Chapter XV - Genesis
Being is immortal
554:1
only be replied, that Christian Science reveals what "eye
only be replied, that Christian Science reveals what "eye
hath not seen," – even the cause of all that exists, – for
the universe, inclusive of man, is as eternal as God, who
is its divine immortal Principle. There is no such thing
as mortality, nor are there properly any mortal beings,
because being is immortal, like Deity, – or, rather, being
and Deity are inseparable.
Our conscious development
554:8
Error is always error. It is no thing. Any statement
Error is always error. It is no thing. Any statement
of life, following from a misconception of life, is errone-
ous, because it is destitute of any knowledge
of the so-called selfhood of life, destitute of
any knowledge of its origin or existence. The mortal
is unconscious of his foetal and infantile existence; but
as he grows up into another false claim, that of self-con-
scious matter, he learns to say, "I am somebody; but
who made me?" Error replies, "God made you." The
first effort of error has been and is to impute to God the
creation of whatever is sinful and mortal; but infinite
Mind sets at naught such a mistaken belief.
Mendacity of error
554:20
Jesus defined this opposite of God and His creation
Jesus defined this opposite of God and His creation
better than we can, when he said, "He is a liar, and the
father of it." Jesus also said, "Have not I
chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?"
This he said of Judas, one of Adam's race. Jesus never
intimated that God made a devil, but he did say, "Ye
are of your father, the devil." All these sayings were to
show that mind in matter is the author of itself, and is
simply a falsity and illusion.
Ailments of animals
554:29
It is the general belief that the lower animals are less
It is the general belief that the lower animals are less
sickly than those possessing higher organiza-
tions, especially those of the human form.
This would indicate that there is less disease in propor-
555:1
tion as the force of mortal mind is less pungent or sensi-
tion as the force of mortal mind is less pungent or sensi-
tive, and that health attends the absence of mortal mind.
A fair conclusion from this might be, that it is the human
belief, and not the divine arbitrament, which brings the
physical organism under the yoke of disease.
Ignorance the sign of error
555:6
An inquirer once said to the discoverer of Christian
An inquirer once said to the discoverer of Christian
Science: "I like your explanations of truth, but I do
not comprehend what you say about error."
This is the nature of error. The mark of igno-
rance is on its forehead, for it neither understands nor
can be understood. Error would have itself received as
mind, as if it were as real and God-created as truth; but
Christian Science attributes to error neither entity nor
power, because error is neither mind nor the outcome of
Mind.
The origin of divinity
555:16
Searching for the origin of man, who is the reflection
Searching for the origin of man, who is the reflection
of God, is like inquiring into the origin of God, the self‑
existent and eternal. Only impotent error
would seek to unite Spirit with matter, good
with evil, immortality with mortality, and call this
sham unity man, as if man were the offspring of both
Mind and matter, of both Deity and humanity. Crea-
tion rests on a spiritual basis. We lose our standard of
perfection and set aside the proper conception of Deity,
when we admit that the perfect is the author of aught
that can become imperfect, that God bestows the power
to sin, or that Truth confers the ability to err. Our
great example, Jesus, could restore the individualized
manifestation of existence, which seemed to vanish in
death. Knowing that God was the Life of man, Jesus
was able to present himself unchanged after the cruci-
fixion. Truth fosters the idea of Truth, and not the be-