The myth of Eden, countered

In Christian Science, “Adam” stands for “error,” and “Christ” stands for “Truth.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy explains First Corinthians 15:22 this way: “ ‘As in Adam [error] all die, even so in Christ [Truth] shall all be made alive.’ The mortality of man is a myth, for man is immortal” (p. 545 , citation 22). This week’s Bible Lesson, “Adam and Fallen Man,” dispels error with Truth, contrasting the first, spiritual account of creation (see Genesis 1, cit. 2) with the second, mythical narrative (see Genesis 2, cit. 7). 

Some Bible readers might initially be concerned that Christian Science doesn’t take seriously the second account of creation because it explains the Adam and Eve narrative as an allegory. On the contrary, by dispelling the common confusion that conflates the two accounts, Christian Science contrasts them and actually deepens their significance. Jesus demonstrated the Christ, Truth, healing sin and sickness and defeating death. The Christ dispels the consequences of the “fall” by countering the myth of Eden, thus proving God’s real, good creation. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:22 , Golden Text).

This Lesson links the first account of creation with the words and works of Christ Jesus, who lived and taught the truth. He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 , cit. 5). The HarperCollins Study Bible notes that perfect here means “whole, complete, mature” (p. 1677). It also explains that “the term Father … suggests familial intimacy, but also respect and obedience when used by sons and daughters” (p. 1678).

Bible scholar Stephen L. Harris notes that the account of Adam and Eve’s disobedience (see Genesis 3, cit. 13) “uses one of the staples of global folklore, a talking animal” (Exploring the Bible, p. 68). Mary Baker Eddy remarks on the familiar tableau “in old Scriptural pictures” (Science and Health, p. 92 , cit. 10) that includes the serpent coiled around a tree, and she points beyond the picture to the problem it represents: “The testimony of the serpent is significant of the illusion of error, of the false claims that misrepresent God, good” (p. 538 , cit. 11). 

The object lessons of Sections II and III lead to two applications in Sections IV and V of this verse from Romans: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2 , cit. 16). What is meant here by “in Christ Jesus”? The HarperCollins Study Bible describes it as “a domain in which the Spirit is power” (p. 1920). In the first application, Jesus wins freedom “from the law of sin” for a woman caught in adultery; he turns his initial silence into a rebuke to the accusers, who give up trying to corner Jesus or stone the woman. He destroys sin on two fronts, concluding with assurance and instruction to her: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:11 , cit. 17). In the second instance, a widow’s dead son is restored to life while being carried to his own burial (see Luke 7, cit. 20). 

These examples point to a glorious truth: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26 , cit. 23)—by faith in the power of Spirit.