Article July 12, 1919 Issue

God's Omnipresence

SAMUEL JOHNSTONE MACDONALD

The word omnipresence does not occur in the Bible; the thought, however, pervades the entire volume. Although the word itself is not there the doctrine of God's omnipresence not only is implied throughout both Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures, but is also expressly and unmistakably taught in many passages of great vigor and force. One of these is so well known and so frequently quoted as to be almost a household word in every Christian community. The exalted spiritual insight expressed in the one hundred and thirty-ninth psalm, the fearless faith, and the boldness and felicity of expression have made it one of the precious jewels in the Christian's treasury. It is needless to cite further evidences of the Scriptural basis for the doctrine of the omnipresence of God, for both the Jewish and the Christian world are agreed upon this article of faith. They may vary in their views as to the manner in which God's omnipresence is manifested, but the spiritual fact itself is admitted by all. The student will find indeed that both Jew and Christian are extremely vague and uncertain in their views as to the methods of the manifestation of God's omnipresence; that they have made little if any effort to reach a scientific exposition of the subject, rather regarding it as beyond the domain of science; and that this doctrine has never been accorded the practical value in their daily lives which its vital nature and infinite importance demands.

Mrs. Eddy, with her clear spiritual insight, could not fail to see the immeasurable practical importance, yea, the absolute necessity, of a working understanding of this article of faith, and accordingly she has so explained, amplified, and illumined the subject in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" and her other writings as to make it practicable and available in the daily affairs of human life. This is one of the many particulars which make the indebtedness of Christian Scientists to Mrs. Eddy so vast and their daily growing appreciation of her labors so boundless. It is because of her patient scientific elucidation and demonstration of this great subject that Christian Scientists are now able not only to understand to an intelligent degree what has hitherto been little more than a vague, unexplained theological theory, but also to go farther and prove it to be a practical, potential possibility in daily life. This doctrine is thus redeemed from "things remote from use," referred to in the counsel of heavenly wisdom given by the angel to the pair evicted from Eden, as told in "Paradise Lost"

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