"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" (Proverbs 29:18). "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalms 33:12). Passages of Scripture such as these should make men pause and think. For what do we find in certain large areas of the world today? A breaking away from faith in God, a lowering of moral standards, a growing disregard for spiritual things; and in place of these an increasing tendency to rely on human will power and material force. There are many who would reverse the spiritual truth of the ages, truth discovered by men often in the throes of mortal agony and after all material or human aid had proved utterly valueless to them. It was then that the light from heaven broke through, revealing God and His gracious, comforting law.
Numerous false views of Deity have been held by mankind during the world's history, and many false views of God are still held by many. And surely no one will argue that false beliefs regarding the Supreme Being are of value, but, rather, that they are harmful to all who hold them. It is not, then, the exposure of erroneous beliefs about God we lament, nor the destruction of these beliefs, but the fact that while legitimately endeavoring to destroy falsity and chicanery in religion, men should at the same time ignorantly try to stamp out spiritual truths which are as essential to the well-being of humanity as they are imperishable.
False views regarding God are responsible for most of the world's tyranny and suffering. Mrs. Eddy does not hesitate to expose such views. She writes on page 94 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "The eastern empires and nations owe their false government to the misconceptions of Deity there prevalent. Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse." There is no ambiguity in that statement. It declares positively that much of the evil rampant throughout the world is due to the misconceptions of Deity held by mortals.
