Christian Science teaches that since God, Spirit, is the only creator, creation is spiritual and perfect. The creations of God are never material or finite, but are spiritual and infinite. God is the divine, creative Principle of all existence, and He is reflected or expressed in multifarious spiritual forms. The identity and individuality of every true idea are eternally maintained and preserved, for they are as perfect and eternal as their creator and exist as the reflection of their creator. Each idea has its perfect being in the Mind that forms it, and since there is only one infinite Mind, the idea can never be separated from divine Mind.
These identities, or ideas, appear to human consciousness in various forms. To this consciousness the creatures of God appear as finite and material, but to spiritual sense they appear in their true forms as the divine manifestations of Spirit.
While to human consciousness an animal may seem of less importance than an individual, nevertheless seen in the light of spiritual understanding all ideas are important to God and express Him. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 303), "The minutiae of lesser individualities reflect the one divine individuality and are comprehended in and formed by Spirit, not by material sensation." Christian Science teaches that divine ideas range from the infinitesimal to the infinite, not from the finite to the infinite. The infinitesimal partakes of the same quality as the infinite, and although infinity implies the indeterminately great, infinitesimal implies the indeterminately small. The finite is neither infinite nor infinitesimal.
All ideas reflect the unlimited wisdom, intelligence, substance, and goodness that are God, for ideas are the outcome of God, good. The creatures of God are supplied with all good and governed by their divine Principle through spiritual law.
From the human standpoint, however, mortal mind would claim to govern its material misconception of creation through material laws and subject its false concepts to mortal mind beliefs. Thus animals, no less than mortals, seem to be exposed to sickness and death. In Science, there is no disease or death, and neither one is part of the creation of God. Disease does not have to be accepted for animals any more than for mortals, and animals may be given treatment in Christian Science just as men and women are given treatment, on the basis of the nothingness of evil and the allness of God.
Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (pp. 476, 477): "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick." Similarly, in the case of animals, we behold in Science the perfect creation where material creation appears to mortals, and this correct view of creation will dispel the illusions of sickness and reveal the spiritual perfection of all God's creatures. Since nothing exists except the divine Mind, God, and the ideas which ceaselessly express Him, it is evident that nature, in the true sense, is governed by the spiritual law of Love.
Nature is spiritual, not animal, and is preserved by the law of Spirit, which supplies each idea impartially and universally. Existence is not dependent upon savage competition, for God is the abundant Life of His creatures. In the spiritual, real universe of divine ideas, every creature is governed by Love alone and reflects Love; for this reason savagery and viciousness are unknown. The attributes of God, reflected by His ideas, include gentleness, quietness, and peaceableness.
Daniel was unharmed by the lions because he saw beyond the material seeming to the spiritual reality. His consciousness was innocent of any animal propensity, and he was cognizant only of divine Love governing its own perfect nature through spiritual law.
The childlike, innocent consciousness exemplified by Daniel perceives with increasing clarity the true nature of reality. The consciousness imbued with Love knows no fear. The fears of animals, manifested in savageness and treachery, are the expression of the fears of mortal mind believing in a limited and transitory existence. But Love casts out these fears, and in the understanding of the true nature of divine Love, God, the real qualities expressed by God's creatures become more apparent.
Isaiah depicts the time when the growing understanding of the nature of God will dispel the illusion of savage animal natures and will reveal all creation as harmoniously united and at peace in divine Love. He says in the eleventh chapter (verses 6 and 9): "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; ... and a little child shall lead them.... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
Christian Science is changing the world's thought and is bringing about a greater understanding of divine Principle, Love. Humanitarianism has immeasurably increased since Mrs. Eddy published Science and Health a little more than eighty years ago. This is noticeable in the general attitude of mankind towards animals. As human consciousness is purified, the spiritual nature of all reality becomes more clearly apparent, the beautiful, intelligent, and lovable character of God's creatures is more clearly seen, and misunderstanding and cruelty fade away. As the unreal yields to the real, fear and repulsion give place to love and care.
With the growth of spiritual understanding it will be acknowledged that the only real creation is spiritual and that Life is never in matter or in material objects, but is reflected by perfect, spiritual ideas. We read in Science and Health (p. 550), "God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men."
