Editorial January 22, 1955 Issue

WHERE IS CONTROL VESTED?

Robert Ellis Key

No one on this planet has ever exercised greater control over evil, sin, disease, and death than did Jesus. It was perfectly natural to him to be master of every situation, because he identified himself with the Christ, the spiritual idea, to which all flesh is subordinate. Mary Baker Eddy writes in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 193), "The spiritual dominates the temporal." In every Christian Science treatment the supreme authority of the Christ is present. This being so, no adverse influence can take charge of the case or sway the thought of those who have taken their stand for Truth.

The Christ is always in control. Its authority is the supreme and only authority. The Christian Science practitioner often needs to remind himself of this fact. For instance, in some countries the law demands that a medical practitioner must be called in the case of a sick child who appears to have a serious ailment. Christian Scientists conform to the law of the land in this respect, but their submission to legal requirements does not mean that the authority of the Christ is withdrawn from the case. If the law of the land demands the attendance of a physician, the student of Christian Science whose trust is in God is likely to find that the physician will take no action which is not in conformity with the wish of the parents, who have explained to him their desire to rely upon prayer according to the teachings of their religion.

Turning to the Scriptures, we are reminded again and again of the supreme control of the Christ, especially in the life and work of Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament. He not only destroyed sin, disease, and death, but through the Christ he exercised complete control even over the elements. He gained this supremacy by his understanding of God and His Christ, God's divine manifestation.

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