Foreword
THE BOOK OF GENESIS is the key to
the
Bible. In the New Testament it is quoted twenty-seven times literally
and thirty-eight times substantially. It tells in a very few words how
God first imaged man and the universe and then turned the development
over to Jehovah, who has been in a process of manifestation for ages
and aeons.
The "Five Books of Moses," of
which
Genesis is the first, have always been credited to Moses, but that he
was the author seems doubtful in the face of the many stories of
creation found in the legends and hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt,
Chaldea, and other nations that are almost identical with those of
Genesis. It would thus seem that Moses edited the legends of the ages
and compiled them into an allegorical history of creation.
As printed in English
translations
there is little to reconcile Genesis with creation as revealed by
modern geology. It is said that Hugh Miller, the brilliant Scottish
geologist, went insane in his efforts to reconcile Genesis with the
geological record. However more accurate translations of the Hebrew
show that the literal reading of the English is often not warranted by
the original text. For example, the English Bible reads, "In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Fentons translation
renders it thus: "By periods God created that which produced the Suns;
then that which produced the Earth." When we realize that God is mind
(Spirit-mind), we see that this latter rendition is correct. God
creates the ideas that form the things. Here we have the key that
unlocks not only the mysteries of Genesis but the whole Bible. God's
creations are always spiritual. This includes the spiritual man, called
Jehovah, through whom all things, including personal man, Adam, are
brought into manifestation.
We ask our readers to dwell on
this
initial proposition until its truth is established in consciousness,
because it is repeated over and over in both the Old and the New
Testament. Jesus said, "I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding
in me doeth his works." Jesus was here referring both to His
personality, the external I, and to the inner spiritual entity that He
named the Father, in Genesis called Jehovah.
Hebrew words are composite; they
contain a variety of meanings, to be determined by the context. For
example the Hebrew word yom, translated "day" in the English Bible,
means "to be hot"; that is, with reference to the heat of the day as
compared with the cool of the night. The word yom was also used to
represent a period of time, an age.
It will readily be seen that the
translator had a rich field of ideas from which to choose and that he
could make his text historical or symbolical according to his
consciousness. If he thought the original story was a statement of
facts his translation would be to that end. The Pharisees of Jesus'
time were condemned by Him for teaching the letter of the Scriptures
and neglecting the spirit. The same charge can be brought today against
those who study the Bible as history rather than as parable and
idealistic illustration of the spiritual unfoldment of man.
The Bible veils in its history
the
march of man from innocence and ignorance to a measure of
sophistication and understanding. Over all hovers the divine idea of
man, the perfect-man pattern, the Lord, who is a perpetual source of
inspiration and power for every man. Those who seek to know this Lord
and His manifestation, Jesus Christ, receive a certain spiritual
quickening that opens the inner eye of the soul and they see beyond the
land of shadows into the world of Spirit.
The truths in this book will be
revealed to you through your own spiritual unfoldment. Spiritual things
are spiritually discerned. The spiritual revelations that you seem to
get from books and teachers already existed as submerged experiences in
your own soul. The essential truths have been worked out in this or
previous incarnations, and when you were reminded of the buried idea it
blazed forth as a light from without. So all that you are or ever will
be must come from your own spiritual achievements.
"Seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it
shall be opened unto you."
Chapter I
Spiritual Man
Genesis 1
THE WORD genesis means "source"
or
"origin." It points to new birth and to the perfection of man in the
regeneration. The law of generation is undoubtedly one of the mysteries
in human consciousness. Men have probed with more or less success
nearly every secret of nature, but of the origin of life they know
comparatively nothing. In the matter of life we discover that the clues
given us by our own experience point to intelligence as well as force.
In other words, life falls short of its mission if it is not balanced
by intelligence.
Man is constantly seeking to know
the
origin of both the universe and himself. But nearly all his research of
a scientific nature has been on the material plane. As a rule, he has
ascribed the beginning to matter, to atoms and cells, but much has
eluded his grasp because their action is invisible to the eye of sense.
Now we are beginning in the realm of mind a scientific search for the
origin of all things. We say "scientific" because the discoveries that
come from a right understanding of mind and its potentialities can be
arranged in an orderly way and because they prove themselves by the
application of their laws.
What is stated in the Book of
Genesis
in the form of allegory can be reduced to ideas, and these ideas can be
worked out by the guidance of mental laws.
Thus a right understanding of
mind, and
especially of Divine Mind, is the one and only logical key to an
understanding of the beginnings of man and the universe. In this book
we have many symbols explained and their meaning interpreted, so that
anyone who sets himself the task can understand and also apply to his
own development the rules and laws by which ideas are related to one
another and discover how they are incorporated into man's
consciousness, thus giving him the key to the unfoldment of the primal
ideas implanted in him from the beginning.
It is found that what is true in
the
creation of the universe (as allegorically stated in Genesis) is
equally true in the unfoldment of man's mind and body, because man is
the microcosmic copy of the "Grand Man" of the universe.
The Bible is the history of man.
In its
sixty-six books it describes in allegory, prophecy, epistle, parable,
and poem, man's generation, degeneration, and regeneration. It has been
preserved and prized beyond all other books because it teaches man how
to develop the highest principle of his being, the spirit. As man is a
threefold being, spirit, soul, and body, so the Bible is a trinity in
unity. It is body as a book of history; soul as a teacher of morals;
and spirit as a teacher of the mysteries of being.
