To the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, "citizenship" was a word possessing deep and broad implications. While she was consistently loyal to her state and to her country in every respect, our Leader's world vision made it impossible for her to confine her ideals within the limits of her native land, for it was her eager desire that all mankind should enjoy the larger freedom which she so clearly understood and so practically proved. Citizen of the United States, she was also essentially a citizen of the world, responsive to the world's problems, eager to satisfy its needs, and it is in this capacity that she addresses a rallying call to her compatriots: "Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God.' and be free! This is your divine right" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 227).

These inspiring words have a special timeliness today, when the proponents of democratic ideals are striving for the establishment of freedom not only for themselves but also for nations temporarily in bondage, thus proving in a measure their realization of the meaning of world citizenship.

Vital as is this important concept its fullest and most effective development is to be found in that association of political liberty with the "glorious liberty of the children of God." as Mrs. Eddy so forcefully reminds us. It is this recognition and acceptance of their status as sons of God and citizens of His heavenly kingdom that can give to men release not only from the fetters of oppression but also from the mental bondage of want and woe, sin and disease, and even death itself. Thus, to be fully effective, world citizenship must of necessity have a divine basis.

Among the characters of the Biblical period no one was more justly proud of his place in society than was Saul of Tarsus, a man of broad interests who could rightfully be considered a citizen of the world, as it was then known, in that he could lay claim to Hebrew. Roman, and even Greek citizenship. As a Jew, and moreover a Pharisee, he was an honored member of the Jewish commonwealth, and took pains to assert this long after he had outgrown the limitations of orthodox Judaism, to become a sincere and practical Christian. Tarsus, the town in which he was born and in which his early days were spent, although it was the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia and included a thriving Jewish community, was basically a Greek metropolis, especially from the cultural standpoint. It had its own government, laws, and magistrates, and while by no means all of its inhabitants possessed the franchise, Paul was without doubt one of those so privileged, for explaining his position to a Roman officer who mistook him for an ignorant Egyptian rebel, he affirmed, "I am ...a Jew of Tarsus...a citizen of no mean city." Then in addition to his importance as a Jew and as a Tarsian, the apostle claimed what in his day was an even greater distinction, that he was a freeborn Roman, who, as a citizen of that mighty empire, could exercise the right of appeal direct to the emperor himself in time of need.

Bearing in mind the apostle's triple claim to citizenship in the political sense, we are the more impressed by his reference to a higher type of citizenship, which clearly meant more to him than all his human privileges. In the course of a letter to his close friends at Philippi in Macedonia, he refers in considerable detail to his honorable Jewish background, but goes on to affirm that "our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (American Standard Version). Hebrew, Tarsian, and even Roman citizenship are alike overshadowed in the apostle's thought by this sublime concept of "citizenship in heaven," which, by reason of its essentially spiritual basis, possesses a permanence and an abiding efficacy applicable not only to Paul and to his Macedonian converts, but to us today, as Mrs. Eddy indicates in the passage already cited.

As citizens of heaven we possess immense privileges, with correspondingly great responsibilities, for "heaven" is defined by our Leader, in part, as follows (Science and Health, p. 587): "Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle." "Harmony" assures us of harmonious being and action to the extent of our acceptance and realization of these blessings; "the reign of Spirit" implies and demands the banishment of all material beliefs and practices; while "government by divine Principle" leaves no room for unprincipled actions or emotions.

One who applies for American citizenship is called upon to pledge unfaltering loyalty to the flag of his adopted country, receiving in return uncounted benefits. Great are the rewards awaiting those who are prepared to accept citizenship in the kingdom of heaven, by becoming voluntarily subject to the strict but just "government by divine Principle" as it is outlined in the Christian Science textbook. By so doing we become "fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God."