The Christ and Jesus

Clifford P. Smith

The lack of a clear and consistent concept of the Christ is one of the first few reasons why most people, even Christians, have failed to get and to give the full benefits of the Christian religion. Jesus spoke of himself, of the Christ, and of God in distinct terms, but the beginnings of confusion can be seen between the earlier and the later documents in the New Testament, and afterward the Christ of the Gospels was almost excluded from the creeds which were formulated as the tests of Christian faith.

What is the Christ? In the Bible the word "Christ" is used with three shades of meaning. It is used as a synonym for the Messiah whose advent was the subject of Jewish prophecy and expectation. It is used as a title given to Jesus because he fulfilled the Messianic prophecy and expectation. It is also used to denote the character or office of the divine Saviour as that which exercises or manifests the saving power of God. Mrs. Eddy has adopted this Biblical usage. Consistently with it she has furnished a definitive statement of the Christ on which all people may unite; that is, "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 583).

This is a definition for every era and for all time. Thus it was that Paul spoke of the Christ as having delivered the children of Israel at the time of the exodus from Egypt (I Cor. 10:1-4); and thus it is that the Christ actually can be with everyone always, as Jesus said, "even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20)—even unto the end of error.

Christian Science teaches that Jesus is the Christ in the sense that he filled this office and achieved this title, but that he did this as a man, not as God. Although he referred to himself as the Christ, he also spoke of himself simply as a person: "I am Jesus" (Acts 9:5). The belief that Jesus was more than a man, more than one who acted in the capacity of the Christ, has hindered Christian achievements; it has kept his followers from doing as he did; it has obscured the way which he showed.

On looking through the Gospels we find that Jesus frequently spoke of himself as distinct from God. For instance, he said, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." He referred to himself with other men as worshiping God: "We know what we worship." Again he plainly said that he was a man: "a man that hath told you the truth." Peter also spoke of Jesus as a man: "a man approved of God."

There is an incident recorded in three of the Gospels that ought to be conclusive that Jesus was a man. In this he said: "Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God." This saying is squarely contrary to the theory that Jesus was God, and it is equally contrary to the theory that God consists of three persons. Jesus reflected the goodness of God; and this is the true function of all men.

That Jesus did not teach that he was identical with God is again clearly shown by what he said in prayer for other men: "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." The unity with God which he claimed is therefore a relation with the divine Mind or Spirit which belongs to every man. It is evidently the mental and spiritual unity of all men with their divine Principle, which he has given us to understand and demonstrate.

From these premises the conclusion follows inevitably that the belief in Jesus as God is not a merely academic error; it is not a mere question of doctrine or theory. For those who maintain or accept it, the deification of Jesus obstructs the very way of salvation. For those who entertain it, this belief constitutes an obstacle in "the way of truth" which he showed.

The essence of his work was the illustration or exemplification of what is practicable for us; but his life would furnish no example unless he were a person "tempted like as we are." It was essential to all that he sought to accomplish that we should overcome evil and rise above discordant conditions as he did; that is, from the same plane or status of being and by virtue of the same law and power.

The aim of his entire endeavor was to serve his fellow men, and there ought to be no doubt as to the nature and method of his service. We have his own authority for saying that it was teaching; it was enlightening the world; it was bearing witness unto the truth. His entire ministry was a concrete lesson by which he demonstrated the reality or truth of man's being.

Such a service would have been vain and useless, indeed it would have been impossible, if the truth which he proved were not as true for us as it was and is for him. Happily for us, it was the reality of man's being brought to light. Hence it was that Jesus said, "Because I live, ye shall live also."

Clifford P. Smith

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Man's God-given Dominion

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