The student of history finds the
Bible
interesting if not wholly accurate; the faithful good man finds in it
that which strengthens his righteousness, and the overcomer with Christ
finds it to be the greatest of all books as a guide to his spiritual
unfoldment. But it must be read in the spirit if the reader is to get
the lesson it teaches. The key to its spiritual meaning is that back of
every mentioned thing is an idea.
The Bible will be more readily
understood if the fact is kept in mind that the words used have both an
inner and an outer significance. Studied historically and
intellectually, the external only is discerned and the living inner
reality is overlooked. In these lessons we shall seek to understand and
to reveal the within, and trace the lawful and orderly connection
between the within and the without.
Genesis, historically considered,
falls
into three parts: first, the period from the creation to the Flood;
secondly, the period from the Flood to the call of Abraham; and
thirdly, the period from the call of Abraham to the death of Joseph.
The 1st chapter describes
creation as
accomplished in six days, and refers to a seventh day of rest. There is
no reason to believe that these days were twenty-four hours in length.
"One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day." They simply represent periods of development or degrees of
mind unfoldment.
Numbers are used throughout the
Bible
in connection with faculties or ideas in Divine Mind. There are twelve
divine faculties. They are symbolized in the Old Testament by the
twelve sons of Jacob and in the New Testament by the twelve apostles of
Jesus. All of these have a threefold character: first, as absolute
ideas in Divine Mind; secondly, as thoughts, which are ideas in
expression but not manifest; and thirdly, as manifestations of
thoughts, which we call things. In man this threefold character is
known as spirit, soul, and body. Therefore in studying man as the
offspring of God it is necessary to distinguish between the faculties
as they exist in the body. We find heaven to be the orderly arrangement
of divine ideas within man's true being. Earth is the outer
manifestation of those ideas, this manifestation being man's body.
In the 1st chapter of Genesis it
is the
great creative Mind that is at work. The record portrays just how
divine ideas were brought into expression. As man must have an idea
before he can bring an idea into manifestation, so it is with the
creations of God. When a man builds a house he builds it first in his
mind. He has the idea of a house, he completes the plan in his mind,
and then he works it out in manifestation. Thus God created the
universe. The 1st chapter of Genesis describes the ideal creation.
The 1st chapter shows two parts
of the
Trinity: mind, and idea in mind. In the 2d chapter we have the third
part, manifestation. In this illustration all theological mystery about
the Trinity is cleared away, for we see that it is simply mind, idea in
mind, and manifestation of idea. Since man is the offspring of God,
made in the image and likeness of Divine Mind, he must express himself
under the laws of this great creative Mind. The law of manifestation
for man is the law of thought. God ideates: man thinks. One is the
completion of the other in mind.
The man that God created in His
own
image and likeness and pronounced good and very good is spiritual man.
This man is the direct offspring of Divine Mind, God's idea of perfect
man. This is the only-begotten Son, the Christ, the Lord God, the
Jehovah, the I AM. In the 2d chapter this Jehovah or divine idea of
perfect man forms the manifest man and calls his name Adam.
The whole of the 1st chapter is a
supermental statement of the ideas on which evolution is based. Mind
projects its ideas into universal substance, and evolution is the
manifestation of the ideas thus projected. The whole Genesiac record is
an allegory explaining just what takes place in the mind of each
individual in his unfoldment from the idea to the manifest. God, the
great universal Mind, brought forth an idea, a man, perfect like
Himself, and that perfect man is potentially in every individual,
working himself into manifestation in compliance with law.
Gen. 1:1-5. In the
beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light:
and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God
divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and
the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was
morning, one day.
To understand the creation of the
universe by God, we must know something of the character of God. Jesus
said, "God is Spirit." The works of God, He said, were done in Him
(Jesus) and through Him. "The Father abiding in me doeth his works."
That God is an intelligent force always present and always active is
the virtual conclusion of all philosophers, thus corroborating the
statements of Jesus. God is eternally in His creation and never
separate from it. Wherever there is evidence of creative action, there
God is.
God is mind, and He created
through His
word or idea, and this is the universal creative vehicle. It is plainly
stated in this 1st chapter of Genesis that "God said." Jesus
corroborated this creative power of the word or idea again and again.
He said that His words were so powerful that if we let them abide in us
we might ask whatsoever we would and it should be done to us.
God is a mind force carrying
forward
creation under mental law. That law may be known to anyone who will
follow the example of Jesus. Jesus said, "Be perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect." This means that we should strive for the perfection
that God is. We are the image and likeness of this great creative Mind,
and being in a certain aspect of our mind just like it, we can through
mental adjustment attain the same conscious unity that Jesus did.
God creates through the action of
His
mind, and all things rest on ideas. The idea back of the flower is
beauty. The idea back of music is harmony. The idea back of day is
light or the dispensation of intelligence.
This whole chapter is a statement
of
the creative ideas involved in the universe. It deals with involution.
Evolution is the working out in manifestation of what mind has
involved. Whatever mind commands to be brought forth will be brought
forth by and through the law of evolution inherent in being. This
applies to the great and the small. In mind there is but one.
The first step in creation is the
awakening of man to spiritual consciousness, the dawning of light in
his mind, his perception of Truth through the quickening of his spirit.
Light is wisdom; and the first day's work is the calling of light or
wisdom into expression. Light represents intelligence, and darkness
represents undeveloped capacity. Symbolically these are "day" and
"night."
The word God in this instance
stands
for Elohim, which is God in His capacity as creative power, including
within Himself all the potentalities of being. The "beginning"
indicates the first concept of Divine Mind. "Created" means ideated.
