0.0 - Science & Health by Mary Baker Eddy Chapter 9 - Creation - 1910 Edition

Mary Baker Eddy

Chapter 9 ~ Creation

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy ~ 1910 Final Ed.

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Textbook of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy

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Our vision is CREATION opening to a totally new view or sense of creation. The concept of man cast out of God and having the burden of trying to create is fading. As we saw in the sixth chapter, we are discovering what God has created. "There can be but one creator, who has created all. Whatever seems to be a new creation, is but the discovery of some distant idea of Truth" (263:20). God has not created a material  universe. The material universe is the shadow of the reality. God is infinitely expressed as spiritual ideas. All that really exists is God in self-expression and our new view of creation is simply that "multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible," have suddenly "become visible" (264:14). Because our vision is clearer, we therefore see more. We begin to see creation fulfilled and complete and accomplished now
~ DISSOLVING BARRIERS, The Healing Work of Christian Science by John L. MorganSHOW ALL

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Chapter 9 255

Creation

Thy throne is established of old:
Thou art from everlasting. — Psalms.

For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit,
the redemption of our body. — Paul.

1 Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mor-
tals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought
3 expands into expression. "Let there be light," Inadequate
is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, theories of
changing chaos into order and discord into the creation
6 music of the spheres. The mythical human theories of
creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang
from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they
9 afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by
the divine Mind.
Mortal man has made a covenant with his eyes to be-
12 little Deity with human conceptions. In league Finite views
with material sense, mortals take limited views of Deity
of all things. That God is corporeal or material, no man
15 should affirm.
The human form, or physical finiteness, cannot be
made the basis of any true idea of the infinite Godhead.
18 Eye hath not seen Spirit, nor hath ear heard His voice.

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1 Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must
yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of ac-
3 tion, thought rises from the material sense to No material
the spiritual, from the scholastic to the in- creation
spirational, and from the mortal to the immortal. All
6 things are created spiritually. Mind, not matter, is the
creator. Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and
Mother of the universe, including man.
9 The theory of three persons in one God (that is, a per-
sonal Trinity or Tri-unity) suggests polythe- Tritheism
ism, rather than the one ever-present I AM. impossible
12 "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord."
The everlasting I AM is not bounded nor compressed
within the narrow limits of physical humanity, nor can
15 He be understood aright through mortal con- No divine
cepts. The precise form of God must be of corporeality
small importance in comparison with the sublime ques-
18 tion, What is infinite Mind or divine Love?
Who is it that demands our obedience? He who, in
the language of Scripture, "doeth according to His will
21 in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him,
What doest Thou?"
24 No form nor physical combination is adequate to rep-
resent infinite Love. A finite and material sense of God
leads to formalism and narrowness; it chills the spirit of
27 Christianity.
A limitless Mind cannot proceed from physical limita-
tions. Finiteness cannot present the idea or the vast-
30 ness of infinity. A mind originating from a Limitless
finite or material source must be limited and Mind
finite. Infinite Mind is the creator, and creation is the

Science and Health – Creation 257

1 infinite image or idea emanating from this Mind. If
Mind is within and without all things, then all is Mind;
3 and this definition is scientific.
If matter, so-called, is substance, then Spirit, matter's
unlikeness, must be shadow; and shadow cannot produce
6 substance. The theory that Spirit is not the Matter is not
only substance and creator is pantheistic het- substance
erodoxy, which ultimates in sickness, sin, and death; it is
9 the belief in a bodily soul and a material mind, a soul
governed by the body and a mind in matter. This be-
lief is shallow pantheism.
12 Mind creates His own likeness in ideas, and the sub-
stance of an idea is very far from being the supposed sub-
stance of non-intelligent matter. Hence the Father Mind
15 is not the father of matter. The material senses and
human conceptions would translate spiritual ideas into
material beliefs, and would say that an anthropomorphic
18 God, instead of infinite Principle, — in other words, divine
Love, — is the father of the rain, "who hath begotten the
drops of dew," who bringeth "forth Mazzaroth in his sea-
21 son," and guideth "Arcturus with his sons."
Finite mind manifests all sorts of errors, and thus
proves the material theory of mind in matter to be the
24 antipode of Mind. Who hath found finite life Inexhaustible
or love sufficient to meet the demands of human divine Love
want and woe, — to still the desires, to satisfy the aspira-
27 tions? Infinite Mind cannot be limited to a finite form,
or Mind would lose its infinite character as inexhaustible
Love, eternal Life, omnipotent Truth.
30 It would require an infinite form to contain infinite
Mind. Indeed, the phrase infinite form involves a con-
tradiction of terms. Finite man cannot be the image and

