Editorial February 3, 1917 Issue

Christian Unity

William D. McCrackan

However desirable Christian uniformity and conformity may seem as a matter of expediency, it has no real value unless it be the expression of spiritual unity. Outward and visible agreement must be the result of an inward and unseen at-one-ment,—and where can such union have its origin except in a common understanding of God? Individuals holding diverse views about the source of all being cannot possibly unite in their religious faith. To force a fictitious agreement by artificial means can only lead to mock measures of concord, which crumble into discord at the first shock of clashing opinions.

What says the apostle Paul on this point, in exhorting the Ephesians to unity? He plunges at once to the root of the subject when he writes, "There is ... one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all ... till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." This "unity of the faith" is unity of spiritual understanding, and how shall they who have not the understanding of the same God be unified? On page 340 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy has laid down what is virtually a spiritual ultimatum concerning this whole question, when she bases unity in human affairs upon obedience to the first commandment.

Sham unity can indeed be brought about, sometimes by force of fear, sometimes by trickery. In the first case superstition and bigotry play the principal part; in the second, a subtler form of personal tyranny, familiar to all working Christian Scientists, argues naively, Let us all be of one mind, and I will be that mind. But how quickly these pitiful failures disclose themselves, and the need for real union through the operation of the divine Mind urges itself upon human consciousness! A practical instance of Christian unity is afforded today by the reconciliation of Jew and Christian on the basis of Christian Science, as outlined on pages 360 and 361 of Science and Health. "Of old," writes Mrs. Eddy, "the Jews put to death the Galilean Prophet, the best Christian on earth, for the truth he spoke and demonstrated, while today, Jew and Christian can unite in doctrine and denomination on the very basis of Jesus' words and works." The fact that this reunion of the true spiritual Israel is going forward in all parts of the world where Christian Science has penetrated, is the clearest augury for the future brotherhood of man under the one God.

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