The "heavens" is the realm of ideas, and the "earth" represents ideas
in expression. Heaven is the idea and earth the mental picture. A
comparison is found in the activity of our own mind: we have an idea
and then think out a plan before we bring it forth.
Ferrar Fenton, the well-known
student
of Hebrew and Greek, says that the first verse should read: "By periods
God created that which produced the Suns; then that which produced the
Earth. But the Earth was unorganized and empty; and darkness covered
its convulsed surface; but the breath of God vibrated over its fluid
face." From this we are to understand that God created not the earth as
it appears but that which produced the earth. Elohim, Spirit, creates
the spiritual idea, which is afterward made manifest through Jehovah
God.
The earthly thought was not yet
clear.
Harmony of form had not yet come into expression. "The deep" represents
the capacity of the earth idea to bring forth. "The face of the deep"
represents its intelligence. Understanding has not yet come into
expression, and there is no apparent action. "The Spirit of God" or
divine intelligence moved upon "the face of the waters." "Waters" here
represents unexpressed capacities, the mental element out of which all
is produced. Man is conscious of unexpressed capacities within himself,
but only as he moves upon mind substance with intelligence are his
inherent spiritual qualities molded into forms. "Light" is
intelligence, a spiritual quality. It corresponds to understanding and
should precede all activity. At the beginning of any of our creating we
should declare for light. Our declarations of Truth are instantly
fulfilled in Spirit.
James says in his Epistle, "Every
good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights." The Evangelist John speaks of "the true light . . . which
lighteth every man, coming into the world."
All that emanates from God is
good. In
the process of bringing forth our ideas we need a certain degree of
understanding in order properly to regulate our thoughts. The light
must be divided from the darkness, as in Divine Mind the light was
separated from the darkness.
"Day" represents the state of
mind in
which intelligence dominates. "Night" represents the realm of thoughts
that are not yet illuminated by the Spirit of God.
Gen. 1:6-8. And God
said, Let
there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the
waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the
waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above
the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And
there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
The second step in creation is
the
development of faith or the "firmament." The "waters" represent the
unestablished elements of the mind.
The second day's creation is the
second
movement of Divine Mind. The central idea in this day's creation is the
establishment of a firmament in the "midst of the waters" dividing the
"waters from the waters." "Waters" represent unexpressed possibilities
in mind. There must be a "firm" starting point or foundation
established. This foundation or "firmament" is faith "moving upon" the
unformed capacities of Spirit consciousness. The divine Logos--God as
creative power--gives forth the edict "Let there be a firmament." The
first step or "day" in creation involves "light" or understanding, and
the second step, faith in the knowing quality of mind.
The word is instantly fulfilled
in
Spirit. "And God made the firmament." This does not refer to the
visible realm of forms but to the mental image in Divine Mind, which
deals only with ideas. In every mental state we have an "above" and a
"below." Above the firmament are the unexpressed capacities ("waters")
of the conscious mind resting in faith in Divine Mind. Below the
firmament are the unexpressed capacities ("waters") of the subconscious
mind.
The word "Heaven" is capitalized
in
this passage because it relates directly to Divine Mind. Faith
("firmament") established in consciousness is a state of perfect
harmony, therefore "Heaven." Another degree of mind unfoldment has been
attained. "And there was evening and there was morning, a second day."
"Evening" represents completion, and the "morning" following represents
activity of ideas.
Gen. 1:9-13. And God
said, Let
the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and
let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land
Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God
saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth put forth grass,
herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind,
wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. And the
earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and
trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and
God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning,
a third day.
The third step in creation is the
beginning of the formative activity of the mind called imagination.
This gathers "the waters . . . together unto one place" so that the
"dry land" appears. Then the imagination begins a great multiplication
of forms and shapes in the mind.
The first day's creation reveals
the
light or inspiration of Spirit. The second day establishes faith in our
possibilities to bring forth the invisible. The third day's creation or
third movement of Divine Mind pictures the activity of ideas in mind.
This is called expression. The formative power of mind is the
imagination, whose work is here represented by the dry land. There is
much unformed thought in mind ("the heavens") that must be separated
from the formed.
In this proclamation "earth" is
the
mental image of formed thought and does not refer to the manifest
world. God is Divine Mind and deals directly with ideas. "Seas"
represents the unformed state of mind. We say that a man is "at sea"
when he is in doubt in his mental processes. In other words he has not
established his thoughts in line with the principle involved. The sea
is capable of production, but must come under the dominion of the
imagination.
Divine Mind images its ideas
definitely
and in every detail. The idea precedes the fulfillment. "Let there be"
represents the perfect confidence necessary to demonstration.
Ideas are productive and bring
forth
after their kind. They express themselves under the law of divine
imagery. The seed is within the thought and is reproduced through
thought activity until thought habits are formed. Thoughts become fixed
in the earth or formed consciousness. In Divine Mind all is good.
Again a definite degree of mind
unfoldment has been attained. Man, in forming his world, goes through
the same mental process, working under divine law. Jesus said, "The
seed is the word of God."
Gen. 1:14-19. And God
said,
Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from
the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and
years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give
light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made the two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of
heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over
the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that
it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
The fourth step in creation is
the
development of the "two great lights," the will and the understanding,
or the sun (the spiritual I AM) and the moon (the intellect). These are
but reflectors of the true light; for God had said, "Let there be
light: and there was light"--before the sun and the moon were created.
