It may be correctly said that "the scientific statement of being," found on page 468 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, epitomizes the fundamental teachings of Christian Science. The declarations of Truth and denials of error included in that statement reveal the basic facts of being as they are set forth in the Christian Science textbook. Mrs. Eddy provided that "the scientific statement of being" should be read at the conclusion of every Sunday service in Christian Science churches throughout the world. Therefore, it is given the utmost consideration by students of Christian Science as a concise declaration of the truth about God and man. The concluding sentences of this statement read as follows: "Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."
Thus it will be seen that man is not God, but is the image and likeness of God, and is therefore spiritual, but is not Spirit. It is obvious that a likeness of a thing is not the original, but is that which represents the original. Man, being the likeness of God, Spirit, is that which expresses the nature, essence, or substance of Spirit, and is at one with and inseparable from Spirit, God—his divine Principle.
On pages 465 and 466 of Science and Health, in answer to the question, "Is there more than one God or Principle?" Mrs. Eddy says: "There is not. Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe." Thus it will be understood that while God and man are one in the sense that, together, they constitute the perfect unity and completeness of being, nevertheless God exists as cause and man as effect. It is evident that there can be no effect without cause, and vice versa. It is also evident that man did not create himself. God is creator, man is creation. Principle and idea, cause and effect, God and man, are, however, coexistent. They are one in being. Therefore, nothing can separate them, nothing can come between them, nothing can destroy their eternal unity or oneness.
