The Jewish nation gave to the A world intact the idea of monotheism. In the face of divers temptations to follow after the many gods of the nations around them and despite frequent lapses from the Mosaic law, the Hebrew people nevertheless handed down to future generations the worship of one God.
We respect different nations for their contributions to civilization, as it stands in the present day. The Greek is honored for his development of art, the Roman for his ability to govern imperially, the Anglo-Saxon because of his genius for democracy — the rights of the people to a voice in the government. We can go the rounds of the family of nations and find that each individual unit has helped to make our world what it is to-day. It is only just to ourselves and to others to be grateful for good received. First, last, and always, all good comes from Principle, God. Principle, however, invariably expresses itself through idea. To overlook the channel through which benefits are received is to be ignorant of the allness of God, who is not only to be recognized as cause, but as manifest through effect also. Therefore, to appreciate the idea of good expressed is to honor the one Mind which originated the idea. The Jewish nation was receptive to the truth that God is one. Through their human endeavors to express this ideal they maintained the worship of one God. "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one," is the essence of Jewish theology, and upon this foundation the structure of Christianity was erected. We are grateful to Mrs. Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, for the boundless measure of truth she expressed. In proper degree let us be thankful to the Hebrews for the proportion of good, of the true idea of worship they were able to reflect.
In tracing the struggles of the Jewish people to preserve their religion in its purity and integrity, as described in the Old Testament, we find that the patriarchs and the prophets take the leading part. Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were the religious leaders of their day, and since the religion of the Jews was so intensely a part of their political and social life, these men represent the struggles of the people. As in these days, so in those early ones the leader simply reflected the attitude of the public. If the people themselves had not advanced to a certain state of appreciation of good, they never could have received it through their leader. It is true they indulged in frequent lapses from grace, and throughout their history deserved Jeremiah's epithet of "backsliding children." But in the midst of polytheism and general corruption, with all tribes and peoples around them bowing down to strange gods, the Jewish nation still clung to the right idea of worship. It was not an easy matter. For one thing, it continually aroused the antagonism of the surrounding peoples, so that the children of Israel were forced to wander from one locality to another in order to escape from the hatred and persecution of their neighbors. Down through the centuries this characteristic of the Jewish people has persisted, so that the term "wandering Jew" has become a byword.