The "firmament of heaven" is the
consciousness of Truth that has been formulated and established. In the
second day's creation a firmament was established in heaven (realm of
divine ideas). This firmament divides the day (illumined consciousness)
from the night (unillumined consciousness). Through faith the "lights"
are established; that is, understanding begins to unfold. The "signs,"
"seasons," and "days and years" represent different stages of
unfoldment. We gain understanding by degrees.
The "earth" represents the more
external processes through which an idea passes, and corresponds to the
activity of an idea in mind. In man the "earth" is the body
consciousness, which in its real nature is a harmonious expression of
ideas established in faith-substance. "And it was so"; that is, an idea
from divine consciousness is instantly fulfilled.
The "greater light," in mind, is
understanding and the "lesser light" is the will. The greater light
rules "the day," that realm of consciousness which has been illumined
by Spirit. The lesser light rules "the night," that is, the will; which
has no illumination ("light" or "day") but whose office is to execute
the demands of understanding. The will does not reason, but in its
harmonious relation acts easily and naturally upon the inspiration of
Spirit. Divine will expresses itself as the I AM in man.
The "stars" represent man's
perceptive
faculties, including his ability to perceive weight, size, color,
sound, and the like. Through concentrating any of the faculties
("stars") at its focalizing point one may come into an understanding of
its action.
Divine Mind first images the
idea, then
perceives its fulfillment. Man, acting in co-operation with Divine
Mind, places himself under this same creative law and thus brings his
ideas into manifestation.
The idea is the directing and
controlling power. Every idea has a specific function to perform. When
our ideas are constructive and harmonious we see that they are good and
realize that their power to rule is dominant in consciousness.
"Evening" stands for the
fulfillment of
an idea and marks another "day" or step or degree of unfoldment in
consciousness.
Again referring to Fenton's
translation
of the 1st chapter of Genesis, "By periods God created that which
produced the solar systems; then that which produced the earth," we see
that God did not create the worlds directly; He created that which
produced or evolved them. Then God said, "Let there be light." The
Hebrew word for light is owr, meaning "luminosity" either literally or
metaphysically. On the fourth day God said, "Let reflectors appear in
the expanse of the heavens." Then God made two large "luminaries." The
Hebrew word here used to express light is maowr, "a luminous body." The
author of Genesis made a distinction between the source of light and
how it was to be bodily manifested. But both were concepts in Divine
Mind.
Our modern dynamos produce
luminosity
out of the ether equal to sunlight. The earth whirling on its axis
generates electricity. Modern scientists are accepting analogy then,
holding that bodies in motion generate energy that under certain
conditions becomes luminous, and the conclusion is that the primal
force that produces light existed before its manifestation through
matter. This conclusion is in harmony with the symbolic story of
creation as found in Genesis.
Modern critics have questioned
the
accuracy of Scripture on these points. Robert Ingersoll in his book
"Some Mistakes of Moses" calls attention to the creation of light
before the sources of light, the sun and the stars, were created, as
evidence of the ignorance and inaccuracy of Moses. But scientific
research and study of the original Hebrew reveals their harmony.
Gen. 1:20-23. And God
said,
Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly
above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created the
great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith
the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its
kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds
multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, a
fifth day.
The fifth step in creation is the
bringing forth of sensation and discrimination. The "creatures" are
thoughts. The "birds . . . in the open firmament of heaven" are ideas
approaching spiritual understanding.
"Water" represents the unformed
substance of life, always present as a fecundating element in which
ideas ("living creatures") increase and multiply, just as the earth
produces a crop when sown with seed. The "birds" represent the
liberated thoughts or ideas of mind (heavens).
In connection with the body,
"water"
represents the fluids of the organism. The "sea-monsters" are life
ideas that swarm in these fluids. Here is pictured Divine Mind creating
the original body idea, as imaged in the 20th verse. In the 2d chapter
of Genesis we shall read of the manifestation of this idea. Idea,
expression, and manifestation are the steps involved in bringing
anything forth under divine law. The stamp of good is placed upon
divine ideas and their activity in substance.
In the fifth day's creation ideas
of
discrimination and judgment are developed. The fishes and fowls
represent ideas of life working in mind, but they must be properly
related to the unformed (seas) and the formed (earth) worlds of mind.
When an individual is well balanced in mind and body, there is an
equalizing force flowing in the consciousness, and harmony is in
evidence.
Another orderly degree of mind
unfoldment is fulfilled. Another step in spiritual growth is worked out
in consciousness when the individual enters into the quickening of his
judgment and seeks to conform his ideas to those of Divine Mind.
Gen. 1:24-31. And God
said,
Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle,
and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it
was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the
cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground
after its kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God
blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you
every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it
shall be for food: and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird
of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein
there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The sixth step in creation is the
bringing forth of ideas after their kind. When man approaches the
creative level in his thought, he is getting close to God in his
consciousness, and then the realization that he is the very image and
likeness of his Creator dawns on him. This is the consciousness in man
of Christ.
On the sixth day of creation
ideas of
life are set into activity. "Cattle" represent ideas of strength
established in substance. "Creeping things" represent ideas of life
that are more subtle in their expression, approaching closer to the
realm of sense. They are the micro-organisms. The "beasts" stand for
the free energies of life that relate themselves to sensation. Divine
ideas are always instantly set into activity: "and it was so."
Underlying all these ideas
related to
sensation, which in their original purity are simply ideas of life
functioning in substance, is the divine idea of life. When life is
expressed in divine order it is pronounced good. What is termed "sense
consciousness" in man is not to be condemned but lifted up to its
rightful place.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever
believeth may in him have eternal life." When the ideas of life are
properly related to love and wisdom, man will find in them eternal
satisfaction instead of sense pleasure.
