Editorial July 12, 1930 Issue

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Clifford P. Smith

IN the final analysis, Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Christian Science was a finding of order instead of discord or disorder. It was a finding of order in man and the universe, as determined and governed by "an ever-operative divine Principle." (See Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 123, lines 19-29; page 275, lines 10-24; page 276, lines 12-24.) It is interesting, therefore, that natural science is developing in this direction. "Every year discloses some new orderliness in the universe." So says Professor J. Arthur Thomson of Aberdeen University while writing on "The New World of Science" for the Atlantic Monthly. Professor Thomson holds that the foundation of a stable system of knowledge was made "when thoughtful men discovered that there is no capriciousness in the routine of the physical universe," but he says that many centuries had to pass before it was discovered that "living creatures are also 'under the Reign of Law.' " Mrs. Eddy's discovery, it is to be remembered, applies especially to living creatures. She discovered the law of God in its application to humanity; that is, she discovered divine law as producing harmony in human life.

Professor Thomson's article began with the statement that "from age to age science has given mankind a new world, and the latest newness—which will not be the last—is perhaps strangest of all." For the present, he finds that everything consists of (a) atoms (electrons and protons), (b) electromagnetic radiotrons, and (c) mind. In short, everything consists of electrical concepts or particles and mind. A "new feature of far-reaching importance" he reports as follows: "Thus there is dawning a new view that the whole of life and the whole ascent of life are interpenetrated with 'mind.' ... After a long circuit there is a return toward the old truth: In the beginning was Mind." He continues further: "The largest fact in evolution is the growing ascendancy and emancipation of mind. In this there is great hopefulness for mankind, for who dare say that this evolutionary trend has reached its limit? ... The word ultimate does not occur in the scientific dictionary, and science leaves interpretation to philosophy and religion." These quoted statements are from an author who is in the foremost rank of natural scientists.

Professor Thomson appears to leave one point not stated. He says that mind "cannot be juggled out of matter and energy," but he does not say explicitly that matter cannot be derived from Mind. Apparently, however, unless he intends to leave this point to philosophy or religion, he would not dissent from Mrs. Eddy's propositions (Science and Health, p. 275): "To grasp the reality and order of being in its Science, you must begin by reckoning God as the divine Principle of all that really is. ... Hence all is in reality the manifestation of Mind."

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