IN"Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 592) Mrs. Eddy defines "Moses," in part, as "a type of moral law and the demonstration thereof; the proof that, without the gospel,—the union of justice and affection,—there is something spiritually lacking, since justice demands penalties under the law."
Here are disclosed Mrs. Eddy's recognition and comprehension of a higher revelation than moral law. Justice without love and affection she discerns as incomplete. Justice based only on moral law lacks something vital. And for this reason it demands penalties. The gospel, or good news of the kingdom of heaven "at hand," demands no penalties. This fact Christ Jesus repeatedly exemplified. To the accused woman he said, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." Mrs. Eddy's discovery and gift to the world includes the perception of the great truth that God, divine Love, never penalizes. To her spiritual sense, therefore, the administration of justice, if lacking in a desire to relieve suffering, could not result in complete justice. Only a faulty human sense of justice, a sense devoid of love, demands revenge and penalties; whereas the union of justice and affection insures true judgment. "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged," we read in Proverbs.
The human sense of justice is sometimes self-assertive. Therefore it suffers, and in belief causes others to suffer. The self-assertiveness and aggression of mortal belief always cause suffering. In its self-assertion and self-aggrandizement it runs counter to harmony; hence, it experiences friction and irritation. A mental stirring up is painful only because of conscious or involuntary resistance to Truth. Without such resistance, errors of belief would dissolve and dissipate as painlessly as shadow gives way to sunlight.
