The city foursquare
This sacred city, described in the Apocalypse (xxi. 16)
as one that "lieth foursquare" and cometh "down from
575:9 God, out of heaven," represents the light and
glory of divine Science. The builder and
maker of this New Jerusalem is God, as we read in the
575:12 book of Hebrews; and it is "a city which hath founda-
tions." The description is metaphoric. Spiritual teach-
ing must always be by symbols. Did not Jesus illustrate
575:15 the truths he taught by the mustard-seed and the prodi-
gal? Taken in its allegorical sense, the description of
the city as foursquare has a profound meaning. The
575:18 four sides of our city are the Word, Christ, Christianity,
and divine Science; "and the gates of it shall not be shut
at all by day: for there shall be no night there." This
575:21 city is wholly spiritual, as its four sides indicate.
The royally divine gates
As the Psalmist saith, "Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of
575:24 the north, the city of the great King." It is
indeed a city of the Spirit, fair, royal, and
square. Northward, its gates open to the North Star,
575:27 the Word, the polar magnet of Revelation; eastward,
to the star seen by the Wisemen of the Orient, who fol-
lowed it to the manger of Jesus; southward, to the
575:30 genial tropics, with the Southern Cross in the skies,
- the Cross of Calvary, which binds human society
into solemn union; westward, to the grand realization
576:1 of the Golden Shore of Love and the Peaceful Sea of
Harmony.
Revelation's pure zenith
576:3 This heavenly city, lighted by the Sun of Righteous-
ness, - this New Jerusalem, this infinite All, which to
us seems hidden in the mist of remoteness, -
576:6 reached St. John's vision while yet he taber-
nacled with mortals.
In Revelation xxi. 22, further describing this holy city,
576:9 the beloved Disciple writes: -
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it.
The shrine celestial
576:12 There was no temple, - that is, no material structure
in which to worship God, for He must be worshipped
in spirit and in love. The word /temple/ also
576:15 means body. The Revelator was familiar
with Jesus' use of this word, as when Jesus spoke of his
material body as the temple to be temporarily rebuilt
576:18 (John ii. 21). What further indication need we of the
real man's incorporeality than this, that John saw
heaven and earth with "no temple [body] therein"?
576:21 This kingdom of God "is within you," - is within
reach of man's consciousness here, and the spiritual
idea reveals it. In divine Science, man possesses this
576:24 recognition of harmony consciously in proportion to his
understanding of God.