CHRISTIAN SCIENCE takes a strong stand against gambling, and for a very good reason. According to general belief, the health, intelligence, and inclinations of a mortal are determined to a certain extent by probability or chance. In fact, the belief in chance enters into every claim of disease, sin, lack, and other errors that mortals seem to encounter. How important, then, to arm ourselves with the changeless truth of being—that man is governed by God—with which we can destroy all these beliefs in chance!
But how can we do this if we participate in any form of gambling? It is impossible to realize God's unfailing and omnipotent care for His beloved child when we rely on unintelligent chance to bring us any benefit. Christian Science reveals that man is the child of God, forever cared for, guided and guarded by his omnipresent Parent, who loves His child with a love so great that it has no bounds or limits.
According to the spiritual record of creation in the first chapter of Genesis, man is created as a perfect reflection of the perfect creator, and God gave man "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth." And we read further, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.'' There is no record of evil in this chapter. Man's being is dependent only upon God's being. Man has nothing that he did not derive from God. Every quality that man expresses is a reflection of the Divine.
