IN poetic language the Psalmist asks, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Then he joyously describes man as being made "a little lower than the angels" and "crowned" "with glory and honour," having all things put under his feet. Surely, such exalted language does not describe a mortal, but the son of God.
Christian Science draws a sharp line between spiritual man and so-called mortal man. Man is the spiritual image and likeness of God, blessed, as recorded in Genesis, with dominion and fruitfulness; and he cannot sin because he is born of God. The other is Adam, a temporal counterfeit, which, as shown in the second record in Genesis, is denounced and remanded to dust, nothingness. Jesus made the same radical distinction, saying, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
Mankind can understand the Science of being only through these incisive definitions. Is the real man born of the flesh, or is he the likeness of Spirit, God? Both he cannot be, since flesh and Spirit are opposites. Spiritual advancement will be made by the individual in proportion as he takes an uncompromising stand on the side of God, Spirit. As Mrs. Eddy informs us (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 90): "The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea. This conviction shuts the door on death, and opens it wide towards immortality."
