Rely on spiritual reasoning
For the lesson titled "Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?" from June 11-17, 2012
Mary Baker Eddy rejected dualism completely. She wrote: “For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence. In reality there is no other existence, since Life cannot be united to its unlikeness, mortality” (Science and Health, p. 492). This Lesson challenges us to identify the dualistic arguments that have become embedded in our cultures, and rely on spiritual reasoning instead.
With all the methods for analyzing matter, one still cannot know what it is and how it works.
The Bible passages in Section 1 exemplify Eddy’s demand that we reason from cause to effect, rather than starting with the material picture (see Science and Health, p. 467, citation 4). Isaiah is preparing the Israelites for a return to Jerusalem, which requires them to give up their beliefs in the gods and traditions of the nations under which they have been living in exile for generations. They probably were not excited to return, since their memories of Jerusalem were of a city and culture destroyed. Additionally, they were convinced that Babylon had defeated their God. Isaiah had to persuade them that, appearances to the contrary, God was still in control. He pointed to a promised creation. While their memories were false, God’s vision was eternal (see 45:18, cit. 2).
The inclusion of the temptations story in Section III is interesting (see Luke chap. 4, cit. 12). It’s such an important moment in Jesus’ ministry that some theologians point to his rebuff of the devil as the moment of salvation, rather than the crucifixion. It’s here that Jesus shows us how to experience a full relationship with God, by relying on God alone. The alternative, as Eddy so deftly pointed out, is to accept the reality of many minds, many truths, and the necessity of sin, disease, and death. With conviction that comes with demonstration, Eddy argued that we must lay claim only to one Mind as creator and source of all provision, purpose, and protection (see Science and Health, p. 315, cit. 15).
Even if one accepts the supremacy of Spirit, one might be tempted to believe that spiritual ideas need to evolve, as do material objects. What a perfect counter example to this belief is Jesus’ stilling of the storm in Section V (see Mark 4:36–39, cit. 16). We think of storms as evolving—changing in strength and size. But when Jesus rebuked the wind, the sea stopped raging immediately. Jesus healed the infirm man in Section IV in an instant, although the disease had plagued him for 38 years, making the man’s true nature visible to others (see John 5, cit. 14). Eddy emphasized the importance of claiming spiritual perfection when she wrote, “In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick” (Science and Health, p. 477, cit. 20). What we claim about ourselves we are claiming about God as well, so we must affirm our own complete, spiritual, and eternal nature.
Eddy used the word enigma to describe mortal existence. With all the methods for analyzing matter, one still cannot know what it is and how it works. It’s only when one uses the logic of divine Science that it can be understood. There is a “God particle,” if you will, that gives substance to all life. It just isn’t a material one.
