Editorial February 22, 1964 Issue

Christian Science and Genius

Helen Wood Bauman

Genius is generally considered to be an inborn mental superiority, an ability above normal. But Christian Science makes one realize that genius is nearer the normal state of man than is the lack of it for according to the Bible and the Science which demonstrates Scriptural revelation, man is the image of God, and his capabilities are consequently unlimited. It is only the carnal mind, God's opposite, that describes man as a limited mortal with a mentality dependent upon a brain for intellectual powers.

It is time for the world to get rid of its solid conviction that genius is unusual and that the average individual is mediocre and destined to a life of ordinary accomplishments. Anyone can begin today to work out his salvation from the limits seemingly imposed upon him by mortal mind and to demonstrate the spontaneity of normal spiritual manhood in expressing genius.

Mary Baker Eddy knew the perfection of man, God's image. Hence she knew the latent ability of every individual to prove his true selfhood as God's expression and in this way put off the limitations that hide man's infinite possibilities. She says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 104), "According to Christian Science, perfection is normal,—not miraculous."

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