Because God is Father-Mother, as Christian Science reveals, everything He creates is characterized by both masculine and feminine qualities. These qualities are altogether mental and refer in Science to spirituality reflected from God rather than to material gender. The writer of the first chapter of Genesis was telling of the completeness of God's man, His likeness, when he wrote, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Gen. 1:27;
Christian Science recognizes the real masculine qualities as wisdom, understanding, strength, justice, power, and the like, and the real feminine qualities as love, peace, purity, tenderness, and countless similar attributes of God. Both types are reflected by the spiritual selfhood of everyone. There is no perfection without them all. As one demonstrates his real self, he finds that he does not add qualities to his character but becomes more and more conscious of his eternally complete, hence perfect, self. Thus the man who coexists with the Father-Mother God is unfolded to humanity.
Lack of either God-created masculine or feminine elements in the human self may prevent spiritual growth and may incite harshness or weakness, stagnation or frivolity. A right balance of qualities belongs to every true concept in God's kingdom, and this needs to be brought out in human experience—in every concept we entertain, in everything we do—if spiritual growth is to take place.
The fact is that if the Christian Science movement itself is to grow naturally, it must include both masculine and feminine elements. In her Miscellaneous Writings, Mary Baker Eddy says: "The advancing stages of Christian Science are gained through growth, not accretion; idleness is the foe of progress. And scientific growth manifests no weakness, no emasculation, no illusive vision, no dreamy absentness, no insubordination to the laws that be, no loss nor lack of what constitutes true manhood." Mis., p. 206;
While Christian Scientists do not accept evil as reality—since God is All, infinite —they do not ignore the claims of evil. Instead, they reduce them to nothing; they see evil as one, as a false sense, as a mind that is the very opposite of divine Mind; and they deny it reality until it ceases to claim existence.
A subtle aim of this carnal, or mortal, mind is that it can rob the Christian Science movement of the masculine elements of vigor, fearlessness, understanding, and strength, which are more often represented humanly by men than by women. Error claims that it can prevent many men from taking their place in the Church of Christ, Scientist, as active, vital members. And if men do become members, the same error often prevents them from joining the ranks of the practitioners listed in The Christian Science Journal. This same evil of imbalance would sometimes keep men from having class instruction, a means of education which helps fit church members to devote full time to healing work.
Even when Mrs. Eddy was here, she saw this form of emasculation affecting her movement, and she deplored it. One of her last messages was published in February, 1910, when, after speaking of men as important factors in the movement she founded, she said, "The male element is a strong supporting arm to religion as well as to politics, and we need in our ranks of divine energy, the strong, the faithful, the untiring spiritual armament." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 355;
Until mankind rise into the full understanding of man as the image and likeness of God, as purely spiritual, as reflecting in perfect balance the attributes of God as Father and as Mother, it is important that men and women assume equal responsibility in furthering the growth of Christian Science in the world.
Church members can overcome the limitation which mortal mind would effect and perpetuate in the Christian Science movement by dealing with the situation through the understanding of what is true in Science. There is no imbalance in reality.
Christ Jesus attracted men to his side as vigorous followers. And he attracted faithful women whose more gentle ministrations were needed too. In that age women were as a rule kept in the background of social and religious life. But their subsequent influence on the developing Christian movement was great. Today, in much of the world, both men and women are free to carry out the immense task of taking the Science of Christ to mankind—if they are prepared for this task. But there must be a proper balance of spiritual qualities, or the growth of Truth to human thought may be slowed down.
Since masculine and feminine elements already belong equally to God's creation, we should base our prayerful metaphysical work upon this truth and bring it to light in every phase of the movement that is restoring spiritual healing to Christian worship.
In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mrs. Eddy says, "Neither emasculation, illusion, nor insubordination exists in divine Science." Science and Health, p. 271.
In our prayers for our branch churches or for the entire movement we can declare and realize that Deity is determining the completeness of the "ranks of divine energy" that unfold the true idea of Church.
In God's sight there is no lack of active manhood in His reflection of Himself. Because masculine and feminine qualities abide together in every concept the Father-Mother God creates, this truth is demonstrable to its full advantage for the growth of Christian Science on earth.
