Editorial February 9, 1918 Issue

Herod Circumvented

William D. McCrackan

An interpretative study of the Bible which is designed to be of assistance in our own time must necessarily treat the characters therein depicted as types. There are Herods to-day, walking and talking and ruling others. They need to be known to be made harmless. When the contest is on between the spiritual idea and its supposititious opposite, then Herod steps upon the scene to try to murder the right lest it dethrone him from his rule of wrong. As a type, Herod represents the pitiless tyranny of a one-sided humanity, which seeks to slay all the male children because it desires to destroy all power except its own, and has no perception that the female child can ever grow to exercise power. His ruthless reign of mere physical might despises the qualities of love, tenderness, and compassion manifested by the Christ and seeks to perpetuate his tyranny through brute force.

Herod was interested in the tale of the wise men solely because they spoke of the Messiah as the "King of the Jews," not because his birth was heralded by a star of spiritual rejoicing. Baffled by the silence of the wise men he let his murderous frenzy hurl itself upon the youngest of the little children of Bethlehem and "the coasts thereof," while the child Jesus was carried by his parents in safety into the land of Egypt. It is sometimes necessary, in order to baffle the mental assassin, to withdraw into the sheltering twilight of the unexpected place. Herod does not typify the subtler serpentine propensities of educated evil, his is rather the heavy hand of hate and fear grasping its prey in order to crush a supposed competitor. Then when the exquisite beauty of the Christ, Truth, is unfolded to the Christian Scientist, and its effulgent glory penetrates the veil of his human consciousness, there is a duty to perform. The revelation of Truth must be protected, for the star shines above it and might betray it to an avaricious Herod hearing the report of the wise men. Mrs. Eddy writes on page 565 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "Led on by the grossest element of mortal mind, Herod decreed the death of every male child in order that the man Jesus, the masculine representative of the spiritual idea, might never hold sway and deprive Herod of his crown. The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but 'of his kingdom there shall be no end,' for Christ, God's idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples—imperatively, absolutely, finally—with divine Science."

The prospect of real peace is revealed as dependent upon the reign of "Christ, God's idea." This peace can become a part of every one's experience now who accepts the Christ, Truth. It is to be earned individually until such time as the collective consciousness willingly submits to the blessed rule of divine Science. For the present much protection against would-be Herods is necessary until the nations are ready to take this step. The spiritually minded are upon the watchtowers of Jerusalem guarding the city against the surprises of mortal mind's ruthless warfare; they forewarn the Marys and Josephs of to-day of the need for fleeing into Egypt with their precious charges, the right ideas which are born to them of spiritual travail.

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