Responsive Reading: Job 12 : 7-9; Job 9 : 6-10

7.     Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

8.     Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

9.     Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

6.     Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

7.     Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.

8.     Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.

9.     Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

10.     Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

1. John 1 : 1, 3

1     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

3     All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

2. Genesis 2 : 1

1     Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

3. Psalm 104 : 1, 2, 5, 19, 30

1     Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

2     Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

5     Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

19     He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

30     Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

4. II Kings 20 : 1-5 (to 2nd :), 6 (to 1st ;), 8 (to 2nd ,), 9-11

1     In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

2     Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,

3     I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4     And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

5     Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee:

6     And I will add unto thy days fifteen years;

8     And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me,

9     And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

10     And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

11     And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

5. Job 22 : 12 (to ?)

12     Is not God in the height of heaven?

6. Joshua 10 : 1, 2 (to 1st ,), 3, 4, 6 (to ;), 7-10 (to 1st ,), 11 (to :), 12,

1. 13 (to 1st .), 14 (to ,)

1 Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;

2     That they feared greatly,

3     Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,

4     Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.

6     And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants;

7     So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

8     And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.

9     Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

10     And the Lord discomfited them before Israel,

11     And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died:

12     Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

13     And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.

14     And there was no day like that before it or after it,

7. Psalm 103 : 19

19     The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

8. Job 26 : 7-13 (to ;), 14 (the)

7     He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

8     He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

9     He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

10     He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

11     The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

12     He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

13     By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens;

14     …the thunder of his power who can understand?

9. Revelation 20 : 11 (to ;)

11     And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;

10. Revelation 21 : 5 (to 1st .), 6 (to 2nd .)

5     And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

6     And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

1. 135 : 9-10

Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power.

2. 275 : 20-23

Divine metaphysics, as revealed to spiritual understanding, shows clearly that all is Mind, and that Mind is God, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, — that is, all power, all presence, all Science.

3. 547 : 19-22

Material evolution implies that the great First Cause must become material, and afterwards must either return to Mind or go down into dust and nothingness.

4. 555 : 16-23

Searching for the origin of man, who is the reflection of God, is like inquiring into the origin of God, the self-existent and eternal. Only impotent error would seek to unite Spirit with matter, good with evil, immortality with mortality, and call this sham unity man, as if man were the offspring of both Mind and matter, of both Deity and humanity. Creation rests on a spiritual basis.

5. 317 : 2 (material) -5

…material knowledge usurped the throne of the creative divine Principle, insisted on the might of matter, the force of falsity, the insignificance of spirit, and proclaimed an anthropomorphic God.

6. 257 : 15-21

The material senses and human conceptions would translate spiritual ideas into material beliefs, and would say that an anthropomorphic God, instead of infinite Principle, — in other words, divine Love, — is the father of the rain, "who hath begotten the drops of dew," who bringeth "forth Mazzaroth in his season," and guideth "Arcturus with his sons."

7. 124 : 3-9 (to ,), 14-24, 26-31

Physical science (so-called) is human knowledge, — a law of mortal mind, a blind belief, a Samson shorn of his strength. When this human belief lacks organizations to support it, its foundations are gone. Having neither moral might, spiritual basis, nor holy Principle of its own, this belief mistakes effect for cause and seeks to find life and intelligence in matter,

The universe, like man, is to be interpreted by Science from its divine Principle, God, and then it can be understood; but when explained on the basis of physical sense and represented as subject to growth, maturity, and decay, the universe, like man, is, and must continue to be, an enigma.

Adhesion, cohesion, and attraction are properties of Mind. They belong to divine Principle, and support the equipoise of that thought-force, which launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, "Thus far and no farther."

We tread on forces. Withdraw them, and creation must collapse. Human knowledge calls them forces of matter; but divine Science declares that they belong wholly to divine Mind, are inherent in this Mind, and so restores them to their rightful home and classification.

8. 192 : 11-21

Erring power is a material belief, a blind miscalled force, the offspring of will and not of wisdom, of the mortal mind and not of the immortal. It is the headlong cataract, the devouring flame, the tempest's breath. It is lightning and hurricane, all that is selfish, wicked, dishonest, and impure.

Moral and spiritual might belong to Spirit, who holds the "wind in His fists;" and this teaching accords with Science and harmony. In Science, you can have no power opposed to God, and the physical senses must give up their false testimony.

9. 252 : 15-17, 24-8

The false evidence of material sense contrasts strikingly with the testimony of Spirit. Material sense lifts its voice with the arrogance of reality and says:

The world is my kingdom. I am enthroned in the gorgeousness of matter. But a touch, an accident, the law of God, may at any moment annihilate my peace, for all my fancied joys are fatal. Like bursting lava, I expand but to my own despair, and shine with the resplendency of consuming fire.

Spirit, bearing opposite testimony, saith:

I am Spirit. Man, whose senses are spiritual, is my likeness. He reflects the infinite understanding, for I am Infinity. The beauty of holiness, the perfection of being, imperishable glory, — all are Mine, for I am God. I give immortality to man, for I am Truth. I include and impart all bliss, for I am Love. I give life, without beginning and without end, for I am Life. I am supreme and give all, for I am Mind. I am the substance of all, because I am that I am.

10. 524 : 28-3

Could Spirit evolve its opposite, matter, and give matter ability to sin and suffer? Is Spirit, God, injected into dust, and eventually ejected at the demand of matter? Does Spirit enter dust, and lose therein the divine nature and omnipotence? Does Mind, God, enter matter to become there a mortal sinner, animated by the breath of God?

11. 195 : 11-14

The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We should forsake the basis of matter for metaphysical Science and its divine Principle.

12. 306 : 25-29

Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle, — is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal.

13. 520 : 3-5 (to !), 23-24 (to 2nd ,)

Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough!

Here is the emphatic declaration that God creates all through Mind, not through matter,

14. 471 : 18-20

God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence. Hence the spirituality of the universe is the only fact of creation.