The Goodness of God

Duncan Sinclair

GOD is good, infinite good, and His creation is therefore perfect. What a thought is this! But in a world where mortals believe in the opposite of good—evil—as real, and sin by indulging in evil, the great truth of God's unlimited goodness is heard by many often with incredulity, or fails to receive any credence from them. There are those, however, to whom it has come as the most welcome news that has ever reached them. They value it as the most precious of gifts, and are assured that, since it is true that God's goodness is established forever, all must sooner or later acknowledge the fact and be blessed. Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 103): "The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all. Evil is a suppositional lie."

To the receptive in thought the truth of God's infinite goodness comes as a marvelous revelation. At first they may be silent before it; afterwards, as they realize to some extent its significance, they rejoice with joy unspeakable. God is good, and God is infinite; therefore good, and good alone, is omnipresent—everywhere present. Was ever revelation so great as this revelation? The more they contemplate it, the more wonderful it becomes to them. On many the effect is as if they had passed from dense darkness into the brilliance of noonday sunshine.

When the truth of God's infinite goodness comes to us, we cling to it, longing to realize its meaning more fully, and praying that we shall retain the heavenly vision. And soon we learn something which we may never before have considered seriously, the fact that in reality there is no evil. This was the discovery of Mary Baker Eddy. Clearly perceiving the allness of God, good, she drew the deduction that evil is nothing. No other conclusion could logically have been drawn by her. And it required inspiration from on high on our Leader's part, and great humility and purity of thought, to make known to mankind what was so entirely at variance with mortal belief, so utterly opposed to material sense, which argued continually for the reality of evil. Mrs. Eddy was loyal of her understanding of the allness of God, good, and hesitated not to make her discovery known to the world.

Christ Jesus possessed the understanding that God is infinite good and knew, in consequence, that matter or evil is unreal. The Master was so certain of God's unlimited goodness that he was able to prove the unreality of evil on numerous occasions. It was his knowledge of the omnipotence of good and the perfection of the real man that empowered him to heal disease, including leprosy, paralysis, blindness, deafness, lunacy, and fever; to overcome sin, and to triumph over the belief of death. It was his knowledge of spiritual law that enabled him to set at naught the seeming effects of what mortals call material law. Besides, it was his understanding of God's goodness and perpetual care for His creation that endowed him so richly with the love he bountifully bestowed on his fellow men. Our Leader writes thus of the great Wayshower (ibid., p. 52): "The 'man of sorrows' best understood the nothingness of material life and intelligence and the mighty actuality of all-inclusive God, good. These were the two cardinal points of Mind-healing, or Christian Science, which armed him with Love."

As Christian Scientists possess the understanding which Jesus had, they are able to do as he did — heal sickness and overcome sin, by annulling so-called material law. This is being proved constantly today by those who are practicing Christian Science. Disease vanishes before the consciousness of the truth of God's allness and goodness. Sin disappears before the thought which is reflecting divine Love. We stand in holy reverence as we behold the miracle of healing which is brought about by the understanding of God's allness, and we exclaim with Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! . . . For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever" (Romans 11:33, 36).

Students of Christian Science cultivate knowing God's goodness—God's unlimited goodness. For it is this knowledge which convinces us of evil's unreality and establishes our power over evil beliefs. In this endeavor the study of our textbook, the Bible and Science and Health, is of the greatest value. Prayer, too, humble, contrite prayer, aids us greatly — the prayer of affirmation of spiritual truth and denial of evil. We should cultivate knowing God's goodness until good becomes so tangible, so concrete, so real to us, that we are conscious only of God's ineffable presence.

God is infinite good, and man is God's reflection. Man, the spiritual real man, is therefore coexistent with God and conscious only of good. Consequently, man is perfectly protected, and thus is immortal.

Duncan Sinclair

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"In the way of righteousness"

March 4, 1939

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