CALL no man your father upon the earth," said Christ Jesus: "for one is your Father, which is in heaven"—and the Master knew of what he was speaking. In his words there is contained a profound spiritual truth, a truth, however, which was never fully elucidated until the coming of Christian Science. Now it is perfectly clear what the words mean, namely, that man is the idea of God; and never again need there be any doubt concerning them.
Christian Science declares God to be infinite Mind or Spirit. It teaches that nothing exists outside of God, because He is all-inclusive. It reasons that since God is Mind, He expresses Himself through ideas—spiritual ideas. Thus God's creation, including individual man, consists of spiritual ideas, which, like God, their divine Principle, are perfect. Admit that God is infinite Mind, and no other conclusion about creation can be reached. What follows? That the real man owes his existence to God, and to God alone; that God is his creator, his Father, and that in reality he has no "father upon the earth," even as Jesus said.
Here Christian Science comes up against the prevalent beliefs of the world that man is both material and spiritual, that matter is as real as Spirit, and that the physical senses are telling the truth when they testify that the material phenomena of which they appear to take cognizance are real, including, among innumerable others, the phenomena of sin, disease, and death. Sometimes the clash is very pronounced, as absolute Truth encounters the material beliefs of mortals. But come it does, sooner or later, in the experience of everyone. It is coming swiftly upon many in these days because of Christian Science, which is spreading the knowledge of God and His idea, man, over the face of the whole earth by means of authorized literature and lectures, and by the work of churches and practitioners. And all the time the sick are being healed and the sinning reformed in great numbers, thus affording proof of the genuineness of the teaching of Christian Science.
