Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures
by
Mary Baker Eddy
Part 11 out of 14
487:3 Life is deathless. Life is the origin and ultimate of
man, never attainable through death, but gained by walk-
ing in the pathway of Truth both before and
487:6 after that which is called death. There is more
Christianity in seeing and hearing spiritually
than materially. There is more Science in the perpetual
487:9 exercise of the Mind-faculties than in their loss. Lost
they cannot be, while Mind remains. The apprehension
of this gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf cen-
487:12 turies ago, and it will repeat the wonder.
Understanding _versus_ belief
_Question_. - You speak of belief. Who or what is it
that believes?
487:15 _Answer_. - Spirit is all-knowing; this precludes the
need of believing. Matter cannot believe, and Mind
understands. The body cannot believe. The
487:18 believer and belief are one and are mortal.
Christian evidence is founded on Science or
demonstrable Truth, flowing from immortal Mind, and
487:21 there is in reality no such thing as _mortal_ mind. Mere
belief is blindness without Principle from which to ex-
plain the reason of its hope. The belief that life is sen-
487:24 tient and intelligent matter is erroneous.
The Apostle James said, "Show me thy faith without
thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works."
487:27 The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens
our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless
reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.
Confirmation by healing
487:30 This faith relies upon an understood Principle. This
Principle makes whole the diseased, and brings out the
488:1 enduring and harmonious phases of things. The result
of our teachings is their sufficient confirmation. When,
488:3 on the strength of these instructions, you are
able to banish a severe malady, the cure shows
that you understand this teaching, and therefore you re-
488:6 ceive the blessing of Truth.
Belief and firm trust
The Hebrew and Greek words often translated _belief_
differ somewhat in meaning from that conveyed by the
488:9 English verb _believe_; they have more the sig-
nificance of faith, understanding, trust, con-
stancy, firmness. Hence the Scriptures often appear in
488:12 our common version to approve and endorse belief, when
they mean to enforce the necessity of understanding.
All faculties from Mind
_Question_. - Do the five corporeal senses constitute
488:15 man?
_Answer_. - Christian Science sustains with immortal
proof the impossibility of any material sense, and defines
488:18 these so-called senses as _mortal beliefs_, the
testimony of which cannot be true either of
man or of his Maker. The corporeal senses can take no
488:21 cognizance of spiritual reality and immortality. Nerves
have no more sensation, apart from what belief be-
stows upon them, than the fibres of a plant. Mind alone
488:24 possesses all faculties, perception, and comprehension.
Therefore mental endowments are not at the mercy of
organization and decomposition, - otherwise the very
488:27 worms could unfashion man. If it were possible for the
real senses of man to be injured, Soul could reproduce
them in all their perfection; but they cannot be dis-
488:30 turbed nor destroyed, since they exist in immortal Mind,
not in matter.
Possibilities of Life
489:1 The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.
When the unthinking lobster loses its claw, the claw grows
489:3 again. If the Science of Life were understood,
it would be found that the senses of Mind are
never lost and that matter has no sensation. Then the
489:6 human limb would be replaced as readily as the lobster's
claw, - not with an artificial limb, but with the genuine
one. Any hypothesis which supposes life to be in matter
489:9 is an educated belief. In infancy this belief is not equal
to guiding the hand to the mouth; and as consciousness
develops, this belief goes out, - yields to the reality of
489:12 everlasting Life.
Decalogue disregarded
Corporeal sense defrauds and lies; it breaks all the
commands of the Mosaic Decalogue to meet its own de-
489:15 mands. How then can this sense be the God-
given channel to man of divine blessings or
understanding? How can man, reflecting God, be de-
489:18 pendent on material means for knowing, hearing, seeing?
Who dares to say that the senses of man can be at one time
the medium for sinning against God, at another the me-
489:21 dium for obeying God? An affirmative reply would con-
tradict the Scripture, for the same fountain sendeth not
forth sweet waters and bitter.
Organic construction valueless
489:24 The corporeal senses are the only source of evil or
error. Christian Science shows them to be false, be-
cause matter has no sensation, and no organic
489:27 construction can give it hearing and sight nor
make it the medium of Mind. Outside the
material sense of things, all is harmony. A wrong sense
489:30 of God, man, and creation is _non-sense_, want of sense.
Mortal belief would have the material senses sometimes
good and sometimes bad. It assures mortals that there
490:1 is real pleasure in sin; but the grand truths of Christian
Science dispute this error.
Will-power an animal propensity
490:3 Will-power is but a product of belief, and this belief
commits depredations on harmony. Human will is an
animal propensity, not a faculty of Soul.
490:6 Hence it cannot govern man aright. Chris-
tian Science reveals Truth and Love as the
motive-powers of man. Will - blind, stubborn, and head-
490:9 long - cooperates with appetite and passion. From this
cooperation arises its evil. From this also comes its pow-
erlessness, since all power belongs to God, good.
Theories helpless
490:12 The Science of Mind needs to be understood. Until
it is understood, mortals are more or less deprived of
Truth. Human theories are helpless to make
490:15 man harmonious or immortal, since he is so
already, according to Christian Science. Our only need
is to know this and reduce to practice the real man's di-
490:18 vine Principle, Love
True nature and origin
"Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings."
Human belief - or knowledge gained from the so-called
490:21 material senses - would, by fair logic, anni-
hilate man along with the dissolving elements
of clay. The scientifically Christian explanations of the
490:24 nature and origin of man destroy all material sense with
immortal testimony. This immortal testimony ushers
in the spiritual sense of being, which can be obtained
490:27 in no other way.
Sleep an illusion
Sleep and mesmerism explain the mythical nature of
material sense. Sleep shows material sense as either
490:30 oblivion, nothingness, or an illusion or dream.
Under the mesmeric illusion of belief, a man
will think that he is freezing when he is warm, and that he
491:1 is swimming when he is on dry land. Needle-thrusts will
not hurt him. A delicious perfume will seem intolerable.
491:3 Animal magnetism thus uncovers material sense, and
shows it to be a belief without actual foundation or va-
lidity. Change the belief, and the sensation changes.
491:6 Destroy the belief, and the sensation disappears.
Man linked with Spirit
Material man is made up of involuntary and voluntary
error, of a negative right and a positive wrong, the latter
491:9 calling itself right. Man's spiritual individual-
ity is never wrong. It is the likeness of man's
Maker. Matter cannot connect mortals with the true
491:12 origin and facts of being, in which all must end. It is only
by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls
the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and
491:15 find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man
forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator.
Material man as a dream
The belief that matter and mind are one, - that mat-
491:18 ter is awake at one time and asleep at another, some-
times presenting no appearance of mind, -
this belief culminates in another belief, that
491:21 man dies. Science reveals material man as never the real
being. The dream or belief goes on, whether our eyes are
closed or open. In sleep, memory and consciousness are
491:24 lost from the body, and they wander whither they will
apparently with their own separate embodiment. Per-
sonality is not the individuality of man. A wicked man
491:27 may have an attractive personality.
Spiritual existence the one fact
When we are awake, we dream of the pains and pleas-
ures of matter. Who will say, even though he
491:30 does not understand Christian Science, that
this dream - rather than the dreamer - may
not be mortal man? Who can rationally say otherwise,
492:1 when the dream leaves mortal man intact in body and
thought, although the so-called dreamer is unconscious?
492:3 For right reasoning there should be but one fact before
the thought, namely, spiritual existence. In reality there
is no other existence, since Life cannot be united to its
492:6 unlikeness, mortality.
Mind one and all
Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already
proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree,
492:9 will uplift the physical and moral standard
of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify
and elevate character. Thus progress will finally destroy
492:12 all error, and bring immortality to light. We know that
a statement proved to be good must be correct. New
thoughts are constantly obtaining the floor. These two
492:15 contradictory theories - that matter is something, or
that all is Mind - will dispute the ground, until one is
acknowledged to be the victor. Discussing his cam-
492:18 paign, General Grant said: "I propose to fight it out on
this line, if it takes all summer." Science says: All is
Mind and Mind's idea. You must fight it out on this
492:21 line. Matter can afford you no aid.
