As he reverently opens his aspiring heart to acquire understanding of those sublime mystical teachings he transcends the form-side of nature, comprising 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 Region of abstract Thought and sees the eternal verities which also Paul beheld in this, the third, heaven. For those among us who are unable to obtain knowledge save by reasoning upon the matter, however, it will be necessary to examine the fundamental meaning of words used by St. John to clothe his wonderful teaching, which was originally given in the Greek language, a much simpler matter than is commonly supposed, for Greek words have been freely introduced into our modern languages, particularly in scientific terms, and we shall show how this ancient teaching is supported by the latest discoveries of modern science. The opening verse of the gospel of St. John is as follows: “In the _beginning_ was the _Word_, and the _Word_ was with _God_, and the _Word_ was _God_.” We will examine the words: “beginning,” “Word” and “God.” We may also note that in the Greek version the concluding sentence reads: “and God was the Word,” a difference which makes a great distinction. It is an axiomatic truth that “out of nothing, nothing comes,” and it has often been asserted by scoffers that the Bible teaches generation “from nothing.” We readily agree that _translations_ into the modern languages promulgate this erroneous doctrine, but we have shown in _The Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception_ (chapter on “the Occult Analysis of Genesis”), that the Hebrew text speaks of an _ever-existing essence_, as the basis whence all forms, the earth and the heavenly lights included, were first created, and John 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 that meaning, but it also has other valid interpretations, vastly more significant of the idea John wished to convey. It means:—an elementary condition,—a chief source,—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 the earth was formed and would so remain to the end of time. The Alchemists were sneered at as fanciful dreamers or madmen, but since Professor J. J. Thomson’s discovery of the electron, the atomic theory of matter, is no longer tenable. The principle of radio-activity has later vindicated the Alchemists. Science and the Bible agree in teaching, that all that is, has been formed from one homogeneous substance.