Evolution

The Science of Mind, by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes [1926], at sacred-texts.com

EVOLUTION

All emerge from that One Whose Being is ever present and Whose Life, robed in numberless forms, is manifest throughout all Creation.

Creation is the logical result of the outpush of Life into self-expression. It is the coming forth of Spirit into manifestation, the externalization of an internal idea, through the objectification of a subjective image.

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The One encompasses and flows through the All, spilling Itself into numberless forms and shapes. These forms and shapes, propelled by a Divine Urge which brings them into being, seek still further expression because of the dynamic power with which they are equipped.

This is the real meaning of evolution; for evolution is the result of intelligence and not its cause.

Each evolving thing has, within itself, an impulse implanted by the Divine; and since the Divine is Limitless and Perfect, It must and will, ultimately, bring all Creation to a state of perfect manifestation.

That which, to the human eye, appears as imperfect, is imperfect only because the human eye sees imperfectly or in part; i.e., the human does not see the real idea back of the external image.

There is a philosophy which states that there is a "Becoming God," and which attempts to prove this assertion through evolution; but this philosophy is inconsistent with the ultimate nature of Reality; for, if ultimate Reality were in a state of "becoming,' from what source would It gather Its impulse to become, and from whence would It draw Its power to express Itself?

A "becoming" or evolving God, or First Cause, is not consistent with true philosophy; while, on the other hand, an unfolding God, or First Cause, is consistent with Reality.

It is one thing to say that God is unfolding through His Idea of Himself but quite another thing to say that He is gradually becoming conscious of Himself. One is true while the other is false.

A "becoming" God implies a state of imperfection, or a state of being which does not recognize its perfection, at the very root of all being. An unfolding God implies a forever-out-pouring Spirit and a forever-manifesting Deity, or First Cause.

The unfoldment of this First Cause is what we call evolution. Since this unfoldment is not yet complete, i.e., since the idea is still in an unfolding state, it appears as though we lived in an imperfect universe.

To a few, who have been able to see behind the veil of matter, the perfect idea has been apparent; and these few have

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given to the world its greatest code of law, morals and ethics. These few have been the great mystics of the race, and to them the world owes a debt which can be paid only to the degree that the world comes to understand their teachings.

Evolution is the time and the process through which an idea unfolds to a higher state of manifestation; and since ideas are Divine Realities, evolution will forever go on.