Before the science of astronomy was generally understood, it must have been a tremendous task to explain to the unenlightened that the sun does not move around the earth, that day and night are caused by the rotation of the earth and not by the movement of the sun. The unenlightened found this difficult to understand, because they saw everything from the evidence presented by the physical senses.
To accept the facts concerning the earth's diurnal rotation, one had to be willing to reject the visual evidence and permit thought to be identified with the law of astronomy. This simple illustration has sometimes helped the writer when false suggestions claimed reality and intelligence. To behold the truth of any discordant condition, one must turn away from and reject utterly the misconception, in spite of material evidence.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 561), "The Revelator beheld the spiritual idea from the mount of vision." This statement has great significance for the student of Christian Science. It reminds him that in beholding "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev. 21:1) John must have identified himself with that which is Godlike. He must have rejected the mortal sense of things and turned to the clear, spiritual discernment of his true nature as the son of God. He must have understood that the true view of the universe is to be seen and experienced from the standpoint that God, Truth, is the boundless basis of all identity and being.
