Article November 30, 1918 Issue

Salvation

EVERETT EDGAR KING

We should begin to work out our salvation now. Mrs. Eddy says on page 39 of Science and Health, "'Now,' cried the apostle, 'is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,'—meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life." We should endeavor to uncover the evil that is already intrenched in our consciousness, and to silence with truth the arguments of error when it attempts to beguile us. We must recognize an error before we can destroy it, and righteous thinking will exterminate it. Spiritual thinking is right thinking and it destroys error, for wrong thinking is all there is to error. Error does not usually submit without a struggle. Jesus said, "How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?" He leaves no doubt, however, about our ability to do this, and some day, as the result of our increased understanding, gained through faithful study and application of the truth as taught in Christian Science, we shall be able to rise to the point where we can say that, like the Master, we "have overcome the world."

There is little doubt but that the old belief in hell as a place into which God casts His children for misconduct, and in which they must suffer everlasting punishment, is fast fading away. Even in human affairs when a sentence for some misdeed is imposed, justice demands that the severity of the penalty should be rated according to the gravity of the offense, and the sentence may be suspended because of reformation and right living. It is inconceivable that a loving Father-Mother God should condemn His children to everlasting punishment for some sin unforgiven, no matter how great or how trivial the transgression, and should impose on them a greater punishment than they would inflict on one another for a similar offense. With what judgment would we condemn an earthly parent who in order to punish his children should subject them, even momentarily, to the flames of a fiery furnace? If hell was not included among the creations of God, which were all pronounced by Him "very good," what is it against which we are warned and from which we are seeking a way of escape?

As we begin the study of Christian Science, we see how error has claimed to be able to implant in the human mentality hatred, jealousy, strife, and revenge, which would make us blunder and fail in our work. We find that catastrophes and calamities are not occasioned by any law of God and that they can therefore be prevented by the application of spiritual law. As we ascend in spiritual understanding we see that disease is the result of thoughts which have been thrust upon our attention by the carnal mind. We find that such thoughts do not arise in man's true consciousness, although error would have us believe that they do.

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