Wisdom and love are the two
qualities
of Being that, communing together, declare, "Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness." This is the mental image of man that in
Truth we call the Christ. The Christ man has dominion over every idea
emanating from Divine Mind.
The creation described in these
six
days or six "steps" or stages of God-Mind is wholly spiritual and
should not be confounded with the manifestation that is described in
the succeeding chapters. God is mind, and all His works are created in
mind as perfect ideas.
This statement of man's creation,
"And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," has always
been a puzzle to people who read the Scriptures literally. The apparent
man is so at variance with the description that they cannot reconcile
them. Theologians began first to admit that the Garden of Eden story
was an allegory, and now they are including the whole of Genesis.
But this is more than an
allegory; it
is a description of the ideal creation. In their calculations engineers
often use mathematical symbols, like the letters x, y, and z, to
represent quantities not yet given precise determination but carried
along for development at the proper time. Involved in these symbols are
ideas that are to be brought out in their proper order and made visible
when the engineer's plans are objectified. So man plans in his mind
that which he proposes to build. First the idea, then the visible. This
is the process through which all creation passes. God makes all things
in His mind first, which is involution; then they are made into form
and shape, and this is evolution.
In some such way then we can
think of
man as represented by an x in God's plan or calculations. God is
carrying man along in His mind as an ideal quantity, the
image-and-likeness man of His creation, and His divine plan is
dependent for its success on the manifestation by man of this idea. The
divine plan is furthered by the constant idealism that keeps man moving
forward to higher and higher achievements. The image-and-likeness man
pours into "mankind" a perpetual stream of ideas that the individual
man arranges as thoughts and forms as substance and life. While this
evolutionary process is going on there seem to be two men, one ideal
and spiritual and the other intellectual and material, which are united
at the consummation, the ideal man, Christ.
When the mind attains an
understanding
of certain creative facts, of man's creative powers, it has established
a directive, intelligent center that harmonizes these two men (ideal
and spiritual vs. intellectual and material). This directive center may
be named the I AM. It is something more than the human I. Yet when this
human I has made union with the image-and-likeness I, the true I AM
comes into action, and this is the Christ Jesus, the Son of God,
evolved and made visible in creation according to divine law.
God ideated two universal planes
of
consciousness, "the heavens and the earth." One is the realm of pure
ideas, the other of thought forms. God does not create the visible
universe directly, as a man makes a concrete pavement, but He creates
the ideas that are used by His intelligent "image and likeness" to make
the universe. Thus God's creations are always spiritual. Man's
creations are both material and spiritual, according to his
understanding.
Mental activity in Divine Mind
represents two phases: first, conception of the idea; and secondly,
expression of the idea. In every idea conceived in mind there is first
the quickening spirit of life, followed by the increase of the idea in
substance. Wisdom is the "male" or expressive side of Being, while love
is the "female" or receptive side of Being. Wisdom is the father
quality of God and love is the mother quality. In every idea there
exist these two qualities of mind, which unite in order to increase and
bring forth under divine law.
Divine Mind blessed the union of
wisdom
and love and pronounced on them the increase of Spirit. When wisdom and
love are unified in the individual consciousness, man is a master of
ideas and brings forth under the original creative law.
"Seed" represents fundamental
ideas
having within themselves reproductive capacity. Every idea is a seed
that, sown in the substance of mind, becomes the real food on which man
is nourished. Man has access to the seed ideas of Divine Mind, and
through prayer and meditation he quickens and appropriates the
substance of those ideas, which were originally planted in his I AM by
the parent mind.
Provision is made for the
sustenance of
all the ideas emanating from Divine Mind. The primitive forms of life
are fed on "herbs"; they have a sustaining force that is food to them,
even as the appropriation of divine ideas is food to man.
Divine Mind, being All-Good
itself,
sees only its own creation as good. As man co-operates more fully with
Divine Mind, imaging only that which is good, he too beholds his
production with the "single" eye, sees them only as good. The sixth
step in creation is the concentration, in man, of all the ideas of
Divine Mind. Man is given authority and dominion over all ideas. Thus
is completed another step in mind unfoldment.
In the six mental steps or "mind
movements," called days, Elohim God creates the spiritual universe and
spiritual man. He then rests. He has created the ideas or patterns of
the formed universe that is to follow.
In the next chapter we shall find
Jehovah God executing what Elohim God created or ideated. In the Hebrew
the name Jehovah means "I am." We identify Jehovah as the I AM, the
spiritual man, the image and likeness of Elohim God. But Jehovah,
spiritual man, must be made manifest, so He forms a man called Adam.
Chapter II
Manifest Man
Genesis 2
THE BOOK OF GENESIS gives two
accounts
of the creation of man, the first that of the creation by Elohim and
the second that of the creation by Jehovah. A right understanding of
the processes the mind uses in bringing forth its children (ideas)
enables us to perfect harmony between these apparently conflicting
accounts. The first act of mind is the formation of the idea, and the
second is the expression of that idea. Elohim or God-Mind creates a
spiritual man, in whom are conceived to be present all the attributes
of his source. Next this spiritual man, Jehovah God, God-Mind
indentified as I AM, forms man in spiritual substance, in the "dust of
the ground."