Scientific ultimatum
The notion that mind and matter commingle in the
human illusion as to sin, sickness, and death must even-
492:24 tually submit to the Science of Mind, which
denies this notion. _God is Mind, and God is
infinite; hence all is Mind_. On this statement rests the
492:27 Science of being, and the Principle of this Science is di-
vine, demonstrating harmony and immortality.
Victory for Truth
The conservative theory, long believed, is that there
492:30 are two factors, matter and mind, uniting on some im-
possible basis. This theory would keep truth and error
always at war. Victory would perch on neither banner.
493:1 On the other hand, Christian Science speedily shows
Truth to be triumphant. To corporeal sense, the sun
493:3 appears to rise and set, and the earth to stand
still; but astronomical science contradicts this,
and explains the solar system as working on a differ-
493:6 ent plan. All the evidence of physical sense and all the
knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to
Science, to the immortal truth of all things.
Mental preparation
493:9 _Question_, - Will you explain sickness and show how it
is to be healed?
_Answer_. - The method of Christian Science Mind-heal-
493:12 ing is touched upon in a previous chapter entitled Christian
Science Practice. A full answer to the above
question involves teaching, which enables the
493:15 healer to demonstrate and prove for himself the Principle
and rule of Christian Science or metaphysical healing.
Mind destroys all ills
Mind must be found superior to all the beliefs of the
493:18 five corporeal senses, and able to destroy all ills. Sick-
ness is a belief, which must be annihilated by
the divine Mind. Disease is an experience of
493:21 so-called mortal mind. It is fear made manifest on the
body. Christian Science takes away this physical sense
of discord, just as it removes any other sense of moral or
493:24 mental inharmony. That man is material, and that mat-
ter suffers, - these propositions can only seem real and
natural in illusion. Any sense of soul in matter is not the
493:27 reality of being.
If Jesus awakened Lazarus from the dream, illusion, of
death, this proved that the Christ could improve on a false
493:30 sense. Who dares to doubt this consummate test of the
power and willingness of divine Mind to hold man forever
494:1 intact in his perfect state, and to govern man's entire
action? Jesus said: "Destroy this temple [body], and
494:3 in three days I [Mind] will raise it up;" and he did this
for tired humanity's reassurance.
Inexhaustible divine Love
Is it not a species of infidelity to believe that so great
494:6 a work as the Messiah's was done for himself or for God,
who needed no help from Jesus' example to
preserve the eternal harmony? But mortals
494:9 did need this help, and Jesus pointed the way for them.
Divine Love always has met and always will meet every
human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demon-
494:12 strated the divine power to heal only for a select number
or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and
in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.
Reason and Science
494:15 The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus
demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the
infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring
494:18 human sense to flee from its own convictions
and seek safety in divine Science. Reason, rightly di-
rected, serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but
494:21 sin, sickness, and death will seem real (even as the ex-
periences of the sleeping dream seem real) until the Sci-
ence of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with
494:24 the unbroken reality of scientific being.
Which of these two theories concerning man are you
ready to accept? One is the mortal testimony, changing,
494:27 dying, unreal. The other is the eternal and real evidence,
bearing Truth's signet, its lap piled high with immortal
fruits.
Followers of Jesus
494:30 Our Master cast out devils (evils) and healed the sick.
It should be said of his followers also, that they cast fear
and all evil out of themselves and others and heal the sick.
495:1 God will heal the sick through man, whenever man is
governed by God. Truth casts out error now
495:3 as surely as it did nineteen centuries ago. All
of Truth is not understood; hence its healing power is not
fully demonstrated.
Destruction of all evil
495:6 If sickness is true or the idea of Truth, you cannot
destroy sickness, and it would be absurd to try. Then
classify sickness and error as our Master did,
495:9 when he spoke of the sick, "whom Satan hath
bound," and find a sovereign antidote for error in the life-
giving power of Truth acting on human belief, a power
495:12 which opens the prison doors to such as are bound, and
sets the captive free physically and morally.
Steadfast and calm trust
When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling
495:15 steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His
likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither
fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and
495:18 calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious - as
Life eternally is - can destroy any painful sense of, or
belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science,
495:21 instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of
being, and this understanding will supplant error with
Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence dis-
495:24 cord with harmony.
Rudiments and growth
_Question_. - How can I progress most rapidly in the
understanding of Christian Science?
495:27 _Answer_. - Study thoroughly the letter and imbibe
the spirit. Adhere to the divine Principle of Chris-
tian Science and follow the behests of God,
495:30 abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and
Love. In the Science of Mind, you will soon ascertain
496:1 that error cannot destroy error. You will also learn
that in Science there is no transfer of evil suggestions
496:3 from one mortal to another, for there is but one Mind,
and this ever-present omnipotent Mind is reflected by
man and governs the entire universe. You will learn
496:6 that in Christian Science the first duty is to obey
God, to have one Mind, and to love another as
yourself.
Condition of progress
496:9 We all must learn that Life is God. Ask yourself:
Am I living the life that approaches the supreme good?
Am I demonstrating the healing power of
496:12 Truth and Love? If so then the way will
grow brighter "unto the perfect day." Your fruits
will prove what the understanding of God brings to man.
496:15 Hold perpetually this thought, - that it is the spiritual
idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to
demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing,
496:18 based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, over-
lying, and encompassing all true being.
Triumph over death
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is
496:21 the law," - the law of mortal belief, at war with the
facts of immortal Life, even with the spiritual
law which says to the grave, "Where is thy
496:24 victory?" But "when this corruptible shall have put
on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im-
mortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that
496:27 is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
_Question_. - Have Christian Scientists any religious
creed?
496:30 _Answer_. - They have not, if by that term is meant
doctrinal beliefs. The following is a brief exposition of
497:1 the important points, or religious tenets, of Christian
Science: -
497:3 1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word
of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.
2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and in-
497:6 finite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the
Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God's
image and likeness.
497:9 3. We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the
destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that
casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is pun-
497:12 ished so long as the belief lasts.
4. We acknowledge Jesus' atonement as the evi-
dence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man's unity
497:15 with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower; and
we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ,
through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the
497:18 Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming
sin and death.
5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and
497:21 his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eter-
nal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the noth-
ingness of matter.
497:24 6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for
that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to
do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and
497:27 to be merciful, just, and pure.
KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that
hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth;
and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold,
I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
- REVELATION.
CHAPTER XV - GENESIS
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the
name of God Almighty; but by My name Jehovah was I not known to
them. - EXODUS.
All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything
made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light
of men. - JOHN.
Spiritual interpretation
501:1 SCIENTIFIC interpretation of the Scriptures prop-
erly starts with the beginning of the Old Testa-
501:3 ment, chiefly because the spiritual import of
the Word, in its earliest articulations, often
seems so smothered by the immediate context as to
501:6 require explication; whereas the New Testament narra-
tives are clearer and come nearer the heart. Jesus il-
lumines them, showing the poverty of mortal existence,
501:9 but richly recompensing human want and woe with
spiritual gain. The incarnation of Truth, that amplifi-
cation of wonder and glory which angels could only
501:12 whisper and which God illustrated by light and har-
mony, is consonant with ever-present Love. So-called
mystery and miracle, which subserve the end of natural
501:15 good, are explained by that Love for whose rest the
weary ones sigh when needing something more native
to their immortal cravings than the history of perpetual
501:18 evil.
Spiritual overture
502:1 A second necessity for beginning with Genesis is that
the living and real prelude of the older Scriptures is so
502:3 brief that it would almost seem, from the
preponderance of unreality in the entire nar-
rative, as if reality did not predominate over unreality,
502:6 the light over the dark, the straight line of Spirit over
the mortal deviations and inverted images of the creator
and His creation.
Deflection of being
502:9 Spiritually followed, the book of Genesis is the history
of the untrue image of God, named a sinful mortal. This
deflection of being, rightly viewed, serves to
502:12 suggest the proper reflection of God and the
spiritual actuality of man, as given in the first chapter
of Genesis. Even thus the crude forms of human thought
502:15 take on higher symbols and significations, when scien-
tifically Christian views of the universe appear, illuminat-
ing time with the glory of eternity.
502:18 In the following exegesis, each text is followed by its
spiritual interpretation according to the teachings of Chris-
tian Science.
502:21 EXEGESIS
_Genesis_ i. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth.
