Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/41



is easily seen that one's conceptions of the divine being are fundamental. The theology of a system that is really a system is its heart. This is true of both Christian Science and Neoplatonism.

It may be said of Mrs. Eddy, as it was said of Spinoza, that she is God-intoxicated. She speaks repeatedly and constantly of the divine being. The term, God, or one of her synonyms for the term, occurs so often that one is tempted to question whether or not Mrs. Eddy takes the name of God in vain. But when we examine her thought and discover what she means by this holy name, how she dethrones it, how she robs it of its Biblical significance and glory, how she puts into it the conceptions of poor pagans and idealistic idolaters, we conclude that it is not the third commandment that she breaks but the first: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” For, what in reality is idolatry? It is worshipping or making supreme one's idea of God rather than the true God, whether this idea has a physical embodiment, called an idol, or not. When one makes an idea or principle supreme and calls it God, he becomes an idolater. Examine carefully Mrs. Eddy's own words and see that she does this.