Article April 7, 1956 Issue

INVOKE THE LAW

LOTTIE B. DENNIS

In the Bible we read the inspiring account of Paul's courageous stand when the chief captain, having taken him captive, commanded that Paul be examined by scourging. As the soldiers bound him, preparatory to carrying out this command, Paul said to a centurion (Acts 22:25), "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?" The account continues: "Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea."

A Bible commentary sheds this light: "The tribune, who had already broken the law in ordering Paul to be bound, found to his surprise that Paul was free born, i.e., had the right of citizenship [as a Roman] by virtue of his father's citizenship, while he, Claudius Lysias, had purchased the privilege.'" The result of Paul's stand, as related in the Bible, was that "straightway they departed from him which should have examined him."

Christian Science has come to the world with the glorious message that all men are freeborn. But, like Paul, we must claim our exemption from unjust decrees. Had Paul said nothing to his captors about the facts of his birth, nor claimed his heritage, no doubt he would have been scourged, not because he was subject to their laws or decrees, but because he did not claim his exemption as a Roman. Paul was much too alert to be unaware of his rights or to fail to claim them.

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