"It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator" (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 491). So closed the readings from the Bible and Science and Health one evening at the Wednesday testimony meeting in our branch church.
The readings had been on the subject of man's oneness with God. I had been mulling over this exact topic during the previous few days, and the words "indissoluble spiritual link" and "inseparable from his creator" stood out to me. With a rush of gratitude I realized that I was being reminded once again of the very truths that had led me into the study of Christian Science some sixteen years earlier.
As a child I was raised in a church of another denomination, where I attended Sunday School regularly. I loved, and am to this day very grateful for, the instruction I received in the Bible. However, by the time I was in high school I found myself engaged in a recurring battle with my Sunday School teachers regarding the concept of man made in God's image (see Gen. 1:26). To me this meant that I was a child of God, and that my spiritual birthright was complete. That, in fact, all God's children are, first and foremost, spiritual and complete. And that therefore everyone has the potential to fulfill Christ Jesus' promise (John 14:12)"He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." 5 To my teachers, who believed in original sin, this view was blasphemous, and I was gently but firmly put in my place.
