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CSEC ON-LINE REFERENCE LIBRARY |
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JUDGE SEPTIMUS J. HANNA, CSD
We should especially note the tense employed. Paul does not say, Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ will or may make us free, but rather "hath" made us free. The difference is vital. Paul makes an all-important distinction which has been too much lost sight of in Scriptural exegesis. He knew that spiritual man, being in the image and likeness of God, is free-born, and by virtue of his birthright cannot be enslaved, for there is no power to destroy the spiritual man's liberty. Sufficiently armed with this knowledge, men win the victory and assert their freedom from the bondage of the material senses. The old habit of expecting freedom as a future gift, or hoping it may come our way if it be God's will, should therefore give place to the certain knowledge that we have been free from the beginning. Until we have undergone this change of consciousness we are still more or less in slavery to false belief, and cannot do our best work either for ourselves or for others. On page 227 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says "God made man free . . . . Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and cries: 'Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!' Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being." This clarion note sounds the whole truth of being. It tells the story of liberty, past, present, and future. It is our declaration of independence duly signed, sealed, and delivered, for it bears the signet of eternal Truth. This same chapter of Galatians also contains that potent religio-philosophical affirmation which is always helpful and encouraging to the struggling disciple, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Often in times of stress this comforting message comes to our aid. Paul makes plain the leavening process: "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." Loving service, then, is the seed of liberty, the leavening process. Thus we see that, while broadly affirming the absolute spiritual truth, Paul does not overlook the evidence of the false material senses. He was doubtless aware that the attainment of liberty was conditioned upon the destruction in human consciousness of all that tends to bondage. Nor does he rest with the above general affirmation. In unvarnished terms he recites "the works of the flesh" (as he calls the methods of error), and leaves out of his severe indictment little that pertains to the things of the flesh, concluding with the logical deduction that "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Having thus uncovered the claims of the false senses, he turns again to the spiritual and breaks forth into a joyful acclamation: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." He thus powerfully antidotes the fleshly infirmities which he had just enumerated and caps the climax of this great epistle. It may not be amiss here to speak of the orderly interchange observed in Scriptural teaching with reference to the spiritual and the material, the divine and the human, bringing out in consistent sequence the differences and distinctions between them, and to note that only as we keep a watchful and discriminating eye on these interchanging phases do we hold our thought receptive thereto. What is true of the Bible is equally true of the Christian Science textbook, for this logical order is rigidly maintained throughout. That our Leader was keenly alert to the necessity for this kind of teaching is evidenced by the method she pursued as well as by her frequent mention of that necessity. Her admonitions in this respect should suffice to prevent us from getting into that state of self-deception which sometimes causes us to think we have reached the highest realization of absolute truth when in fact we are yet more or less in bondage to error. We cannot too earnestly or too constantly affirm the allness of Spirit and the nothingness of matter. We cannot too thoughtfully dwell in the "secret place" of Spirit or too fully know our relation to God as His eternal idea. We cannot too deeply realize that there is no power excepting that which comes from Spirit; but in knowing this we should never lose sight of the subtle claims of error, for it is the effectual overcoming of these that brings us our liberty. On the other hand, we should not dwell so much in the realm of mortal discord and false belief that we thereby shut out of our consciousness the light of divine Truth and thus cripple our usefulness. In this way we learn to crucify the flesh and "live in the Spirit," which is the essence of liberty.
Christian Science Sentinel, July 18, 1914 |
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