The unfolding man is God's man,
or the
divine idea of man in process of construction. The various ideas are
being "clothed upon," that is, made manifest. The manifest man is an
idea until the Elohim mind in its I AM or Jehovah form begins its
process of expression. Then Jehovah God begins to form or clothe the
idea man in substance, which process, described symbolically in these
Scriptures, has been going on all down the ages.
The manifest man is the man we
see, the
man we behold with our senses. Manifest man evolves or makes manifest
the ideas that exist eternally in Being. The spiritual man is the man
we behold in our ideals.
"Ye are a temple of God."
Eventually
the manifest man and the ideal man merge into one, as Jesus said: "I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one."
Many have caught sight of the
fact that
the true body of Christ is a state of consciousness in man, but few
have gone so far as to realize that this body is a temple in which the
Christ holds religious services at all times. "Know ye not that ye are
a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." Under the
direction of the Christ, a new body is constructed by the thinking
faculty in man; the materials entering into this superior structure are
spiritual substances, and the new creation is the temple or body of
Spirit. It breathes an atmosphere and is thrilled with a life energy
more real than that of the manifest man. When a person has come into
the realization of his true Christ body, he feels the stirring within
him of this body of the indwelling Spirit or Christ. He knows what Paul
meant when he said: "There is a natural body, there is also a spiritual
body." "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things
are passed away; behold, they are become new."
Jehovah I AM breathes the breath
of
life into Adam, who names the animals (the elemental life forms in
which he exists) and becomes cocreator with Jehovah God in bringing
forth his own perfection.
The image-and-likeness man is
God's
idea of man, a man spirtually conceived, in whom are implanted the
dominion and power necessary to bring forth the perfection of his
Father, God-Mind. "Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect," said Jesus.
Gen. 2:1-3. And the
heavens
and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the
seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on
the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed
the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all
his work which God had created and made.
The plans of Divine Mind were
finished
although there was as yet no outward manifestation. All is finished
first in consciousness and mind then rests, in faith, from further
mental activity. This "rest" precedes manifestation. The seventh day
refers to the mind's realization of fulfillment, its resting in the
assurance that all that has been imaged in it will come forth in
expression.
To hallow the seventh day is to
rest in
the stillness, quiet, and peace of the silence of Mind. "Be still, and
know that I am God." To hallow means to keep holy. Holiness is resting
in the conviction that there is no lack in the absolute law that is the
law of God. One creates first in mind by idealizing the desired object
and then resting in the assurance that the law of manifestation is
being fulfilled. God has finished creating His universe, including man,
and is resting in His perfect idea. God rested on the seventh day.
Our Sunday is a symbol of the
true
Sabbath, a time when men turn away from business and the pleasures of
the senses to seek a day of quiet and holy rest. The great Sabbath, the
rest of God, is for all who will enter it.
It is the state of mind in which
we
rest from outer work, cease daily occupation, and give ourselves up to
meditation or the study of things spiritual. The Sabbath also
symbolizes an attitude of mind in which we relax the outer
consciousness, let go of all thought about material things, about the
affairs of daily life, and enter into the stillness of the
consciousness and begin to think of God and His law. This Sabbath is
kept any time we enter into spiritual consciousness and rest from
thoughts about temporal things. Then we let go of the external
observance of days, because every day is a Sabbath on which we retire
into Spirit and worship God.
Gen. 2:4-8. These are
the
generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in
the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven. And no plant of the
field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up;
for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was
not a man to till the ground; but there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground. And Jehovah God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul. And Jehovah God planted a garden
eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Jehovah (I AM) in the Hebrew is
written
Yahweh. Yah is the masculine and weh the feminine. The word is made up
of masculine and feminine elements and represents the joining together
of wisdom and love as a procreating nucleus. This is the Jehovah God
who made the visible man, the man of self-consciousness. God manifest
in substance is the Jesus Christ man. Elohim, universal Mind, creates,
but Jehovah God forms. Being is without beginning or ending. Universal
Mind imaged itself in all that it created, and all its ideas are
contained in the divine-idea man, which is Jehovah or the Christ. Jesus
Christ is that perfection made manifest in man. Spiritual creating is
ideation in Truth. The ideas of Divine Mind are contained potentially
in substance, but until these ideas are consciously recognized by
Jehovah God, the divine-idea man, they are not wholly manifest. All
things exist as ideas, but these ideas are manifested only as spiritual
man, becomes conscious of them. The "rain" represents the descent of
potential ideas into substance. Spiritual man, in whom all the ideas of
Divine Mind are imaged, is not yet manifest in substance. "There was
not a man to till the ground."
The "face" represents the outward
aspect, while "ground" stands for formed substance, the product of
related ideas. When man begins to focus his mind on a purpose, there
appears at first to be a "mist" or lack of clear understanding between
the earth consciousness and the spiritual mind. But this "mist" has its
place in the divine economy, for it "waters" or softens the divine
radiance.
"Dust" represents the radiant
earth or
substance. When spiritual man (I AM) enters into this "dust of the
ground" (substance) and makes use of the God ideas inherent in him, he
brings forth the ideal body in its elemental perfection. The real body
of man is not material but is of the nature of the universal-dust body,
which is the divine-substance body. Therefore the perfect
image-and-likeness man is perfect in body as well as in mind. We should
remember that the first Adam was perfect as an idea in his elemental
soul and body. "Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; then that which is spiritual."
