Questions about both creationism and evolution assume that matter is the substance of existence and being, and that either God created matter or that animal and human development evolved through a process of natural selection. However, Christian Science takes the unique viewpoint that creation is completely spiritual, forever intact and at the point of perfection. The Christian Science position is that God, or Spirit, created the universe, including all men and women, and that because God is Spirit, His/Her creation must also be spiritual, not material.
As Mrs. Eddy put it, "There is nothing in Spirit out of which matter could be made . . ." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 335). So as we consider the first chapter of Genesis, which relates the creation of the universe, we read that God's command "Let there be light" was the first moment of creation (Gen. 1:3). Yet the commonly viewed sources of light-the sun and stars-had not yet occurred. Mrs. Eddy tackles this seeming inconsistency head-on, and comments, "Was not this a revelation instead of a creation?" (Science and Health, p. 504).
If we shift our thinking to the spiritual basis of creation-as revelation rather than a point-in-time event—the conflict between the traditional views of creationism and evolution disappears. And with this new viewpoint, we have the basis and foundation to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and reason the way he did. Through his ability to reason from a purely spiritual standpoint, he maintained his view of a perfect, timeless, spiritual creation in the face of some pretty daunting evidence to the contrary: leprosy, blindness, palsy, and even death. Yet his understanding of the truth of the spiritual nature of creation enabled him to heal these cases considered incurable, by demonstrating that spiritual perfection is always intact because it has been established by our Creator.
