Editorial January 9, 1926 Issue

Divine Compassion

Duncan Sinclair

The compassion of God is frequently referred to in the Old Testament. The Psalmist speaks of it thus in the eighty-sixth psalm: "But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth;" and again, in the one hundred and eleventh psalm: "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion." But this view of God as compassionate was often held along with the belief that He was revengeful, that His wrath could be kindled, and that He could destroy as well as save. Strange have been the contradictory beliefs held of God, the perfect One; stranger still, that many retain them even in these our own days.

Now, as Christian Science teaches, God is Love, infinite and perfect Love; also, God is good, infinite good. There is therefore no trace of the opposite of Love, or good, in God. Consequently, and because God is infinite or all-inclusive, what men call evil has no reality. And if evil be unreal,—or if, in other words, there is no evil,—there in reality can be no need for divine compassion. What, then, does it mean to say that God is "a God full of compassion"? Christian Science gives the answer.

While Christian Science teaches the truths just referred to, it takes account of the fact that mortals believe in the reality of both good and evil, and that as a result they suffer all manner of ill effects. Thus, suffering of every kind, be it due to sickness, sorrow, or sin, is caused by the belief that there exists a real power, the opposite of good, called evil. The position then is that, speaking absolutely, good alone exists, but from the human point of view evil also seems to exist, working havoc among mortals. It must not be lost sight of that since God is infinite good, He knows not of so-called evil, for it does not exist as reality. The human problem, however, seems to exist and to persist; and because of it mortals are ever turning Godward, seeking the solution of their difficulties, healing of their diseases, forgiveness of their sins, respite from their sense of lack. But since God knows not of evil in any form because it is unreal, how, again, can He be compassionate, pitiful, merciful, gracious to suffering humanity; how can He heal humanity of its distresses? Mrs. Eddy throws wonderful light on the situation, dissolving the seeming mystery, when she writes in "Unity of Good" (p. 18): "God says, I show My pity through divine law, not through human. It is My sympathy with and My knowledge of harmony (not inharmony) which alone enable Me to rebuke, and eventually destroy, every supposition of discord."

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