Article December 9, 1967 Issue

The Spirit and the Letter

EDGAR ISAAC NEWGASS

Jesus taught, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32; What is this healing truth? Surely it lies in what the Psalmist glimpsed as "the lovingkindness of the Lord," Ps. 107:43; the complete goodness of God, the kindliness of Being without any element of harm or destruction. This theme runs like a golden thread through the Scriptures, obscured though it often is by the belief in a God of wrath accepted by scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day and by others both before and since.

This sense of "the lovingkindness of the Lord," though undoubtedly always possessed by Christ Jesus, came to him with crystal clearness, at his baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, in the form of an angel message from God: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17; Deity, as taught in the Scriptures and revealed anew by Christian Science, is indeed pleased with His creation, including man, His beloved spiritual idea. Jesus not only recognized his own true nature to be divine but saw that all men are the sons of God. Jesus, however, also recognized that the concept men often hold of themselves as ailing and erring does not approximate the man of God's creation but is a false, material concept of being.

To correct this false concept, one must gain more than an intellectual grasp of the truth of being. A prisoner may be able to envisage clearly the beauty of the countryside beyond the walls of his prison, but to enjoy it, he must gain his freedom from prison. Wrong qualities of thought constitute a prison of false selfhood. It is not through knowing about man's perfection in divine Love—though that is a step in the right direction—that we win freedom from evil. It is instead feeling and experiencing in ourselves that true kindliness of Being which annuls the contrary belief in a God of wrath and affliction.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Our Real Reward
December 9, 1967
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit