Editorial August 14, 1937 Issue

God—Changeless Eternal Principle

Duncan Sinclair

After Daniel had come forth unharmed from the lions' den, King Darius, marveling at the deliverance, said of God, whom Daniel worshiped and obeyed, "He is the living God, and stedfast for ever" (Daniel 6:26). This declaration by the king showed that he recognized God to be eternally unchangeable. It showed also that in a degree Darius had an understanding of God's nature similar to that possessed by Moses, who when blessing the tribes of Israel, on taking final leave of them before his ascent of Mount Nebo, said, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27).

We rejoice that so long ago God was known as unchangeable, eternal. The understanding had not come in a day. It has to be admitted, however, that in Moses' time, as in Daniel's, the knowledge was not by any means general even among the Hebrews, for the majority of them still regarded God as changeable, even as mankind itself is changeable. Many thought of Him as a potentate, mighty indeed, but one who loved and hated, knew of good and evil, truth and error, as they themselves did.

It was not until Jesus came that it was established, through teaching and demonstration, that God is changeless Truth or Spirit, eternal Love. The Master's mission was to reveal the truth about God, and to prove what he taught. Mrs. Eddy writes on page 42 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "Jesus' life proved, divinely and scientifically, that God is Love, whereas priest and rabbi affirmed God to be a mighty potentate, who loves and hates." The Galilean Prophet thus inaugurated a new religious era, which we call the Christian era; and in doing so he drew an ineradicable line between the spiritual truths he taught and the erroneous theological beliefs then prevalent among the Hebrews.

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