Editorial October 19, 1940 Issue

"The highway to heaven"

Evelyn F. Heywood

Christ Jesus did not come telling the people of a God who demanded sacrifice for its own sake. He did not exalt suffering or vicarious abnegation in any form. On the contrary, he brought health and forgiveness in the place of disease and condemnation; he spoke of the kingdom of heaven as theirs for the seeking; he approved the lawyer's statement that to love God "with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

The original meaning of "to sacrifice" is to render sacred. When men come to consider this in its true significance, they will abandon their superstitious respect for, no less than their purposeless dread of sacrifice. The material sense of sacrifice usurped a gigantic place in the theology of the Jews; in their often extravagant exploitation of it they hoped to pacify God and their own consciences. But it fulfilled none of the requirements; it brought no sacrifice of self; it contributed nothing towards salvation. It served rather to bolster pride and self-righteousness than to exemplify those sacrifices of God which, according to the Psalmist, are a broken spirit.

In dealing with this subject, Mary Baker Eddy enlightens and comforts even while she braces the individual to face sacrifices which may also entail suffering. "Wisdom and Love may require many sacrifices of self to save us from sin," she writes on page 23 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"The highway to heaven"

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access