Article July 11, 1936 Issue

Principle

MAY LILIAN SPURWAY

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 465) Mrs. Eddy has given us seven synonyms expressive of God's divine nature: "Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love." To the beginner in the study of Christian Science the terms "Love" and "Mind" seem often to give the clearest or most intimate sense of God, but each of the seven terms needs to be comprehended, that we may understand the whole nature, or wholeness, of Deity.

The term "Principle" conveys the impression of something very secure and trustworthy. When we think of God as Principle, we see that we can place utter and complete reliance on Him. We see that He cannot be personally swayed, that He works through law, and that His will is done and shall be done and nothing can gainsay it, for nothing can withstand unchanging Principle, which operates through inexorable law. "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" We can, therefore, turn to divine Principle for the solution of all our problems, in full confidence in both the righteousness and the power of God's government.

How high a value Mrs. Eddy sets on the term "Principle" as a synonym for God may be gathered from her words on page 20 of "No and Yes," where she says: "When understood, Principle is found to be the only term that fully conveys the ideas of God,—one Mind, a perfect man, and divine Science. As the divine Principle is comprehended, God's omnipotence and omnipresence will dawn on mortals, and the notion of an everywhere-present body—or of an infinite Mind starting from a finite body, and returning to it—will disappear."

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