One meaning of "economy" is "the structure of economic life in a country or area." There is also a theological meaning of "economy," namely, "God's plan or system for the government of the world."

The student of Christian Science needs to draw careful conclusions regarding economy, always mindful of Mrs. Eddy's words, "To the physical senses, the strict demands of Christian Science seem peremptory; but mortals are hastening to learn that Life is God, good, and that evil has in reality neither place nor power in the human or the divine economy." ^{Science and Health, p. 327;}

In applying the truths of Christian Science to human living conditions—for example, to a business or domestic difficulty or to a case of mismanagement in home, community, or national affairs— one finds it helpful to understand what is involved in the economy of the situation. Human economy invites research into the advances and recessions characteristic of a material world, into quantities and prices, into the study of charts and graphs which have been prepared to illustrate the ebbing and flowing currents of material operations, and even into trends in human relationships. From humanly prepared data individuals, communities, and even nations form opinions and draw conclusions which influence their thoughts and actions.

This information may serve a useful purpose at the present stage of human progress, yet the Christian Scientist knows that extreme care should be exercised to keep these so-called facts and figures in their proper proportion. He employs them in much the same way that a painter studies the mixing of his colors, yet always relies on his intelligence as to their usefulness in producing a work of art.

Quite often in the study of economics an important factor to watch is fluctuation. This element, however, is not a guiding pattern from which one should outline a definite course of procedure. The student of Christian Science realizes that the human belief in fluctuation is not a concomitant of God's law of perpetual unfoldment. So in seeking to understand spiritual reality, he reverses the material fable and discovers the spiritual fact, namely, stability. This stability underlies spiritual progress, and progress, by its very nature, is not static.

Since God is the only creator, the divine economy, forever unfolding to man through spiritual ideas, is the real economy. This divine economy, recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, is permanently established. It is a stable economy. It is a spiritual economy. Its affluence is unlimited, for its source is infinite Life, Truth, Love.

James described the operation of this economy quite clearly when he wrote, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." ^{James 1:17;} Or, as the Revised Version brings out the meaning of these words, "neither shadow that is cast by turning."

This invariable economy controls God's creation in its entirety. Consequently man, by reflection, is free from all materially fluctuating influences. To the extent that individuals recognize and claim this God-bestowed heritage, their personal economy will become more firmly established on the Rock, Christ, until they finally demonstrate that error, or evil, being unreal, has no place in which to operate and no power of operation. This is progress, not fluctuation.

By scientifically declaring our immunity to fluctuation, invoking the divine law of progress and consciously reaffirming ''the secret place of the most High" ^{Ps. 91:1;} —the realm of established goodness—as our environment, we are presently free to conduct our human affairs with confidence. When we rely on true thoughts which pass from God to man, we remember that "Christian ideas certainly present what human theories exclude—the Principle of man's harmony." ^{Science and Health, p. 170.}