Article February 25, 1911 Issue

We are absolutely at one with Mr.—when he...

E. M. Ramsay—Edinburgh, Scot.

Glad Tidings

We are absolutely at one with Mr.—when he declares that the knowledge of man's origin and future is not attainable by the inductions of philosophy, but by an acquaintance with the mind of the creator. But we go farther than he is inclined to do when we assert that the mind of the creator can be known if we approach in the right way. Our Lord said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free;" and it is plain that he knew God's will and God's intention, and was guided by it in the smallest affairs of life. St. Paul tells us to let that mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; and expressly speaks of the scientific knowledge of God (epignosis), and we maintain that it is this same scientific understanding possessed by the Saviour, and to a lesser extent by his followers, which is now presented to the world as Christian Science.

What, then, does revelation, or the Mind which was in Christ, tell us of man? The first chapter of Genesis says that he was made in God's image. The Saviour exhorted his followers to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect; and St. John said, "Now are we the sons of God." On the other hand, the material or carnal mind, which in Romans is declared to be "enmity against God," gives a totally different report of man. The physical senses know no more of a man made in the image of God than they know of God. Neither God nor God's creation can be discerned materially. According to sense testimony, man is mortal, imperfect, sick, and sinful.

Again, the first chapter of Genesis declares that God made all that was made, and speaks of beasts, birds, trees, sun, etc., as very good, while to mortal sight the animals are mortal, imperfect, and express the same evil passions that we see in material man. I may also remind your readers of the rebuke our Lord administered to the lawyer who called him good, while he himself declared he was the Son of God, and that he did nothing but what he saw the Father do. How does Christian Science reconcile these seeming contradictions which are to be found throughout the Bible? It shows us that the essence of all creation is good and the outcome of God's holy nature, that what is not like God cannot be God's image, man, that it is not like God's creation; it shows us that what is organic, structural, and material is not the essence or reality of man, beast, or flower. This teaching does not confound the creator with His creation, but upholds the Biblical statement that God's creation is like God.

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