he Christ. The Christian religion springs
from the soil of a Roman Emperor's blood-soaked gardens. And so it
goes. Harmony opposed by discord. Errors hampering the solving of
mathematical problems. Spirit opposed by matter. Which is real? That
which stands the test of demonstration as to permanence, I say with
Spencer.

"And now we learn that it is the _communal mortal mind_ that stands as
the opposite and negative of the infinite mind that is God, and that
it is but a supposition, without basis of real principle or fact. It
has its law of evolution, too, and evolves its types in human beings
and animals, in mountain, tree, and stream. All material nature, in
fact, is but the manifestation, or reflection, of this communal mortal
mind.

"But, though God had no beginning, and will have no ending, this
communal mortal mind, on the contrary, did have a seeming beginning,
and will end its pseudo-existence. It seemingly began as a mental
mist. It seemingly evolved form and became active. It seemingly
evolved its universe, and its earth as its lower stratum. It made its
firmament, and it gradually filled its seas with moving things that
manifested its idea of life. Slowly, throughout inconceivable eons of
time, it unrolled and evolved, until at last, through untold
generations of stupid, sluggish, often revolting animal forms, it
began to evolve a type of mind, a crude representation of the mind
that is God, and manifesting its own concept of intelligence. That
type was primitive man.

"Now what was this communal mortal mind doing? Counterfeiting divine
mind, if I may so express it. Evolving crude imitative types. But
types that were without basis of principle, and so they passed
away--the higher forms died, the lower disintegrated. Aye, death came
into the world because of sin, for the definition of sin is the
Aramaic word which Jesus used, translated '_hamartio_,' which means
'missing the mark.' The mortal mind missed the mark. And so its types
died. And so they still die to-day. Yes, sin came through Adam, for
Adam is the name of the communal mortal mind.

"Well, ages and ages passed, reckoned in the human mind concept of
time. The evolution was continually toward a higher and ever higher
type. Why? The influence of divine mind was penetrating it.
Paleolithic man still died, because he did not have enough real
knowledge in his mortal mind to keep him from missing the mark. He
probably had no belief in a future life, f