Chapter XV - Genesis
New earth and no more sea
536:1
of the waters called He Seas." In the Apocalypse it is
of the waters called He Seas." In the Apocalypse it is
written: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
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-
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,
is all and there is no other consciousness.
The fall of error
536:10
The way of error is awful to contemplate. The illu-
The way of error is awful to contemplate. The illu-
sion of sin is without hope or God. If man's spiritual
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
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
God, mortal man would be governed by himself. The
blind leading the blind, both would fall.
True attainment
536:20
Passions and appetites must end in pain. They are
Passions and appetites must end in pain. They are
"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.
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-
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,
Genesis iii. 22-24. And the Lord God [Jehovah] said,
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good