Editorial July 24, 1971 Issue

Sin Is Unreal

Carl J. Welz

There is a difference between ignoring sin and recognizing its unreality. To ignore it is to encourage it; whereas to recognize its unreality is to destroy it. The person who lies, cheats, steals, gossips, slanders, hates, dominates, or otherwise indulges himself does so because he believes he is using a real way to satisfy a real need. Christian Science shows us that sinning is an unreal way of satisfying an unreal need. The acts of lying, cheating, and so on are but outward expressions of the basic sin: the false belief in a mortal self whose needs demand satisfaction in ways other than God's ways.

God is Love. Man is the idea of Love. His only need is to express God, to live as Love's idea—to be himself. Sin is the belief that one can enjoy being something other than his true self. When someone believes he has needs that can be satisfied by thoughts or acts less than loving toward his neighbor, he is in fact believing in sin. If we try to stop this person from committing sinful acts, we may succeed in restraining him or in making him afraid of the consequences of such acts. But unless we can undo his belief in a self that can live without expressing divine Love, the false sense is still there, and the outward acts can still occur.

The Gospel descriptions of Christ Jesus' healing works often imply a direct relationship between sin and disease. After healing the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, for example, he said, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."^{John 5:14;} Christian Science heals disease by destroying the belief that causes the disease. This is always a belief in a power other than that of God, who is all-power. To this extent it is a belief in sin.

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