The passages in the gospel of John which deal with the incarnation of the Christ are of peculiar significance to students of Christian Science. Christians have long found in these passages justification for the belief that material man is the temple of the Holy spirit, a belief which has led them into the doctrine of dualism,—spirit indwelling in matter. Concerning this incarnation, in the gospel of John we read, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Additional light is thrown on this passage by Weymouth's translation, "And the Word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst, so that we saw His glory—the glory as of the Father's only Son, sent from His presence." Here the sonship of the Christ is more explicitly set forth, and there is at least a hint that Jesus, the man of flesh, expressed the Christ, the Word, sent "from His presence."
It seems, however, that this passage especially needs the clarifying gained through an understanding of the teachings of Christian Science. In that understanding, knowledge of the definition of Christ is primary. On page 583 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy wonderfully defines Christ: "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error." How perfectly does she discriminate between the flesh and the divine manifestation! Jesus, we learn in Christian Science, expressed this ideal truth which manifests itself in the flesh to destroy every false belief, every erroneous or false concept. But Christ, Truth, being the emanation of divine Mind, wholly spiritual, takes no cognizance of the flesh or its claims. How can Christ, or spiritual Truth, be made flesh; since, as Christian Science teaches, Spirit and matter never mingle, and no more does Spirit ever become matter or matter become Spirit? To be sure, Job declared, "Yet in my flesh shall I see God." It is unlikely that this troubled but patient man believed he would see God expressed or manifested as matter, his flesh; a doctrine which would exactly follow the teachings of pantheism, that is, Spirit working through an instrumentality its direct opposite—matter. This is, obviously, a situation both illogical and unscientific, since we learn that infinite Spirit excludes matter as a reality.
How, then, does the Word become manifest, as in the Scriptural declaration, "The Word was made flesh"? An adequate answer to the question also involves understanding of what "Word" or "Logos," as here used, means. Mrs. Eddy's definition is complete and concise. On page 134 of Science and Health she says: "The true Logos is demonstrably Christian Science, the natural law of harmony which overcomes discord,—not because this Science is supernatural or preternatural, nor because it is an infraction of divine law, but because it is the immutable law of God, good." Since Christian Science or the Science of Christianity, the truth about God and man, is the true Logos, it appears that the translation of "Logos" as "Word" does not convey its exact significance; another meaning must be given it.
