Editorial April 2, 1932 Issue

Soul

Clifford P. Smith

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, had as an essential part of her great work to find the best terms with which to express the Science of being. In particular, it was essential that she should choose and employ the best terms for defining God, for distinguishing God from man, and for indicating the relation between God and man. Moreover, she was obliged to consider words already in use for these purposes, and to make her meaning clear to all kinds of readers. Then, too, it was natural that she should give preference to Biblical terms, for the Bible had directed her to Christian Science.

In this situation, one of the terms evidently to be considered was the Biblical word "soul." It occurs in the Bible as having at least three meanings: it occurs as meaning God (Lev. 26:11; Isa. 42:1), as meaning a person, and as meaning a particular part of a person. Jesus used this word as meaning his self (Mark 14:34; John 12:27) and as meaning any person's self (Matt. 11:29; Luke 21:19).

As a close student of the Bible, Mrs. Eddy must have noticed these uses of the word "soul"; and as an observant person, she must have heard and seen it in current use as meaning specifically the subject of damnation or salvation. This usage, also, is to be found in the Bible (I Pet. 2:11; Hebr. 10:39). It is to be presumed, further, that she was acquainted with the current use of "soul" as a synonym for life, mind, and spirit. Briefly stated, these were the circumstances in which Mrs. Eddy had to consider and decide what to do with the word "soul" in her statement of Christian Science.

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Editorial
Gain and Loss
April 2, 1932
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