Science and Health – Creation 258

1 likeness of the infinite God. A mortal, corporeal, or
finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of
3 limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence Infinite
the unsatisfied human craving for something physique
better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a impossible
6 material belief in a physical God and man. The insuffi-
ciency of this belief to supply the true idea proves the
falsity of material belief.
9 Man is more than a material form with a mind inside,
which must escape from its environments in Infinity's
order to be immortal. Man reflects infinity, reflection
12 and this reflection is the true idea of God.
God expresses in man the infinite idea forever develop-
ing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from
15 a boundless basis. Mind manifests all that exists in
the infinitude of Truth. We know no more of man as
the true divine image and likeness, than we know of
18 God.
The infinite Principle is reflected by the infinite idea
and spiritual individuality, but the material so-called senses
21 have no cognizance of either Principle or its idea. The
human capacities are enlarged and perfected in propor-
tion as humanity gains the true conception of man and
24 God.
Mortals have a very imperfect sense of the spiritual
man and of the infinite range of his thought. To him
27 belongs eternal Life. Never born and Individual
never dying, it were impossible for man, under permanency
the government of God in eternal Science, to fall from his
30 high estate.
Through spiritual sense you can discern the heart of
divinity, and thus begin to comprehend in Science the

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1 generic term man. Man is not absorbed in Deity, and
man cannot lose his individuality, for he re- God's man
3 flects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, soli- discerned
tary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all
substance.
6 In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The
divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who
threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted
9 their lives higher than their poor thought-models would
allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick,
sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of
12 scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Prin-
ciple and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the
basis of thought and demonstration.
15 If man was once perfect but has now lost his perfection,
then mortals have never beheld in man the reflex image
of God. The lost image is no image. The The divine
18 true likeness cannot be lost in divine reflection. image
Understanding this, Jesus said: "Be ye there- not lost
fore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
21 perfect."
Mortal thought transmits its own images, and forms
its offspring after human illusions. God, Spirit, works
24 spiritually, not materially. Brain or matter Immortal
never formed a human concept. Vibration is models
not intelligence; hence it is not a creator. Immortal
27 ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by
the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects
error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine
30 concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious
results.
Deducing one's conclusions as to man from imperfec-

Science and Health – Creation 260

1 tion instead of perfection, one can no more arrive at the
true conception or understanding of man, and make him-
3 self like it, than the sculptor can perfect his outlines from
an imperfect model, or the painter can depict the form
and face of Jesus, while holding in thought the character
6 of Judas.
The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give
way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through
9 many generations human beliefs will be attain- Spiritual
ing diviner conceptions, and the immortal and discovery
perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as
12 the only true conception of being.
Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good,
and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already
15 done; but distrust of one's ability to gain the goodness
desired and to bring out better and higher results, often
hampers the trial of one's wings and ensures failure at the
18 outset.
Mortals must change their ideals in order to improve
their models. A sick body is evolved from Requisite
21 sick thoughts. Sickness, disease, and death change of
proceed from fear. Sensualism evolves bad our ideals
physical and moral conditions.
24 Selfishness and sensualism are educated in mortal
mind by the thoughts ever recurring to one's self, by
conversation about the body, and by the expectation of
27 perpetual pleasure or pain from it; and this education
is at the expense of spiritual growth. If we array
thought in mortal vestures, it must lose its immortal
30 nature.
If we look to the body for pleasure, we find pain; for
Life, we find death; for Truth, we find error; for Spirit,

