Editorial November 12, 1949 Issue

THE GOLDEN RULE

Robert Ellis Key

The Golden Rule is a title commonly used for Christ Jesus' precept given in Matthew (7:12), "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."

The term was first used about the year 1540 in connection with a rule of mathematics known as the rule of proportion, or rule of three, a method of finding the fourth number from three numbers already given. According to the London Encyclopedia, published in 1845, the term was first used in connection with Christianity by Isaac Watts, the hymn writer. It is recorded, however, that Clement Ellis, an English churchman, indirectly applied the term in 1660 when he said in an address, speaking of the gentleman, "The just rule he goes by, is not opinion, but knowledge; not that leaden one, which is so easily bent and made crooked, or melted and dissolved by the heat of passion ... but that other golden one, which lies so close and firm, as it is made straight and even."

Mary Baker Eddy, with the clarity of spiritual vision, places the Golden Rule in its relationship with the Decalogue when she writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 5): "The First Commandment of the Hebrew Decalogue, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me,' and the Golden Rule are the all-in-all of Christian Science. They are the spiritual idealism and realism which, when realized, constitute a Christian Scientist, heal the sick, reform the sinner, and rob the grave of its victory."

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Notices
November 12, 1949
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit