Physical science, so called, has adopted and held to the theory that God, "the vital energy" of the universe, is to be cognized, known, through its various expressions. Therefore have arisen the expressions "through nature to God," and "through man to God." The basis of this theory has been that nature, that is, the material universe with its multifarious forms of expression, governed by many laws, is a derivative from God Himself; and that man, that is, a mortal "made in the image of God," is the culmination of an evolutionary process, the motive power of which is the divine energy which Bergson described as élan vital.

Christian Science takes exactly the opposite view. Mary Baker Eddy set her revelation directly across the path of physical science with its erroneous conclusions, and proved her thesis by the healing of sickness and the destruction of sin. She posited God as the fundamental divine Principle of the universe; the universe as God's expression, His creation, as wholly spiritual, never material. Furthermore, she made clear that man is known only as God's likeness. Therefore, to render this practical, that is, to know man, it is necessary also to know God.

Here again Mrs. Eddy denied the supposition, often attached to Herbert Spencer, that God is unknowable. Merely to proclaim God as knowable, however, did not make Him understood. Consequently, Mrs. Eddy established her teachings by describing God in terms which all who seek this knowledge with humility and righteous prayer may readily understand. Thus Christian Science opposes the two generally accepted theories: the one, that God is unknowable; the other, that if He is knowable, knowledge of Deity can be gained by examination and analysis of the physical universe, including the material sense of man.

Physical scientists are able through spectrum analysis to determine precisely the composition of the heavenly bodies. But the analogy does not hold in the universe of Spirit, God's creation. It is the erroneous reasoning that man, a mortal, is God's likeness, that has led mortals far away from a clear conception of Deity; and the results have been what we see about us today, a world of chaos, of strife and selfishness, a seeking for power through the forces of unrighteousness.

Mrs. Eddy began her earliest published writing on Christian Science with a bold and definite statement about God. In answering the query, "What is God?" she writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 465), "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love." And there follows the declaration that these terms are synonymous and express the "nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity." Furthermore, Mrs. Eddy established the fact that Deity is to be known through the comprehension of these seven words.

To be sure, in order to know God, it becomes necessary to gain spiritual concepts of these seven synonyms. Mind, for example, is to be lifted from its common meaning, the human or mortal mind, into the realm of Spirit, and seen to be incorporeal, infinite, and supreme; in fact, the only Mind, the source of all intelligence. Furthermore, since Mind connotes consciousness, the infinite Mind, which is God, is infinitely conscious; and that of which Mind is conscious is idea, or image, the likeness of God, in fact the true universe. And this idea partakes only of the nature and quality of its source. Therefore, since Mind is also Spirit, its ideas are spiritual, and they have the substance of Spirit. And since Mind is Life, its ideas express existence, are coexistent and coeternal with God, with Mind.

The Bible emphatically teaches that God made man like Himself. It inevitably follows, then, that man expresses the qualities of Deity; in short, all the qualities of Deity find expression in His idea, man. On page 258 of Science and Health we read, "We know no more of man as the true divine image and likeness, than we know of God." How logically, then, does it follow that we know man because we know the nature, quality, and essence of God, the source and creator of man.

If for a moment we look at the opposite assumption, that God is known through nature and through a mortal, immediately we run into serious difficulties. If the mortal, the human, be assumed to be the real man, the conclusion inevitably follows that God must be possessed of the nature and qualities represented in that mortal, material man. This develops the anthropomorphic sense of God, a Jehovah possessed of the qualities of mortals. This was the early Hebrew concept of Deity, a God of love and hate, of rewards and punishments, of war and peace, a Deity manifesting human qualities, to be both loved and feared. It was a clear conception of this anomalous situation that led Voltaire to declare, "God made man in His likeness, and man returned the compliment." Mortal man conceived of Deity patterned after himself.

Christian Science has made no greater contribution to society than to clear up this situation. What could be more important to mortals than knowledge of God, of the one and only creator of the true universe! Christ Jesus first revealed a priceless truth about Deity. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24) was the longest step ever made up to that time toward the understanding of God. But he went much further. Jesus made clear that God is Life, and that mortals gain eternal life through gaining understanding of God and His Christ. He also conceived of God as Truth. Moreover, the beloved disciple, having witnessed the ministry of the Nazarene, and knowing him to be the Messiah, saw that God, the Father, is Love.

Furthermore, can there be any least doubt that the source of all being, the Maker of the universe, must be intelligence; in fact, infinite Mind? Reason perfectly coincides with revelation in this examination of Deity; and the conclusion is inevitable that God is knowable, and that since He expresses Himself through man, knowledge of God enhances our knowledge of man.

This knowledge of God becomes the necessity, and this understanding is acquired through prayerful and persistent study of the seven words which describe God in His completeness. God means to one precisely what these words mean, no more, no less. We improve and increase our understanding of God exactly in proportion as we enlarge our concept of each of these words. They represent God in His fullness.

In order to progress in this most important of all tasks, it becomes necessary to lose all material notions of Deity, to withdraw as far as possible from a limited sense of the infinite. Constant use of the four qualifying adjectives which precede the seven vital words is of paramount value in this effort. To know that God is infinite removes all sense of a personal God—apart from humanity. How clearly the Psalmist saw the omnipresence of God is manifest in these words from the one hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" This sweet singer of Israel well knew that there is no escape from the divine presence, since God is infinite.

On pages 471 and 472 of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes, "This Science teaches man that God is the only Life, and that this Life is Truth and Love; that God is to be understood, adored, and demonstrated; that divine Truth casts out suppositional error and heals the sick." Thus are stated both the necessity for understanding God and the result of such understanding. In no less positive terms does our Leader state the result of lack of understanding Deity. We read in the same work (p. 94): "The eastern empires and nations owe their false government to the misconceptions of Deity there prevalent. Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse."

The comprehension of God, of His attributes and qualities, prepares us for understanding man. In God's likeness, man expresses, reflects, the divine qualities. Man possesses no quality, capability, or attribute that does not emanate from Deity. Therefore, man is perfect, as God is perfect, complete in his expression of God's qualities. The generic term for man, that is, the general or family name for God's expression, embraces the full manifestation of Mind. God possesses no quality that man does not reflect, and man possesses by reflection all the qualities of God.

When we gain even a glimpse of this great truth, we are deeply impressed with the holiness of God's likeness. What a glorious privilege to be the offspring, the son of God! What ineffable joy attaches to this understanding of man! How it brings the sense of God's nearness, of His loving care, of that constant protection which arises from the knowledge that to dwell in "the secret place of the most High" is to "abide under the shadow of the Almighty," that, in divine consciousness, man forever rests secure.

The many statements of Holy Scripture are clarified through the teachings of Christian Science to the purpose that they may be scientifically applied in the everyday round of human experience. God is revealed both as to His nature and potency. And through knowledge of God is evolved the understanding of man, of the real man, who is forever in God's likeness, hence forever perfect.

Copyright, 1941, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, One, Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918. [Printed in U.S.A.]