Article January 27, 1923 Issue

Christian Science does deny that sin is God-ordained

Brigman C. Odom, Committee on Publication for the State of Texas,

Breckenridge Daily American

Christian Science does deny that sin is God-ordained. Christian Science teaches that what God made is good: sin is not good; hence God did not make it. "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Sin is a belief in other gods, a belief in other powers, a belief in something apart from God; and this belief may seem very real until corrected by spiritual understanding. Sin, from the Christian Science point of view, is the counterfeit of good, or spiritual reality. It is the false supposition that there is something which manifests life and intelligence separate and apart from God. Christian Science teaches that, as Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 472), "all reality is in God and His creation;" hence Christian Science deals with sin as a false claim, and so finds that sin, in its final analysis, has no real basis and no effect.

Jesus the Christ is accorded the greatest reverence throughout all of Mrs. Eddy's writings. In Science and Health (Pref., p. ix), she refers to herself as "a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ." The teachings of the Master form the basis on which Christian Science builds. Christian Science recognizes the Christ, the impersonal Savior, as ever present, and as available at all times to heal sick and sinful mortals. The reader who desires a full and comprehensive explanation of Jesus and the Christ, as taught in Christian Science, is referred to page 332 of Science and Health.

Concerning the judgment, Christian Science shows that there is no escape from the divine law of justice. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." So long as one violates the law of God, he will suffer. In order to avoid the pangs of evil he must bring himself into accord with God's law of universal good. Doing this, he gains the true sense of life and expresses harmony. There is no way for one to escape punishment except by compliance with all the demands of the law of Love. "Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." One is being judged daily, hourly, by his works; and so to think truly and to act truly insures one's safety. A final judgment day, therefore, is a matter of small moment to one whose deepest concern is to express constant watchfulness in his daily life.

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