PAUL had a wonderfully wide vision of the scope of Christianity. Although he was of Jewish descent, and at one time was so bigoted in favor of the religious beliefs of his forefathers as to be a ruthless persecutor of the first Christians, yet after his conversion to Christianity he became chief among the apostles in the desire to see the Christianization of the Gentile nations as well as of his own. This is shown very markedly in certain passages in his epistles as, for example, in that to the Ephesians, where he writes, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
The great Apostle to the Gentiles undoubtedly understood the teaching of Christ Jesus as to the fatherhood of God and what it implied. God to him, as to the Master himself, was no longer peculiarly the God of the Jews. Had not the veil of the temple been rent in twain when, through Christ Jesus' understanding of the omnipotence of divine Love, the indestructibility of life had been demonstrated on Calvary, and access thereby opened up for all into the immediate presence of the Most High? Henceforth, the only requisites for communion with God were purity of thought and prayerful desire for good. And these could be denied no one. Consequently, we find Paul writing to the churches of Galatia, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
Now, mere formal union with a Christian church does not mean membership in "the household of God." In order to enter that household the union must be far more than a formality: it must be based on spiritual understanding, on knowledge of God and man, of God's relationship to man, and of individual man's relationship to individual man. In other words, they of "the household of God" are those who have gained an understanding of God and His real spiritual creation, and are demonstrating that understanding in some degree in their daily lives. To them, God is the Father-Mother of all, the one Mind or divine Principle; to them, all men have the same Father-Mother, Mind, or Principle; therefore, to them, the brotherhood of man is a divinely established fact. On pages 469 and 470 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy states the position as it is recognized by the Christian Scientist. She writes: "With one Father, even God, the whole family of man would be brethren; and with one Mind and that God, or good, the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth, and have unity of Principle and spiritual power which constitute divine Science," adding, "The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry."
