Mary Baker Eddy and Creation? Revised 2nd April 2022)

Mary Baker Eddy's explanation of Creation needs further discussion by those seeking to understand the Truth as taught by Jesus. Mrs. Eddy posits that God only created the spiritual realm and the spiritual man. (S&H 257:12-13, 502:29). If this is true then God didn't create the physical universe. That proposition is fundamentally at odds with both the Old and the New Testament (Gen. 1;1, John 1:3, Colossians1:16). which states that God did indeed create the world. It also means that God cannot intervene in the natural world.

By definition, God is omniscient and therefore knows everything. Omniscience cannot have any new ideas since everything is already known to it. God's ideas have always existed in their entirety and completeness. God's children, God' spiritual ideas, must always have existed in their complete form also. There can be no unfolding of God's ideas to form a new idea or being. The spiritual realm and God's children cannot have been created in the beginning or at any other time.

God, the divine Mind, is the spiritual realm. Therefore for there to be a spiritual creation God would have had to be non-existent at some time. But God is eternal so this cannot be. God just is, or to put in God's own words as spoken tp Moses: "I am that I am". "I am" says \it all! No human explanation is possible.

If is true that God only created the spiritual realm, it follows that He cannot be involved in the physical world. Yet God has demonstrated that the divine Mind can intervene in the physical world as evidenced by the virgin birth of Jesus and the many miracles recorded in the Bible and experienced by many since that time. Mrs. Eddy, in a very moving affirmation of God's love for us, would seem to be in agreement with the idea that God can intervene in the physical world: "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (S&H 494:10). Therefore it is reasonable to believe the Bible is correct when it states that God created everything on earth and in heaven. Mrs. Eddy's interpretation is not supportable on this occasion. What do you think?

It is true that God did not "father" the material man as Mrs. Eddy states. However, God did create the chemical building blocks of life, the microorganisms, the earth, and the very evolutionary process from which would eventually spring mankind and all the other creatures and plants. The beginning of the world and creation as described in the Bible is a human concept. Indeed time itself is a human concept unknown to God. These concepts are viewed from a human perspective as observed from within a physical reference framework. This physical world is a little eddy in God's spiritual realm. When viewed from the spiritual realm we will see that harmony, order and love reign supreme.

The only logical conclusion that you can come to is that the physical universe is the one and only creation of God. The physical universe and our earthly life is of no real consequence to God. Our one true and eternal life is our spiritual existence in the divine Mind.

The spiritual being, which is God's child, resides solely in the spiritual realm. This being or soul is reflected in man's consciousness. Sometimes that reflection of God's perfection is lost sight of, covered by the fog of the mortal mind. Our purpose on this earth is to lift that fog and get a clearer view of God. We do this by praying to have that mind in us which was also in Christ Jesus. When we achieve that we will have no need of the physical body; we will be at one with God.