ARE we putting on excess weight? Do we believe that if we took some off, we would feel better and look better? What is the remedy, diet or dominion? To those who might favor diet, Christian Science calls attention to the fact that the government of the body does not lie with matter but with divine Mind and that one demonstrates this government by gaining dominion over human thought, with its false appetites and indulgences.
"Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it." This dietetic rule is found in the allegory in the second chapter of Genesis. Christian Science directs thought to this rule and reveals that its practical and beneficial application is metaphysical, not physical. It is a demand to forgo knowledge gained from the corporeal senses rather than certain foods.
The theory of dieting is based upon the physiological belief that the body is an organization of matter. This belief holds that matter as flesh is the substance of man, that the conscious individual dwells in this corporeal structure and is subject to it. It claims that this fleshly body is controlled by laws of chemistry, heredity, age, and decay. It insists that this body must meet certain prescribed specifications of size, shape, and weight.
