Editorial November 30, 1929 Issue

Evil Unreal

Albert F. Gilmore

A correspondent asks how Christian Science can declare evil to be unreal since it is so commonly manifested all about us. And in support of his belief in its seeming reality he points to the frequent appearance of the word in the Scriptures, a fact which to his thought establishes it as having reality and entity. The problem thus raised is not a new one. It had its beginnings in the dim past when mortals first began to contemplate life, its source, its environment, and its meaning, and has persisted through all the ages.

Discussion of evil as to its reality must also include consideration of its seeming origin and an understanding of reality. What is reality? "That which is actual, true, authentic; that which is, which has being," are some of the dictionary definitions of the word. Being, that which is, is apparently the underlying fact of reality. Now this raises the question of being and existence. Christian Science teaches the allness of God, the Supreme Being, infinite Life, the source of all existence. There is, there can be, then, no existence, no being, no reality, apart from the infinite God. Reality inheres only in God and His creation. But God's creation is like Himself, the expression of the divine nature, character, qualities. Evil, then, can have no place in God's creation, the true universe, unless it has its source in Him. Christian Science holds emphatically to the proposition that God is both infinite and good; in fact, in many tongues God and good are derived from the same root and are in a sense interchangeable. Moreover, since the Scriptural assertion is that "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good," the conclusion is justifiable that since creation is all good its source must be likewise good. Manifestly, then, evil is not a quality of Deity and has no place in God's creation.

A student of Mrs. Eddy's writings was once asked if it were true that Christian Science teaches that disease is unreal. He answered that Christian Science teaches that God did not make or cause disease, and the inquirer turned away quite satisfied. Apparently he did not associate reality alone with God's creation, for it was evident that he believed disease to be real, very real in fact, although willing to believe that it did not come from God. To mortal sense, evil in its manifold forms seems real, very real. But it must not be overlooked that material sense is not a reliable witnessbearer, for it can take no slightest cognizance of Spirit and its manifestation, which comprises all reality.

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