Science and Health – Creation 261

1 we find its opposite, matter. Now reverse this action.
Look away from the body into Truth and Love, Thoughts
3 the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and are things
immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the endur-
ing, the good, and the true, and you will bring these
6 into your experience proportionably to their occupancy
of your thoughts.
The effect of mortal mind on health and happiness is
9 seen in this: If one turns away from the body with such
absorbed interest as to forget it, the body Unreality
experiences no pain. Under the strong im- of pain
12 pulse of a desire to perform his part, a noted actor was
accustomed night after night to go upon the stage and
sustain his appointed task, walking about as actively
15 as the youngest member of the company. This old man
was so lame that he hobbled every day to the theatre, and
sat aching in his chair till his cue was spoken, — a signal
18 which made him as oblivious of physical infirmity as if
he had inhaled chloroform, though he was in the full pos-
session of his so-called senses.
21 Detach sense from the body, or matter, which is only
a form of human belief, and you may learn the meaning
of God, or good, and the nature of the immu- Immutable
24 table and immortal. Breaking away from the identity
mutations of time and sense, you will neither of man
lose the solid objects and ends of life nor your own iden-
27 tity. Fixing your gaze on the realities supernal, you will
rise to the spiritual consciousness of being, even as the bird
which has burst from the egg and preens its wings for a
30 skyward flight.
We should forget our bodies in remembering good and
the human race. Good demands of man every hour, in

Science and Health – Creation 262

1 which to work out the problem of being. Consecration
to good does not lessen man's dependence on God, but
3 heightens it. Neither does consecration di- Forgetfulness
minish man's obligations to God, but shows of self
the paramount necessity of meeting them. Christian
6 Science takes naught from the perfection of God, but it
ascribes to Him the entire glory. By putting "off the old
man with his deeds," mortals "put on immortality."
9 We cannot fathom the nature and quality of God's
creation by diving into the shallows of mortal belief. We
must reverse our feeble flutterings — our efforts to find
12 life and truth in matter — and rise above the testimony
of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal
idea of God. These clearer, higher views inspire the God-
15 like man to reach the absolute centre and circumference
of his being.
Job said: "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the
18 ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee." Mortals will echo
Job's thought, when the supposed pain and The true
pleasure of matter cease to predominate. They sense
21 will then drop the false estimate of life and happiness, of
joy and sorrow, and attain the bliss of loving unselfishly,
working patiently, and conquering all that is unlike God.
24 Starting from a higher standpoint, one rises spontane-
ously, even as light emits light without effort; for "where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
27 The foundation of mortal discord is a false sense of
man's origin. To begin rightly is to end rightly. Every
concept which seems to begin with the brain Mind the
30 begins falsely. Divine Mind is the only cause only cause
or Principle of existence. Cause does not exist in matter,
in mortal mind, or in physical forms.

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1 Mortals are egotists. They believe themselves to be
independent workers, personal authors, and even privi-
3 leged originators of something which Deity Human
would not or could not create. The creations egotism
of mortal mind are material. Immortal spiritual man
6 alone represents the truth of creation.
When mortal man blends his thoughts of existence
with the spiritual and works only as God works,
9 he will no longer grope in the dark and cling Mortal man
to earth because he has not tasted heaven. a mis-creator
Carnal beliefs defraud us. They make man an involun-
12 tary hypocrite, — producing evil when he would create
good, forming deformity when he would outline grace
and beauty, injuring those whom he would bless. He
15 becomes a general mis-creator, who believes he is a
semi-god. His "touch turns hope to dust, the dust we
all have trod." He might say in Bible language: "The
18 good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would
not, that I do."
There can be but one creator, who has created all.
21 Whatever seems to be a new creation, is but the discovery
of some distant idea of Truth; else it is a No new
new multiplication or self-division of mor- creation
24 tal thought, as when some finite sense peers from its
cloister with amazement and attempts to pattern the
infinite.
27 The multiplication of a human and mortal sense of per-
sons and things is not creation. A sensual thought, like
an atom of dust thrown into the face of spiritual im-
30 mensity, is dense blindness instead of a scientific eternal
consciousness of creation.
The fading forms of matter, the mortal body and ma-

Science and Health – Creation 264

1 terial earth, are the fleeting concepts of the human mind.
They have their day before the permanent facts and their
3 perfection in Spirit appear. The crude crea- Mind's true
tions of mortal thought must finally give place camera
to the glorious forms which we sometimes behold in the
6 camera of divine Mind, when the mental picture is spir-
itual and eternal. Mortals must look beyond fading,
finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things.
9 Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearchable realm
of Mind? We must look where we would walk, and we
must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we
12 have our being.
As mortals gain more correct views of God and man,
multitudinous objects of creation, which before were
15 invisible, will become visible. When we Self-
realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of completeness
matter, this understanding will expand into self-com-
18 pleteness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other
consciousness.
Spirit and its formations are the only realities of being.
21 Matter disappears under the microscope of Spirit. Sin
is unsustained by Truth, and sickness and Spiritual
death were overcome by Jesus, who proved proofs of
24 them to be forms of error. Spiritual living existence
and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can
recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace
27 which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.
When we learn the way in Christian Science and rec-
ognize man's spiritual being, we shall behold and under-
30 stand God's creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven
and man.
The universe of Spirit is peopled with spiritual beings,

