As the Cayce readings explain it: “When we begin to catch a glimpse of the fact that all space exists in time, that all time is one, that all force is one, that all Force is God, we will be getting back to the oneness of which Christ was speaking when He said that He would be in the Father and we would be in Him.”5
So throughout the universe, time, space, and patience were expressed in the material dimension. The soul now had the opportunity to explore the worlds of materiality. Prior to this development, the soul had been in spirit form; it had not yet entered physical matter. The soul now saw before it a whole new realm of experience and quickly ventured into these new worlds.
The Scientific View of Creation
Before we discuss the soul’s entry into matter, let’s take a brief look at the scientific view of creation, also known as cosmology. While it’s true that religious and scientific thought systems operate from different paradigms,6 they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, many scientists express a belief in God, Albert Einstein being among the most famous. Many simply accept the fact that a Supreme Being initially created the universe and established certain laws, such as the laws of physics or evolution, as a means of bringing order to the universe. They seek to understand the universe as it operates under those laws.
When considering scientific explanations, we need to recognize that science deals with material phenomena only. The purpose of any scientific theory is to use the existing observable evidence as a framework to explain how and why a certain phenomenon occurs. It does not mention the existence of a Supreme Being because that is not observable.
Once we accept the fact that science and religion employ different methodologies, we can move on to examine what these different methods reveal about our origins. We may even discover that their perceived differences are nothing more than using different words to convey the same concept.
The Big Bang Theory. The most widely accepted scientific theory of creation is the “Big Bang” theory, a term first coined by George Gamow, in 1946, as a name for the initial cataclysmic creation event.7 It is based on the mathematical equations, called field equations, in the theory of general relativity as set forth by Albert Einstein in 1915 and the solutions to these equations provided by Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann in 1922. Astronomer Edwin Hubble provided supporting evidence for the theory with his discovery that galaxies were steadily moving away from one another.
Simply stated, the Big Bang theory assumes that the universe originated from a singular state of infinite density, which, due to a high-temperature state, expanded in an explosive moment of creation about 13.7 billion years ago. The Big Bang theory was elaborated upon by Alan H. Guth, who in the early 1980s proposed the “Inflationary Theory,” which used particle physics to account for the physical events taking place in the first moments of the creation explosion. It should be noted that this theory also makes predictions as to the ultimate decay of protons, which would indicate that at some point the expansion of the universe would not only halt but also implode upon itself. This brings us to an interesting point concerning scientific models. They disagree as to whether the structure of the universe is open, in which case it will expand forever, or if it is closed, in which case expansion will cease and space will contract in upon itself until all the mass of the universe is once against contained in a singularity, a process called the “Big Crunch.”
While this theory may sound very dissimilar to the biblical creation account, a closer look might show otherwise. The scientific view states that the universe originated from a singular state of density. Doesn’t this singular state sound similar to a state of unity, wherein all was one? Isn’t this similar to the state of God prior to His act of creation, when all was one? Might it possibly correlate to the “void” mentioned in Genesis? Then, due to a condition of high-temperature, an explosive moment occurred, resulting in the creation of diverse elements which began to expand outward. Isn’t this similar to the moment of creation wherein God extended Himself and brought free-willed souls into being, thus creating diversity within the Creative Force? Might this correlate with the statement “Let there be light,” for light and heat are both forms of energy? Then, following the big bang, the elements of the universe continued to expand outward, away from the center. Haven’t we, since the moment of our creation, drawn further and further away from our spiritual source? Also, if we consider the concept of a closed structure universe, we must contend that at some point the universe will cease to expand and collapse in upon itself, thus returning to a singular state. Isn’t this similar to the state of unity, or oneness with the Creative Force, to which we are all striving to return?
Supposition perhaps, but isn’t it possible that scientific cosmology and religious creation stories simply use different terminology to explain the same process as to how the universe came to be? Whichever interpretation you prefer, the end result is the same. Somehow, the physical universe and, later, biological life came into existence.
The Descent into Matter
Once materiality had been brought into expression, the soul was free to experience any of the material worlds which had been created. While not all planets were capable of sustaining biological life, the Cayce readings make it clear that there are other planets within other solar systems that represent the third dimension of matter as the earth does within this system. As the souls began to move into material expression, not all came to the earth plane, as some chose to experience material existence on other worlds.
God intended the soul’s entry into matter to be a learning experience, an opportunity for the soul to regain a sense of its relationship as co-creator with God. Through time, space, and patience, the soul was to use its individual will to express its co-creative abilities in harmony with Universal Law.
While God intended that the soul should experience the opportunities materiality offered, it was not intended that the soul permanently assume the characteristics of matter. The soul was to enter the earth plane in spirit form and be “in the world” but not “of the world.” (Refer to Table 1, The Devolution of the Soul, for a comparison of the various expressions of the soul in the earth plane.) As the first soul group, also referred to as the First Root Race, entered the earth plane in spirit form, the souls looked upon the world and were amazed. They found an abundance of existing life forms, plant and animal, evolving according to an established evolutionary plan. More intriguing, perhaps, were the physical sensations which these life forms were capable of experiencing. The souls soon realized that the denser animal bodies, or flesh, were capable of experiencing physical sensations which a spirit form could not. Rather than follow the plan for their own soul development, some souls made the choice to project themselves into these life forms so they might experience these physical sensations. Once again, the choice of self, in defiance of God’s will, was made. The souls that chose this path not only abandoned their own spiritual development, but also interfered with the development of earth’s life forms and altered their evolutionary path as well. This selfish projection into matter without regard for natural law was a misapplication of spiritual powers of the highest order.8 It also marked the souls’ first step in the process of devolution, whereby the soul descended from the highest realm of God Consciousness into the limited consciousness of “earthiness.”
| Table 1. THE DEVOLUTION OF THE SOUL | ||
| The original state of the soul in the spiritual realm: Spirit/Soul, an individualized expression of God’s Love/State of Unity. The soul entered the material dimension as: | ||
| Manifestation | Attributes | State of Consciousness |
| Spirit Form | -Spirit - Non-material manifestation - First Root Race | - God Consciousness |
| Light Body |
- Material; not yet flesh
- Luminescent light energy
|