Ideas and identities
502:24 The infinite has no beginning. This word _beginning_
is employed to signify _the only_, - that is, the eternal ver-
ity and unity of God and man, including
502:27 the universe. The creative Principle - Life,
Truth, and Love - is God. The universe reflects God.
There is but one creator and one creation. This crea-
503:1 tion consists of the unfolding of spiritual ideas and their
identities, which are embraced in the infinite Mind and
503:3 forever reflected. These ideas range from the infini-
tesimal to infinity, and the highest ideas are the sons
and daughters of God.
503:6 _Genesis_ i. 2. And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Spiritual harmony
503:9 The divine Principle and idea constitute spiritual har-
mony, - heaven and eternity. In the universe of Truth,
matter is unknown. No supposition of error
503:12 enters there. Divine Science, the Word of
God, saith to the darkness upon the face of error, "God
is All-in-all," and the light of ever-present Love illumines
503:15 the universe. Hence the eternal wonder, - that infinite
space is peopled with God's ideas, reflecting Him in
countless spiritual forms.
503:18 _Genesis_ i. 3. And God said, Let there be light: and
there was light.
Mind's idea faultless
Immortal and divine Mind presents the idea of God:
503:21 _first_, in light; _second_, in reflection; _third_, in spiritual and
immortal forms of beauty and goodness. But
this Mind creates no element nor symbol of
503:24 discord and decay. God creates neither erring thought,
mortal life, mutable truth, nor variable love.
_Genesis_ i. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good:
503:27 and God divided the light from the darkness.
God, Spirit, dwelling in infinite light and harmony
504:1 from which emanates the true idea, is never reflected by
aught but the good.
504:3 _Genesis_ i. 5. And God called the light Day, and the
darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morn-
ing were the first day.
Light preceding the sun
504:6 All questions as to the divine creation being both
spiritual and material are answered in this passage, for
though solar beams are not yet included in
504:9 the record of creation, still there is light. This
light is not from the sun nor from volcanic flames, but it
is the revelation of Truth and of spiritual ideas. This
504:12 also shows that there is no place where God's light is not
seen, since Truth, Life, and Love fill immensity and are
ever-present. Was not this a revelation instead of a
504:15 creation?
Evenings and mornings
The successive appearing of God's ideas is represented
as taking place on so many _evenings_ and _mornings_, -
504:18 words which indicate, in the absence of solar
time, spiritually clearer views of Him, views
which are not implied by material darkness and dawn.
504:21 Here we have the explanation of another passage of
Scripture, that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years." The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into
504:24 the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously, whereas
a thousand years of human doctrines, hypotheses, and
vague conjectures emit no such effulgence.
Spirit _versus_ darkness
504:27 Did infinite Mind create matter, and call it _light?_
Spirit is light, and the contradiction of Spirit is matter,
darkness, and darkness obscures light. Mate-
504:30 rial sense is nothing but a supposition of the
absence of Spirit. No solar rays nor planetary revolutions
505:1 form the day of Spirit. Immortal Mind makes its own
record, but mortal mind, sleep, dreams, sin, disease, and
505:3 death have no record in the first chapter of Genesis.
_Genesis_ i. 6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from
505:6 the waters.
Spiritual firmament
Spiritual understanding, by which human conception,
material sense, is separated from Truth, is the firmament.
505:9 The divine Mind, not matter, creates all iden-
tities, and they are forms of Mind, the ideas of
Spirit apparent only as Mind, never as mindless matter
505:12 nor the so-called material senses.
_Genesis_ i. 7. And God made the firmament, and divided
the waters which were under the firmament from the waters
505:15 which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Understanding imparted
Spirit imparts the understanding which uplifts con-
sciousness and leads into all truth. The Psalmist saith:
505:18 "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise
of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of
the sea." Spiritual sense is the discernment of spiritual
505:21 good. Understanding is the line of demarcation between
the real and unreal. Spiritual understanding unfolds
Mind, - Life, Truth, and Love, - and demonstrates the
505:24 divine sense, giving the spiritual proof of the universe in
Christian Science.
Original reflected
This understanding is not intellectual, is not the result
505:27 of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things
brought to light. God's ideas reflect the im-
mortal, unerring, and infinite. The mortal,
505:30 erring, and finite are human beliefs, which apportion to
506:1 themselves a task impossible for them, that of distinguish-
ing between the false and the true. Objects utterly un-
506:3 like the original do not reflect that original. Therefore
matter, not being the reflection of Spirit, has no real en-
tity. Understanding is a quality of God, a quality which
506:6 separates Christian Science from supposition and makes
Truth final.
_Genesis_ i. 8. And God called the firmament Heaven.
506:9 And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Exalted thought
Through divine Science, Spirit, God, unites under-
standing to eternal harmony. The calm and exalted
506:12 thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace.
Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each
successive stage of progress.
506:15 _Genesis_ i. 9. And God said, Let the waters under the
heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry
land appear: and it was so.
Unfolding of thoughts
506:18 Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their
proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts,
even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose
506:21 in order that the purpose may appear.
_Genesis_ i. 10. And God called the dry land Earth; and
the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and
506:24 God saw that it was good.
Spirit names and blesses
Here the human concept and divine idea seem con-
fused by the translator, but they are not so in the scien-
506:27 tifically Christian meaning of the text. Upon
Adam devolved the pleasurable task of find-
ing names for all material things, but Adam has not yet
507:1 appeared in the narrative. In metaphor, the _dry land_
illustrates the absolute formations instituted by Mind,
507:3 while _water_ symbolizes the elements of Mind. Spirit duly
feeds and clothes every object, as it appears in the line
of spiritual creation, thus tenderly expressing the father-
507:6 hood and motherhood of God. Spirit names and blesses
all. Without natures particularly defined, objects and
subjects would be obscure, and creation would be full of
507:9 nameless offspring, - wanderers from the parent Mind,
strangers in a tangled wilderness.
_Genesis_ i. 11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth
507:12 grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding
fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth:
and it was so.
Divine propagation
507:15 The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of
the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multi-
tudinous forms of Mind and governs the mul-
507:18 tiplication of the compound idea man. The
tree and herb do not yield fruit because of any propagat-
ing power of their own, but because they reflect the Mind
507:21 which includes all. A material world implies a mortal
mind and man a creator. The scientific divine creation
declares immortal Mind and the universe created by God.
Ever-appearing creation
507:24 Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the men-
tal molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all
expresses Science and art throughout His
507:27 creation, and the immortality of man and the
universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever con-
tinue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source.
507:30 Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas mate-
rial. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall
508:1 to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal
man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind
508:3 is All and reproduces all - as Mind is the multiplier,
and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the
product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought,
508:6 a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it. Mind is the
Soul of all. Mind is Life, Truth, and Love which gov-
erns all.
508:9 _Genesis_ i. 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and
herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding
fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw
508:12 that it was good.
Mind's pure thought
God determines the gender of His own ideas. Gen-
der is mental, not material. The seed within itself is
508:15 the pure thought emanating from divine
Mind. The feminine gender is not yet ex-
pressed in the text. _Gender_ means simply _kind_ or _sort_,
508:18 and does not necessarily refer either to masculinity or
femininity. The word is not confined to sexuality, and
grammars always recognize a neuter gender, neither
508:21 male nor female. The Mind or intelligence of produc-
tion names the female gender last in the ascending order
of creation. The intelligent individual idea, be it male
508:24 or female, rising from the lesser to the greater, unfolds
the infinitude of Love.
_Genesis_ i. 13. And the evening and the morning were
508:27 the third day.
Rising to the light
The third stage in the order of Christian Science is an
important one to the human thought, letting in the light
509:1 of spiritual understanding. This period corresponds to
the resurrection, when Spirit is discerned to be the Life of
509:3 all, and the deathless Life, or Mind, dependent
upon no material organization. Our Master
reappeared to his students, - to their apprehension he
509:6 rose from the grave, - on the third day of his ascending
thought, and so presented to them the certain sense of
eternal Life.
509:9 _Genesis_ i. 14. And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night;
and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days,
509:12 and years.
Rarefaction of thought
Spirit creates no other than heavenly or celestial bodies,
but the stellar universe is no more celestial than our earth.
