Editorial March 9, 1935 Issue

Man's Incorporeal Existence

Violet Ker Seymer

The phenomena of matter and of physical embodiment are due to ignorance of God, Spirit, and from this ignorance spring all the discords relating to human experience. Some inconsistently believe that although Spirit is the creator, creation is material. It is evident, then, that the only way out of the discords involved in materiality is through spiritually understanding the consistency of creator and creation. And that way is open. On page 13 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Because of human ignorance of the divine Principle, Love, the Father of all is represented as a corporeal creator; hence men recognize themselves as merely physical, and are ignorant of man as God's image or reflection and of man's eternal incorporeal existence." Misconception of Deity contaminates humanity's sense of identity; for how shall one understand himself without first understanding the nature of God, man's creator?

Mrs. Eddy clarifies the thought of Deity through the seven synonyms for God to be found on page 465 of Science and Health. Among these synonyms are Mind, Principle, Truth, which, all will concede, are incorporeal. Deity, then, is not represented by a material universe or corporeal personality, but by spiritual man and the spiritual universe. The more we understand our relation to God, the more we express of the dominion which is inherent in God's image.

Christian Science destroys disease and sin by turning human thought to the infinite, incorporeal, creative Mind and its infinite, incorporeal ideas. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 205) our Leader writes, "This practical Christian Science is the divine Mind, the incorporeal Truth and Love, shining through the mists of materiality and melting away the shadows called sin, disease, and death." A sense of corporeality beclouds the sense of infinity. Christian Science teaches one exactly how to put off the limitations of a personal, corporeal sense of self, together with fleshly beliefs of heredity, and how to grow in spiritual dominion and God-likeness. To become aware of the omnipresence of good is to become aware of heavenly harmony.

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