Article August 8, 1959 Issue

HISTORY AND THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST

LAURA BERNICE BARKER

Mankind need not be the prisoner of history. The view is widely held that the present state of men and nations, and their future as well, is largely or entirely determined by the past; but this is a mistake.

The well-known theory of evolution, for instance, explains all present organization as the outgrowth of more primitive forms. To heredity are attributed such things as certain diseases or the color of one's hair. Historians tend to regard today's events as but one stage in a long, recurrent cycle of the rise and decline of empires. And the conclusion is that little or nothing can be done to alter the process. Every Christian Scientist should be alert to these claims. The Bible asserts repeatedly that God alone governs. There is no room in God's creation for any type of evil force. Natural law is God's law, and it arises from the operation of divine Principle, not from irresistible economic or psychological impulse. Isaiah said (2:22), "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" And again, the First Commandment warns explicitly against accepting other gods, other supposed sources of governing power.

Since natural law is God's law, this releases us from fear of it, for the Bible assures us again and again of God's love. The Psalmist prayed (Ps. 119:77), "Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight." Moreover, we have abundant proof of God's love in the words and works of Christ Jesus, who came to a benighted world to save it from its own misconceptions.

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