Article April 15, 1922 Issue

Law

W. K. PRIMROSE

On the first page of "Rudimental Divine Science" Mrs. Eddy has defined Christian Science as "the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony." It is quite right, therefore, for Christian Scientists to consider themselves as "spiritual lawyers." Now spiritual law is revealed in the Bible and in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. In considering this law it is helpful to remember that it is written in Exodus of the two tables of the testimony which Moses brought down from the mount that "the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables;" while Mrs. Eddy, speaking of her works on Christian Science has said (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 311), "I was a scribe under orders; and who can refrain from transcribing what God indites ... ?"

In the practice of law there are two classes of lawyers: the judges, who decide what the law is, and those who argue or plead before them. The two classes have entirely different offices. Those who plead before the judges endeavor to present their cases to them in such a way that the judges will see their point of view as the correct one. The office of the judges, however, is entirely different. So long as the truth is brought out, it is immaterial to them which side wins the case; indeed, the litigants are nothing more to them than names. What the judges desire to know is the truth behind the facts and arguments presented to them. The test of a great lawyer has been described as the ability to place his finger quickly upon the simple question of right or wrong at issue.

Before the teachings of Christian Science were given to the world, mankind regarded God as the judge of the world, and men considered themselves as pleaders before Him. The old theological teachings of "the great day of judgment" were founded on this conception. Not only have these teachings given mankind a wrong concept of God, but they have also caused men to believe themselves separated from God; therefore powerless before Him and almost entirely dependent on His caprice. Fortunately for humanity these crude teachings, which have exercised such a baneful influence on the world, are losing their hold over mankind. In Christian Science God is no longer regarded as a judge after the pattern of men; He is known as the divine Mind, and man as the expression of that Mind. The law governing the universe must be included in that Mind; and this spiritual law determines man's existence as the child of God and insures its continuity.

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