Article August 21, 1954 Issue

NO FORMULAS IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

LESLIE HARRIS

Someone investigating Christian Science whose work involved the daily use of mathematics said: "Every formula in mathematics meets a particular situation. Since Christian Science, like mathematics, is a Science, why can't I find in it a formula to solve my problems?"'

The Principle of Christian Science is divine Love. Love is never stereotyped; hence it can never be reduced to formulas, but must be freely expressed in love. Everyone's way of reflecting Love is individual. There is no formula for it yet divine Principle demands that we all express Love. Love is proved not so much by what we do as by what we are; not so much by how we act as by how we feel when we act. It is our motive that determines whether or not Love is at the helm of our thought.

For example, one way to express Love is to be generous. If we had a formula regarding generosity, one might say that because he gave a government official an expensive gift he had proved himself generous, hence loving. But if he felt by so doing that he could buy the official's vote or influence, this would not be expressing divine Principle, Love, but rather would it be a completely unprincipled act. On the other hand, in the Biblical story of the poor widow who threw two mites into the church treasury, Jesus commended the true generosity of the gift because he perceived the spirit of love in the donor's thought.

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