Article January 12, 1929 Issue

God's Perfect Child

ALBERT H. HARDCASTLE

Ever since accepting as true the allegorical account of Adam and Eve, mortals have labored under the delusion that man is a fallen and imperfect child of God. This erroneous material concept of man resulted, and still results, from accepting as true the testimony of the material senses that matter is real; that matter has life, substance, intelligence, and creative power of its own. This false belief originated in the mystification of thought typified in the material account of creation set forth in the second chapter of Genesis, and could come only from an imperfect concept of God.

In the first chapter of Genesis it is declared that God, Spirit, made all that was made, including man in His image and likeness, in the image and likeness of Spirit, and pronounced His creation "very good." God is infinite divine Mind; hence, we cannot conceive of wisdom or intelligence apart from Mind; for God is All-in-all. Divine Mind, self-existent and eternal Truth, is therefore the only cause or creator, forever expressing Himself in ideas; and these ideas must ever reflect the nature of the source from which they emanate. Man, the image and likeness of God, is the idea of Mind, the eternal reflection of God, Spirit, and is therefore spiritual, not material.

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, perceiving the reality and eternality of the spiritual creation, as referred to in the first chapter of Genesis, and the consequent falsity and unreality of the so-called material creation, recognized the fact that perfection could never become imperfection. On page 470 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" she says, "God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect." Continuing on the same page and the next page she writes, "The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history." Throughout her writings Mrs. Eddy emphasizes the great need of the recognition and affirmation of this fact. Man, therefore, has never fallen, nor can he ever fall from his spiritual estate as a son of God. God's perfect spiritual law is omnipotent; and His universe, including man, is eternally governed in health, holiness, harmony by this omnipotent law of divine Love.

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Spiritual Ascent
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