Article January 25, 1958 Issue

GOD, OUR FATHER-MOTHER

LESLIE HARRIS

In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy gives as the spiritual interpretation of the first line of the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9), "Our Father which art in heaven," the phrase which follows (p. 16): "Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious." Here the term Father-Mother is, as we see, hyphenated, and this is most significant. A hyphen as used here indicates a compound word. And since God is one God, the hyphenated term Father-Mother indicates not duality but oneness.

Although it is true that these words, Father and Mother, considered separately, have distinctive meanings, yet, like other synonymous words for God, they may be used interchangeably. For instance, when we think of God as divine Mind, we know that He also is divine Love and that true wisdom is Love in operation. Likewise, when we use the term Father in connection with God, we might substitute Mother, or when we use Mother, we might substitute Father, since in their spiritual significance these words are synonymous.

Reasoning further, we see that from a human standpoint there is no father if there is no mother, and vice versa. Both terms, father and mother, imply offspring or child. It is important that we understand this fact in order to see more clearly our right relationship to God, our divine Parent, our real Father-Mother.

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