Volume 8, Issue 3, page 11

By Writer Blames Man's Limited Conception
MARTHA BAKER For His Doubts About Scriptural Truths

HERE

HAS always been much controversy in regard to the Bible. Some say
it is mistranslated.
others say it is merely a distorted history of the human race.
But perhaps the promises
contained in the "Good Book" are so far beyond the comprehension
of mortal mind that these
are merely excuses for not believing in it, or the message it
contains for man. I know some
illumined beings who dared to believe it and attained the high
goal of physical regeneration
and immortality.

Since thinking increases the light in our minds, why not give
this some deep thought?

From my own experience I have found that in many cases, there
comes a time in the spiritual growth of man
when he begins to doubt the Bi - ble. He views the many seemingly
contradictory passages and reasons that
something is wrong with the Scriptures. He never suspects that it
might be his limited conception that causes them
to appear contradictory. As one wit says, "When man begins to
doubt his doubts, he is beginning to grow
spiritually."

Many people are willing to believe in the symbolic meanings but
refuse to take any of the Scriptures literally.
others react just the opposite and take every passage as a
literal truth. Then there are those searching for more truth
and light who have found that so many of their past beliefs were
in error that they even begin to doubt the
Scriptures themselves. They relegate them to the dim musty past,
instead of applying the principles the
ScrIpturesteach to their daily lives. Yet with an open mind which
refuses to become crystallized in its unbelief, one
can expand his consciousness to understand them and regain his
faith in the revealed word of God.

God speaks thru men. He is the Great Thinker in man. As man
begins to use his mind to search for light and
truth, his need is supplied.

In the Bible itself we find the statement that "The Scriptures
are of no private interpretation". Many have
assumedthis to mean that there is just one right interpretation.
Yet what this passage really means to convey is that
it has a message for all of us no matter at what state of
spiritual growth we may be. The truth will fall into place
when one realizes that some of the Scriptures are meant to be
taken symbolically and others are to be taken literally.
Perhaps this is what is meant by rightly dividing the word. It
takes inner perception to decipher the Scriptures and
convert the principles taught by them into practical every-day
living.

The wisdom of the Scriptures being written in this form cannot be
disputed when one realizes that all knowledge
must be gained slowly by evolution. or man would destroy. himself
.

Thoughts evolve out of thoughts and slowly knowledge is gained
and made practical. Take for instance the
automobile. At first they were not the high-powered motors they
are today. Neither did we have traffic signal lights,
because man reasoned that unless a policeman was on every corner
to enforce the law, no one would obey the
signals. Yet gradually that false concept was relinquished and
man began to see the intelligence of obeying the laws
of the land. Just so man must discover the intelligence of
obeying the laws of God. With each advancement in
knowledge comes a greater responsibility.

It is easier to gain knowledge than it is to make it practical.
Many spiritual truths have been brought to light
thru the light of the Gospel of Christ. yet learning tolive true
to them is more difficult than to just gain a
knowledge of them. It takes practice to make Perfect. Life is a
challenging game that man must learn to play
according to the rules of Divine Mind. If man fails to learn
these rules, he not only suffers himself but all mankind
suffers as the result of his transgressing God's immutable law of
love and light.

Let us take some of the seeming Biblical contradictions and see
if we can gain a better understanding of the true
meaning intended. Most students of the Bible will agree that the
Book of Genesis is the book of creation. Verse 27,
chapter 1, states that "God created man in his own image". yet in
verse 5, chapter 2, it says 9. There was not a man
to til I the ground."

To one who has not been educated in metaphysics this isa seeming
contradiction, because he thinks of something
created as tangible on the physical or material plane of
existence. But this first creation was not a tangible one. It
was in the image of God, or by use of the "Imaging in" faculty of
the Greater Being. Therefore it was not a tangible,
creation, but a mental one.

The second creation mentioned in the second chapter. verse 7,
indicates a tangible creation."And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul". The dust of the ground is tangible
material, and all bodies are
created from the dust o f the ground. Is it not true that the
physical bodies of man are
created and sustained from food which is grown from the dust of
the ground? In other words,
the elements are the tabernacle of God. Life and substance are
essentially one. To maintain a
form, the quickening power of life must remain within that form
or it will age and die. The
body is cast aside if the consciousness within it is withdrawn.
Man can cultivate life or
destroy life by his thinking and feeling ability.

So what can we learn from the Scriptures which seem so
contradictory from the material
point of view but very enlightening from the spiritual
standpoint? one thing we have learned
is that al I creation begins as a mental idea. Without a mental
image or thought form first.
there could be no material creation. The mind

1961 The iqBERREE 11