Article July 23, 1910 Issue

Christian Scientists regard evil in precisely the same...

Eugene R. Cox

New York American

Christian Scientists regard evil in precisely the same manner that Jesus regarded it when he cast out devils and healed the sick. He accorded to evil neither place nor power. He plainly and emphatically denied its reality, and said, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" When he drove the evil-doers out of the temple, he demonstrated the superiority of spiritual power over the belief in an opposite or evil power. Christian Science does not teach that evil does not exist to our human sense, but that evil is always subjective to the power of good. The spiritual power, generated by right thinking and living, tends to annihilate evil, and proves that we do not have to be overcome by evil, but that we can overcome evil with good.

The kind of intelligence that is needed in order to understand Christian Science is gained not so much by intellectual training as by sincerely striving to live in accordance with one's highest understanding of what is right. Referring to a stubborn type of evil, which his disciples had failed to cast out, the Founder of Christianity said, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

A Christian Scientist cannot exercise malevolent thought, for his power to be a Christian Scientist depends upon his consistency with the teachings of that faith and renders it impossible for him to become a malpractitioner. On the other hand, a person who endeavored to exercise hypnotic influence or personal control over others, would be trespassing upon the inalienable rights of his fellow-beings, and would proportionately lose his power to demonstrate the fact that good is the only power and the governing intelligence of man.

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