and substance of all things must first subsist as images in the Divine Mind before they can come into manifestation in the world of time and space, much as in Plato's conception of archetypal ideas; therefore we may read the text in Genesis as indicating that Man exists primarily in the Divine conception of him. The real, true Man subsists eternally in the Divine Imagination as the necessary correlative to the Spirit's Self-recognition as all that constitutes Personality.

If the Universal Spirit is to realise in itself the consciousness of Will, the perception of Beauty, and the reciprocity of Love --- all, in fact, that makes life intelligently living --- it can do so only by projecting a mental image which will give rise to the corresponding consciousness; and so we may read the text as meaning that man thus subsists in the Divine image, or creating thought, of him. If the reader grasps this idea, he will find it throws light upon many otherwise perplexing problems.

This, then, is the real nature of sin. Whatever shape it may take, its essence is always the same: it is turning our mental mirror the wrong way and so reflecting the limited and negative, that which is not Life-in-itself, and correspondingly forming ourselves into a corresponding image and likeness.

The story of the Fall typifies the essential qualities of all sin. It is seeking the Living among the dead --- trying to build up the skill and power of the