The
Government of Eden
is a collection of essays by Joel S. Goldsmith, a noted early
20th century spiritual leader. Like Phineas Quimby of New
Thought, Ernest Holmes of Science of Mind/Unity, Mary Baker
Eddy of Christian Science, and Emanuel Swedenborg, Goldsmith
offers a spiritual path he called the Infinite Way. It is
based on a firm grounding in the God Presence and in Christ
Consciousness, all derived from his dedicated study of scripture.
These essays echo what Goldsmith has presented in his other
books including his signature work, The
Infinite Way, but its title and initial chapters
try to apply those concepts to government, one that Goldsmith
attests was created in the Garden of Eden.
Though I find these essays intriguing,
I have an issue with the book’s attempts to apply them
to governments. There should be a distinction between civic
governments and the morality and spiritual foundations of
those who operate a government and citizens who vote. “Render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the
things that are God’s” (King James, Mark 12: 17.)
Mark, a former tax collector, though talking about taxes,
clearly understood that there is a distinction between governments
and spiritual life. This was not mentioned in Goldsmith’s
work, and I think bares underlining. Governments are created
and sustained by men, hopefully based on ethical principles,
as political entities. Governments are not created by God—in
contrast to Goldsmith’s assertion. However, those keeping
a government functioning and those voting for representatives
to do so could well benefit from basing their actions on spiritual
ethics.
I
would recommend readers of spiritual titles to read The
Government of Eden in order to see how ethics can be
applied to individual’s actions. Though the material
is a bit wordy and dated, it still provides an application
of the concepts of the Infinite Way. I would recommend readers
seek out the original The Infinite Way publication to get
a more complete grasp of Goldsmith’s important work.
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