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- Revelation: The Prophecy and Fullfillment
of Man
- by George Denninger
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- Insights from the Study and Practice
of Christian Science
- by George Denninger
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for only Good: a picture book for the child-likeness in you.
(english, spanish, and german editions)
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The Adam-Dream Allegory
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The second chapter of Genesis declares
that the Lord God made Adam from the dust of the ground. I Chronicles
1:1-4 provides this record, "Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Kenan,
Mahalaleel, Jered, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah" and
so on. The intent seems to be to trace the linage of mankind
through its early history from father to son. We ask ourselves,
"am I a descendent of Adam, a figure formed from dust, one
who broke Jehovah's command, was cast out of Eden and left to
endlessly till the soil, suffer, and die, or is this record an
allegory for the human mind?" We know that everything in
Scripture has a purpose. Is the record an attempt to validate
our mortal existence and impaired connection with the Lord God
or is there a higher purpose? Christian Science provides the
key. Mary Baker Eddy writes, "No one can reasonably doubt
that the purpose of this allegory - this second account in Genesis
- is to depict the falsity of error and the effects of error"
(SH 537:19-21), but what about Adam's so-called progeny - the
other actors in his recorded lineage?
We honor Enoch, Adam's grandson, for being translated out of
material form without experiencing death, and we revere Noah,
Adam's seventh great grandson, for saving his family and earth's
animals, and say these events really happened. The entire Hebrew
nation and the Arab world claims Abraham as their father - all
descendants of Adam and Eve. And so it goes, all the way up to
Jesus and beyond. If we follow this line of reasoning, the inevitable
question arises, is Jesus Adam's progeny and does his physical
body present a continuation of the allegory?
Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Inspired writers interpret the
Word spiritually, while the ordinary historian interprets it
literally" (SH 537:24-26). She answers the question of Jesus'
appearance in two ways. First, she states that "Jesus of
Nazareth was the most scientific man that ever trod the globe"
(SH 313:23-24). And second, she speaks of the spiritual Jesus
who was not seen; "Because of mortals' material and sinful
belief, the spiritual Jesus was imperceptible to them" SH
314:23-24). Mary, Jesus' mother, is an interesting study illustrating
the distinction between Adam's dream narrative and her divine
humanhood. Mary caught a sense of the motherhood of God, recognizing
Christ as God's Son, not the son of herself or Adam. The babe,
Jesus, however, was of herself - the human demonstration on earth
of her divine conception. Mrs. Eddy explains it this way. "God
did not make the infant Jesus. … If her conception had been
wholly from God, it would have been the concept of a man instead
of a babe, and could not have been born materially of Mary. …
Jesus was a material man between the human thought of Mary that
was half right and the Christ or idea of God that was wholly
right …" (Course in Divinity and General Collectanea:
105).
Was Jesus' dual nature different from our own? We seem to know
plenty about our sensual physical nature, but a clue to our spiritual
origin can be found in the definition of Eve in Science and Health;
"EVE. ... A beginning; mortality; ...the belief that the
human race originated materially instead of spiritually ..."(SH
585:23). Mrs. Eddy is stating emphatically that the human race
has a spiritual origin contrary to Eve's belief, and, therefore,
spiritual humanity is not created or evolved from dust, a rib,
or an egg.
Another aspect of the record in Chronicles is that it is time
based, one man's life following another up through the ages.
Mrs. Eddy states, "It is well to know, dear reader, that
our material, mortal history is but the record of dreams, not
of man's real existence, and the dream has no place in the Science
of being" (Ret. 21:13). She also affirms, "Time is
a mortal thought, ..." (SH 598:30). Also, "The objects
of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual
understanding …"(SH 584:4-6). Now, we can begin to
separate Adam from our spiritual origin and present-day existence.
Remove time from our analysis, as well as all notions of passing
on one's legacy - similarities of identity, ego, passion, and
despair - from one generation to the next. "We must look
deep into realism instead of accepting only the outward sense
of things" (SH 129:22-24). From this vantage point, no person
in Scripture is any closer or distant from us than any other.
Each one stands on his own merit. The glossary in Science and
Health gives us the original meaning of Adam, Eve, Abel, Abraham,
Noah and his sons, Jacob and his sons, Moses, Elias, and Jesus.
As people identified with physical bodies, they are all part
of the allegory begun in Chapter 2 of Genesis. "Mortals
are the Adam dreamers" (SH 249: 22). But, those identified
as transformative, are part of the permanent record of spiritual
progress; "Mind measures time according to the good that
is unfolded" (SH 584:5-6). "I do nothing of myself"
identifies Jesus in the dream allegory, "but as my Father
hath taught me, I speak these things" identifies him as
the reflection of spiritual Truth (John 8:28). He earned the
title of Christ by allowing God to live him in perfect harmony.
Not all of the names identified, however, correspond to something
spiritually transformative. Adam is defined as "Error; a
falsity; the belief in "original sin," sickness, and
death; evil; the opposite of good" (SH 579: 15-16)). Other
individuals show distinct progress toward discovering their spiritual
origin. For example, Jacob is defined as "a corporeal mortal
embracing duplicity, repentance, sensualism. Inspiration; the
revelation of Science, in which the so-called material senses
yield to the spiritual sense of Life and Love" (SH 589:
4). As an acknowledgement of this transformation, the angel that
spoke to him said, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with
men, and hast prevailed" (Gen. 32:28).
Mrs. Eddy was asked, "Is it correct to say of material objects,
that they are nothing and exist only in imagination?"
In part, she answered, "Nothing and something are words
which need correct definition. … My sense of the beauty
of the universe is, that beauty typifies holiness, and is something
to be desired. Earth is more spiritually beautiful to my gaze
now than when it was more earthly to the eyes of Eve. The pleasant
sensations of human belief, of form and color, must be spiritualized,
until we gain the glorified sense of substance as in the new
heaven and earth, the harmony of body and Mind.
… What mortals hear, see, feel, taste, smell, constitutes
their present earth and heaven: but we must grow out of even
this pleasing thralldom …" (Mis. 86:9-2).
Sinning man's view of the world was not Jesus' view of the world.
Mrs. Eddy writes, "If you will admit, with me, that matter
is neither substance, intelligence, nor Life, you may have all
that is left of it; and you will have touched the hem of the
garment of Jesus' idea of matter" (Mis. 74:30-2).
As humans, we are offered everything that Christ knows, and the
body corresponds to what governs it. Ego, vengeance, passion,
willful judgement, and the certainty of death make the "whole
body sick and the whole heart faint", and the world appears
threatening and destined to failure. A body formed under this
regime must suffer the same fate as Cain who refused to love
his brother. On the other hand, humility, repentance, selfless
caring, and love for one another signals a more wholesome state
of governance. As one's consciousness ascends, the body and nature
are naturally rejuvenated. Spiritual humanhood emerges as a light
beaming from within, making every lie and liar too absurd for
consideration. When all sin is driven out of consciousness the
veil is lifted, form as matter disappears, and one's spiritual
identity, including his view of the universe, remains in its
original, perfect, beautiful state.
As we begin to understand the grand lesson of each Biblical figure,
the clarity of Scripture brightens, and we begin to witness the
miracle of our own transformation from sense to Soul.
We are spiritually defined as God's likeness and glory before
the world was.
George Denninger © |
