somewhat abrupt way that the story of Abraham's two sons is "an allegory," a statement which might be taken as a denial of the fact that these sons, Ishmael and Isaac, had ever had a place in human history. It is, however, certain that Paul had no intention of teaching any such thing, but he saw the necessity for wresting the spiritual lesson from every circumstance, and to do this effectively the material sense must give place to the spiritual fact, of which the outward circumstance is at most but a symbol. It is true the material sense rebels against the acceptance of the spiritual fact, and for this reason denies the healing done in Christian Science. By this logic, all the wonderful works of the Master might be denied,—the feeding of the multitudes, the stilling of the storm, the healing of "all manner of sickness and all manner of disease," and his own glorious overcoming of death and the grave.

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