Chapter XIV - Recapitulation
Possibilities of Life
489:1
The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.
The less mind there is manifested in matter the better.
When the unthinking lobster loses its claw, the claw grows
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
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
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
everlasting Life.
Decalogue disregarded
489:13
Corporeal sense defrauds and lies; it breaks all the
Corporeal sense defrauds and lies; it breaks all the
commands of the Mosaic Decalogue to meet its own de-
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-
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-
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
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
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
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