Chapter XV - Genesis
Reflected likeness
516:1
how true, according to Christian Science, is the reflection
how true, according to Christian Science, is the reflection
to its original. As the reflection of yourself appears in
the mirror, so you, being spiritual, are the reflection of
God. The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love,
which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation;
and when we subordinate the false testimony of the
corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see
this true likeness and reflection everywhere.
Love imparts beauty
516:9
God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life
God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life
is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in
goodness, which impart their own peace and
permanence. Love, redolent with unselfish-
ness, bathes all in beauty and light. The grass beneath
our feet silently exclaims, "The meek shall inherit the
earth." The modest arbutus sends her sweet breath to
heaven. The great rock gives shadow and shelter. The
sunlight glints from the church-dome, glances into the
prison-cell, glides into the sick-chamber, brightens the
flower, beautifies the landscape, blesses the earth. Man,
made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's domin-
ion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent
and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality,
the infinite Father-Mother God.
516:24
Genesis i. 27. So God created man in His own image,
Genesis i. 27. So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God created He him; male and female
created He them.
Ideal man and woman
516:27
To emphasize this momentous thought, it is repeated
To emphasize this momentous thought, it is repeated
that God made man in His own image, to reflect the
divine Spirit. It follows that man is a generic
term. Masculine, feminine, and neuter gen-
ders are human concepts. In one of the ancient lan-
517:1
guages the word for man is used also as the synonym of
guages the word for man is used also as the synonym of
mind. This definition has been weakened by anthropo-
morphism, or a humanization of Deity. The word an-
thropomorphic, in such a phrase as "an anthropomorphic
God," is derived from two Greek words, signifying man
and form, and may be defined as a mortally mental at-
tempt to reduce Deity to corporeality. The life-giving
quality of Mind is Spirit, not matter. The ideal man
corresponds to creation, to intelligence, and to Truth.
The ideal woman corresponds to Life and to Love. In
divine Science, we have not as much authority for con-
sidering God masculine, as we have for considering
Him feminine, for Love imparts the clearest idea of
Deity.
Divine personality
517:15
The world believes in many persons; but if God is per-
The world believes in many persons; but if God is per-
sonal, there is but one person, because there is but one
God. His personality can only be reflected,
not transmitted. God has countless ideas, and
they all have one Principle and parentage. The only
proper symbol of God as person is Mind's infinite ideal.
What is this ideal? Who shall behold it? This ideal
is God's own image, spiritual and infinite. Even eternity
can never reveal the whole of God, since there is no limit
to infinitude or to its reflections.
517:25
Genesis i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto
Genesis i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.
Birthright of man
517:30
Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to
Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to
multiply, – to manifest His power. Man is not made