Spiritually, "nostrils"
represents
openness to the inspirations of mind. The "breath" is the inner life
flow that pulsates through the soul. The breathing of the manifest man
corresponds to the inspiration of the spiritual man. When any man is
inspired with high ideas, he breathes "into his nostrils the breath of
life." Spiritual inspiration quickens man to the awareness that he is a
"living soul." The soul is the sum total of consciousness and its great
goal is a consciousness of eternal life. Through his I AM or Jehovah
God man enters into his soul realm and rebreathes into it the true
ideas of Being until these ideas quicken his consciousness to a
response that harmonizes it with the underlying Christ principles. Man,
spiritually identified, is Jehovah God, co-operating with Elohim God,
divine principle, developing a spiritual being, the Christ man, to the
consciousness of his divinity. "I speak not from myself: but the Father
abiding in me doeth his works."
The Garden of Eden represents a
region
of being in which are provided all primal ideas for the production of
the beautiful. As described in Genesis it represents allegorically the
elemental life and intelligence placed at the disposal of man, through
which he is to evolve a soul and body.
The Garden of Eden also
represents
allegorically the elemental forces named by scientists as composing the
invisible, etheric universe that Jesus referred to as the "kingdom of
the heavens" and "Paradise." It also comprehends the activity of those
forces in man's soul and body that, when quickened and regenerated,
make him a master of all creation. "The kingdom of God is within you."
"East" represents the within as "west" represents the without. Jesus
also said, "Ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son
of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." In our analysis
of the Garden of Eden we consider it as a concentration, in man, of all
the ideas of God concerned in the process of unfolding man's soul and
body. When man is expressing the ideas of Divine Mind, bringing forth
the qualities of Being in divine order, he dwells in Eden, a state of
bliss, in a harmonious, productive consciousness containing all
possibilities of growth.
Gen. 2:9. And out of the
ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the
sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
"Ground" represents formed
substance:
ideas of Truth of which man is conscious. The "tree" is the substance
that connects mind and body, earth and heaven, represented physically
by the nerves. The "tree that is pleasant to the sight" represents the
pleasure derived from ascending and descending currents of life over
the nerves. The substance of spiritual thought is the "food" that is
good. The "tree of life also in the midst of the garden" represents the
absolute-life principle established in man's consciousness by Divine
Mind, the very center of his being. The roots of the "tree of life" are
centered in the solar-plexus region, and they are symbolized in the
physical organism by the nerves of that plexus.
The "tree of the knowledge of
good and
evil" represents the sympathetic nervous system whose fruit is
sensation. When man controls his feelings and emotions his sensations
are harmonized and all his functions are supplied with nerve energy.
But when man gives way to the pleasure sensation he consumes or "eats"
of that energy and robs his body of its essential nerve food. Thus
excessive sense pleasure and the pain that follows are designated as
"good and evil."
Gen. 2:10-14. And a
river went
out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and
became four heads. The name of the first is Pishon: that is it which
compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold
of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the
name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the
whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that
is it which goeth in front of Assyria. And the fourth river is the
Euphrates.
"River" symbolizes the activity
of life
in the trees or the current of life in the organism (garden). The
"head" of the river represents its directive power.
The name Pishon is variously
defined as
"fully diffused," "real existence," "perfect substantiality," "being,
carried to its highest degree." Spiritually interpreted, this
definition is descriptive of Spirit at work in man's consciousness,
Spirit diffusing its ideas of intelligence and light into man's soul.
However this work of Spirit is not confined to man's body or to the
earth but is everywhere present. It is the activity of divine ideas in
their fullness.
The river Pishon is described as
encompassing "the whole land of Havilah." Havilah represents the
struggle of elemental life, virtue born of trial, travail, or
suffering. There is gold in this land and also precious stones, which
means that it is the realm of reality. In other words, we have locked
up in our elemental body all the treasures of Spirit. All the precious
things of life for which we have been looking are in our body, and it
is through the inflow of this mighty spiritual Pishon that these
precious ideas are released. But there is a struggle or, as Jesus said,
"tribulation" between the spiritual and the natural.
The name Gihon means variously
"formative movement," "a bursting forth," "whirlpool," "rapid stream."
This river represents the deific breath of God inspiring man and at the
same time purifying his blood in the lungs. Job said that "there is a
spirit in man" and that "the breath of the Almighty giveth them
understanding." The river Gihon "compasseth the whole land of Cush."
The name Cush means "firelike," "darkness," "impurity"; and the passage
refers to the blood-purifying process of the breath. God is breathing
His breath through man's being, cleansing the blood stream, and filling
his whole being with spiritual inspiration.
The name Hiddekel means
"universal
generative fluid," "rapid stream," "rapid spiritual influx." The river
Hiddekel symbolizes the spiritual nerve fluid that God is propelling
throughout man's whole being continually, as the electromagnetic center
of every physically expressed atom and cell, the very elixir of life.
This wonderful stream of nerve fluid finds its way over all the many
nerves in man's body, giving him the invigorating, steadying power of
the Holy Spirit.
Assyria represents the psychic
realm or
the soul. The nerve fluid, the most attenuated and volatile fluid of
the body, breaks into flares at the ends of the nerves, giving rise to
various kinds of psychical and mental action, forming character or
soul. The mind uses the nerve flares to express its ideas.
The name of the fourth river,
Euphrates, means "fructifying" or "that which is the fructifying
cause." Metaphysically it represents the blood stream. The circulatory
system receives and distributes the nutrients contained in the food we
eat. The blood stream is charged with the food substance for bone,
muscle, brain, teeth, and hair. Every part of the organism is supplied
with substance through this wonderful river Euphrates.
Gen. 2:15-17. And
Jehovah God
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to
keep it. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The Garden of Eden symbolizes the
omnipresent, unseen realm out of which comes the visible universe.
