Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/79

Rh is love. According to Mrs. Eddy's idea of love, since she follows Spinoza and the Neoplatonists in identifying it with the highest kind of knowing or with understanding, as will be proved, we may say that God loves. That is, we may say that God loves when loves does not mean love. But English-speaking people and psychologists mean by unselfish, holy and divine love, a desire to benefit its object. It is an affection. But Mrs. Eddy's god would be imperfect if he had desire. For if he desires to have what he now has not, either he lacks something good, or he wants something bad and in either case he becomes imperfect. And if he desires to give what he has not already bestowed, then he has hitherto failed to impart what is good or he now wants to inflict evil on his creatures and this likewise renders him imperfect. Again, if Mrs. Eddy's god has an affection, that is, if he were affected by anything he would be finite and no god at all. So her Dagon, Infinity, is loveless, and is incapable of affection, for it is lifeless. When she calls it “Love” and “Life” she is doing just what all idolaters do in putting into their gods human qualities, just what Mrs. Eddy says we should not do. A principle, even though we may call it love, does not love. It is a person only that can love and does love. If we were dependent upon her mere words we would not know when to believe her. But since we have an understanding of her principles we know when to believe her