Article February 28, 1914 Issue

Transition

M. A. FELTON

In searching the field of human experience to find helpful illustrations for the new–found truths of Christian Science, one may turn to mathematics and discover therein apt comparisons in the statement of general laws. It is a habit of the average man to attempt to attach a new truth to a wellknown fact, and in that way become acquainted with it quickly and surely. Recognizing this to be the case, Jesus, the master Metaphysician, always made use of parables, figures and facts of familiar scenes and incidents, in the effort to awaken an understanding of the spiritual truths he sought to teach.

The relative value or significance of the human concept of man, over against the thought of man as a divine idea, greatly puzzled the writer until he perceived a comparison in the so–called "theory of limits" in mathematics, which altogether harmonizes with Mrs. Eddy's explanation of the development of the human concept as given on page 115 in Science and Health. This so cleared certain points for him, that he feels impelled to give a brief statement of them, in the hope that some one else may gain a little more of the light of truth therefrom.

The "theory of limits" has to do with two kinds of quantities, the "variable," whose value is continually changing, and the "constant," whose value always remains the same. A variable may change in a given direction; that is, its value may continually increase or it may continually decrease. In either case, the constant is the point of value toward which the variable is approaching, and it is called the "limit" of the variable. If the variable is increasing in value, the constant is said to be its "superior limit." Now a variable can never quite reach its limit, but of necessity must always be separated from it by a decreasing variable whose limit is zero; for it is plain that the variable can be a variable only so long as it is changing in value. If its value could reach that of its limit, or in other words could assume the value of a constant, then its variableness would have vanished entirely, and the only value remaining would be that of the constant, which is already there, and always has been.

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