I have known for a long time that Mary Baker Eddy was no
slouch, but her Message to The Mother Church for June 1898, titled, Christian Science versus Pantheism is colossal.
Her depth of research and reasoning is astounding. And yet, she does not impress
as academic; rather her words are infused with warm intelligence, exquisite
love for God and man, and deep humility.
Every word is measured; every paragraph logical
and coherent. She leads the listener (or
in our case the reader) step by step as she expounds on “Pan” (she refers us to
two dictionaries and then to Greek and Roman mythology) and then “theism” (“In
religion…belief in one God, or in many gods. It is opposed to atheism and
monotheism, but agrees with certain forms of pantheism and polytheism” 3: 21–2).
Her logic is always centred on God’s divinity and oneness: it is the foundation from which all else emanates. So, in further discussing
theism, Eddy posits that the theological theistic belief no doubt concurs
with physics and anatomy where reason and will are said to be products of
brain-thinking, while this is impossible because brain is matter and “God is
Mind” (4:17).
What follows is an orderly exposition of God (“the preserver
of man”) and then evil, as defined by Jesus and in relation to both monotheism and
pantheism. She asks “Can a single quality of God, Spirit, be discovered in matter”
(5:2)? She continues with her thesis as she examines “Mosaic theism” from the
basis of the “higher criticism” (investigation of the origin of a text).*
Eddy speaks of three "theistic religions": “the Mosaic, the Christian, and the Mohammedan” and then
startlingly asks “Does not each of these religions mystify the absolute oneness
and infinity of God, Spirit” (7:15)?
The whole discussion prompts me to ask: Am I acknowledging
just one God, Spirit?
Julie Swannell
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