Editorial July 22, 1950 Issue

PREDESTINATION

Robert Ellis Key

The promises given in the Bible are numerous and varied. They assure us of safety, health, and prosperity. Certain conditions are usually attached to the fulfillment of such promises, but provided these conditions are obeyed, the promises are inevitably fulfilled.

Mary Baker Eddy says (No and Yes, p. 37), "What God knows, He also predestinates; and it must be fulfilled." Predestination is a theory that has often been associated with fatalism or fatality. The doctrine which teaches that a certain event, often an erroneous one, must occur, and that nothing can be done to prevent it, is without any foundation in Truth. Christian Science denies the cruel doctrine of evil predestination and reveals the right idea of predestination, namely the inevitable fulfillment of God's purpose for man.

Bible promises are often in the nature of a command. For instance, the words of the Psalmist (91:5), "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day." In Christian Science we learn to look for the fulfillment of God's promises in our everyday affairs. We do not outline events, for God outlines according to His purpose.

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