509:15 This text gives the idea of the rarefaction of
thought as it ascends higher. God forms and
peoples the universe. The light of spiritual understand-
509:18 ing gives gleams of the infinite only, even as nebulae indi-
cate the immensity of space.
Divine nature appearing
So-called mineral, vegetable, and animal substances
509:21 are no more contingent now on time or material struc-
ture than they were when "the morning stars
sang together." Mind made the "plant of
509:24 the field before it was in the earth." The periods of
spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind's
creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness
509:27 - yea, the divine nature - appear in man and the uni-
verse never to disappear.
Spiritual ideas apprehended
Knowing the Science of creation, in which all is Mind
509:30 and its ideas, Jesus rebuked the material thought of his
fellow-countrymen: "Ye can discern the face of the
510:1 sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"
How much more should we seek to apprehend the spirit-
510:3 ual ideas of God, than to dwell on the objects
of sense! To discern the rhythm of Spirit
and to be holy, thought must be purely spiritual.
510:6 _Genesis_ i. 15. And let them be for lights in the firma-
ment of the heaven, to give light upon the earth: and it
was so.
510:9 Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose
"light shall we see light;" and this illumination is re-
flected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn
510:12 away from a false material sense.
_Genesis_ i. 16. And God made two great lights; the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
510:15 night: He made the stars also.
Geology a failure
The sun is a metaphorical representation of Soul out-
side the body, giving existence and intelligence to the
510:18 universe. Love alone can impart the limit-
less idea of infinite Mind. Geology has never
explained the earth's formations; it cannot explain them.
510:21 There is no Scriptural allusion to solar light until time has
been already divided into evening and morning; and the
allusion to fluids (Genesis i. 2) indicates a supposed for-
510:24 mation of matter by the resolving of fluids into solids,
analogous to the suppositional resolving of thoughts into
material things.
Spiritual subdivision
510:27 Light is a symbol of Mind, of Life, Truth, and Love,
and not a vitalizing property of matter. Sci-
ence reveals only one Mind, and this one shin-
510:30 ing by its own light and governing the universe, including
511:1 man, in perfect harmony. This Mind forms ideas, its
own images, subdivides and radiates their borrowed light,
511:3 intelligence, and so explains the Scripture phrase, "whose
seed is in itself." Thus God's ideas "multiply and re-
plenish the earth." The divine Mind supports the sub-
511:6 limity, magnitude, and infinitude of spiritual creation.
_Genesis_ i. 17, 18. And God set them in the firmament of
the heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over
511:9 the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that it was good.
Darkness scattered
In divine Science, which is the seal of Deity and has
511:12 the impress of heaven, God is revealed as in-
finite light. In the eternal Mind, no night is
there.
511:15 _Genesis_ i. 19. And the evening and the morning were
the fourth day.
The changing glow and full effulgence of God's infi-
511:18 nite ideas, images, mark the periods of progress.
_Genesis_ i. 20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl
511:21 that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of
heaven.
Soaring aspirations
To mortal mind, the universe is liquid, solid, and aeri-
511:24 form. Spiritually interpreted, rocks and mountains stand
for solid and grand ideas. Animals and mor-
tals metaphorically present the gradation of
511:27 mortal thought, rising in the scale of intelligence, taking
form in masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. The
fowls, which fly above the earth in the open firmament
512:1 of heaven, correspond to aspirations soaring beyond and
above corporeality to the understanding of the incorporeal
512:3 and divine Principle, Love.
_Genesis_ i. 21. And God created great whales, and every
living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
512:6 abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after
his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Seraphic symbols
Spirit is symbolized by strength, presence, and power,
512:9 and also by holy thoughts, winged with Love. These an-
gels of His presence, which have the holiest
charge, abound in the spiritual atmosphere of
512:12 Mind, and consequently reproduce their own character-
istics. Their individual forms we know not, but we do
know that their natures are allied to God's nature; and
512:15 spiritual blessings, thus typified, are the externalized, yet
subjective, states of faith and spiritual understanding.
_Genesis_ i. 22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruit-
512:18 ful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let
fowl multiply in the earth.
Multiplication of pure ideas
Spirit blesses the multiplication of its own pure and
512:21 perfect ideas. From the infinite elements of the one
Mind emanate all form, color, quality, and
quantity, and these are mental, both primarily
512:24 and secondarily. Their spiritual nature is discerned only
through the spiritual senses. Mortal mind inverts the true
likeness, and confers animal names and natures upon its
512:27 own misconceptions. Ignorant of the origin and opera-
tions of mortal mind, - that is, ignorant of itself, - this
so-called mind puts forth its own qualities, and claims
512:30 God as their author; albeit God is ignorant of the ex-
513:1 istence of both this mortal mentality, so-called, and its
claim, for the claim usurps the deific prerogatives and is
513:3 an attempted infringement on infinity.
_Genesis_ i. 23. And the evening and the morning were
the fifth day.
Spiritual spheres
513:6 Advancing spiritual steps in the teeming universe of
Mind lead on to spiritual spheres and exalted beings. To
material sense, this divine universe is dim and
513:9 distant, gray in the sombre hues of twilight;
but anon the veil is lifted, and the scene shifts into light.
In the record, time is not yet measured by solar revolutions,
513:12 and the motions and reflections of deific power cannot be
apprehended until divine Science becomes the interpreter.
_Genesis_ i. 24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth
513:15 the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing,
and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Continuity of thoughts
Spirit diversifies, classifies, and individualizes all
513:18 thoughts, which are as eternal as the Mind
conceiving them; but the intelligence, exist-
ence, and continuity of all individuality remain in God,
513:21 who is the divinely creative Principle thereof.
_Genesis_ i. 25. And God made the beast of the earth after
his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that
513:24 creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that
it was good.
God's thoughts are spiritual realities
God creates all forms of reality. His thoughts are
513:27 spiritual realities. So-called mortal mind - being non-
existent and consequently not within the range of im-
514:1 mortal existence - could not by simulating deific power
invert the divine creation, and afterwards recreate per-
514:3 sons or things upon its own plane, since noth-
ing exists beyond the range of all-inclusive
infinity, in which and of which God is the
514:6 sole creator. Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the
realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and dis-
port themselves. In humility they climb the heights of
514:9 holiness.
Qualities of thought
Moral courage is "the lion of the tribe of Juda," the
king of the mental realm. Free and fearless it roams in
514:12 the forest. Undisturbed it lies in the open
field, or rests in "green pastures, . . . beside
the still waters." In the figurative transmission from the
514:15 divine thought to the human, diligence, promptness, and
perseverance are likened to "the cattle upon a thousand
hills." They carry the baggage of stern resolve, and
514:18 keep pace with highest purpose. Tenderness accompa-
nies all the might imparted by Spirit. The individ-
uality created by God is not carnivorous, as witness the
514:21 millennial estate pictured by Isaiah: -
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
514:24 And the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
Creatures of God useful
Understanding the control which Love held over all,
514:27 Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the
viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures
moving in the harmony of Science, are harm-
514:30 less, useful, indestructible. A realization of this grand
verity was a source of strength to the ancient worthies.
515:1 It supports Christian healing, and enables its possessor
to emulate the example of Jesus. "And God saw that
515:3 it was good."
The serpent harmless
Patience is symbolized by the tireless worm, creeping
over lofty summits, persevering in its intent. The ser-
515:6 pent of God's creating is neither subtle nor
poisonous, but is a wise idea, charming in its
adroitness, for Love's ideas are subject to the Mind which
515:9 forms them, - the power which changeth the serpent
into a staff.
_Genesis_ i. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our
515:12 image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
515:15 thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Elohistic plurality
The eternal Elohim includes the forever universe.
The name Elohim is in the plural, but this plurality of
515:18 Spirit does not imply more than one God, nor
does it imply three persons in one. It relates
to the oneness, the triunity of Life, Truth, and Love.
515:21 "Let _them_ have dominion." Man is the family name
for all ideas, - the sons and daughters of God. All that
God imparts moves in accord with Him, reflecting good-
515:24 ness and power.
Reflected likeness
Your mirrored reflection is your own image or like-
ness. If you lift a weight, your reflection does this also.
