Article March 5, 1921 Issue

The Perfection of Creation

OLIVER BOWLES

IT is worthy of note that two of the fundamentals of Christian Science are given the distinction in Bible phraseology of appearing as clear statements of fact followed by immediate repetition of the same statements in different words in order that the reader may labor under no misapprehension as to their exact meaning. The first of these statements occurs in Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image." This direct statement permits of no wrong interpretation, and yet to emphasize its importance there occurs in the same sentence the words, "In the image of God created he him." On page 516 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy points out the significance of the repetition in the passage, in the following words, "To emphasize this momentous thought, it is repeated that God made man in His own image, to reflect the divine Spirit."

The second statement is in John 1:3, "All things were made by him." This brief but sweeping utterance leaves room for no other creator in the universe, but again the inspired writer follows up with a statement conveying the same thought in a different form, "And without him was not any thing made that was made." John is often regarded as the most spiritually minded of the four gospel writers, and this third verse of the first chapter of his book surely is one of the foundation stones on which is based the superstructure of his interpretation of Jesus' life and works. It establishes forever the spiritual nature of the universe, for our Leader in interpreting the passage states (Science and Health, p. 335), "There is nothing in Spirit out of which matter could bemade, for, as the Bible declares, without the Logos, the /Eon or Word of God, 'was not anything made that was made.'" Is it not significant that such repetitions for emphasis, which occur infrequently in Scripture in such direct and condensed form, should apply in the one instance to man and in the other to things, and thus include the entire creation?

The statements in these two passages are accepted as true by the great majority of professing Christians; in fact, it is difficult to see how any one can reject them without repudiating the Bible in its entirety. But the interpretation placed on them by orthodox religions is that mortal man with all his weakness, sin, disease, and inharmony, and the material world with its imperfections, decay, and disaster, are products of the divine creator. At this point the logic of orthodoxy fails completely, for the appearance of discord in such a creation is passed over as one of the inscrutable things which a man is not supposed to understand, or even to attempt to explain. Here is where Christian Science, in the clarity of its logic, comes to the rescue. Since the one perfect God made man in His own image, then man must be perfect. The logic is unanswerable, and no other conclusion can be reached without in some way modifying the Scriptural statements, which are unequivocal, and certainly, by virtue of their repetition, make it clear that no modification should be attempted.

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