In considering the question posed by this week’s Bible Lesson, titled “Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?”—the only one of 26 Bible Lesson subjects presented in the form of a question—it’s helpful to know two historical facts.

First, up until 1918, when Rutherford split the atom, physicists believed that the atom was the smallest particle, or building block, of matter, and that it was indivisible. Second, it was just seven years before Mary Baker Eddy’s discovery of Christian Science in 1866 that Charles Darwin’s book titled Origin of Species had been published. In his book, Darwin theorized that natural selection was the means by which species either survived or died out. His theory of evolution, a theory that pitted man’s sole chances for survival against the haphazard material forces of nature, not only changed the way scientists understood man’s prospects for survival but caused enormous controversy among Christian believers—a controversy that still lingers today. 

In Science and Health, the first edition of which was published in 1875, Mrs. Eddy specifically refuted Darwin’s theory, explaining that “the true theory of the universe, including man, is not in material history but in spiritual development” (p. 547, citation 5 in this week’s Lesson). Convinced that “spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power” (p. 135, cit. 10), she wrote that “Christian Science presents unfoldment, not accretion; it manifests no material growth from molecule to mind, but an impartation of the divine Mind to man and the universe” (p. 68, cit. 3).

From the faith and experience that came from her lifelong study of the Bible, Eddy would write that “from beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. Moses proved the power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha” (p. 139, cit. 7). The Biblical accounts in this week’s Lesson support that observation. In the second section we read about Elisha, who was able to make a heavy iron axe head float to the surface of the river into which it had fallen and become lost—something that science declares to be impossible. And in the fourth section we read about an even greater “impossibility” from a humanly scientific point of view, when Jesus raises a young man from death. 

God, Spirit, is the source and power of the universe.

In addition to these accounts, this Lesson includes many Old Testament declarations of praise for God, Spirit, as the source and power of the universe. The Golden Text announces, “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine” (I Chron. 29:11). And in the first section, Jeremiah affirms that “[God] hath made the earth by his power; he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion” (10:12, cit. 1).

However, the question of whether God is the cause of destructive forces inevitably arises. In their legal documentation describing coverage, insurance companies sometimes refer to hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods as “acts of God.” But how could such destruction be attributed to God when Jesus demonstrated the nature of God to be pure love? The Bible assures us that God is “a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall” (Isa. 25:4, cit. 13). And Science and Health categorically states that “A miracle fulfils God’s law, but does not violate that law” (p. 134, cit. 10). This Lesson shows that no “act of God” could ever violate His nature as divine Love.

In looking further at this question, it’s helpful to go back to the accounts of the axe head and of Jesus’ raising of the young man, to see that both of these powerful “acts of God” fulfilled another dimension of the law of Spirit, namely, the restoring law of Love. In retrieving the iron axe head, the men with Elisha were able to return it to the man who had lent it to them in the first place. And in the case of another young man we read about this week, “the only son of his mother,” Jesus’ restoration of him to life not only spared her from emotional and psychological suffering, but from economic catastrophe as well (see Luke 7:11–16, cit. 15).

So, is the universe, including man, evolved by atomic force? This Lesson explains how to spiritually reason our way to being able to say, “No.” It calls upon us to replace fear with joyful gratitude for all the good that God has created, and to trust His tender, loving care. Because God “is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isa. 40:26, Responsive Reading).