If we would know the man God made, we must also know God, who made him. The reason for that necessity is stated plainly in "Miscellaneous Writings," where Mary Baker Eddy says (p. 78), "If God is the Principle of man (and He is), man is the idea of God; and this idea cannot fail to express the exact nature of its Principle,—any more than goodness, to present the quality of good." What is the exact nature of divine Principle, of which man is the exact expression? How can we know God, who is the perfect Principle of man?
The basis of Christian Science is divine. We can know God as Love, protecting and preserving man; as the one Mind, informing and inspiring man; as Principle, governing man and the universe with benevolent, immutable, eternal law. The Christian Scientist knows God as Spirit, invisible to material sense, but always the only substance. He knows Him as infinite Life, perfect and eternal.
Such is the one God, on whom we are to base our living and our healing. And the real man is the full and perfect reflection of God. This real man, including all true selfhood, is supplied, supported, and sustained by Principle. He is led, instructed, and guided by Mind; guarded and upheld by infinite Love; satisfied, glorified by Soul. The real man expresses intelligence, goodness, understanding, abundance, and justice. He inherits from his divine Parent all good. Nothing has taken and nothing can take from him aught of good.
