Article January 1, 1979 Issue

Perfect government— a present reality

STIG KIÆR CHRISTIANSEN

The imperfections that cling to human lawgiving and to government executed in accordance with it have caused mankind to long for an ideally governed country or for a miraculous change in the affairs of their own country or the whole world. The name "Utopia," borrowed from a work by the English author and statesman of Renaissance times, Thomas More, has often been used in this connection, but with the implication of the impossibility of achieving a perfect body politic. In fact, the word "utopia" now has come to imply impracticable, wishful dreaming.

Perfect government, however, is not only a possibility; it is a present reality. This is central to the Christian message, and Christ Jesus, right from the start of his mission, referred to it. The Gospel of Matthew reports Jesus' baptism and his rejecting of the temptations of the devil in the wilderness. Soon, we read, "Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."^{Matt. 4:17;}

This announcement—one might call it his manifesto—was not a threat but a joyous message, the gospel of the kingdom of God! Indicating not only its present actuality but also its spiritually mental nature, Jesus said at another time, "The kingdom of God is within you."^{Luke 17:21;} In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has this comment on the latter quotation: "This kingdom of God 'is within you,'—is within reach of man's consciousness here, and the spiritual idea reveals it."^{Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 576;}