Editorial October 9, 1902 Issue

Pain not Providential

A contribution recently received for publication contained the following statement, "I thank thee, Lord, for hours of pain." The inference drawn from this statement is the belief that God is the creator of evil, that He created evil that good might come of it; and that evil is something to be borne with resignation. The logical outcome of that belief would seem to be that evil is to be courted and welcomed as a means of salvation, but such a belief is entirely inconsistent with the teachings of Christian Science, which renders unto God His rightful place as the only Creator, but not the creator of evil. Hours of pain and sorrow and burden-bearing are not of God. He is not the creator of evil, nor does He make use of evil in manifesting Himself to His children. If He were to make use of evil, it would be necessary to consider Him upon the same finite plane as sick and sinning humanity, and that would, at once, dethrone Him, since the use of evil would imply an evil disposition or an inability to do His work without resorting to means that could be nothing less than abhorrent to a tender, loving Father. It cannot be argued from any logical basis that God afflicts His children, or that He permits some other power to afflict them.

As metaphysicians, Christian Scientists know that there is but one evil; this evil is a finite, human belief which continually asserts its ability to reverse and annul the law of God. It works upon the theory that its power must be measured by its success in deluding mankind into the belief that evil is of God, or is used by Him in His government, whereas in fact, evil has no power, and goodness cannot be reversed. Good has no opposite, hence the only reversal there can be, is the reversal of the so-called laws of evil, error.

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