The divine decree of man's God-given dominion is recorded in Genesis (1: 26), "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." That which God proclaims is inviolate. Hence this divine decree establishing man's dominion can never be modified or annulled. Its tenure is forever.
Mrs. Eddy understood spiritual man's God-decreed dominion. She writes in Science and Health (p. 516): "Man, made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's dominion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality, the infinite Father-Mother God."
Divine decrees are the only true laws. Human statutes have been set up to define and punish crimes and misdemeanors and to provide other restraints for the general welfare. They serve a necessary purpose, and Christian Science counsels strict obedience to them. But the fact that these laws are often amended proves that they are not absolute laws of God, which are changeless and govern all true being.
