Chapter XV - Genesis
Error or Adam
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what mildly, but he increases in falsehood and his days
what mildly, but he increases in falsehood and his days
become shorter. In this development, the im-
mortal, spiritual law of Truth is made manifest
as forever opposed to mortal, material sense.
Divine providence
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In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine
In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine
Principle of being. The earth, at God's command, brings
forth food for man's use. Knowing this, Jesus
once said, "Take no thought for your life,
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," – presuming
not on the prerogative of his creator, but recognizing God,
the Father and Mother of all, as able to feed and clothe
man as He doth the lilies.
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Genesis iii. 4, 5. And the serpent said unto the woman,
Genesis iii. 4, 5. And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day
ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Error's assumption
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This myth represents error as always asserting its su-
This myth represents error as always asserting its su-
periority over truth, giving the lie to divine Science and
saying, through the material senses: "I can
open your eyes. I can do what God has not
done for you. Bow down to me and have another god.
Only admit that I am real, that sin and sense are more
pleasant to the eyes than spiritual Life, more to be de-
sired than Truth, and I shall know you, and you will be
mine." Thus Spirit and flesh war.
Scriptural allegory
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The history of error is a dream-narrative. The dream
The history of error is a dream-narrative. The dream
has no reality, no intelligence, no mind; therefore the
dreamer and dream are one, for neither is
true nor real. First, this narrative supposes
that something springs from nothing, that matter pre-
cedes mind. Second, it supposes that mind enters matter,
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and matter becomes living, substantial, and intelligent.
and matter becomes living, substantial, and intelligent.
The order of this allegory – the belief that everything
springs from dust instead of from Deity – has been main-
tained in all the subsequent forms of belief. This is the
error, – that mortal man starts materially, that non‑
intelligence becomes intelligence, that mind and soul are
both right and wrong.
Higher hope
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It is well that the upper portions of the brain represent
It is well that the upper portions of the brain represent
the higher moral sentiments, as if hope were ever prophe-
sying thus: The human mind will sometime
rise above all material and physical sense, ex-
changing it for spiritual perception, and exchanging hu-
man concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man
will recognize his God-given dominion and being.
Biological inventions
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If, in the beginning, man's body originated in non‑
If, in the beginning, man's body originated in non‑
intelligent dust, and mind was afterwards put into body
by the creator, why is not this divine order
still maintained by God in perpetuating the
species? Who will say that minerals, vegetables, and
animals have a propagating property of their own?
Who dares to say either that God is in matter or that
matter exists without God? Has man sought out other
creative inventions, and so changed the method of his
Maker?
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Which institutes Life, – matter or Mind? Does Life
Which institutes Life, – matter or Mind? Does Life
begin with Mind or with matter? Is Life sustained by
matter or by Spirit? Certainly not by both, since flesh
wars against Spirit and the corporeal senses can take no
cognizance of Spirit. The mythologic theory of mate-
rial life at no point resembles the scientifically Christian
record of man as created by Mind in the image and like-
ness of God and having dominion over all the earth. Did