THE second declaration in the Lord's Prayer is, "Hallowed be thy name," and its spiritual interpretation, as given by Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health (p.16) is, "Adorable One." In these two words there is expressed the sum and substance of Christian Science. The wisdom of our Leader in the use of this expression is profound, for to understand these two words is to know God, the truth that makes free. It is to have dominion and power, to be able to heal the sick, and to find the kingdom of God with all that is added to it.
Christian Science teaches that there is only one God, and that one adorable, good. It also teaches that there is only one divine Principle, source of all existence; that there is only one Mind, one supreme intelligence, manifest through all, guiding and directing all. It follows that there is only one Spirit, one substance, reality, of which the universe, including man, is created; only one Soul, one infinite Person, reflected in all spiritual forms and individualities. There is only one Life, in whom "we live, and move, and have our being." There is only one Truth, one Word, which, as St. John says, "in the beginning was . . . with God, and . . . was God." There is only one Love, for since God is Love, there can be no other; in a word, to quote St. Paul, "There is ... one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." This is summed up in Science and Health, where we read, "For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All" (p.17).
It was a great step in human progress when the Hebrew prophets and teachers conceived that there was one God instead of many gods, but mankind did not understand God as supreme, omnipotent, for they acknowledged the power and reality of evil, a power apart from God. Hence it was a yet greater step in human progress when Christ Jesus taught and demonstrated that God is the only One; that there is no other reality or power. When we are conscious that God is One, we also know that God is Spirit and God is good. No thoughtful conception of God ascribes to Him either materiality or evil. It is only when we are led to assume, erroneously, the existence of some other power, that the belief in matter or evil creeps in. God is our Father, the wholly perfect One. God is infinite, unlimited even by the knowledge of matter. Of these two facts all who accept the teaching of the Master are fully assured by him, and even those who have not heard this gospel have an intuitive sense of it in greater or less degree.