515:27 If you speak, the lips of this likeness move in
accord with yours. Now compare man before
the mirror to his divine Principle, God. Call the mirror
515:30 divine Science, and call man the reflection. Then note
516:1 how true, according to Christian Science, is the reflection
to its original. As the reflection of yourself appears in
516:3 the mirror, so you, being spiritual, are the reflection of
God. The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love,
which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation;
516:6 and when we subordinate the false testimony of the
corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see
this true likeness and reflection everywhere.
Love imparts beauty
516:9 God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life
is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in
goodness, which impart their own peace and
516:12 permanence. Love, redolent with unselfish-
ness, bathes all in beauty and light. The grass beneath
our feet silently exclaims, "The meek shall inherit the
516:15 earth." The modest arbutus sends her sweet breath to
heaven. The great rock gives shadow and shelter. The
sunlight glints from the church-dome, glances into the
516:18 prison-cell, glides into the sick-chamber, brightens the
flower, beautifies the landscape, blesses the earth. Man,
made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's domin-
516:21 ion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent
and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality,
the infinite Father-Mother God.
516:24 _Genesis_ i. 27. So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God created He him; male and female
created He them.
Ideal man and woman
516:27 To emphasize this momentous thought, it is repeated
that God made man in His own image, to reflect the
divine Spirit. It follows that man is a generic
516:30 term. Masculine, feminine, and neuter gen-
ders are human concepts. In one of the ancient lan-
517:1 guages the word for _man_ is used also as the synonym of
_mind_. This definition has been weakened by anthropo-
517:3 morphism, or a humanization of Deity. The word _an-
thropomorphic_, in such a phrase as "an anthropomorphic
God," is derived from two Greek words, signifying _man_
517:6 and _form_, and may be defined as a mortally mental at-
tempt to reduce Deity to corporeality. The life-giving
quality of Mind is Spirit, not matter. The ideal man
517:9 corresponds to creation, to intelligence, and to Truth.
The ideal woman corresponds to Life and to Love. In
divine Science, we have not as much authority for con-
517:12 sidering God masculine, as we have for considering
Him feminine, for Love imparts the clearest idea of
Deity.
Divine personality
517:15 The world believes in many persons; but if God is per-
sonal, there is but one person, because there is but one
God. His personality can only be reflected,
517:18 not transmitted. God has countless ideas, and
they all have one Principle and parentage. The only
proper symbol of God as person is Mind's infinite ideal.
517:21 What is this ideal? Who shall behold it? This ideal
is God's own image, spiritual and infinite. Even eternity
can never reveal the whole of God, since there is no limit
517:24 to infinitude or to its reflections.
_Genesis_ i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
517:27 and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.
Birthright of man
517:30 Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to
multiply, - to manifest His power. Man is not made
518:1 to till the soil. His birthright is dominion, not sub-
jection. He is lord of the belief in earth
518:3 and heaven, - himself subordinate alone to
his Maker. This is the Science of being.
_Genesis_ i. 29, 30. And God said, Behold, I have given
518:6 you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all
the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every
518:9 beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to
everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it
518:12 was so.
Assistance in brotherhood
God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the
greater, and in return, the higher always protects the
518:15 lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in
one grand brotherhood, all having the same
Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth
518:18 his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in
another's good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea
might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through
518:21 all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied
expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality -
infinite Life, Truth, and Love.
518:24 _Genesis_ i. 31. And God saw everything that He had
made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and
the morning were the sixth day.
Perfection of creation
518:27 The divine Principle, or Spirit, comprehends and ex-
presses all, and all must therefore be as perfect is the
divine Principle is perfect. Nothing is new to Spirit.
519:1 Nothing can be novel to eternal Mind, the author of all
things, who from all eternity knoweth His own ideas.
519:3 Deity was satisfied with His work. How could
He be otherwise, since the spiritual creation
was the outgrowth, the emanation, of His infinite self-
519:6 containment and immortal wisdom?
_Genesis_ ii. 1. Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them.
Infinity measureless
519:9 Thus the ideas of God in universal being are complete
and forever expressed, for Science reveals infinity and
the fatherhood and motherhood of Love. Hu-
519:12 man capacity is slow to discern and to grasp
God's creation and the divine power and presence which
go with it, demonstrating its spiritual origin. Mortals
519:15 can never know the infinite, until they throw off the old
man and reach the spiritual image and likeness. What
can fathom infinity! How shall we declare Him, till,
519:18 in the language of the apostle, "we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful-
519:21 ness of Christ"?
_Genesis_ ii. 2. And on the seventh day God ended His
work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh
519:24 day from all His work which He had made.
Resting in holy work
God rests in action. Imparting has not impoverished,
can never impoverish, the divine Mind. No
519:27 exhaustion follows the action of this Mind,
according to the apprehension of divine Science. The
520:1 highest and sweetest rest, even from a human standpoint,
is in holy work.
Love and man coexistent
520:3 Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth,
height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all
space. That is enough! Human language
520:6 can repeat only an infinitesimal part of what
exists. The absolute ideal, man, is no more seen nor
comprehended by mortals, than is His infinite Principle,
520:9 Love. Principle and its idea, man, are coexistent and
eternal. The numerals of infinity, called _seven days_, can
never be reckoned according to the calendar of time.
520:12 These days will appear as mortality disappears, and they
will reveal eternity, newness of Life, in which all sense of
error forever disappears and thought accepts the divine
520:15 infinite calculus.
_Genesis_ ii. 4, 5. These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the
520:18 Lord God [Jehovah] made the earth and the heavens, and
every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every
herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God [Jehovah]
520:21 had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not
a man to till the ground.
Growth is from Mind
Here is the emphatic declaration that God creates all
520:24 through Mind, not through matter, - that the plant
grows, not because of seed or soil, but because
growth is the eternal mandate of Mind. Mor-
520:27 tal thought drops into the ground, but the immortal creat-
ing thought is from above, not from beneath. Because
Mind makes all, there is nothing left to be made by a
520:30 lower power. Spirit acts through the Science of Mind,
never causing man to till the ground, but making him
521:1 superior to the soil. Knowledge of this lifts man above
the sod, above earth and its environments, to conscious
521:3 spiritual harmony and eternal being.
Spiritual narrative
Here the inspired record closes its narrative of being
that is without beginning or end. All that is made is
521:6 the work of God, and all is good. We leave
this brief, glorious history of spiritual creation
(as stated in the first chapter of Genesis) in the hands of
521:9 God, not of man, in the keeping of Spirit, not matter, -
joyfully acknowledging now and forever God's supremacy,
omnipotence, and omnipresence.
521:12 The harmony and immortality of man are intact. We
should look away from the opposite supposition that man
is created materially, and turn our gaze to the spiritual
521:15 record of creation, to that which should be engraved on
the understanding and heart "with the point of a diamond"
and the pen of an angel.
521:18 The reader will naturally ask if there is nothing more
about creation in the book of Genesis. Indeed there is,
but the continued account is mortal and material.
521:21 _Genesis_ ii. 6. But there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground.
The story of error
The Science and truth of the divine creation have been
521:24 presented in the verses already considered, and now the
opposite error, a material view of creation, is
to be set forth. The second chapter of Gene-
521:27 sis contains a statement of this material view of God and
the universe, a statement which is the exact opposite of
scientific truth as before recorded. The history of error
521:30 or matter, if veritable, would set aside the omnipotence
522:1 of Spirit; but it is the false history in contradistinction
to the true.
The two records
522:3 The Science of the first record proves the falsity of
the second. If one is true, the other is false, for they are
antagonistic. The first record assigns all
522:6 might and government to God, and endows
man out of God's perfection and power. The second
record chronicles man as mutable and mortal, - as hav-
522:9 ing broken away from Deity and as revolving in an orbit
of his own. Existence, separate from divinity, Science
explains as impossible.
522:12 This second record unmistakably gives the history of
error in its externalized forms, called life and intelli-
gence in matter. It records pantheism, opposed to the
522:15 supremacy of divine Spirit; but this state of things is
declared to be temporary and this man to be mortal, -
dust returning to dust.
Erroneous representation
522:18 In this erroneous theory, matter takes the place of Spirit.
