1. Every system of thought must have a starting point. 2It begins with either a making or a creating, a difference we have already discussed. 3Their resemblance lies in their power as foundations. 4Their difference lies in what rests upon them. 5Both are cornerstones for systems of belief by which one lives. 6It is a mistake to believe that a thought system based on lies is weak. 7Nothing made by a child of God is without power. 8It is essential to realize this, because otherwise you will be unable to escape from the prison you have made.
2. You cannot resolve the authority problem by depreciating the power of your mind. 2To do so is to deceive yourself, and this will hurt you because you really understand the strength of the mind. 3You also realize that you cannot weaken it, any more than you can weaken God. 4The “devil” is a frightening concept because he seems to be extremely powerful and extremely active. 5He is perceived as a force in combat with God, battling Him for possession of His creations. 6The devil deceives by lies, and builds kingdoms in which everything is in direct opposition to God. 7Yet he attracts men rather than repels them, and they are willing to “sell” him their souls in return for gifts of no real worth. 8This makes absolutely no sense.
3. We have discussed the fall or separation before, but its meaning must be clearly understood. 2The separation is a system of thought real enough in time, though not in eternity. 3All beliefs are real to the believer. 4The fruit of only one tree was “forbidden” in the symbolic garden. 5But God could not have forbidden it, or it could not have been eaten. 6If God knows His children, and I assure you that He does, would He have put them in a position where their own destruction was possible? 7The “forbidden tree” was named the “tree of knowledge.” 8Yet God created knowledge and gave it freely to His creations. 9The symbolism here has been given many interpretations, but you may be sure that any interpretation that sees either God or His creations as capable of destroying Their Own purpose is in error.
4. Eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge is a symbolic expression for usurping the ability for self-creating. 2This is the only sense in which God and His creations are not co-creators. 3The belief that they are is implicit in the “self-concept,” or the tendency of the self to make an image of itself. 4Images are perceived, not known. 5Knowledge cannot deceive, but perception can. 6You can perceive yourself as self-creating, but you cannot do more than believe it. 7You cannot make it true. 8And, as I said before, when you finally perceive correctly you can only be glad that you cannot. 9Until then, however, the belief that you can is the foundation stone in your thought system, and all your defenses are used to attack ideas that might bring it to light. 10You still believe you are an image of your own making. 11Your mind is split with the Holy Spirit on this point, and there is no resolution while you believe the one thing that is literally inconceivable. 12That is why you cannot create and are filled with fear about what you make.
5. The mind can make the belief in separation very real and very fearful, and this belief is the “devil.” 2It is powerful, active, destructive and clearly in opposition to God, because it literally denies His Fatherhood. 3Look at your life and see what the devil has made. 4But realize that this making will surely dissolve in the light of truth, because its foundation is a lie. 5Your creation by God is the only Foundation that cannot be shaken, because the light is in it. 6Your starting point is truth, and you must return to your Beginning. 7Much has been seen since then, but nothing has really happened. 8Your Self is still in peace, even though your mind is in conflict. 9You have not yet gone back far enough, and that is why you become so fearful. 10As you approach the Beginning, you feel the fear of the destruction of your thought system upon you as if it were the fear of death. 11There is no death, but there is a belief in death.
6. The branch that bears no fruit will be cut off and will wither away. 2Be glad! 3The light will shine from the true Foundation of life, and your own thought system will stand corrected. 4It cannot stand otherwise. 5You who fear salvation are choosing death. 6Life and death, light and darkness, knowledge and perception, are irreconcilable. 7To believe that they can be reconciled is to believe that God and His Son can not. 8Only the oneness of knowledge is free of conflict. 9Your Kingdom is not of this world because it was given you from beyond this world. 10Only in this world is the idea of an authority problem meaningful. 11The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth can be known by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for whom it waits.