Modern science has named it the cosmic ether. It cannot be described in
human language, because it transcends all the comparisons of earth.
Jesus said that the "mysteries" of the kingdom were revealed to those
who were spiritually awake but to others must be told in parables.
The human body with its psychical
and
spiritual attributes comprises a miniature Garden of Eden, and when man
develops spiritual insight and in thought, word, and act voluntarily
operates in accord with the divine law, then rulership, authority, and
dominion become his in both mind and body. "The kingdom of God is
within you."
Jehovah God, the active
representative
of Divine Mind in man, places man in the Garden of Eden to "dress it
and to keep it." Man dresses and keeps this garden by developing, in
his consciousness, the original, pure ideas imparted by Divine Mind. As
man establishes ideas of Truth he calls into manifestation his
spiritual body imaged in substance by Divine Mind.
"Tree" represents the connecting
link
between the formed substance (earth) and the formless (heaven). To
"eat" is to appropriate the substance of ideas through thinking about
them. "Evil" represents error thought combinations; that part of
consciousness which has lost sight of true principles and through
sensation becomes enamored of the thing formed. Form has its place in
creation, but it is subject to the creative idea that begets it. The
activity of an idea in man's mind produces sensation. To become
involved in the sensation of an idea to the exclusion of control is to
eat of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and die to all
consciousness of the original idea.
Materiality as the obverse of
spirituality was set up when man became involved in thoughts of the
external, in sensation, and lost sight of the true creative idea.
Because of this, man gradually became separated from the realm of
divine ideas; in other words, from God. Death is the result of this
separation from God. Jesus restored the broken life current between God
and man and so became the "Saviour" for those who follow Him.
Gen. 2:18-25. And
Jehovah God
said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a
help mate for him. And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast
of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the
man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every
living creature, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to
all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the
field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him. And Jehovah
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took
one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib,
which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought
her unto the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and
flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out
of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were
both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Man must have avenues through
which to
express himself. These avenues are the "help meet" designed by Jehovah
God. Man represents wisdom. It is not good for wisdom to act alone; it
must be joined with love if harmony is to be brought forth. Both the
soul and the body are helpmeets to man (spirit), avenues through which
he expresses the ideas of Mind.
It is on the soul or substance
side of
consciousness that ideas are "identified," that is, "named." Whatever
we recognize a thing to be, that it becomes to us because of the naming
power vested in man (wisdom). "Every beast of the field" and the
"cattle" represent ideas of strength, power, vitality, and life. These
ideas must be recognized by the I AM before they can be formed. "The
birds of the heavens" represent free thoughts and the interchange
between the subconscious and the conscious activities of mind. Man has
power to name all ideas that are presented to his conscious mind,
whether they come from within or without.
Wisdom, the masculine phase of
man,
needs a helpmeet or balance. Love in the soul (woman) has not yet been
developed and established in substance.
A limited concept of Jehovah God
caused
a deep sleep (mesmeric state) to fall on the man (Adam). Nowhere in
Scripture is there any record to show that Adam was ever fully
awakened; and he (man) is still partly in this dreamlike state of
consciousness. In this state he creates a world of his own and peoples
it with ideas corresponding to his own sleep-benumbed consciousness.
Paul said, "As in Adam all die
[fall
asleep, lose spiritual consciousness], so also in Christ shall all be
made alive [awaken from coma or lethargy into the awareness of Spirit
life]."
Awakening cannot be associated
with
dying. The idea that man awakens to spiritual or any kind of
consciousness immediately after "death," whether in heaven, hell,
purgatory, or elsewhere, is opposed to Truth. His awakening must take
place here, during the time of "life," at least while he is partially
awake and before he sinks into that deeper sleep or coma that we call
death.
The Scripture admonishes us:
"Awake,
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead [the mortal dream of life],
and Christ [Truth] shall shine upon thee." David, sensing this, said,
"I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form."
The soul is here coming into the
positive development of divine love (the woman). Love is the passive
quality of mind and must become active through man's volition, before
it can be brought forth; and man must enter into the passive side of
Being and cease from outer mental activity. This state is symbolized by
"deep sleep"; the outer consciousness is quiet, allowing the spiritual
to express itself fully.
Man evolves, attains
consciousness in
mind and body, as he becomes aware of the divine ideas implanted in his
being. In this chapter Adam "names"--calls to consciousness in life's
activities--the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens
(animal and intellectual realms). Then in moments of meditation, when
the outer mind is still, he makes contact with the subconscious.
The Hebrew word from which "rib"
is
translated means "curved surface," not specifically one of Adam's ribs;
rather, the curves of beauty innate in Adam. The development of Eve is
a refining process that helps man to bring forth his divine feminine
nature. The rib or bone that became woman is symbolical of the very
substantial character of the love that she represents.
Adam is the objective and Eve the
subjective in primal man, both in the same body. As man evolves Eve
becomes objective. "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
If the ego or will that is man
has
adhered to the guiding light of Spiritual faithfully and has carried
out in its work the plans that are ideated in wisdom, it has created a
harmonious consciousness. The original Adam in Eden is symbolical of
such a consciousness.
The "deep sleep" into which the
intellect is
plunged when true love is experienced still prevails in human
relations. Love is the great mystery of life. The spiritually wise see
love as the force that enfolds with mathematical precision the galaxies
in space as well as the tiniest atom. Science names it gravity.
"Mysteries
of Genesis" by
Charles Fillmore
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