UN ITY continued His heart to a remote Principle.
I t is contradictory statements like these that make it so difficult for one to comprehend the philosophy of Unity. Their use of terms like Father, Mother and the personal pronouns could mislead one into thinking that they believed God had some personality. For instance, Unity, like Christian Science, teaches that G.od is both masculine and feminine: "W e believe that creative Mind, God, is masculine and feminine, and that these attributes of Being are fundamental in both natural and spiritual man” (Unity’s Statement of Faith, p. 3 ). On the other hand, Unity teaches an unqualified panthe ism: "God, then, is the substance (from sub, under and stare, to stand), or the real thing standing under every visible form of life, love, intelligence or power. Each rock, tree, animal, everything visible, is a manifestation of the one Spirit — God — differing only in degree of manifesta tion; and each of the numberless manifestations, or individ ualities, however insignificant, contains the whole . . . Each is God come forth, shall I say? in different quantity or degree” ( Lessons in Truth, Cady, pp. 8, 9 ). In other words, God is in nature, in inanimate things, in animals, in you — all in different degree but all are a part of His substance. This is Hinduism; this is Christian Science; this is pure pantheism; this is heathenism o f the most degraded type. They go even farther: "I believe the Hottentot, or the truest heathen that ever lived, he who worships the golden calf as his highest conception of God, worships God” (Les sons in Truth, p. 126). him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:20-23). To sum up briefly, Unity’s conception o f God is that He is not personal, and therefore cannot be known as a personal God and Saviour; that He is really yourself; that He is in everything; that He is Mind; that He is an abstract some thing — but certainly not the God of the Old and New Testaments. Unity and the Lord Jesus Christ We have seen what Unity has done with the Word of God and the God of the Word, and now we will examine their writings to determine how they have dealt with the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. What any religion does with His blood, His incarnation, His atonement, His resurrection, determines the soundness of that system. One might be misled by this declaration in their State ment o f Faith: "W e believe in'Christ Jesus the Son o f God made manifest in Jesus of Nazareth who overcame death, and who is now with us in His perfect body as the Way- can get no farther from the God of the Bible than that. ". . . So that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified ®
There is more in Unity writings to deny the actuality of God: "Drop from your minds,” wrote Charles Fillmore in Jesus Christ Heals, "the belief that God is in any way separated from you, that He occupies form or space outside of you” (pp. 27, 28). The Scriptures reply to this: ". . . God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Eccl. 5 :2). "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit . . .” (Isa. 57:15). Unity teaches that actually we are God. "W e all have direct access through the Father in us — the central T of our being — to the great whole of life, wisdom, power, which is God. What we now want to know is how to receive more from the fountainhead and to make more and more of God (who is but another name for All-good) manifest in our daily life” ( Lessons in Truth, Cady, p. 11). B he Bible says that the only way we have access to God is through Christ. ". . . no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). "Having . . . boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh” (Heb. 10:19, 20). He made the way to God for us through His sacrifice on the cross, and no one can find Him within himself, or by any other route except God’s. Fillmore declared "The Father within you . . . is not far away in a place called heaven” ( Christian Healing, p. 8 ); "God lives in you and you depend upon Him for every breath you draw” ( Jesus Christ Heals, p. 36); "W e believe that we live, move, and have our being in God-Mind; also that God-Mind lives, moves and has his being in us, to the extent of our consciousness” (Unity’s Statement of Faith, p. 3 ). To make it plainer that God is really you, it was stated in Talks on Truth-. "God is your highest self and is in constant waiting upon you . . . Never be formal with God . . . You cannot use God too often . . . He will do you a favor as quickly if you ask Him in a jolly, laughing way as He would if you made your request in a long, melancholy prayer. God is natural, and He loves the freedom of the little child” (pp. 11-13). If you had only that statement, you would wonder if they might not believe in a personal God. How can a principle be interested in a "jolly manner” any more than in a "melancholy prayer” ? Evidently these are some kinds of figures of speech they use for here the creed is emphasized: "God is not a being or a person having life, intelligence, love, power. God is that invisible, intangible, but very real, something we call life. God is perfect love and infinite power. God is the total of these, the total of all good, whether manifested or unexpressed” ( Lessons in Truth, p. 6 ).
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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