The Holy Bible contains a record of the early history of the Judaic religion and of the beginnings of Christianity. Out of this record have sprung forth churches of many kinds. As we consider the doctrines of these churches, we find that each one has a different interpretation and teaching of the Bible, and we may wonder how these interpretations can differ so vastly when they all come from the same source. The difference is often that of emphasis: where it is to be placed.
While listening to the radio one morning, the writer was interested to hear that the story of Gideon was to be discussed. Having heard many fine readings built around this story at Wednesday testimony meetings in Christian Science churches, she settled down to listen to the program with anticipation. As the story progressed she asked herself, "When and where are they going to bring out the fine qualities of Gideon that can be so useful to the lives of today?"
She soon discovered that the emphasis was being placed, not upon the power for good of one who obeys God's guidance and uses the qualities of God that are expressed through him, but upon the great struggle between the forces of evil and the power of good—with some doubt as to which was the greater.
This discovery led to some research and meditation on where we as Christian Scientists should put the emphasis. In Science and Health, our inspired Leader writes (p. 99), "Christian Science teaches only that which is spiritual and divine, and not human." It is on the spiritual, then, that we should put the emphasis.
How many times have our Sunday School children been able to meet a problem by themselves when thinking of the spiritual qualities that were expressed in a Bible character. In Christian Science each Bible story brings to thought the individual use of God's qualities and the victory gained through this use.
The story of David and Goliath brings out the triumph of courage, fearlessness, loyalty, selflessness, and spirituality over materiality, aggressive force, and mortal willpower. The story of Joseph brings out the power of spiritual destiny to annul every false claim of obstruction when one listens closely to God's directions and lives the Godlike qualities which are ever at hand. These Bible stories are examples of the way to meet and master the problems of today even as they were met in that period. But if the emphasis is not placed on the spiritual side, these stories become just a history of the struggle of mankind to overcome evil.
When reading the Bible, we should remember that much of the Old Testament was written by those who, for the most part, had a humanized concept of God. They believed in a God who knew both good and evil, who punished and destroyed according as His will dictated. But through it all the God-inspired caught glimpses of the Christ, and then the rising crescendo of thought was ready to receive that human herald of Truth, Christ Jesus.
Even in the darkness of the humanized concept of God, one inspired writer said of Him (Hab. 1:13), "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." This writer was putting the emphasis on spiritual truth, the fact of God's infinite perfection.
Our Leader saw this perfection and saw also the impossibility that sin, disease, or death could be real when not one of them could ever be cognized by the all-loving, infinite Mind, God. In "Unity of Good," she writes (p. 4): "But how could we lose all consciousness of error, if God be conscious of it? God has not forbidden man to know Him; on the contrary, the Father bids man have the same Mind 'which was also in Christ Jesus,'—which was certainly the divine Mind; but God does forbid man's acquaintance with evil. Why? Because evil is no part of the divine knowledge."
Jesus came to teach us the way to our spiritual at-one-ment with the all-loving Father-Mother God. Yet if the emphasis is put on the trials Jesus encountered, the story of his life on earth can be made into an account of great sufferings for sins in which he had no part. But when the emphasis is put on the spiritual side, the story of his life becomes a glorious pageant of the great power of one endowed with God's qualities, the great beauty of life lived in the knowledge of God's love for man, and the unfailing triumph of Spirit over material sense.
From this standpoint, Christian Scientists do not set aside one day a year to celebrate the birth of Jesus or one period each year to mourn the crucifixion, which is followed by rejoicing in the resurrection. Instead, they are daily and continually rejoicing in our Saviour's appearing and his glorious example of a life whose whole purpose was to glorify God. The resurrection becomes a natural climax to the overcoming of the belief of life in matter, evidencing the way we all must follow.
Today we are going through the same type of problems that the people of Bible times experienced, with a difference in the setting, perhaps, but with the same effect on our lives. Greed, materialism, selfishness, aggressiveness, inconsiderateness— along with ill health, pressure of time, lack —existed in Bible days as they do now and were overcome just as they are being overcome now through right purpose and dedication to Truth. But today, as in Bible days, if we put the emphasis on the error to be overcome instead of on the truth that overcomes it, we do not gain the victory.
It is very important when we are working to obtain a physical healing to stand firmly in the truth and rule out every negative thought concerning the condition. Explaining that sickness is always caused by mortal mind, Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 219), "When this is understood, we shall never affirm concerning the body what we do not wish to have manifested."
How often we hear those uninstructed in this truth emphasizing every false belief about the body and thus causing the very condition they wish to avoid! When we learn that healing comes as we turn away from the material sense picture and emphasize only the truth of being, then we are assured of victory. As we dwell in the spiritual sense of life, forgetting the false claims of mortal mind, the body changes to correspond with our thoughts.
Paul said it in these words: "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Cor. 3:18). He was, of course, speaking of the change from mortal sense to spiritual sense; but since the cause of all conditions is mental, this change heals the body. So as we behold the perfection of God and know that as His image we reflect this perfection, we are renewed in spirit and in body.
Let us, then, strive to turn away from constantly struggling with material sense and put our emphasis on spiritual life, on joy that comes from rejoicing in God's goodness, on abundance that comes from acknowledging this goodness, and on the great and glorious freedom of a life dedicated to God. Then we shall begin to see and understand the spiritual universe in which we live right now.
In this radiant, uplifted thought we shall find ourselves singing with the Psalmist (Ps. 36:7, 8): "How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures." And we shall emphasize with joy the gratitude we feel for Christian Science and its teachings.
