THE ANATOMY OF BEING . . .

[rv.ros...@gmail.com]

Friends,

At the time Mrs. Eddy secured the last copyright on "Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures," in 1906, the Answer to the
Question, "What is God?" as presented on page 465, included, not
seven, but rather, eight synonyms, and the eighth synonym was,
"Being." In 1908, Mrs. Eddy made one of the most significantly
important of all the 3,906 changes that she had introduced to her
seminal writ AFTER having secured its final copyright in 1906! That
change occurred when she removed the synonym, 'Being,' from the first
of the twenty-four Questions and Answers which comprise the chapter,
"Recapitulation," and she strategically repositioned it to where it is
found today; namely, within the Answer to the third Question, "Is
there more than one God or Principle?" That Answer reads, in part:
"There is not. Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God,
omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is
man and the universe."

The scientific and imperative import of this most significant of all
of the 3,906 changes Mrs. Eddy made, is of such a high, spiritual
nature that it almost defies explanation. The few, of whom I am aware,
who have dared to go "where angels fear to tread," in their individual
and unselfish endeavors to proffer their higher spiritual explanation
of why this change occurred, and furthermore, what the change
produced, or brought about, to more spiritually and scientifically
refine, clarify and perfect the teachings of Christian Science, . . .
have risked being made to suffer severe criticism and denunciation, as
their explanations of why this change occurred have defied the
"general drift of thought" that was then, and is now so deeply
entrenched and embedded within the thinking of most students of
Christian Science.

Consequently, the few who have attained such an advanced degree of
scientific insight, discernment and spiritual understanding which
alone have revealed to their receptive thought "the wide horizon's
grandeur view," had generally conceded that it was best that they
refrain from foisting what it was that they had discovered, and made
their own, rather than persist in attempting to "force conclusion of
thought" upon anyone not yet ready or prepared to venture into such
uncharted territory. Thus, the discovery of this most majestic and
awesome insight has, to date, been left entirely entrusted to God to
be dealt with in accord with His "disposal of events."

For several years I have been on a see-saw about whether it was
appropriate and timely to introduce this subject upon this Group.
Often, a resounding "YES" would motivate me and impel me to prepare a
post expository of this subject matter. Then, no sooner would an
acceptable post be drafted than I'd feel an equally definitive "NO"
that merely served as a counter impulse to check my impulsiveness and
cool my heels!

No! Yes! No! Yes! I was receiving direct guidance, but I wasn't
interpreting it correctly. It finally dawned upon me that I was being
led, directly, to Mrs. Eddy's "No and Yes" . . . and upon opening the
book and reading its INTRODUCTION, I found the first paragraph to
include the answer I needed. It reads:

"To kindle in all minds a common sentiment of regard for the spiritual
idea emanating from the infinite, is a most needful work, but this
must be done gradually, for Truth is as "the still, small voice,"
which comes to our recognition only as our natures are changed by its
silent influence."

" . . . BUT THIS WORK MUST BE DONE GRADUALLY, . . ."

Mrs. Eddy spent years studying her own textbook. Every day and every
night she poured over its pages, focusing upon the printed page the
illumination and insight that radiate only from spiritual sense to
thereby enable consciousness to experience deeper and more spiritual
discoveries and expanded insight! Thus, did Mrs. Eddy finally
discover the fact that the synonym, "Being," was infinitely larger in
nature and much more comprehensive in essence than any and/or all of
the other synonyms, even when they were combined as One! Thus, the
startling discovery that there was more to Being than God!

Immediately, Mrs. Eddy removed the synonym, Being, from out of the
Answer to the Question, "What is God," and she repositioned Being, as
just cited above, within the third Question and Answer. Not only did
this change bring the final Revelation into absolute correlation to
the Holy Scriptures, and their "seed plot" as depicted within the
First Chapter of the Book of Genesis, . . . it did infinitely more to
complete to its acme of divine perfection the earthly inscription of
divinity's purist, most valuable, and most spiritual gift to all
humanity . . . the divine Revelation of Christian Science!

To every student of Christian Science, the statement, "God is All," is
indelibly infused within them, often taking on the familiarity of
their own names! However, the time is now at hand to probe deeply
into the very essence of this otherwise generally admitted and
accepted declaration, as it happens to not be true! What is true is
the fact that God is ALL, but only ALL GOD! God is not man, and God
is not the universe! Man and the universe are the 'effects' of God,
but God, they are not; neither is God, the ONE AND ONLY UNCREATED
CAUSE, ever to be misidentified as being absorbed within, or contained
by " . . . its infinite manifestation," of effects, inclusive of man
and the universe!

Like divine Principle, which is a triune construct that consists of
Life, Truth and Love, so too is BEING a triune construct consisting of
God, man and the Universe! . . . Man and the Universe as "effects"
being the reflection of God, the ONLY UNCREATED CAUSE! Thus, BEING is
a composite of three distinct identities; namely, GOD, MAN, UNIVERSE!

This disclosure appears also, in part, on page 465 and 466, in Answer
to the Question:

"Is there more than one God or Principle?

ANSWER. -- There is not. Principle and its idea is one, and this one
is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His
reflection is man and the universe."

