Editorial June 25, 1932 Issue

Overcoming Idolatry

Duncan Sinclair

It is possible to hold a very narrow concept of idolatry, as when one limits one's view of it to the worship of idols made of some material substance. That form of worship is indeed idolatry; but the term is far more comprehensive in its meaning, since according to Christian Science it actually embraces belief in more than one God, in more than one creator, in more than one creation. Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 535): "Divine Science deals its chief blow at the supposed material foundations of life and intelligence. It dooms idolatry. A belief in other gods, other creators, and other creations must go down before Christian Science."

There is one God: the First Commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." And God is infinite Spirit, or Mind. He must therefore be acknowledged as supreme; as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. Is not He, then, the living and true God, alone worthy of our worship? What an understanding is this, to be aware that God is ever present, all-powerful, all-knowing! Can we but marvel at the revelation which has brought such truth to light? And when we realize that God, the omniscient One, is Love, we marvel all the more. The truth is that now and always, here and everywhere, there is only one real presence, the presence of divine Love. How holy is God!

Since God is infinite Mind or Spirit, what must be the nature of His creation? It must be like Himself—spiritual; for God, or Mind, expresses Himself in ideas. Does this mean that Mind and Mind's ideas alone are real? It does; and it also implies that what men call matter does not exist as reality. The universe of spiritual ideas alone is real; the material universe, so called, is altogether counterfeit, altogether false or illusory, altogether unreal. As the allness of Spirit and the counterfeit nature of matter are understood, there is established a sure foundation for the worship of God and the abolition of idolatry in all its forms.

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June 25, 1932
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