Science and Health – Creation 265

1 and its government is divine Science. Man is the off-
spring, not of the lowest, but of the highest qualities of
3 Mind. Man understands spiritual existence Godward
in proportion as his treasures of Truth and gravitation
Love are enlarged. Mortals must gravitate Godward,
6 their affections and aims grow spiritual, — they must near
the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper
sense of the infinite, — in order that sin and mortality
9 may be put off.
This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for
Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity
12 and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man en-
larged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action,
a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent
15 peace.
The senses represent birth as untimely and death as
irresistible, as if man were a weed growing apace or a
18 flower withered by the sun and nipped by Mortal birth
untimely frosts; but this is true only of a and death
mortal, not of a man in God's image and likeness. The
21 truth of being is perennial, and the error is unreal and
obsolete.
Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained
24 stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after
heavenly good comes even before we discover Blessings
what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss from pain
27 of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending
path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform
us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is
30 spiritual.
The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away
false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections

Science and Health – Creation 266

1 from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good,
"rejoicing the heart." Such is the sword of Decapitation
3 Science, with which Truth decapitates error, of error
materiality giving place to man's higher individuality and
destiny.
6 Would existence without personal friends be to you
a blank? Then the time will come when you will be
solitary, left without sympathy; but this Uses of
9 seeming vacuum is already filled with divine adversity
Love. When this hour of development comes, even if
you cling to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will
12 force you to accept what best promotes your growth.
Friends will betray and enemies will slander, until the
lesson is sufficient to exalt you; for "man's extremity
15 is God's opportunity." The author has experienced the
foregoing prophecy and its blessings. Thus He teaches
mortals to lay down their fleshliness and gain spirituality.
18 This is done through self-abnegation. Universal Love
is the divine way in Christian Science.
The sinner makes his own hell by doing evil, and the
21 saint his own heaven by doing right. The opposite per-
secutions of material sense, aiding evil with evil, would
deceive the very elect.
24 Mortals must follow Jesus' sayings and his demonstra-
tions, which dominate the flesh. Perfect and infinite
Mind enthroned is heaven. The evil beliefs Beatific
27 which originate in mortals are hell. Man is the presence
idea of Spirit; he reflects the beatific presence, illuming
the universe with light. Man is deathless, spiritual. He
30 is above sin or frailty. He does not cross the barriers
of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with
God and the universe.

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1 Every object in material thought will be destroyed, but
the spiritual idea, whose substance is in Mind, is eternal.
3 The offspring of God start not from matter The infinitude
or ephemeral dust. They are in and of Spirit, of God
divine Mind, and so forever continue. God is one. The
6 allness of Deity is His oneness. Generically man is one,
and specifically man means all men.
It is generally conceded that God is Father, eternal, self-
9 created, infinite. If this is so, the forever Father must
have had children prior to Adam. The great I AM made
all "that was made." Hence man and the spiritual uni-
12 verse coexist with God.
Christian Scientists understand that, in a religious
sense, they have the same authority for the appellative
15 mother, as for that of brother and sister. Jesus said:
"For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which
is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and
18 mother."
When examined in the light of divine Science, mortals
present more than is detected upon the surface, since
21 inverted thoughts and erroneous beliefs must Waymarks
be counterfeits of Truth. Thought is bor- to eternal
rowed from a higher source than matter, and Truth
24 by reversal, errors serve as waymarks to the one Mind,
in which all error disappears in celestial Truth. The
robes of Spirit are "white and glistering," like the raiment
27 of Christ. Even in this world, therefore, "let thy gar-
ments be always white." "Blessed is the man that en-
dureth [overcometh] temptation: for when he is tried,
30 [proved faithful], he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."
(James 1: 12.)SHOW ALL