Chapter XV - Genesis
Methods of reproduction
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division." This discovery is corroborative of the Science
division." This discovery is corroborative of the Science
of Mind, for this discovery shows that the multiplication
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,
is shown by divine metaphysics to be a mistake, – a
blunder which will finally give place to higher theories
and demonstrations.
The three processes
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Creatures of lower forms of organism are supposed
Creatures of lower forms of organism are supposed
to have, as classes, three different methods of reproduc-
tion and to multiply their species sometimes
through eggs, sometimes through buds, and
sometimes through self-division. According to recent
lore, successive generations do not begin with the birth of
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
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
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
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In one instance a celebrated naturalist, Agassiz, dis-
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
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
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‑
the germ of humanity is in a circumscribed and non‑
intelligent egg.
Deep-reaching interrogations
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If this be so, whence cometh Life, or Mind, to the
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
and preserves the individuality and identity
of animals as well as of men. God cannot
become finite, and be limited within material bounds.
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-
gins, in nameless nothingness? The true sense of being
and its eternal perfection should appear now, even as it
will hereafter.
Stages of existence
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Error of thought is reflected in error of action. The
Error of thought is reflected in error of action. The
continual contemplation of existence as material and cor-
poreal – as beginning and ending, and with
birth, decay, and dissolution as its component
stages – hides the true and spiritual Life, and causes
our standard to trail in the dust. If Life has any starting‑
point whatsoever, then the great I AM is a myth. If Life
is God, as the Scriptures imply, then Life is not embry-
onic, it is infinite. An egg is an impossible enclosure for
Deity.
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Embryology supplies no instance of one species pro-
Embryology supplies no instance of one species pro-
ducing its opposite. A serpent never begets a bird, nor
does a lion bring forth a lamb. Amalgamation is deemed
monstrous and is seldom fruitful, but it is not so hideous
and absurd as the supposition that Spirit – the pure and
holy, the immutable and immortal – can originate the
impure and mortal and dwell in it. As Christian Science
repudiates self-evident impossibilities, the material senses