Editorial January 6, 1923 Issue

Continuity of Existence

Duncan Sinclair

If Christian Science were doing nothing more than relieving the burden of anxiety which mortals feel with regard to the continuity of existence, it would deserve the gratitude of mankind. What a burden this anxiety is! Believing that man comes into being at so-called material birth, that he gradually develops through the periods of childhood and adolescence, and that he afterward declines until death closes his earthly existence, humanity is kept in perpetual fear because of the uncertainty attendant on all these human stages. Who among mortals can tell whether, indeed, the period of manhood will ever be reached? And even if it be attained, what mortal can say whether some accidental circumstance may not precipitate a sudden end? Uncertainty and doubt dog the footsteps of every one whose thought has not been spiritualized and clarified through the truth which Christian Science reveals.

Now, Christian Science is the most radical system of thought known to men; and this, because all its reasoning and all its deductions are based on fundamental premises which are absolute. It declares God to be Life,—infinite Life; it declares God to be Truth,—infinite Truth. From this it follows that Life, since it is infinite, never had a beginning; just as Truth, being infinite, never had a beginning. Thus, it is discerned that God, including His manifestation, —true or real existence,—has always been. Again, since Life or Truth is infinite, Life or Truth will ever continue to be. And as it is with divine Principle itself, so must it be with Principle's creation. Spiritual creation, including individual spiritual man, is, therefore, everlasting, eternal.

The so-called human mind always tends to think from the starting point of human birth; it cannot penetrate beyond it. It says it has no cognizance of anything preceding human birth! But has not the truth of Truth ever been true? Sometimes one is greatly helped in the perception of the truths of spiritual being by simple illustrations. When, for example, did twice two become four? Twice two has always been four! Again, when did the properties of a circle begin to be true? They have always been true! It is impossible to imagine these truths ever having a beginning. So it is with all truth, even all the truth about man,—man who is the image of God. Every truth about spiritual man has ever been true. And just as the truth about man has ever existed, so will it ever continue to exist.

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