Editorial September 26, 1931 Issue

Divine Law

Clifford P. Smith

For the comprehension of the Science of all things, one of the most important subjects to be understood is divine law. This subject is particularly important for comprehending the application of divine provisions to human interests. And dependent on this application is all that actually contributes to the best interests of mankind.

In the larger dictionaries the word "law" has from ten to fifteen meanings, but most of them can be compressed into the following three. In the Bible, this word often means the Mosaic religion, the religion of the Old Testament. "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Hebrews 7:19). In common usage, the primary meaning of "law" is an established or prescribed rule for human action and human rights. In scientific and philosophic usage, this word means an observed principle for natural phenomena; a rule of or for the universe; a correct statement as to the invariable occurrence of particular phenomena in the same way under the same conditions throughout the universe.

When Christ Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32), he declared a divine law, an invariable sequence. You shall know the truth—the absolute truth concerning any situation that seems to involve error or evil—and the truth shall make you free from it. The Master also taught that one person can help another in this way. So, Mrs. Eddy, as the Discoverer of his Science, formulated a correct statement on this point in these words: "And if the healer realizes the truth, it will free his patient" (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 13). Like the Master's statement, these quoted words also express a divine law, an invariable sequence, a rule for the universe.