It is often said that the present conflict is largely a war of propaganda; and it is as often affirmed that this method of attack is difficult to repulse because of its alleged novelty. It is interesting to recall, however, that propaganda was employed twenty-six centuries ago in the days of the prophet Isaiah; while it is heartening to realize that that clearsighted seer provided a practical remedy for it.

The powerful and ruthless empire of Assyria was attacking the small kingdom of Judah. Several Judean cities had already been captured, and Jerusalem itself seemed to be on the point of falling into the enemy's hands. Then it was that a certain Rab-shakeh was sent by the Assyrian monarch to address the Jews in their own language, and to weaken their morale. (See II Kings, chapter 18.) He outlined the near-by victories of his master, resistance to whom, he boasted, had been quickly broken down, and advised the Jews to put no trust in the exhortations of their leader Hezekiah: "Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you ... neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us ... for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me."

The situation seemed dangerous, if not desperate; the fall of Jerusalem itself appeared to be imminent; but Isaiah, secure in his certainty of divine protection, encouraged the king and the people alike with the dynamic statement: "Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard;" while, in addition, he turned to God in prayer. In response to this implicit trust, the answer came: "The king of Assyria ... shall not come into this city. ... For I will defend this city, to save it;" while that very night, without apparently any further military action or attack on the part of the Jews, the invading army was destroyed, and its general, Sennacherib, returned to Assyria. Thus the suggestive propaganda of the pagan Assyrians was found to be as ineffective as was their boasted military force, and the sublime confidence of Isaiah was vindicated.

Christian Science teaches that the unwavering faith in God taught and practiced by Isaiah and by other great leaders of the Biblical period, even under the most trying circumstances, is as practically effective now as it was in those early days, in warding off the malignant suggestions of evil in whatever form they may present themselves. Today such suggestions often take the form of propaganda which seeks to inject a defeatist attitude into the consciousness of those who are successfully resisting aggression, and taking their stand for the continuance or the establishment of Christian civilization. Those active in this defense may well profit by the experience of the men of Jerusalem, who, in their darkest hour, beleaguered as they were by a vastly superior force, held their ground unflinchingly, refusing to submit to the enemy's terms and specious promises, and received a speedy reward for their courage and steadfast faith, a reward seen in the demoralization and retreat of their opponents.

It should be borne in mind, however, that the lessons of this Biblical narrative are applicable not only to belligerents, in the generally accepted sense of that word, but to all mankind, since all have to meet the false suggestions which would have them believe that they are ruled by material forces, rather than by the power of Spirit, God, and that they must submit to sin and suffering, disease and death. These suggestions also are to be accounted as types of erroneous propaganda, and should meet with prompt denial and resistance. No matter what form they may assume, our remedy is sure, swift, and practical, and is found in the wholehearted acceptance of the guidance of the one supreme God, who created man in His image and likeness, and who, being infinite Love, Life, Spirit—as the Bible teaches—could not possibly countenance for Himself or for His children suggestions of hatred, death, evil, or indeed of anything material. One God, good, being the source of all, evil material beliefs have no source, no power, no existence.

Explaining this "pure monotheism" of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of this Science, points out briefly, but clearly, that it is founded on "one God, one Christ, no idolatry, no human propaganda" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 303), thus indicating that the true monotheist must be ever on the alert to guard his thought against the inroads of human propaganda, as well as against the more obvious evils of idolatry. Any suggestion which would have us believe that there is a power other than God which has the ability to harm or to disrupt in any degree the health, harmony, progress, and activity of man, may be classified as human propaganda, and must be set aside if we would carry on successfully "the good fight of faith."

Turning confidently to the one true God in prayer, as did the prophet Isaiah of old, we find that His divine influence guides us onward and upward, and enables us to refute the confusing propaganda of error in all its manifold forms. How well Mrs. Eddy has expressed this thought in the words (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 113), "He who refuses to be influenced by any but the divine Mind, commits his way to God, and rises superior to suggestions from an evil source"!