It is probable that the Israelites of Old Testament times did not generally accept the fact of individual immortality. Even in the New Testament, disputes on this subject between Pharisees and Sadducees are referred to. (See Acts 23:6, 7.) However, the Hebrews, from the time of Abraham, probably believed in the immortality or indefinite continuance of their race or nation. It is recorded in the book of Genesis that when the Lord appeared to Abraham he said: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, emphasizes in her writings the eternal persistence of individuality. For example, on page 259 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," she says, "Man is not absorbed in Deity, and man cannot lose his individuality, for he reflects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, solitary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all substance." This citation constitutes a sufficient refutation of any and all claims that the teachings of Christian Science are in the least like those of Oriental philosophies which teach individual man's eventual absorption into Deity and the consequent loss of his identity. There is nothing more certain, according to Christian Science, than that man's individuality will endure eternally.
Individual man is that which individually expresses the divine nature. In other words, he is the individual expression of Being, consciousness, Life, Mind. He is Mind's infinite, universal expression of itself individualized. And Mrs. Eddy says (ibid., p. 477): "Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love. Soul is the substance, Life, and intelligence of man, which is individualized, but not in matter."