This dynamic is more fully amplified within Plank VII in the Platform,
as found on page 332, where we read:

"Life, Truth, and Love constitute the triune Person called God, --
that is, the triply divine Principle, Love. They represent a trinity
in unity, three in one, -- the same in essence, though multiform in
office: God the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of sonship;
divine Science or the Holy Comforter. These three express in divine
Science the threefold, essential nature of the infinite. They also
indicate the divine Principle of scientific being, the intelligent
relation of God to man and the universe."

In Unity of Good,

Dave Nolan

1.888.592.4215

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear David,

What a wonderful and stirring message you have
given us! As I read it, even before you gave
the citation, I had to open my textbook and
find that third question myself on page 465, to
see what Mrs. Eddy had to say about *Being*. I
next had to go and get my own 1906, prized edition that
I was so delighted to find in the backroom of a thrift
shop that was supported by a branch Church several years
ago. Sure enough, as you advised I found that eighth
synonym in the 1906 edition. It reads:

"Question. -- What is God?
Answer.-- God is divine, supreme, infinite, incorpo-
real Being, Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth,
Love."

I love noting that in that edition the adjective
"incorporeal" which later was repositioned as the first
adjective for God in the answer in the 1910 edition - I love
the way the word was split to fit in the book just so
that the words "real Being" stood out, as if even then
the infinite was demanding a deeper consideration of the
term "Being".

The answer to question three in the 1906 edition did not
include the term "Being". Neither did it include that
very important concept, "the universe". The 1906
edition read:

"Question. -- Is there more than one God or Principle?
Answer. -- There is not. Principle and its idea is one,
and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent, and His reflection, man."

How willing was our dear Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, --
how patiently willing she was to listen and listen again
to the divine Mind which unfolded to her the message from
the infinite in its most complete and ever clearer
expression! As you have indicated, David, she did
take that one radiant word, "Being", and lift it out
of the answer to the first question and put it perfectly
in the answer to the third, adding as well to that
answer "the universe", so that the answer finally read in
its entirety:

"Question. -- Is there more than one God or Principle?

ANSWER. -- There is not. Principle and its idea is one,
and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and
the universe. Omni is adopted from the Latin adjective
signifying all. Hence God combines all-power or potency,
all-science or true knowledge, all-presence. The varied
manifestations of Christian Science indicate Mind, never
matter, and have one Principle."

You have brought out key points that do indeed bear
pondering. Mrs. Eddy did "strategically reposition"
the term "Being" - she also left it capitalized, indicating
its importance as a term for God which could not even
for a moment be separated from its own Allness, the allness or
the full reflection, or God-manifestation of "man and the
universe." Tracing the history of where in the book and *how*
this portion of the revelation developed shows us the
importance of the very *precision* of perfect Being!

I find it most interesting to consider the *when* of
this unfoldment and development as well. You have taught
us that this clarity for the textbook came to Mrs. Eddy
"AFTER having secured its final copyright in 1906."
Might it have been that the idea was too powerful and
infinite to be contained within the confines of copyright?
I think so!! And that this clearer and more precise answer
came from the infinite *at the same time* that our Leader
understood that the revelation of the Christ Science must be
unfettered and unconfined by copyright? I will answer,
Yes! She had achieved in her human demonstration as Mind's
obedient scribe the hearing of the complete message as well
as *the how* it should be conveyed, which was *outside* the
parameters of copyright!

Mrs. Eddy thereby achieved to a wondrous degree
in respect to the revelation of the textbook
that uplifted status that you termed, David, of
"duality", the twofold nature of 1. Perfect understanding
and 2. How perfect understanding is conveyed.
This concept of "duality" differs from
"dualism" as you explained in your message 2499,

"DUALITY being the union, within individual conscious
awareness, of the HUMAN and the DIVINE . . . . typified in
the Holy Scriptures as CHRIST JESUS, . . . and within the
Christian Science textbook, on page 115, as the conscious
union, or coincidence, of the "Second Degree" and the
"Third Degree."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marybakergeddy/message/2499

Looking up some on line definitions, *dualism* implies
opposites such as good and evil,

"# All reality is divided into (1) matter, which is evil, and (2)
spirit, which is good.
www2.cruzio.com/~zdino/psychology/christian.early.glossary.htm

# Opposite of monism. Any doctrine which holds that there are two
eternal and distinct realities in the universe, eg, god-world,
good-evil, self-other. A confused representation of reality, resulting
from the ordinary mind which separates the subject from its
experience. ...
lionsroar.name/tantric_glossary.htm "

*Duality* on the other hand indicates a twofold, double character,
or a what we understand to be " a divine coincidence".

That this term "Being" is indeed as you have taught
us a "triune construct" - "GOD, MAN, UNIVERSE" reveals
more to consider about the concept of the Christianly
scientific trinity. And in your post you have wonderfully
led thought to the seventh Plank in the Platform,
on pages 331 and 332 that reads,

"VII. Life, Truth, and Love constitute the triune Person
called God, -- that is, the triply divine Principle, Love.
They represent a trinity in unity, three in one, -- the same in
essence, though multiform in office: God the Father-Mother; Christ
the spiritual idea of sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter.
These three express in divine Science the threefold, essential
nature of the infinite. They also indicate the divine Principle of
scientific being, the intelligent relation of God to man and the
universe."

Now in my own message, I have largely restated what you
have shared. Yet, in this restating I have been able
to think somewhat more upon the majesty, beauty and brilliance
of our textbook and wonder at our Leader's great work which
is unfortunately as yet largely untapped!

Thank you for helping us think on these things!

Paula