Article July 17, 1937 Issue

Forgiveness

ELIZABETH CROUSE

Christ Jesus , the strongest and the gentlest man that ever lived, gave his followers a new doctrine of forgiveness. He said, "Love your enemies, ... that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good."

This was a hard doctrine to his people. It has been a hard doctrine to Christendom, which, as a whole, has appeared ever since to try to evade it. Throughout the last two thousand years there have been "wars and rumours of wars," and bitter personal conflicts, even among those who have adopted the Christian religion. Men and nations have been mesmerized by fear, by hate and revenge.

The Master's command to his disciples, "Love one another; as I have loved you"—your associates, your friends, your fellow believers in Christ, Truth—might be measurably obeyed. But to obey the command, "Love your enemies," may seem to be beyond human accomplishment. Love, men say, cannot be forced, though they admit that it can be cultivated through understanding. But how can we love what we know to be wrong. How can we love what is unlovely and unlovable? Christian Science sheds a new light upon this problem.

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