Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/168

160 that God's idea, intellect or mind, is “one” and “infinite,” and that “the human mind is part of the infinite intellect of God.”

The last quotation suggests a point that we must take notice of, namely the relation of individual human minds to this one infinite universal mind; for in working out this problem Mrs. Eddy follows the Neoplatonists. The individual human mind so-called is not really a mind, that is a distinct essence existing as something other than the one infinite mind. It is rather an activity of the one infinite mind. So also when the Neoplatonists speak of “partial intellects” and Spinoza speaks of the human intellect or mind they both mean God's idea or an activity of the divine mind.

Mrs. Eddy says: “All that really exists is the divine mind and its idea;” “We run into error when we divide Soul into souls, multiply Mind into minds.” So Mrs. Eddy does not permit us to speak of our minds or souls. She will allow us to have neither bodies nor souls. God is the one infinite and only soul. We are activities or ideas of that soul. Recall Mrs. Eddy's definition of man: “God's spiritual idea, individual, perfect, eternal.” This it will be understood is the definition of immortal or real man. Mortal man or mortal mind does not exist.