Science and Health With Key to The Scriptures

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

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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
540:24 a lie.

/Genesis/ iv. 3, 4. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground
an offering unto the Lord [Jehovah]. And Abel, he also
540:27 brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof.

Spiritual and material

Cain is the type of mortal and material man, conceived
in sin and "shapen in iniquity;" he is not the
540:30 type of Truth and Love. Material in origin
and sense, he brings a material offering to God. Abel
541:1 takes his offering from the firstlings of the flock. A lamb
is a more animate form of existence, and more nearly re-
541:3 sembles a mind-offering than does Cain's fruit. Jealous
of his brother's gift, Cain seeks Abel's life, instead of mak-
ing his own gift a higher tribute to the Most High.

541:6 /Genesis/ iv. 4, 5. And the Lord [Jehovah] had respect
unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his
offering, He had not respect.

541:9 Had God more respect for the homage bestowed through
a gentle animal than for the worship expressed by Cain's
fruit? No; but the lamb was a more spiritual type of
541:12 even the human concept of Love than the herbs of the
ground could be.

/Genesis/ iv. 8. Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and
541:15 slew him.

The erroneous belief that life, substance, and intelli-
gence can be material ruptures the life and brotherhood
541:18 of man at the very outset.

/Genesis/ iv. 9. And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Cain,
Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am
541:21 I my brother's keeper?

Brotherhood repudiated

Here the serpentine lie invents new forms. At first it
usurps divine power. It is supposed to say
541:24 in the first instance, "Ye shall be as gods."
Now it repudiates even the human duty of man towards
his brother.

541:27 /Genesis/ iv. 10, 11. And He [Jehovah] said, . . . The
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground.
And now art thou cursed from the earth.

Murder brings its curse

542:1 The belief of life in matter sins at every step. It in-
curs divine displeasure, and it would kill Jesus that it
542:3 might be rid of troublesome Truth. Material
beliefs would slay the spiritual idea when-
ever and wherever it appears. Though error hides
542:6 behind a lie and excuses guilt, error cannot forever be
concealed. Truth, through her eternal laws, unveils
error. Truth causes sin to betray itself, and sets upon
542:9 error the mark of the beast. Even the disposition to
excuse guilt or to conceal it is punished. The avoidance
of justice and the denial of truth tend to perpetuate sin,
542:12 invoke crime, jeopardize self-control, and mock divine
mercy.

/Genesis/ iv. 15. And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto him
542:15 Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken
on him sevenfold. And the Lord [Jehovah] set a mark
upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Retribution and remorse

542:18 "They that take the sword shall perish with the
sword." Let Truth uncover and destroy error in God's
own way, and let human justice pattern the
542:21 divine. Sin will receive its full penalty, both
for what it is and for what it does. Justice marks
the sinner, and teaches mortals not to remove the
542:24 waymarks of God. To envy's own hell, justice con-
signs the lie which, to advance itself, breaks God's
commandments.

542:27 /Genesis/ iv. 16. And Cain went out from the presence of
the Lord [Jehovah], and dwelt in the land of Nod.

Climax of suffering

The sinful misconception of Life as something less
543:1 than God, having no truth to support it, falls back upon
itself. This error, after reaching the climax of suffering,
543:3 yields to Truth and returns to dust; but it
is only mortal man and not the real man,
who dies. The image of Spirit cannot be effaced, since it
543:6 is the idea of Truth and changes not, but becomes more
beautifully apparent at error's demise.

Dwelling in dreamland

In divine Science, the material man is shut out from
543:9 the presence of God. The five corporeal senses cannot
take cognizance of Spirit. They cannot come
into His presence, and must dwell in dream-
543:12 land, until mortals arrive at the understanding that ma-
terial life, with all its sin, sickness, and death, is an illu-
sion, against which divine Science is engaged in a warfare
543:15 of extermination. The great verities of existence are
never excluded by falsity.

Man springs from Mind

All error proceeds from the evidence before the mate-
543:18 rial senses. If man is material and originates in an
egg, who shall say that he is not primarily
dust? May not Darwin be right in think-
543:21 ing that apehood preceded mortal manhood? Minerals
and vegetables are found, according to divine Science,
to be the creations of erroneous thought, not of matter.
543:24 Did man, whom God created with a word, originate
in an egg? When Spirit made all, did it leave aught
for matter to create? Ideas of Truth alone are reflected
543:27 in the myriad manifestations of Life, and thus it is
seen that man springs solely from Mind. The belief
that matter supports life would make Life, or God,
543:30 mortal.

