Few problems are more difficult for the student of Christian Science to understand and satisfactorily solve than that of human relationships, or our duty to our fellow men. The whole question is such a vital one, and to the human sense so complicated, that we are often tempted to evade it altogether, or to defer the solution to some dim and distant future; yet until we have met and to some extent mastered it, we can make little real progress in our demonstration of Christian Science. Until we have acquired some clear and definite knowledge of what constitutes the nature of God, divine Principle, and of man as His reflection, we are like the builder who seeks to erect a stately mansion without first carefully and patiently laying strong and adequate foundations. The building may appear beautiful and imposing to human eyes, but at the first strong blast of adversity the whole stately structure collapses, leaving nothing but a confused mass of ruins.
A careful and earnest study of Mrs. Eddy's definition of God (Science and Health, p. 465) as "incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love," proves of inestimable help and benefit to the perplexed student. Each word, if separately studied with the aid of a good dictionary, will open up a boundless range of thought and knowledge. Too long has the world been held in bondage to the belief of a limited, corporeal, anthropomorphic God; and this view of the infinite creator has resulted in a correspondingly limited and material view of man. We do well, therefore, as earnest students of Christian Science, to begin our work with a humble, prayerful desire to know something of the true nature of God.
Just here, however, one may meet with error's subtle suggestion that for us to attempt to understand the infinite is presumptuous and even blasphemous; but our great Way shower, Christ Jesus, said, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." When we begin to realize even a little of the infinite nature of God, as boundless Love and infinite Truth, the ever present and all-protecting Father, then, and not until then, are we ready to take the second step and understand the nature of man, who, the Bible tells us, is the image and likeness of God, and whom Mrs. Eddy speaks of as "the reflection of God, or Mind" (Science and Health, p. 475).
