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All-inclusive Love
Christian Scientists rejoice that in the teachings of the Bible as interpreted and explained by Mrs. Eddy is found the answer to every problem which confronts mankind. No situation arises which may not be met, no question is asked which may not be answered, through this universal and impartial Truth. Mankind's relation to the universe, to their fellow-men, to the so-called lower animals, to all animate objects, is set forth in a new and better light when it is learned that all God's creatures express Him who is divine Love, and that they possess no qualities, no characteristics, unlike God, who is infinite good. This may at first seem a startling proposition, and one may wonder whence came the so-called bestial qualities which animals commonly manifest; but when it is learned that since all God's ideas reflect His perfect qualities, the animal attributes of ferocity are seen not as real,—that is, of God's creating,—but false, the result of the seeming activity of a so-called mind apart from God, which thinks no more truthfully about animals than it does about man himself.
When one considers how completely divine Science has proved false the mortal concept of man, one readily accepts, and gladly, the inevitable conclusion regarding animals, many of which have become the burden-bearers, companions, and friends of mankind. In one of those sweeping statements which invariably carry conviction to the reader, Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 550), "God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men." Here our Leader has placed for all time the creation of these lesser ideas squarely upon a spiritual basis, utterly refuting the allegation of the material creation appearing in the second chapter of Genesis. The individuality of animals, as well as of men, she saw as perfect ideas, reflecting and expressing divine qualities.
How different become our thoughts toward all creatures, especially toward our domestic animals and pets, when it is recognized that true individuality is a divine idea which is embraced in all-inclusive Love! Surely nothing in God's idea, derived from a perfect source, could be bestial or ferocious. Nothing emanating from infinite good could express aught that is evil, hateful, or harmful. How came these seeming qualities with which animals appear to be endowed? So far as material qualities ever have a cause, they originated in that false, supposititious state of thought which has so presumptuously and persistently assumed to duplicate the divine creator. But should we accord a greater degree of reality to the animal creation and its characteristic qualities than we do to the counterfeit of man and all his material beliefs? Surely not! And when mortals come to see more clearly the true creation, recognizing the creatures of the so-called animal world as human concepts of the lesser ideas of divine Mind, humanity will assume a kindlier and more scientific attitude toward our valued friends, the lower animals. Men will cease to destroy these creatures in the name of sport, and enmity for them will disappear. All-inclusive Love can reflect nothing unlovely. No more can divine Mind reflect nonintelligence. Therefore, as we recognize these cardinal facts, holding to the perfect model, our animal friends will grow apace in loveliness and intelligence. Moreover, it must be perfectly plain that so long as we hold a wrong concept of animals, so long will they seem to be held in the bondage of limitation to the qualities which men have come to characterize as animal.
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August 16, 1924 issue
View Issue-
Rebuke and Explanation
ISRAEL PICKENS
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The Christian Science Heralds
MABEL REED HYZER
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Church Building
MANTON EASTBURN HAMMOND
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The Place of Christian Science in Education
RALPH WALDO SMITH
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Pursuing Peace
ETHEL G. HOYLE
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Spiritual Maintenance
CHARLOTTE PAULSEN
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The Voice of God
CONSTANCE E. HEBER PERCY
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The Abiding Place
EDITH T. YOUNG
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A person acquainted with the teaching of Christian Science...
W. Truman Green, Committee on Publication for the State of Florida,
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The attitude of Christian Scientists toward the law and...
Douglas L. Edmonds, Commitee on Publication for Southern California,
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Under the heading, "Olla Podrida," you published a review...
Hugh Stuart Campbell, Commitee on Publication for the State of Illinois
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The editorial printed in your issue of December 13,...
Harry K. Filler, Committee on Publication for the State of Ohio,
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Under the heading, "What's Wrong with the World?"...
Aaron E. Brandt, Committee on Publication for the State of Pennsylvania,
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Letters from the Field
with contributions from S. Aimée Kern, William Penn
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All-inclusive Love
Albert F. Gilmore
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Cooperation
Duncan Sinclair
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Overcoming Fear of Separation
Ella W. Hoag
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The Lectures
with contributions from Claude A. Carr, Arthur Wilson Eckman, Lutie W. Prutsman, Arthur J. L. Gillard, Lottie Faust, Isobel R. Emerson, Dallas G. M. Bernard, Marshall Stimson
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About twelve years ago Christian Science was brought...
Anna Elizabeth Verleger
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Christian Science has entirely changed my outlook on...
Catherine Reid Dick
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It is certainly a great blessing to know even a very little...
Grace Bromfield Haver
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I feel it a privilege as well as a duty to offer my full...
Homer W. Clark
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I did not come to Christian Science for physical healing,...
Peryle H. Vallmer
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In the early part of 1907, I attended my first lecture on...
Anna Eliza Miller
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The following wonderful experiences of unfoldment...
Charlotte Martin
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To say that I am thankful very faintly expresses my...
Margaret Printup
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Signs of the Times
with contributions from Henry Ford, Marguerite Wilkinson, David Englund, R. S. Loring, William Farwell
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Announcements
with contributions from Trustees Under The Will Of Mary Baker Eddy