Material inception

The text, "In the day that the Lord God [Jehovah
God] made the earth and the heavens," introduces the
544:1 record of a material creation which followed the spiritual,
- a creation so wholly apart from God's, that Spirit
544:3 had no participation in it. In God's creation
ideas became productive, obedient to Mind.
There was no rain and "not a man to till the ground."
544:6 Mind, instead of matter, being the producer, Life was
self-sustained. Birth, decay, and death arise from the
material sense of things, not from the spiritual, for in
544:9 the latter Life consisteth not of the things which a man
eateth. Matter cannot change the eternal fact that
man exists because God exists. Nothing is new to the
544:12 infinite Mind.

First evil suggestion

In Science, Mind neither produces matter nor does
matter produce mind. No mortal mind has the might
544:15 or right or wisdom to create or to destroy.
All is under the control of the one Mind,
even God. The first statement about evil, - the first
544:18 suggestion of more than the one Mind, - is in the fable
of the serpent. The facts of creation, as previously re-
corded, include nothing of the kind.

Material personality

544:21 The serpent is supposed to say, "Ye shall be as gods,"
but these gods must be evolved from materiality and be
the very antipodes of immortal and spiritual
544:24 being. Man is the likeness of Spirit, but a
material personality is not this likeness. Therefore man,
in this allegory, is neither a lesser god nor the image and
544:27 likeness of the one God.

Material, erroneous belief reverses understanding and
truth. It declares mind to be in and of matter, so-called
544:30 mortal life to be Life, infinity to enter man's nostrils
so that matter becomes spiritual. Error begins with
corporeality as the producer instead of divine Prin-
545:1 ciple, and explains Deity through mortal and finite con-
ceptions.

545:3 "Behold, the man is become as one of us." This could
not be the utterance of Truth or Science, for according
to the record, material man was fast degenerating and
545:6 never had been divinely conceived.

Mental tillage

The condemnation of mortals to till the ground means
this, - that mortals should so improve material belief
545:9 by thought tending spiritually upward as to
destroy materiality. Man, created by God,
was given dominion over the whole earth. The notion
545:12 of a material universe is utterly opposed to the theory
of man as evolved from Mind. Such fundamental errors
send falsity into all human doctrines and conclusions,
545:15 and do not accord infinity to Deity. Error tills the
whole ground in this material theory, which is entirely a
false view, destructive to existence and happiness. Out-
545:18 side of Christian Science all is vague and hypothetical, the
opposite of Truth; yet this opposite, in its false view of
God and man, impudently demands a blessing.

Erroneous standpoint

545:21 The translators of this record of scientific creation
entertained a false sense of being. They believed in
the existence of matter, its propagation and
545:24 power. From that standpoint of error, they
could not apprehend the nature and operation of Spirit.
Hence the seeming contradiction in that Scripture, which
545:27 is so glorious in its spiritual signification. Truth has
but one reply to all error, - to sin, sickness, and death:
"Dust [nothingness] thou art, and unto dust [nothingness]
545:30 shalt thou return."

Mortality mythical

"As in Adam [error] all die, even so in Christ [Truth]
shall all be made alive." The mortality of man is a
546:1 myth, for man is immortal. The false belief that spirit is
now submerged in matter, at some future time to be eman-
546:3 cipated from it, - this belief alone is mortal.
Spirit, God, never germinates, but is "the same
yesterday, and to-day, and forever." If Mind, God, cre-
546:6 ates error, that error must exist in the divine Mind, and
this assumption of error would dethrone the perfection
of Deity.

No truth from a material basis

546:9 Is Christian Science contradictory? Is the divine
Principle of creation misstated? Has God no Science to
declare Mind, while matter is governed by un-
546:12 erring intelligence? "There went up a mist
from the earth." This represents error as
starting from an idea of good on a material basis. It
546:15 supposes God and man to be manifested only through
the corporeal senses, although the material senses can
take no cognizance of Spirit or the spiritual idea.
546:18 Genesis and the Apocalypse seem more obscure than
other portions of the Scripture, because they cannot
possibly be interpreted from a material standpoint. To
546:21 the author, they are transparent, for they contain the deep
divinity of the Bible.

Dawning of spiritual facts

Christian Science is dawning upon a material age.
546:24 The great spiritual facts of being, like rays of light, shine
in the darkness, though the darkness, com-
prehending them not, may deny their reality.
546:27 The proof that the system stated in this book is Chris-
tianly scientific resides in the good this system accom-
plishes, for it cures on a divine demonstrable Principle
546:30 which all may understand.

Proof given in healing

If mathematics should present a thousand different
examples of one rule, the proving of one example would
547:1 authenticate all the others. A simple statement of Chris-
tian Science, if demonstrated by healing, contains the
547:3 proof of all here said of Christian Science. If
one of the statements in this book is true, every
one must be true, for not one departs from the stated sys-
547:6 tem and rule. You can prove for yourself, dear reader,
the Science of healing, and so ascertain if the author has
given you the correct interpretation of Scripture.

