Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/131

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Anthropology.
123

pect to find Mrs. Eddy identifying him with his maker. And so we do. In places she teaches the contrary but that is a difficulty for others to deal with, not for the writer of this book. I may say to the credit of Mrs. Eddy, however, that such contradictions are necessarily involved in monistic philosophy. They are found in great abundance also in Neoplatonism. Hegel more than any other thinker has brought into bold relief the contradictions necessarily involved in this philosophy. Mrs. Eddy sees them and tries to hide them. For example notice how often she affirms that man in Christian Science does not lose his identity or individuality. She realized that her reasoning was pulling us over into the chasm of the annihilation of individuality and personality and she felt inclined to put up some railing.[1] Mrs. Eddy saw the precipice toward which she was driving but as is her custom simply denied dogmatically that it was there. So did the Neoplatonists try to avoid such a catastrophe.[2] Man is related to God as the idea of a mind is related to the mind. Now an idea is in and of the mind. The Neopltaonists reasoned thus: The intellect, the intelligible and intelligence, these three are one. Intellect is the knowing subject; the intelligible is the known object; and intelligence is the act of knowing. These three are one, they said.[3] Now


  1. Cf. S. and H. p. 217 and p. 259.
  2. Cf. Plotinus in Ennead, 5. 9. 10.
  3. Cf. Plotinus, Enneads, 6. 7. 41 and 5. 1. 4. cf. Porphyry, Aux. 44. cf. Proclus in Theo. Ele. 169.