Chapter XV - Genesis
Causation not in matter
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the egg or the bird? is answered, if the egg produces the
the egg or the bird? is answered, if the egg produces the
parent. But we cannot stop here. Another question
follows: Who or what produces the parent of
the egg? That the earth was hatched from the
"egg of night" was once an accepted theory. Heathen
philosophy, modern geology, and all other material hy-
potheses deal with causation as contingent on matter
and as necessarily apparent to the corporeal senses, even
where the proof requisite to sustain this assumption is un-
discovered. Mortal theories make friends of sin, sickness,
and death; whereas the spiritual scientific facts of exist-
ence include no member of this dolorous and fatal triad.
Emergence of mortals
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Human experience in mortal life, which starts from an
Human experience in mortal life, which starts from an
egg, corresponds with that of Job, when he says, "Man
that is born of a woman is of few days, and
full of trouble." Mortals must emerge from
this notion of material life as all-in-all. They must peck
open their shells with Christian Science, and look outward
and upward. But thought, loosened from a material
basis but not yet instructed by Science, may become wild
with freedom and so be self-contradictory.
Persistence of species
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From a material source flows no remedy for sorrow,
From a material source flows no remedy for sorrow,
sin, and death, for the redeeming power, from the ills
they occasion, is not in egg nor in dust. The
blending tints of leaf and flower show the
order of matter to be the order of mortal mind. The
intermixture of different species, urged to its utmost
limits, results in a return to the original species. Thus
it is learned that matter is a manifestation of mortal
mind, and that matter always surrenders its claims when
the perfect and eternal Mind is understood.
Better basis than embryology
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Naturalists describe the origin of mortal and material
Naturalists describe the origin of mortal and material
553:1
existence in the various forms of embryology, and ac-
existence in the various forms of embryology, and ac-
company their descriptions with important observations,
which should awaken thought to a higher and
purer contemplation of man's origin. This
clearer consciousness must precede an under-
standing of the harmony of being. Mortal thought must
obtain a better basis, get nearer the truth of being, or
health will never be universal, and harmony will never
become the standard of man.
553:10
One of our ablest naturalists has said: "We have no
One of our ablest naturalists has said: "We have no
right to assume that individuals have grown or been
formed under circumstances which made material con-
ditions essential to their maintenance and reproduction,
or important to their origin and first introduction."
Why, then, is the naturalist's basis so materialistic,
and why are his deductions generally material?
All nativity in thought
553:17
Adam was created before Eve. In this instance, it is
Adam was created before Eve. In this instance, it is
seen that the maternal egg never brought forth Adam.
Eve was formed from Adam's rib, not from a
foetal ovum. Whatever theory may be adopted
by general mortal thought to account for human origin,
that theory is sure to become the signal for the appear-
ance of its method in finite forms and operations. If con-
sentaneous human belief agrees upon an ovum as the
point of emergence for the human race, this potent belief
will immediately supersede the more ancient supersti-
tion about the creation from dust or from the rib of our
primeval father.
Being is immortal
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You may say that mortals are formed before they
You may say that mortals are formed before they
think or know aught of their origin, and you
may also ask how belief can affect a result
which precedes the development of that belief. It can