Article August 31, 1929 Issue

Law and Government

GEORGE SHAW COOK

IN  the Manual of The Mother Church (p. 28) Mrs. Eddy says, "Law constitutes government." So it is through gaining some understanding of what law is that we can in any degree appreciate what true government is. In its highest sense, law may be regarded as the invariable and orderly manifestation of the divine Mind. Law is the immutable expression of absolute Truth. It is the changeless activity of infallible Principle.

Christ Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." Heaven, harmony, government by divine Principle, does not, then, relate to anything external to one's self, but to thought which is consciously governed by divine Truth. The ideal human government would therefore be expressed in a nation whose individual citizens were governed by divine Principle, a nation in which intelligent good was the animus of all thoughts, words, and deeds. In such a nation, obviously, there would be no need for restrictive or prohibitive laws, because each and all would be fully obedient to divine law, the law of universal Love, the law of perfect liberty. This would indeed be realization of the prayer of our Master: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

The form of government first recorded in the Scriptures was government by God through His prophets—a prophet being one who, in the eyes of the people, received God's messages and spoke in His name. Next, we find the record of government by judges. Later, we read of the government by kings, often chosen by prophets, and to some extent, at least, guided by them. Kings such as David, Solomon, and some others, evidently sought divine guidance in their human affairs.

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