Editorial August 5, 1961 Issue

"Before Abraham was, I am"

John J. Selover

True selfhood, Christian Science affirms, is incorporeal and eternal. The real selfhood of each one of us has existed forever. Christ Jesus, the most discerning and spiritually informed individual the world has ever known, startled his hearers when he said of his spiritual selfhood (John 8:58), "Before Abraham was, I am."

The origin of the Master was unusual. The fact that he was born of a virgin gave him a view of his true selfhood undarkened by the strong hereditary influences often attached to human birth. He knew whence he came. He knew his true Father to be God. He knew his true everlasting existence. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 8), "The Christ was Jesus' spiritual selfhood; therefore Christ existed prior to Jesus, who said, 'Before Abraham was, I am.'"

Each individual has a perfect eternal selfhood, often, however, only slightly recognized. The more clearly one comprehends his spiritual selfhood and manifests what he understands of it in daily experience, the more harmonious and healthy is his human life.

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