Matter is represented as the life-giving principle of the
earth. Spirit is represented as entering mat-
522:21 ter in order to create man. God's glowing
denunciations of man when not found in His
image, the likeness of Spirit, convince reason and coincide
522:24 with revelation in declaring this material creation false.
Hypothetical reversal
This latter part of the second chapter of Genesis, which
portrays Spirit as supposedly cooperating with matter in
522:27 constructing the universe, is based on some
hypothesis of error, for the Scripture just pre-
ceding declares God's work to be finished. Does Life,
522:30 Truth, and Love produce death, error, and hatred? Does
the creator condemn His own creation? Does the un-
erring Principle of divine law change or repent? It can-
523:1 not be so. Yet one might so judge from an unintelligent
perusal of the Scriptural account now under comment.
Mist, or false claim
523:3 Because of its false basis, the mist of obscurity evolved
by error deepens the false claim, and finally declares that
God knows error and that error can improve
523:6 His creation. Although presenting the exact
opposite of Truth, the lie claims to be truth. The crea-
tions of matter arise from a mist or false claim, or from
523:9 mystification, and not from the firmament, or under-
standing, which God erects between the true and false.
In error everything comes from beneath, not from above.
523:12 All is material myth, instead of the reflection of
Spirit.
Distinct documents
It may be worth while here to remark that, according
523:15 to the best scholars, there are clear evidences of two dis-
tinct documents in the early part of the book of
Genesis. One is called the Elohistic, because
523:18 the Supreme Being is therein called Elohim. The other
document is called the Jehovistic, because Deity therein is
always called Jehovah, - or Lord God, as our common
523:21 version translates it.
Jehovah or Elohim
Throughout the first chapter of Genesis and in three
verses of the second, - in what we understand to be the
523:24 spiritually scientific account of creation, - it is
Elohim (God) who creates. From the fourth
verse of chapter two to chapter five, the creator is called
523:27 Jehovah, or the Lord. The different accounts become
more and more closely intertwined to the end of chapter
twelve, after which the distinction is not definitely trace-
523:30 able. In the historic parts of the Old Testament, it is
usually Jehovah, peculiarly the divine sovereign of the
Hebrew people, who is referred to.
Gods of the heathen
524:1 The idolatry which followed this material mythology is
seen in the Phoenician worship of Baal, in the Moabitish
524:3 god Chemosh, in the Moloch of the Amorites,
in the Hindoo Vishnu, in the Greek Aphro-
dite, and in a thousand other so-called deities.
Jehovah a tribal deity
524:6 It was also found among the Israelites, who constantly
went after "strange gods." They called the Supreme
Being by the national name of Jehovah. In
524:9 that name of Jehovah, the true idea of God
seems almost lost. God becomes "a man of war," a
tribal god to be worshipped, rather than Love, the divine
524:12 Principle to be lived and loved.
_Genesis_ ii. 7. And the Lord God [Jehovah] formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
524:15 the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Creation reversed
Did the divine and infinite Principle become a finite
deity, that he should now be called Jehovah? With
l8 a single command, Mind had made man,
both male and female. How then could a
material organization become the basis of man? How
524:21 could the non-intelligent become the medium of Mind,
and error be the enunciator of Truth? Matter is not
the reflection of Spirit, yet God is reflected in all His
524:24 creation. Is this addition to His creation real or un-
real? Is it the truth, or is it a lie concerning man and
God?
524:27 It must be a lie, for God presently curses the ground.
Could Spirit evolve its opposite, matter, and give matter
ability to sin and suffer? Is Spirit, God, injected into
524:30 dust, and eventually ejected at the demand of matter?
Does Spirit enter dust, and lose therein the divine nature
525:1 and omnipotence? Does Mind, God, enter matter to be-
come there a mortal sinner, animated by the breath of
525:3 God? In this narrative, the validity of matter is opposed,
not the validity of Spirit or Spirit's creations. Man re-
flects God; _mankind_ represents the Adamic race, and is
525:6 a human, not a divine, creation.
Definitions of man
The following are some of the equivalents of the term
_man_ in different languages. In the Saxon, _mankind, a
525:9 _woman, any one_; in the Welsh, _that which rises
up_, - the primary sense being _image, form_; in
the Hebrew, _image, similitude_; in the Icelandic, _mind_.
525:12 The following translation is from the Icelandic: -
And God said, Let us make man after our mind and
our likeness; and God shaped man after His mind; after
525:15 God's mind shaped He Him; and He shaped them male and
female.
No baneful creation
In the Gospel of John, it is declared that all things were
525:18 made through the Word of God, "and without Him [the
_logos_, or _word_] was not anything made that
was made." Everything good or worthy, God
525:21 made. Whatever is valueless or baneful, He did not
make, - hence its unreality. In the Science of Genesis
we read that He saw everything which He had made,
525:24 "and, behold, it was very good." The corporeal senses
declare otherwise; and if we give the same heed to the
history of error as to the records of truth, the Scriptural
525:27 record of sin and death favors the false conclusion of the
material senses. Sin, sickness, and death must be deemed
as devoid of reality as they are of good, God.
525:30 _Genesis_ ii. 9. And out of the ground made the Lord God
[Jehovah] to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight,
526:1 and good for food; the tree of life also, in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Contradicting first creation
526:3 The previous and more scientific record of creation
declares that God made "every plant of the field be-
fore it was in the earth." This opposite
526:6 declaration, this statement that life issues
from matter, contradicts the teaching of the first chap-
ter, - namely, that all Life is God. Belief is less than
526:9 understanding. Belief involves theories of material hear-
ing, sight, touch, taste, and smell, termed the five senses.
The appetites and passions, sin, sickness, and death,
526:12 follow in the train of this error of a belief in intelligent
matter.
Record of error
The first mention of evil is in the legendary Scriptural
526:15 text in the second chapter of Genesis. God pronounced
good all that He created, and the Scriptures
declare that He created all. The "tree of
526:18 life" stands for the idea of Truth, and the sword which
guards it is the type of divine Science. The "tree of
knowledge" stands for the erroneous doctrine that the
526:21 knowledge of evil is as real, hence as God-bestowed, as
the knowledge of good. Was evil instituted through God,
Love? Did He create this fruit-bearer of sin in contra-
526:24 diction of the first creation? This second biblical account
is a picture of error throughout.
_Genesis_ ii. 15. And the Lord God [Jehovah] took the
526:27 man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and
to keep it.
Garden of Eden
The name Eden, according to Cruden, means _pleasure_,
526:30 _delight._ In this text Eden stands for the mortal, mate-
527:1 rial body. God could not put Mind into matter nor in-
finite Spirit into finite form to dress it and
527:3 keep it, - to make it beautiful or to cause it
to live and grow. Man is God's reflection, needing no
cultivation, but ever beautiful and complete.
527:6 _Genesis_ ii. 16, 17. And the Lord God [Jehovah] com-
manded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good
527:9 and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
No temptation from God
Here the metaphor represents God, Love, as tempting
527:12 man, but the Apostle James says: "God cannot be
tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any
man." It is true that a knowledge of evil would
527:15 make man mortal. It is plain also that mate-
rial perception, gathered from the corporeal senses, consti-
tutes evil and mortal knowledge. But is it true that God,
527:18 good, made "the tree of life" to be the tree of death to His
own creation? Has evil the reality of good? Evil is un-
real because it is a lie, - false in every statement.
527:21 _Genesis_ ii. 19. And out of the ground the Lord God
[Jehovah] formed every beast of the field, and every fowl
of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he
527:24 would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof.
Creation's counterfeit
Here the lie represents God as repeating creation, but
527:27 doing so materially, not spiritually, and ask-
ing a prospective sinner to help Him. Is the
Supreme Being retrograding, and is man giving up his
527:30 dignity? Was it requisite for the formation of man
528:1 that dust should become sentient, when all being is the
reflection of the eternal Mind, and the record declares
528:3 that God has already created man, both male and
female? That Adam gave the name and nature of
animals, is solely mythological and material. It can-
528:6 not be true that man was ordered to create man anew
in partnership with God; this supposition was a dream,
a myth.
528:9 _Genesis_ ii. 21, 22. And the Lord God [Jehovah, Yawah]
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and
He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
528:12 thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God [Jehovah] had
taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto
the man.
