Editorial March 14, 1931 Issue

"Proper self-government"

Duncan Sinclair

Under the marginal caption "Proper self-government," on page 106 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy writes, "Man is properly self-governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love." How accurate is Mrs. Eddy's statement is seen when the lives of men are considered. In the world we find many whose lives can hardly be regarded as under divine government. They appear to be subject to a power the very antithesis of good, and to laws—laws of matter—the very opposite of the laws of Spirit, which, as Christian Science teaches, alone are real.

Men are not, then, properly self-governed when they allow themselves to be subject to evil or materiality; they are properly self-governed only when they are obedient to divine Principle and Principle's laws. And when we consider the question in the light of Christian Science, it becomes clear that it is altogether irrational that one should submit to aught but the laws of God. Why? Because, since God is infinite, His laws are the only real laws. To put it differently, God being infinite Spirit, there is no matter and no real material law; and God being infinite good, there is no evil and no real evil law. When men think evilly and act evilly, or when they think and act in obedience to material, so-called law, they are deluded, and seem to suffer accordingly.

In reality man reflects God's government: he is subject only to divine law. This becomes plain when we know that God, Spirit, is infinite and the only lawmaker, and that man is God's image or reflection. It should therefore be normal with men to obey the law of God, good, and foreign to them to become the slaves of that which is altogether unreal—evil and materiality. It is certain that as we are governed by spiritual law, and not by supposititious material law, we cannot be the victims of sin or disease, or even of death. Our Leader writes (ibid., p. 125): "Reflecting God's government, man is self-governed. When subordinate to the divine Spirit, man cannot be controlled by sin or death, thus proving our material theories about laws of health to be valueless."

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March 14, 1931
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