Action

James counsels action. He writes that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). The Discoverer of Christian Science also commends action. She writes: “We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being” (Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 264: 10)*. In the chapter on Marriage in that same book, Mary Baker Eddy quotes the "Apostle James" (James 1: 27) when she refers to the benevolent acts of "our forefathers":

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Our forefathers exercised their faith in the direction taught by the Apostle James, when he said: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Interestingly, elsewhere in Science and Health, Eddy describes these “forefathers” as having “independence and industry” (ibid, p. 175: 17-19), declaring that they “never indulged in the refinement of inflamed bronchial tubes” despite “damp atmosphere and freezing snow” (175: 26). Additionally, in the Dedicatory Sermon given by Mrs. Eddy January 6, 1895 (see Pulpit and Press, pp. 1-11), she counsels her students: “If you are less appreciated to-day than your forefathers, wait – for if you are as devout as they, and more scientific, as progress certainly demands, your plant is immortal” (Pul. 10: 20-23).

By reference to the Appendixes in the Concordance to the Writings of Mary Baker Eddy – available for borrowing, research, or purchase in Christian Science Reading Rooms worldwide – we see that she directly quotes James 10 times in Science and Health and 20 times in her other writings. For instance in her chapter Creation in Science and Health, she cites James 3:11:

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Did God, Truth, create error? No! “Doth a fountain send forth at the same time sweet water and bitter?”

Here, the Greek word translated as ‘fountain’ is pēgē, a term found also in Jn. 4:6 (a well), Mk. 5:29 (an issue, flux, flow), and Jn. 4:14 (a well). (Reference: www.BibleGateway.com. Try referencing the Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament version of the Bible [New Testament only] and clicking on the English word you wish to investigate. This will take you to the Strong’s Concordance listing, which gives the original Greek. This is such a wonderful tool as many of our readers already know!)

And we may find some insight into a difficult passage like James 3: 9, 10 (“…bless we God, even the Father; and …curse we men…” by looking at Unity of Good p. 60: 13 which affirms that “Mortals are free moral agents…”. We can choose our thoughts and actions. James offers some good clues to follow.

Julie Swannell

*Subscribers to jsh-online.com might enjoy listening to Karen James, as she describes how this passage gave her fresh inspiration and led to her attending to her driving test and passing with no problems. (See 'Blessed are your eyes, for they see' by Karen James, January 21, 2013 News of Healing podcast.)