Hypnotic surgery
528:15 Here falsity, error, credits Truth, God, with inducing
a sleep or hypnotic state in Adam in order to perform a
surgical operation on him and thereby create
528:18 woman. This is the first record of magnet-
ism. Beginning creation with darkness instead of light,
- materially rather than spiritually, - error now simu-
528:21 lates the work of Truth, mocking Love and declar-
ing what great things error has done. Beholding the
creations of his own dream and calling them real and
528:24 God-given, Adam - _alias_ error - gives them names.
Afterwards he is supposed to become the basis of the
creation of woman and of his own kind, calling them
528:27 _mankind_, - that is, a kind of man.
Mental midwifery
But according to this narrative, surgery was first per-
formed mentally and without instruments;
528:30 and this may be a useful hint to the medical
faculty. Later in human history, when the forbidden
529:1 fruit was bringing forth fruit of its own kind, there
came a suggestion of change in the _modus operandi_, -
529:3 that man should be born of woman, not woman again
taken from man. It came about, also, that instruments
were needed to assist the birth of mortals. The first
529:6 system of suggestive obstetrics has changed. Another
change will come as to the nature and origin of man,
and this revelation will destroy the _dream_ of existence,
529:9 reinstate reality, usher in Science and the glorious fact
of creation, that both man and woman proceed from
God and are His eternal children, belonging to no lesser
529:12 parent.
_Genesis_ iii. 1-3. Now the serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the Lord God [Jehovah] had
529:15 made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the
woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of
529:18 the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat
of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Mythical serpent
529:21 Whence comes a talking, lying serpent to tempt the
children of divine Love? The serpent enters into the
metaphor only as evil. We have nothing in the
529:24 animal kingdom which represents the species
described, - a talking serpent, - and should rejoice that
evil, by whatever figure presented, contradicts itself and
529:27 has neither origin nor support in Truth and good. Seeing
this, we should have faith to fight all claims of evil, be-
cause we know that they are worthless and unreal.
Error or Adam
529:30 Adam, the synonym for error, stands for a belief of
material mind. He begins his reign over man some-
530:1 what mildly, but he increases in falsehood and his days
become shorter. In this development, the im-
530:3 mortal, spiritual law of Truth is made manifest
as forever opposed to mortal, material sense.
Divine providence
In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine
530:6 Principle of being. The earth, at God's command, brings
forth food for man's use. Knowing this, Jesus
once said, "Take no thought for your life,
530:9 what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," - presuming
not on the prerogative of his creator, but recognizing God,
the Father and Mother of all, as able to feed and clothe
530:12 man as He doth the lilies.
_Genesis_ iii. 4, 5. And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day
530:15 ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Error's assumption
This myth represents error as always asserting its su-
530:18 periority over truth, giving the lie to divine Science and
saying, through the material senses: "I can
open your eyes. I can do what God has not
530:21 done for you. Bow down to me and have another god.
Only admit that I am real, that sin and sense are more
pleasant to the eyes than spiritual Life, more to be de-
530:24 sired than Truth, and I shall know you, and you will be
mine." Thus Spirit and flesh war.
Scriptural allegory
The history of error is a dream-narrative. The dream
530:27 has no reality, no intelligence, no mind; therefore the
dreamer and dream are one, for neither is
true nor real. _First_, this narrative supposes
530:30 that something springs from nothing, that matter pre-
cedes mind. _Second_, it supposes that mind enters matter,
531:1 and matter becomes living, substantial, and intelligent.
The order of this allegory - the belief that everything
531:3 springs from dust instead of from Deity - has been main-
tained in all the subsequent forms of belief. This is the
error, - that mortal man starts materially, that non-
531:6 intelligence becomes intelligence, that mind and soul are
both right and wrong.
Higher hope
It is well that the upper portions of the brain represent
531:9 the higher moral sentiments, as if hope were ever prophe-
sying thus: The human mind will sometime
rise above all material and physical sense, ex-
531:12 changing it for spiritual perception, and exchanging hu-
man concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man
will recognize his God-given dominion and being.
Biological inventions
531:15 If, in the beginning, man's body originated in non-
intelligent dust, and mind was afterwards put into body
by the creator, why is not this divine order
531:18 still maintained by God in perpetuating the
species? Who will say that minerals, vegetables, and
animals have a propagating property of their own?
531:21 Who dares to say either that God is in matter or that
matter exists without God? Has man sought out other
creative inventions, and so changed the method of his
531:24 Maker?
Which institutes Life, - matter or Mind? Does Life
begin with Mind or with matter? Is Life sustained by
531:27 matter or by Spirit? Certainly not by both, since flesh
wars against Spirit and the corporeal senses can take no
cognizance of Spirit. The mythologic theory of mate-
531:30 rial life at no point resembles the scientifically Christian
record of man as created by Mind in the image and like-
ness of God and having dominion over all the earth. Did
532:1 God at first create one man unaided, - that is, Adam, -
but afterwards require the union of the two sexes in order
532:3 to create the rest of the human family? No! God makes
and governs all.
Progeny cursed
All human knowledge and material sense must be
532:6 gained from the five corporeal senses. Is this knowledge
safe, when eating its first fruits brought death?
"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
532:9 surely die," was the prediction in the story under consid-
eration. Adam and his progeny were cursed, not blessed;
and this indicates that the divine Spirit, or Father, con-
532:12 demns material man and remands him to dust.
_Genesis_ iii. 9, 10. And the Lord God [Jehovah] called
unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he
532:15 said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Shame the effect of sin
Knowledge and pleasure, evolved through material
532:18 sense, produced the immediate fruits of fear and shame.
Ashamed before Truth, error shrank abashed
from the divine voice calling out to the cor-
532:21 poreal senses. Its summons may be thus paraphrased:
"Where art thou, man? Is Mind in matter? Is Mind
capable of error as well as of truth, of evil as well as of
532:24 good, when God is All and He is Mind and there is but
one God, hence one Mind?"
Fear comes of error
Fear was the first manifestation of the error of mate-
532:27 rial sense. Thus error began and will end the dream of
matter, In the allegory the body had been
naked, and Adam knew it not; but now error
532:30 demands that _mind_ shall see and feel through matter, the
five senses. The first impression material man had of
533:1 himself was one of nakedness and shame. Had he lost
man's rich inheritance and God's behest, dominion over
533:3 all the earth? No! This had never been bestowed on
Adam.
_Genesis_ iii. 11, 12. And He said, Who told thee that
533:6 thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? And the man
said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave
533:9 me of the tree, and I did eat.
The beguiling first lie
Here there is an attempt to trace all human errors
directly or indirectly to God, or good, as if He were the
533:12 creator of evil. The allegory shows that the
snake-talker utters the first voluble lie, which
beguiles the woman and demoralizes the man. Adam,
533:15 _alias mortal error_, charges God and woman with his own
dereliction, saying, "The woman, whom Thou gavest
me, is responsible." According to this belief, the rib taken
533:18 from Adam's side has grown into an evil mind, named
_woman_, who aids man to make sinners more rapidly than
he can alone. Is this an help meet for man?
533:21 Materiality, so obnoxious to God, is already found in the
rapid deterioration of the bone and flesh which came from
Adam to form Eve. The belief in material life and in-
533:24 telligence is growing worse at every step, but error has its
suppositional day and multiplies until the end thereof.
False womanhood
Truth, cross-questioning man as to His knowledge of
533:27 error, finds woman the first to confess her fault. She
says, " The serpent beguiled me, and I did
eat;" as much as to say in meek penitence,
533:30 "Neither man nor God shall father my fault." She has
already learned that corporeal sense is the serpent. Hence
534:1 she is first to abandon the belief in the material origin of
man and to discern spiritual creation. This hereafter
534:3 enabled woman to be the mother of Jesus and to behold
at the sepulchre the risen Saviour, who was soon to mani-
fest the deathless man of God's creating. This enabled
534:6 woman to be first to interpret the Scriptures in their true
sense, which reveals the spiritual origin of man.
_Genesis_ iii. 14, 15. And the Lord God [Jehovah] said
534:9 unto the serpent, . . . I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Spirit and flesh
534:12 This prophecy has been fulfilled. The Son of the Virgin-
mother unfolded the remedy for Adam, or error; and the
Apostle Paul explains this warfare between the
534:15 idea of divine power, which Jesus presented,
and mythological material intelligence called _energy_ and
opposed to Spirit.
