Science and Health With Key to The Scriptures

M >> Mary Baker Eddy >> Science and Health With Key to The Scriptures

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53

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 leaving 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