Editorial July 27, 1929 Issue

On Resisting Evil

Duncan Sinclair

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," writes James in his epistle. The words of the apostle are free from ambiguity: they state definitely that when evil is resisted it will cease to tempt us. Now, every mortal is tempted by evil, by that which claims to exist as the opposite of good; and how often mortals fall before temptation into sin! The greater part of the world's suffering is the result of giving way to the temptations of evil; for sin indulged carries with it its own penalty—despondency, despair, remorse, sorrow, disease, death. Mortals are aware of these things; and many of them are eagerly seeking for a means whereby they will be able to resist evil, and so be saved from the consequences of indulgence in evil.

There are many who, having seen the effects of sin, have tried to resist temptation through so-called human will-power. They have determined to think only good thoughts; but too often the decision has been of a very temporary nature; for with perhaps the next suggestion of evil, their good resolution has been swept away and they have gone down again into the mire of iniquity. They thought they had will-power enough to enable them to stand fast, but it proved wholly unequal to the task. The wonderful thing, however, is that no matter how often men fall away from their ideals, there is that within them which demands that they rise again, and that they conquer.

What men need to aid them in resisting the suggestions of evil, and to get away from evil should they fall under its influence, is Christian Science. This Science shows that the tempter is always some lie of material sense. Every sinful impulse or desire has its seeming origin in material sense, that so-called sense which suggests that matter is real and that it has intelligence, sensation, and power. But, as Christian Science teaches, since God, Spirit, is infinite, All-in-all, matter—Spirit's opposite—is unreal. Consequently, that which is called matter, being an unreal concept, has neither intelligence, sensation, nor power. As this is seen one is proportionably able to offer scientific resistance to temptation.

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