Max Kappeler’s Teaching Moments
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Immanuel:
God with us
Max Kappeler
(The following is an edited excerpt from Max Kappeler’s book, The Science of the Oneness of Being in the Christian Science Textbook, pp.119-121.)
The revelation of Immanuel
What was the revelation that Mary Baker Eddy was led to receive? She states: “This apodictical Principle points to the revelation of Immanuel, ‘God with us’” (S&H 107:7). Fundamentally, the revelation showed her that: God is both with us and one with us.
Mrs. Eddy gained further insight into the great fact that: ‘God-with-us’ is the self-operating, self-organizing and self-governing divinely cybernetic Principle of being. This fundamental divine fact of the oneness of God with man became the starting point of her life’s work.
The Science of the Oneness of Being in Science and Health
The first chapter ‘Prayer’ in the Christian Science textbook presents the oneness of being by emphasizing the oneness of man with God.
Whereas, the sixth chapter in the Textbook ‘Science, Theology, Medicine’ sets a new tone, emphasizing the oneness of God with man. The sixth chapter reveals that:
God comes to us, is present with us and works in us like leaven, until everything in us corresponds to the divine. God not only manifests itself in us, but also is forever one with us. This new standpoint of oneness resounds throughout the sixth chapter.
Oneness within the sixth chapter of the Textbook
‘Science, Theology, Medicine’
Standpoint of oneness: God-and-its manifestation is one.
Standpoint of duality: God and its manifestation separate.
The dualistic standpoint is blind to the revelation of Immanuel, and so always considers man as something that exists independently, separate from God.
How can we adopt the standpoint of: Immanuel: God with us?
To understand the divine meaning of ‘God with us’, we can substitute for the term ‘God’ the seven synonyms for God (S&H 465:8-10).
We can ponder the spiritual significance of the following:
The whole of Mind is with us
The whole of Spirit is with us
The whole of Soul is with us
The whole of Principle is with us
The whole of Life is with us
The whole of Truth is with us
The whole of Love is with us
Thus Immanuel or ‘God with us’ signifies that the seven synonyms for God are not only one with us, but also infinitely individualized as us. In other words, because the One is infinite individuality, it manifests itself as us—as infinite individuality, making us not a part of the whole, but making us the whole infinitely individualized.
Our true individuality is therefore not small or narrowly circumscribed, but is the infinite individuality of the whole, infinitely manifesting itself as us.
The law of oneness revealed in the sixth chapter of the Textbook reflects these two crucial points: 1) that God, the One, is with us, and 2) that this One is forever infinitely individualized.
Elaborating the law of oneness in the sixth chapter of the Textbook through the seven synonyms for God
Law of oneness: God manifests itself as our God, infinitely individualized, but still remaining the whole of God.
MIND manifests itself as our Mind,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Mind.
SPIRIT manifests itself as our Spirit,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Spirit.
SOUL manifests itself as our Soul,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Soul.
PRINCIPLE manifests itself as our Principle,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Principle.
LIFE manifests itself as our Life,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Life.
TRUTH manifests itself as our Truth,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Truth.
LOVE manifests itself as our Love,
infinitely individualized,
but still remaining the whole of Love.