At first Moses shrank from the divine demand to free the Israelites from bondage. He asked, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). Shortly after, God revealed Himself as “I AM THAT I AM.” Moses’ sense of himself as a finite ego, or inadequate mortal, had been challenged. While he still wrestled with his mission, undeniably the truth had dawned that the infinite I am was the only true Ego, or Mind, of man, the spiritual image of God.
Through the lens of Christian Science, the Bible can be read as a record of both the reality of one supreme I am, producing only good, and the falsity of many gods, many finite egos, prone to fear, vulnerability, and wickedness. The Old Testament refers to a supposed counterfeit I am, or mortal ego, as Lucifer: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! . . . For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12–14).
Exalting oneself above the divine I am takes many forms. Instances of egotism gone wild have resulted in tyranny and bloodshed, as evidenced by the human history of dictators. Thoroughly addressing various forms of egotism is paramount to bring healing to the world.
When a correct view of God is established in our hearts and minds, no mental element will remain with which to kindle the flames of hate.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Mortals are egotists. They believe themselves to be independent workers, personal authors, and even privileged originators of something which Deity would not or could not create. The creations of mortal mind are material. Immortal spiritual man alone represents the truth of creation” (p. 263).
Tyranny of every kind—at home, in the office, at school, in government—has been perpetuated by those who have succumbed to an egocentric Lucifer-like way of thinking and acting. They bring about misery through self-will. They have not gained a right understanding of God as the only Mind and motive-power, forever expressed in wisdom and benevolence through the man of His creating.
The prophet Hosea, declaring God’s word, revealed to the people what underlies every conflict the world has known: “There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. . . . My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:1, 6). It’s crucial to see that all confrontation, whether among nations, at home, at work, or among friends, is essentially a theological problem. It is the result of ignorance of the true nature of God, divine Principle and Love. When a correct view of God is established in our hearts and minds, no mental element will remain with which to kindle the flames of personal, national, or international hate.
Because few of us will ever be in a political position to shape international events, we may feel we cannot contribute much to world peace. But a Bible account proves this notion wrong: “There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man” (Ecclesiastes 9:14, 15).
What delivered the city from the onslaught of the carnal mind—described as “a great king” whose intention was to rule like a god? The Bible account says it was the wisdom (or understanding) expressed by one man. What made this individual wise? Surely it had to be his allegiance to God, the source of all wisdom. God’s omnipotence and omnipresence must have been enthroned in his consciousness to a notable degree. The wisdom the man expressed enabled him to exercise dominion over war-mindedness, saving not only himself but others.
We all can contribute to world peace and to the prayers of people of goodwill everywhere when we let the truths of divine Mind’s omnipotence and omnipresence govern our thoughts as did the “poor wise man.” The intelligence that emanates from God is available to all—including all those embroiled in a conflict. That’s because the truths of spiritual being work impartially, universally, and continuously for the common good.
What are some of these truths depicted in the Bible?
Look at Jacob’s example. After he had taken the blessing of his elder brother, he fled in fear of retaliation, only to return years later. On his way back, one night he was alone and “there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24). This “man” was an angel message from God. Jacob’s wrestling was a mental struggle. It described a consciousness awakening to the presence of God, good, while struggling with the supposititious existence of evil—with the material sense of a life riven by fear, sensualism, and deceit.
When Jacob’s own nature was transformed—when a mortal concept of self had sufficiently yielded to the truth that all creation partakes of the one Ego—he saw his brother in a new and spiritual light, as though he “had seen the face of God” (Genesis 33:10). The result was the establishment of a peaceful relationship between the two brothers.
One of the most useful contributions we each can make is through our individual relationships with others, whereby our humanity coincides with the truth of man’s spiritual nature, and we express a love that is unselfish, impartial, and universal.
When we’re confronted with the dehumanization of mankind, which we witness in wars around the globe, the Bible offers us sure means of opposing and overcoming this inhumanity. We’re told: “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:4, 5).
Before young David defeated Goliath, he first had to choose his weaponry. He relied only on what he had proved as a shepherd with his sling—namely, the power of God. He reached into his bag and took one smooth stone, which could be symbolic of one specific spiritual truth, and he slung it right on target, hitting the forehead of Goliath. That is, he took aim at the suppositional egotistical mortal mind, and felled it.
The question of arming and disarming nations and individuals is primarily a mental one. Are we arming thought with pride of power, with arrogance, greed, fear, sensuality, superiority? Then we need to know that these are not the mental qualities that will halt mortal mind’s aggressiveness and bring prosperity and stability. What disarms thought of its falsities are Christly qualities of purity, love, unselfishness, innocence, integrity. Christ is the true idea of God voicing good. Just as health can only be established on the basis of healthy, holy, and Godlike thinking, so peace can only be established on the basis of peaceful and orderly thinking that originates in divine Mind. Science and Health teaches: “The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace” (p. 506).
The opposite of aggressive egotism is humility, submergence of material personality in spiritual selfhood. The humblest of all individuals was Christ Jesus, our Way-shower. Because he knew that his Father was the one and only Ego, or I am, he could say: “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30), and, “The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10).
Jesus acted in accordance with his Father, the divine Mind that is all-knowing. The master Christian gave us the highest form of reasoning, for he reasoned from one fact only—that of man’s spiritual existence as the child of God, possessing all of the divine qualities. The Way-shower was successful in his confrontations with evil because he companioned with the angels, Mind’s pure thoughts. This insulation in good protected him from malicious egotism. When his enemies sought him in Gethsemane, he said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).
This heavenly host of angels was a veritable salvation army, a guiding and guarding presence throughout Jesus’ life. With these spiritual guides always at hand, he directed his efforts toward the destruction of the unreal mortal consciousness in which wars and strife are born and which lacks moral and spiritual values. His was a mental warfare, which relied on a spiritual method to destroy error and reveal ever-present, divine peace and love. His objective could not be reached with the help of legions of Roman soldiers and mercenaries. God’s angelic messages of truth alone can establish “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
Christ’s kingdom is established on earth by the increase of Christliness in each of us.
The unfolding Christliness in each one of us—so fully and supremely exemplified in Jesus’ life—gives us the equipoise we all need so that we don’t give power or prestige to anything but good. No matter what political affiliation one has or which country one lives in, the ever-present Christ, Truth, is leavening human consciousness, and mercy must ultimately dissolve the hardened obstinacy and division.
Christ’s kingdom is established on earth by the increase of Christliness in each of us. Isaiah foretold the coming of the Prince of Peace with this promise: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). In the same prophetic vein Mrs. Eddy assures a world yearning for hope: “The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but ‘of his kingdom there shall be no end,’ for Christ, God’s idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples—imperatively, absolutely, finally—with divine Science” (Science and Health, p. 565).
It is only through Christ, the power of God unto salvation, and the Science or understanding of Christ that one can successfully meet the challenge of egotism and see progress for humanity. Our unfailing and individual weapons are humility, self-knowledge, self-control, and love, which we can capably express because we are governed by the divine Principle, Love. Divine Mind is supreme, and no egotistical mortal mind can overturn this immutable fact.
The Revelator’s spiritual insight enabled him to see “a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne” (Revelation 4:2). Despite the carnal mind’s insistence on perpetuating itself, God alone reigns and is All. God, divine Mind, is forever enthroned in the consciousness of every individual—each, in truth, a child of God—and Mind rules its creation with peace and harmony for all eternity.
