Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/100

92 ideas. The other is the world of material things. The former is often referred to by present day speakers as “Plato's eternal world of ideas.” For in this world no past nor future is known. But the world of things is subject to time. Again, the world of ideas was regarded as unchanging and perfect and the world of things as changing and imperfect. Ideas have no beginning and no end; things originate and vanish. Consequently the world of ideas was considered real and the world of things unreal. However contrary to common thinking this is, it was Plato's way of thinking to which, when touched up with a lively colour added by the Neoplatonists, Mrs. Eddy conforms perfectly.

To the conception of Plato the Neoplatonists, who used his philosophy for religious purposes, added the do c t c rine that these ideas of the eternal world should be considered as ideas or thoughts of God. So this world of ideas, which becomes the one world of reality, can very naturally and easily be considered as a world created by the divine mind or brought into being by divine thinking, since it is simply a world of thoughts or ideas. And since the divine mind eternally thinks, this world is eternally created. Since God is identical with mind and mind by its very nature is ever active or is ever thinking, then this world is coexistent with God. This is Neoplatonism and it is Christian Science.