APART from the teachings of Christian Science, the relation supposed to exist between soul and body was at one time discussed with a good deal of freedom, when we consider the impossibility of reaching any definite conclusions on the subject by material means. The writer once heard two good deacons disputing warmly over the location of the soul, one insisting that it was in the brain, and the other being quite certain that it was in the heart, and each quoted Scripture in support of his argument. It is needless to say that no one was enlightened by the discussion. Some time after this, the subject was publicly canvassed by several well-known medical men at a convention held in Chicago, and a distinguished specialist gave it as his opinion that man had no soul, because neither scalpel nor microscope could find any trace of it.
The tendency of the human mind has ever been to cling to the body, to study its structure and constantly minister to it, and yet the Bible counsels us to be "absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord," the only mental state which can give us assured freedom. This state is not, however, reached in a day; indeed it can only be reached through entire spiritualization of thought, motive, and action, and this calls for an ever-advancing comprehension of the great truths taught in Christian Science. A student of Christian Science once remarked rather airily, during class instruction, that she had always believed God to be incorporeal. She was then asked if she understood man to be the image and likeness of God, and when she replied affirmatively, she was obliged to admit that the real, spiritual man must be like his creator, incorporeal.
Mrs. Eddy says: "Man's true consciousness is in the mental, not in any bodily or personal likeness to Spirit. Indeed, the body presents no proper likeness to divinity, though mortal sense would fain have us so believe" (Science and Health, p. 302). It is therefore a mistake to attempt to trace our likeness to God by taking the physical body, or its members, even as symbols of divine ideas, and this is done only because mortal mind is so unwilling to let go of the belief of life, substance, and intelligence in matter. It is true that the Bible speaks of "the hand of the Lord," also "the eyes of the Lord," but it will surely be conceded by all Christian Scientists that it would be grossly materialistic, and even irreverent, to take these passages as in any wise relating to corporeality.
