Article August 25, 1906 Issue

Our critic admits the truth of the proposition that darkness...

Alfred Farlow with contributions from C. Herbert Pierson

Boston Times

Our critic admits the truth of the proposition that darkness is simply the absence of light, and that when the light appears the darkness disappears, but he declares that "this is not true of the relation between good and evil in our personality." If this is not true, will the gentleman kindly explain where the evil which is driven out of the man takes up its abode? Is it bottled up somewhere? Is it skulking behind the trees? Where is it? If he ceases from all wrong, and every other individual on earth ceases from all wrong, what becomes of the wrong? It has no existence except in human indulgence, and it dies instantly when it finds no indulgence. Is it possible to make nothing out of something? The fact is, evil is unreal to begin with, and it ceases its apparent existence the moment mortals awaken to the truth and thereby cease from error.

In his insistence upon the reality of evil, that it is "positive force," our critic places himself in an inextricable dilemma, for he must either admit that God made it or that there is another creator. If he seizes the first horn of the dilemma he immediately conflicts with the Scriptural teaching, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." If he seizes the second horn of the dilemma, he goes contrary to the Scriptural teaching, "All things were made by him [the Word of God]; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

Moreover, the proposition that evil is unreal is quite as demonstrable as the proposition that good is real. If a room is filled with darkness one may admit the light and dispel the darkness, but if the room is filled with light one cannot admit the darkness and dispel the light. One may overcome evil with good, but one can never overcome good with evil, for the declaration in the following lines is true:

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