534:18 Paul says in his epistle to the Romans: "The carnal
mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that
534:21 are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell
in you."
Bruising sin's head
534:24 There will be greater mental opposition to the spirit-
ual, scientific meaning of the Scriptures than there has
ever been since the Christian era began. The
534:27 serpent, material sense, will bite the heel of
the woman, - will struggle to destroy the spiritual idea
of Love; and the woman, this idea, will bruise the head
534:30 of lust. The spiritual idea has given the understanding
535:1 a foothold in Christian Science. The seed of Truth and
the seed of error, of belief and of understanding, - yea,
535:3 the seed of Spirit and the seed of matter, - are the wheat
and tares which time will separate, the one to be burned,
the other to be garnered into heavenly places.
535:6 _Genesis_ iii. 16. Unto the woman He said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy
535:9 husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Judgment on error
Divine Science deals its chief blow at the supposed ma-
terial foundations of life and intelligence. It dooms idol-
535:12 atry. A belief in other gods, other creators,
and other creations must go down before Chris-
tian Science. It unveils the results of sin as shown in
535:15 sickness and death. When will man pass through the
open gate of Christian Science into the heaven of Soul,
into the heritage of the first born among men? Truth is
535:18 indeed " the way."
_Genesis_ iii. 17-19. And unto Adam He said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
535:21 eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life: thorns
535:24 also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
535:27 wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return.
New earth and no more sea
In the first chapter of Genesis we read: "And God
535:30 called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together
536:1 of the waters called He Seas." In the Apocalypse it is
written: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
536:3 the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away; and there was no more sea." In St.
John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spir-
536:6 itual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest-tossed
human concepts advancing and receding, is represented
as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns,
536:9 is _all_ and there is no other consciousness.
The fall of error
The way of error is awful to contemplate. The illu-
sion of sin is without hope or God. If man's spiritual
536:12 gravitation and attraction to one Father, in
whom we " live, and move, and have our be-
ing," should be lost, and if man should be governed by
536:15 corporeality instead of divine Principle, by body instead
of by Soul, man would be annihilated. Created by flesh
instead of by Spirit, starting from matter instead of from
536:18 God, mortal man would be governed by himself. The
blind leading the blind, both would fall.
True attainment
Passions and appetites must end in pain. They are
536:21 "of few days, and full of trouble." Their supposed joys
are cheats. Their narrow limits belittle their gratifica-
tions, and hedge about their achievements with thorns.
536:24 Mortal mind accepts the erroneous, material concep-
tion of life and joy, but the true idea is gained from the
immortal side. Through toil, struggle, and sor-
536:27 row, what do mortals attain? They give up
their belief in perishable life and happiness; the mortal
and material return to dust, and the immortal is reached.
536:30 _Genesis_ iii. 22-24. And the Lord God [Jehovah] said,
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good
537:1 and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; therefore
537:3 the Lord God [Jehovah] sent him forth from the garden
of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So He drove out the man: and He placed at the east
537:6 of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of
life.
Justice and recompense
537:9 A knowledge of evil was never the essence of divin-
ity or manhood. In the first chapter of Genesis, evil
has no local habitation nor name. Crea-
537:12 tion is there represented as spiritual, entire,
and good. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap." Error excludes itself from harmony. Sin
537:15 is its own punishment. Truth guards the gateway
to harmony. Error tills its own barren soil and buries
itself in the ground, since ground and dust stand for
537:18 nothingness.
Inspired interpretation
No one can reasonably doubt that the purpose of this
allegory - this second account in Genesis - is to depict
537:21 the falsity of error and the effects of error.
Subsequent Bible revelation is coordinate
with the Science of creation recorded in the
537:24 first chapter of Genesis. Inspired writers interpret the
Word spiritually, while the ordinary historian interprets
it literally. Literally taken, the text is made to appear
537:27 contradictory in some places, and divine Love, which
blessed the earth and gave it to man for a possession, is
represented as changeable. The literal meaning would
537:30 imply that God withheld from man the opportunity to
reform, lest man should improve it and become better;
but this is not the nature of God, who is Love always, -
538:1 Love infinitely wise and altogether lovely, who "seeketh
not her own."
Spiritual gateway
538:3 Truth should, and does, drive error out of all selfhood.
Truth is a two-edged sword, guarding and guiding.
Truth places the cherub wisdom at the gate
538:6 of understanding to note the proper guests.
Radiant with mercy and justice, the sword of Truth
gleams afar and indicates the infinite distance between
538:9 Truth and error, between the material and spiritual, -
the unreal and the real.
Contrasted testimony
The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure
538:12 of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the
universe. The "tree of life" is significant of
eternal reality or being. The "tree of knowl-
538:15 edge" typifies unreality. The testimony of the serpent is
significant of the illusion of error, of the false claims that
misrepresent God, good. Sin, sickness, and death have
538:18 no record in the Elohistic introduction of Genesis, in which
God creates the heavens, earth, and man. Until that
which contradicts the truth of being enters into the arena,
538:21 evil has no history, and evil is brought into view only as
the unreal in contradistinction to the real and eternal.
_Genesis_ iv. 1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she
538:24 conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man
from the Lord [Jehovah].
Erroneous conception
This account is given, not of immortal man, but of mor-
538:27 tal man, and of sin which is temporal. As both mortal
man and sin have a beginning, they must
consequently have an end, while the sinless,
538:30 real man is eternal. Eve's declaration, "I have gotten
a man from the Lord," supposes God to be the author
539:1 of sin and sin's progeny. This false sense of existence
is fratricidal. In the words of Jesus, it (evil, devil) is
539:3 "a murderer from the beginning." Error begins by
reckoning life as separate from Spirit, thus sapping the
foundations of immortality, as if life and immortality
539:6 were something which matter can both give and take
away.
Only one standard
What can be the standard of good, of Spirit, of Life,
539:9 or of Truth, if they produce their opposites, such as evil,
matter, error, and death? God could never
impart an element of evil, and man possesses
539:12 nothing which he has not derived from God. How then
has man a basis for wrong-doing? Whence does he
obtain the propensity or power to do evil? Has Spirit
539:15 resigned to matter the government of the universe?
A type of falsehood
The Scriptures declare that God condemned this lie as
to man's origin and character by condemning its symbol,
539:18 the serpent, to grovel beneath all the beasts
of the field. It is false to say that Truth and
error commingle in creation. In parable and argument,
539:21 this falsity is exposed by our Master as self-evidently
wrong. Disputing these points with the Pharisees and
arguing for the Science of creation, Jesus said: "Do men
539:24 gather grapes of thorns?" Paul asked: "What com-
munion hath light with darkness? And what concord
hath Christ with Belial?"
Scientific offspring
539:27 The divine origin of Jesus gave him more than human
power to expound the facts of creation, and demonstrate
the one Mind which makes and governs man
539:30 and the universe. The Science of creation,
so conspicuous in the birth of Jesus inspired his wisest
and least-understood sayings, and was the basis of his
540:1 marvellous demonstrations. Christ is the offspring of
Spirit, and spiritual existence shows that Spirit creates
540:3 neither a wicked nor a mortal man, lapsing into sin, sick-
ness, and death.
Cleansing upheaval
In Isaiah we read: "I make peace, and create evil. I
540:6 the Lord do all these things;" but the prophet referred to
divine law as stirring up the belief in evil to its
utmost, when bringing it to the surface and re-
540:9 ducing it to its common denominator, nothingness. The
muddy river-bed must be stirred in order to purify the
stream. In moral chemicalization, when the symptoms
540:12 of evil, illusion, are aggravated, we may think in our igno-
rance that the Lord hath wrought an evil; but we ought
to know that God's law uncovers so-called sin and its
540:15 effects, only that Truth may annihilate all sense of evil
and all power to sin.
Allegiance to Spirit
Science renders "unto Caesar the things which are
540:18 Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." It
saith to the human sense of sin, sickness, and
death, "God never made you, and you are a
540:21 false sense which hath no knowledge of God." The pur-
pose of the Hebrew allegory, representing error as assum-
ing a divine character, is to teach mortals never to believe
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