Article August 6, 2007 Issue

'We acknowledge God's forgiveness ...'

BY MICHELLE NANOUCHE

IN DELINEATING "the important points, or religious tenets, of Christian Science," Mary Baker Eddy presented a revolutionary view of the age-old theological concept known as sin. The third tenet addresses sin head-on and shows how spiritual understanding destroys both the wrongdoing and its effects. It states: "We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts" (Science and Health, p. 497).

Clearly, sin isn't a simple theological concept; it means different things to different people. And Mrs. Eddy addressed it with authority in this tenet. While some may narrowly define sin as sexual immorality, or wrongdoing to a neighbor, Christian Science broadens this view to include any action that makes one feel separate from the source of all good, from God.

I remember the time my neighbor read a bedtime story to her son that described the stars as like God's eyes watching each of us. One night, the mother noticed the window shades were pulled down tight and her little boy was tucked way under the covers. When she asked what was wrong, he replied, "Mommy, I can't take it anymore! I don't like all those eyes watching me!" She smiled—her son knew he'd been a bit naughty that day.