Embryonic evolution

547:9 The late Louis Agassiz, by his microscopic examination
of a vulture's ovum, strengthens the thinker's conclusions
as to the scientific theory of creation. Agassiz
547:12 was able to see in the egg the earth's atmos-
phere, the gathering clouds, the moon and stars, while the
germinating speck of so-called embryonic life seemed a
547:15 small sun. In its history of mortality, Darwin's theory
of evolution from a material basis is more consistent than
most theories. Briefly, this is Darwin's theory, - that
547:18 Mind produces its opposite, matter, and endues matter
with power to recreate the universe, including man. Ma-
terial evolution implies that the great First Cause must
547:21 become material, and afterwards must either return to
Mind or go down into dust and nothingness.

True theory of the universe

The Scriptures are very sacred. Our aim must be to
547:24 have them understood spiritually, for only by this under-
standing can truth be gained. The true the-
ory of the universe, including man, is not in
547:27 material history but in spiritual development.
Inspired thought relinquishes a material, sensual, and
mortal theory of the universe, and adopts the spiritual and
547:30 immortal.

Scriptural perception

It is this spiritual perception of Scripture, which lifts
humanity out of disease and death and inspires faith.
548:1 "The Spirit and the bride say, Come! . . . and whoso-
ever will, let him take the water of life freely." Christian
548:3 Science separates error from truth, and breathes
through the sacred pages the spiritual sense of
life, substance, and intelligence. In this Science, we dis-
548:6 cover man in the image and likeness of God. We see that
man has never lost his spiritual estate and his eternal
harmony.

The clouds dissolving

548:9 How little light or heat reach our earth when clouds
cover the sun's face! So Christian Science can be seen
only as the clouds of corporeal sense roll away.
548:12 Earth has little light or joy for mortals before
Life is spiritually learned. Every agony of mortal error
helps error to destroy error, and so aids the apprehension
548:15 of immortal Truth. This is the new birth going on
hourly, by which men may entertain angels, the true
ideas of God, the spiritual sense of being.

Prediction of a naturalist

548:18 Speaking of the origin of mortals, a famous naturalist
says: "It is very possible that many general statements
now current, about birth and generation, will
548:21 be changed with the progress of information."
Had the naturalist, through his tireless researches, gained
the diviner side in Christian Science, - so far apart from
548:24 his material sense of animal growth and organization, -
he would have blessed the human race more abundantly.

Methods of reproduction

Natural history is richly endowed by the labors and
548:27 genius of great men. Modern discoveries have brought
to light important facts in regard to so-called
embryonic life. Agassiz declares ("Methods
548:30 of Study in Natural History,") "Certain ani-
mals, besides the ordinary process of generation, also
increase their numbers naturally and constantly by self-
549:1 division." This discovery is corroborative of the Science
of Mind, for this discovery shows that the multiplication
549:3 of certain animals takes place apart from sexual condi-
tions. The supposition that life germinates in eggs and
must decay after it has grown to maturity, if not before,
549:6 is shown by divine metaphysics to be a mistake, - a
blunder which will finally give place to higher theories
and demonstrations.

The three processes

549:9 Creatures of lower forms of organism are supposed
to have, as classes, three different methods of reproduc-
tion and to multiply their species sometimes
549:12 through eggs, sometimes through buds, and
sometimes through self-division. According to recent
lore, successive generations do not begin with the /birth/ of
549:15 new individuals, or personalities, but with the formation
of the nucleus, or egg, from which one or more individu-
alities subsequently emerge; and we must therefore look
549:18 upon the simple ovum as the germ, the starting-point, of
the most complicated corporeal structures, including those
which we call human. Here these material researches
549:21 culminate in such vague hypotheses as must necessarily
attend false systems, which rely upon physics and are de-
void of metaphysics.

Deference to material law

549:24 In one instance a celebrated naturalist, Agassiz, dis-
covers the pathway leading to divine Science, and beards
the lion of materialism in its den. At that
549:27 point, however, even this great observer mis-
takes nature, forsakes Spirit as the divine origin of
creative Truth, and allows matter and material law to
549:30 usurp the prerogatives of omnipotence. He absolutely
drops from his summit, coming down to a belief in the
material origin of man, for he virtually affirms that
550:1 the germ of humanity is in a circumscribed and non-
intelligent egg.

Deep-reaching interrogations

550:3 If this be so, whence cometh Life, or Mind, to the
human race? Matter surely does not possess Mind.
God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms
550:6 and preserves the individuality and identity
of animals as well as of men. God cannot
become finite, and be limited within material bounds.
550:9 Spirit cannot become matter, nor can Spirit be developed
through its opposite. Of what avail is it to investigate
what is miscalled material life, which ends, even as it be-
550:12 gins, in nameless nothingness? The true sense of being
and its eternal perfection should appear now, even as it
will hereafter.

Stages of existence