Article January 4, 1941 Issue

Glorifying God

HAROLD G. MORRIS

WHEN one begins to investigate the facts regarding his origin, the purpose of his existence, and his immortality, he naturally turns to the Bible for enlightenment. In the first chapter of Genesis is found a full and detailed account of spiritual creation, its perfection and harmony being affirmed in the statement, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Therein man is described as the image and likeness of God, having a place of authority and dominion, subject only to his creator, God.

This true account of man's origin must not be confused with the allegory beginning with the sixth verse of the second chapter of Genesis, in which is portrayed a man made of dust, whose intelligence is dependent on matter, and whose life results in death. Efforts to reconcile or to combine these opposing concepts of man have brought forth a variety of creeds and doctrines, such as the fall of man, in which the perfect man becomes a sinner; eternal punishment for sin, and the belief that man is both material and spiritual. The theory that mortal man is God's image is an illusion, and the basing of hopes of health, happiness, and immortality upon false, material foundations is disastrous to faith and demonstration.

It remained for Christian Science, through its spiritual interpretation of the Bible, to present the true concept of man as the image of God so that it could be understood and demonstrated in this and all succeeding ages. On page 475 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, man is defined in part as "the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God's image and likeness; the conscious identity of being as found in Science, in which man is the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal; that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker." These terms—the idea of God, the image of God, the reflection of God—are wholly spiritual in significance, with no suggestion of materiality or mortality.

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