Article October 23, 1954 Issue

THE GOLDEN RULE

ELISABETH F. SMITH

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us a rule which has since been called the Golden Rule (Matt. 7:12), "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," and he concludes with the powerful statement that "this is the law and the prophets." Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, quotes or speaks of this Golden Rule at least thirty-five times in her writings, always recommending its use. It is even found in the Tenets of Christian Science, given on page 497 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, where she writes. "And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure."

Probably there is no one who has not done or said things he has been thoroughly ashamed of afterwards —things that he would not have liked to have done or said to him. Because the Golden Rule has such an important place in our Leader's writings, an occasional review of her references to it might almost be considered a must to students of Christian Science, and especially to those who find it difficult to remember it always.

When it is kept bright and shining with use, it brings healing, for Mrs. Eddy tells us in "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."

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