Man does not exist as physique but as idea; therefore he has never lived, moved, or thought as a mortal, but has always existed in the glorious and illimitable realm of Soul. The only past man has ever had is the radiant reality of spiritual completeness and perfection.
Mary Baker Eddy sets forth in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "two cardinal points," which were the foundation of Jesus' works. She says (p. 52): "The 'man of sorrows' best understood the nothingness of material life and intelligence and the mighty actuality of all-inclusive God, good. These were the two cardinal points of Mind-healing, or Christian Science, which armed him with Love."
What a wonderful basis for metaphysical work—the "mighty actuality of all-inclusive God, good," and the consequent "nothingness of material life and intelligence." The word cardinal means, according to one dictionary, "Of basic importance; chief; ... essential. " We can readily see, therefore, that these two essentials which Mrs. Eddy so clearly sets forth are a definite foundation for scientifically Christian thinking and living.
