Did They Really Say That?!?

Certain erroneous postulates should be here considered in order that the spiritual facts may be better apprehended.

The first erroneous postulate of belief is, that substance, life, and intelligence are something apart from God.

The second erroneous postulate is, that man is both mental and material.

The third erroneous postulate is, that mind is both evil and good; whereas the real Mind cannot be evil nor the medium of evil, for Mind is God.

The fourth erroneous postulate is, that matter is intelligent, and that man has a material body which is part of himself.

The fifth erroneous postulate is, that matter holds in itself the issues of life and death, - that matter is not only capable of experiencing pleasure and pain, but also capable of imparting these sensations.  From the illusion implied in this last postulate arises the decomposition of mortal bodies in what is termed death.

Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.91-92

WOW!  How about looking at these one at a time:

1.  Eddy says it is “erroneous” to believe that “substance, life, and intelligence are something apart from God.”  Well, life is what we receive from God, substance is normally a reference to some physical thing we can touch, and intelligence is is what every human being has - and in fact every sentient being (animals, insects, etc) has intelligence!  If we say these are NOT apart from God, then we end up with God being a part of His creation - i.e. panentheism.

2.  So it is “erroneous” to believe that “man is both mental and material”?  Well, we can’t see or touch the mind, since it is intangible - and perhaps we could say our mind is our soul because our mind really is who we are.  We also see scientifically that the human body is made up of material things - chemicals, water, etc.

3.  What about that it is “erroneous” to believe that the “mind is both evil and good”?  I don’t know if anyone really believes it this way.  I’d say our mind can think evil or good, but the mind itself isn’t evil or good.  And is God really “Mind”?  Scripture says God is Spirit.

4.  Again, is it really “erroneous” to say “matter is intelligent?”  I really don’t know anyone who does, nor have I ever read such a claim.  Matter has no intelligence - it’s just matter. So I don’t understand why this would even be an “erroneous” belief.  But what about the second part of the postulate - that it is “erroneous” to believe that “man has a material body which is part of himself”?  UM, my body is certainly material - it isn’t some ghostly plasma!  And is that body part of me?  Well, it certainly isn’t part of my next-door neighbor!  I’d be in a heck of a fix if I didn’t have my body while in my earthly existence.

5.  Eddy’s last “erroneous” postulate is quite confusing in that, again, it appears to be straw men - claims I have never heard.  How about you - have you heard that “matter holds in itself the issues of life and death”?  Matter is matter and has no issues in itself about life or death.  Have you ever heard a claim that “matter is not only capable of experiencing pleasure and pain, but also capable of imparting these sensations”?  I’ve never in my life heard a claim that matter is capable, in and of itself, of giving and receiving pleasure and pain.  AH, but my guess is that when Eddy is speaking of “matter,” here, she is speaking of a person’s body.  Now, since the body includes the brain, and the brain is what interprets sensations, I’d say the body is indeed capable of experiencing these sensations.  I would also suggest a body is capable of imparting sensations; for example, if a young man and young woman put their bodies together, there are some definite sensations imparted and experienced! 

Finally, with that last “erroneous postulate” she says an “illusion” is implied, from which
“arises the decomposition of mortal bodies in what is termed death.”  There certainly is no illusion about one’s body experiencing sensations of all sorts, and death is certainly no illusion.

Again I have to say, that there is no Christian teaching in these claims of Eddy’s, nor do these teachings have anything to do with science.  “Christian Science” is a fraud on both counts.