The Christian Scientist is increasingly enabled to meet his problems by gaining an entirely fresh concept of that wonderful experience called spiritual growth. Such growth, in Christian Science, is given new impetus, new direction. It is not related to time and mere material development. As elucidated by Mrs. Eddy in setting forth this Science, growth is spiritual development.
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," our Leader writes on page 68: "Christian Science presents unfoldment, not accretion; it manifests no material growth from molecule to mind, but an impartation of the divine Mind to man and the universe." Accretion is the addition of external things, the acquisition of more and more of matter; it is in no sense growth in Christian Science. In the new scale of values which Christian Science assigns, matter is found to be devoid of real substance. Spirit, on the other hand, is understood and proved to be the only substance. The unfoldment of Spirit, or Mind, and its attributes, appearing in human consciousness, presents growth in its true or scientific sense.
Time and matter are seen in Christian Science to be error, without substance. Only eternity expresses the infinite. Mrs. Eddy effectually severs the mortal concept of time from the scientific sense of growth when she states on page 584 of Science and Health: "Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded. This unfolding is God's day, and 'there shall be no night there.'"
