Editorial August 19, 1922 Issue

Charity

Ella W. Hoag

When the translators of the King James Version of our Bible gave us that portion of Paul's epistle contained in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians as an explication of charity, they accentuated a subject of which mortals can never afford to lose sight. While later translators have seen fit to change the term charity to love, they have probably taken nothing away, since love must always include charity; nevertheless, love cannot be understood properly unless charity be demonstrated in all the fullness of its meaning. An ordinary sense of charity has been applied so frequently to the giving of material gifts to those in need, that the broader, fuller understanding of the word has sometimes nearly been forgotten. But even the gifts referred to can never carry much of blessing with them unless they are accompanied with that tender compassion which seeks its own in another's good.

To the Christian Scientist, longing to win his inheritance of the love which is the reflection of divine Love, there are phases of charity which cannot be too earnestly considered. Nothing will tend more to the advancement of the Cause of Christian Science than the correct understanding and practice of that "fervent charity" which, Peter says, "shall cover the multitude of sins." It would sometimes seem, on the other hand, as though Christian Scientists were still being tempted as Faber had been when he wrote:—

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