In "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read on page 235, "To teach the truth of life without using the word death, the suppositional opposite of life, were as impossible as to define truth and not name its opposite, error." Further on in the same article she counsels, "The tender mother, guided by love, faithful to her instincts, and adhering to the imperative rules of Science, asks herself: Can I teach my child the correct numeration of numbers and never name a cipher? Knowing that she cannot do this in mathematics, she should know that it cannot be done in metaphysics, and so she should definitely name the error, uncover it, and teach truth scientifically."
In the Bible death is defined as an enemy. In I Corinthians we read, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." This last enemy has held the human race in bondage through the belief that it is instituted by God and that it governs mortals through their bodies, according to material law. Christian Science proves that neither material law, a mortal body, nor death is created by God, and that what appears as matter is merely the objectified state of mortal mind. The Bible agrees with this; for in Romans we read, "To be carnally minded is death." and. "The carnal mind is enmity against God."
Defeating the last enemy, then, is the same thing as defeating the carnal or mortal mind. This mortal mind declares that mortal life is real life, and that it is made up of passing moments extending from the time of birth to the time of death. Each moment has its desire, and the indulgence of passing material desires and beliefs forms the mortal's human character or human will. This may be called the life history of a mortal according to mortal mind. The human character or will, therefore, is no part of the real man made in God's image, but is the mesmerism of heredity environment, education, acting on the belief of material selfhood. Because a mortal believes that his human character or will is real and God-bestowed, he submits himself involuntarily to the government of the carnal mind and so finds himself at enmity with God, with Truth. He is then, and will remain so long as this belief continues, subject to error, the opposite of truth, and to death, the suppositional opposite of life.
