Editorial May 16, 1953 Issue

TRUE SENSE OF PERSON

Richard J. Davis

In her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes (p. 116): "As the words person and personal are commonly and ignorantly employed, they often lead, when applied to Deity, to confused and erroneous conceptions of divinity and its distinction from humanity. If the term personality, as applied to God, means infinite personality, then God is infinite Person,—in the sense of infinite personality, but not in the lower sense." It follows then that if God is the only Person, man is the expression or reflection of that one and only Person and manifests only the personality of God. The term "personal sense" in Christian Science is associated with the erroneous beliefs expressed by human beings, based on the belief of a material person, divided and separated from other persons.

This seems to be a period when there is a studied effort to build up personality through the press, the radio, and various other avenues. Personal sense and personality strive to present an attractive picture that may not always have its basis in Truth. The claim of personal sense is shown in a tendency to glamourize and build up the personality of human beings by publicity and other methods, and to throw about them an abnormal attitude that may not be borne out by their human characters.

As one looks away from person to Principle the claim of personal sense is seen for what it really is—the lie about man's reflection of God as the only Person. Under the chapter title "Personality" Mrs. Eddy writes in her book "Retrospection and Introspection" (p. 73):

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