Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/161

Rh understood by God are identical,” and that “independent of God there are no objects of His knowledge, but that He Himself is the object of his knowledge, indeed He is that knowledge.” It is evident then that Spinoza's interpretation of the Biblical trinity is a logical result of his Neoplatonic psychology and metaphysics and that the same is true of Mrs. Eddy's identical interpretation. I ask the reader to compare carefully the last quotation from Mrs. Eddy with those from Plotinus, Proclus and Spinoza. This important phase of the case rests thus with him.

Prof. W. N. Clarke in his brilliant work, “An Outline of Christian Theology,” would explain the Biblical trinity in about the same way as Mrs. Eddy and Spinoza do. But he does not tell us where the roots of the theory grow. To read all this into the first verses of the Gospel of John is the accommodation, not the interpretation, of Scripture. Plato, too long hast thou worn the crovni in Zion! It is time now for his Lordship to be recognized whose right it is to reign there.

In concluding this chapter it is proper to point out how natural it is from the anthropology and Christology of Mrs. Eddy for her to make the claims which she does for herself as compared with Jesus of Nazareth. She claims equality with him, if not superiority over him. This is very natural and even necessary for one who