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.Earth, sky, and theheavenly bodies were uncreated, so were the multitudinous forms which liveand move upon the various planets.All, all, was yet in a fluidic conditionand the Universal Spirit brooded QUIESCENT in limitless Space as the One Ex-istence.The Greeks called that condition of homogeneity CHAOS, and the stateof orderly segregation which we now see: the marching orbs which illuminethe vaulted canopy of heaven, the stately procession of planets around acentral light, the majestic Sun, the unbroken sequence of the seasons andthe unvarying alternation of tidal ebb and flow--all this aggregate of sys-tematic order was called COSMOS, and was supposed to have proceeded fromChaos.The Christian Mystic obtains a deeper comprehension when he opens his Bible and ponders the first five verses of that brightest gem of allspiritual ore: the gospel of St.John.As he reverently opens his aspiring heart to acquire understanding ofthose sublime mystical teachings he transcends the form-side of nature, com-prising various realms of which we have been speaking, and finds himself"in the spirit," as did the prophets in olden times.He is then in the Re-gion of Abstract Thought and sees the eternal verities which also Paul be-held in this, the Third Heaven.For those among us who are unable to obtain knowledge save by reason-ing upon the matter, however, it will be necessary to examine the fundamen-tal meaning of words used by St.John to clothe his wonderful teachings.Itwas originally given in the Greek language, a much simpler matter than iscommonly supposed, for Greek words have been freely introduced into our mod-ern languages, particularly in scientific terms, and we shall show how thisancient teaching is supported by the latest discoveries of modern science.The opening verse of the Gospel of St.John is as follows: "In the BE-GINNING was the WORD and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD wasGOD." Wewill examine the words: "beginning," "Word," and "God." We may alsonote that in the Greek version the concluding sentence reads: "and God wasthe Word," a difference which makes a great distinction.It is an axiomatic truth that "out of nothing, nothing comes," and ithas often been asserted by scoffers that the Bible teaches generation "fromnothing." We readily agree that TRANSLATIONS into the modern languages pro-mulgate this erroneous doctrine, but we have shown in THE ROSICRUCIANCOSMO-CONCEPTION (chapter on "The Occult Analysis of Genesis"), that theHebrew text speaks of an EVER-EXISTING essence, as the basis whence allforms, the Earth and the heavenly lights included, were first created, andJohn also gives the same teaching.The Greek word ARCHE, in the opening sentence of the Gospel of St.John has been translated THE BEGINNING, and it may be said to have mean-ing, but it also has other valid interpretations, vastly more significant ofthe idea John wished to convey.It means: an elementary condition, a chiefsource, a first principle, primordial matter.There was a time when science insisted that the elements were immutable,that is to say, that an atom of iron had been an atom of iron since theearth was formed and would so remain to the end of time.The alchemistswere sneered at as fanciful dreamers or madmen, but since PRofessor J.J.Thomson's discovery of the electron, the atomic theory of matter, is nolonger tenable.The principle of radio-activity has later vindicated thealchemists.Science and the Bible agree in teaching that all that is hasbeen formed from one homogeneous substance.It is that basic principle which John called ARCHE: primordial mat-ter, and the dictionary defines archeology as: "the science of the origin(ARCHE) of things." Masons style God the "Grand Architect," for the Greek word tekton means builder, and God is the Chief Builder (TEKTON) of ARCHE,the primordial virgin matter which is also the chief source of all things.Thus we see that when the opening sentence of St.John's Gospel is properly translated, our Christian religion teaches that once a virgin sub-stance enfolded the divine Thinker: God.That is the identical condition which the earlier Greeks called Chaos.Alittle thought will make it evident that we are not arbitrary in findingfault with the translation of the gospel, for it is self-evident that a wordcannot be the beginning, a thought must precede the word, and a thinker mustoriginate thought before it can be expressed as a word.When properly trans-lated the teaching of John fully embodies that idea, for the Greek termLOGOS means both the reasonable thought (we also say logic) and the wordwhich expresses this (logical) thought.1) In the primordial substance was thought, and the thought was withGod, And God was the word,2) That (The Word), also was with God in the primal state.Later the divine WORD, the Creative Fiat, reverberates through space andsegregates the homogeneous virgin substance into separate forms.3) Every thing has come into existence because of that prime fact, (TheWord of God), and no thing exists apart from that fact.4) In that was Life.In the alphabet we have a few elementary sounds from which words may beconstructed.They are basic elements of expression, as bricks, iron, andlumber are raw materials of architecture, music, literature, or poetry, butthe contour of the finished product and the purpose it will serve dependsupon the arrangement of the raw materials, which is subject to theconstructor's design.But a heap of bricks, iron, and lumber, is not a house, neither is ajumbled mass of notes music, nor can we call a haphazard arrangement of al-phabetical sounds a word.These raw materials are prime necessities in con-struction of architecture, music, literature, or poetry, but the contour ofthe finished product and the purpose is will serve depends upon thearrangement of the raw materials, which is subject to the constructor's de-sign.Building materials may be formed into prison or palace; notes may bearranged as fanfare or funeral dirge; words may be indicted to inspire pas-sion or peace, all according to the will of the designer.So also themajestic rhythm of the Word of God has wrought the primal substance,ARCHE, into the multitudinous forms which comprise the phenomenal world,according to His will
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