Editorial May 4, 1912 Issue

THE REAL VERSUS THE UNREAL

Annie M. Knott

The children in a Christian Science Sunday school class were once asked by their teacher why it was necessary to have a lesson on "Unreality" after studying one on "Reality." To this a little girl, eight or nine years of age, replied that it would not be necessary except that so many people supposed unreal things to be real, and also thought that real things were unreal. The child evidently had a clear sense that a perfect distinction must be made between the real and the unreal, and this fact is soon learned by all who accept Christian Science. The outsider, however, seldom understands what the Scientist means when he declares any manifestation of evil to be unreal, and the distinctions which have been made by philosophy are of little service to the inquirer after the truth of being. To the one who accepts the material sense of existence, the objects cognized by the physical senses seem real, but every new discovery in what is called natural science shows to some extent the fallacy of such a belief, and points to a fixed principle as the only true basis for right reasoning.

In Christian Science even a child would know that nothing is real which God did not make, and child and adult alike know that God did not make sin, disease, or death. This is the starting-point of the healing work of Christian Science, but we do not stop there. As the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews counsels, we "go on unto perfection;" but this can only be done by grasping the spiritual fact and bringing it into demonstration in all we say and do, and in this we have the words and works of Christ Jesus for our support. It is scarcely possible for us to measure our gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for this one thing alone, namely, the clearness with which she has taught us to know reality and hold to it, which implies the unknowing of evil, and an utter renunciation of the same on the ground of its unreality. Here it should be remembered that the real is not only created by God, but is like Him in nature and quality; that it is good, harmonious, and eternal. In Science and Health (p. 289) we read: "God's universe is spiritual and immortal. ... Spirit and all things spiritual are the real and eternal." We also read: "Without perfection, nothing is wholly real. All things will continue to disappear, until perfection appears and reality is reached" (p. 353). It is clear, therefore, that while what we call material may seem good to us, it lacks permanence and at best only symbolizes the real.

Christian Science makes an absolute and final distinction between the real and the unreal, and as we come to understand better the real, we shall be less and less subject to physical discords. Even the attacks of illness which would once have seemed alarming lose their power to frighten us, because we know that there is nothing real about them, that they have no support in God's law. Besides this, a growing spiritual discernment will speedily penetrate the thin disguises of deceit and falsehood, so that we shall be protected from dishonesty and ignorance. Every man wants to be thought honest, and many would keenly resent the implication of dishonesty even if their conduct was far below the ordinary standards; but this would only be self-deception, for honesty and every other spiritual quality is tremendously real, and rests upon the rock of ages, upon the divine Principle of being.

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THE REAL VERSUS THE UNREAL

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