Books by Mary Baker Eddy

CAPITALIZATION
page 690

CAPITALIZATION

   A correct use of capital letters in composition caps the
climax of the old "new tongue." Christian Science is not
understood by the writer or the reader who does not comprehend
where capital letters should be used in writing
about Christian Science.
   In divine Science all belongs to God, for God is All;
hence the propriety of giving unto His holy name
due deference, - the capitalization which distinguishes
it from all other names, thus obeying the leading of our
Lord's Prayer.
   The coming of Christ's kingdom on earth begins in the
minds of men by honoring God and sacredly holding His
name apart from the names of that which He creates.
Mankind almost universally gives to the divine Spirit
the name God. Christian Science names God as divine
Principle, Love, the infinite Person. In this, as in all
that is right, Christian Scientists are expected to stick
to their text, and by no illogical conclusion, either in
speaking or in writing, to forget their prayer, "Hallowed
be Thy name."
   In their textbook it is clearly stated that God is divine
Principle and that His synonyms are Love, Truth, Life,
Spirit, Mind, Soul, which combine as one. The divine
Principle includes them all. The word Principle, when
referring to God, should not be written or used as a

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common noun or in the plural number. To avoid using
this word incorrectly, use it only where you can substitute
the word God and make sense. This rule strictly
observed will preserve an intelligent usage of the word
and convey its meaning in Christian Science.
What are termed in common speech the principle of harmonious
vibration, the principle of conservation of number
in geometry, the principle of the inclined plane in
mechanics, etc., are but an effect of one universal cause, -
an emanation of the one divine intelligent Principle that
holds the earth in its orbit by evolved spiritual power,
that commands the waves and the winds, that marks the
sparrow's fall, and that governs all from the infinitesimal
to the infinite, - namely, God. Withdraw God, divine
Principle, from man and the universe, and man and the
universe would no longer exist. But annihilate matter,
and man and the universe would remain the forever fact,
the spiritual "substance of things hoped for;" and the
evidence of the immortality of man and the cosmos is
sustained by the intelligent divine Principle, Love.
Beloved students, in this you learn to hallow His name,
even as you value His all-power, all-presence, all-Science,
and depend on Him for your existence.

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