False religious teachings have established the belief that immortality is gained by passing out of a mortal or material sense of existence. Thus men are taught to reconcile themselves to grief, sorrow, and death, accepting them as the will of God.
According to the teachings of Christian Science, God does not send sorrow, sickness, or death. God, who is Love, could not cause suffering or death. Man, being the image of God, possesses by reflection God's attributes. The spiritual idea, man, made in God's likeness, was never born and never dies, but coexists with God, divine Principle. Christian Science distinguishes the material from the spiritual, the false from the true. It recognizes as real that which is of God, Spirit, and the corporeal as temporal and unreal.
In the book of Job we read, "Man that is born of a woman is of few-days, and full of trouble." The material personality is not the real individuality, but is a counterfeit. Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, states in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 14)"Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth. This understanding casts out error and heals the sick, and with it you can speak 'as one having authority.'"
