Suppose one day a headline in the papers would say, A Revolutionary Scientific Discovery Reveals: ALL EVIL IS UNREAL!

Might we not almost hear a sigh of relief all over the world? What a fantastic day! Everybody would talk about it: How could this be possible? How could famine, crime, sickness—all evil—be unreal? people would ask. And if unreal, what, then, could be real?

Students of Christian Science are learning what is real and what is unreal. Every day, through study and prayer, they strive to demonstrate practical knowledge of their religion. They accept what Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health: "Nothing is real and eternal,—nothing is Spirit,—but God and His idea. Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense." ^{Science and Health, p. 71;}

They have to keep alert, however, to this fact every day, lest the lie that there can be evil as well as good realities should take over and dominate their consciousness. Claiming the unreality of evil might seem rather presumptuous were it not for the healing of the sick and of evil conditions going on everywhere, even at this moment, through Christian Science. This Science is based on the reality and perfection of God's creation, as demonstrated by Christ Jesus, and the consequent nothingness of evil.

Of the devil, Jesus said: "He is a liar, and the father of it." ^{John 8:44;} This is what Christian Science reveals to spiritualized thought: Evil exists only as a lie, an illusion. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The supposititious parent of evil is a lie." ^{Science and Health, p. 480;}

When I was rather new in Christian Science, I had to cope with a deep-rooted belief that the sickness, death, and crime I observed through the material senses were the realities of being. I had a hard time trying to make unreal what I felt was real, and of course my attempt was without much success!

One day when I prayed to know why I was not successful in my application of Christian Science, I stopped at the words "lie" and "liar." Did I fully grasp the meaning of the "parent of evil"? Suppose, I thought, a new neighbor told me about some frightful thing she knew was going on. She would probably succeed in frightening me, as I would believe she spoke the truth. But if somebody told me that she was a liar and seldom said one true word, I would be far less prone to believe her the next time she started in with an appalling description. On finding out that all she had told me existed only in her own imagination and had nothing to do with reality, I would be able to dismiss her lies, totally convinced that my neighbor would never again be able to frighten or upset me.

This helped me glimpse the nothingness of evil and see the way in which it appears to work. What an immense relief I felt as I was gradually set free from an excessive sickly fear of evil that had threatened my health, work, and family life!

Another spiritual fact I liked to ponder is that God's perfect creation fills all space. It leaves no room for evil. Mrs. Eddy writes: "All reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise." ^{ibid., p. 472;}

Studying what the Bible and Mrs. Eddy tell us of the allness of good and the nothingness of evil brings us joy. When we begin to see that evil is just a claim—a belief we can overcome—humility and gratitude fill the heart. A healing consciousness of the Father's loving care and power to deliver us from all unlike God, good, is ours. We learn to destroy seeming evil in ourselves by demonstrating God's allness and doing only that which is good and true.

Nobody wants evil. They may mistake evil for good, or may mistakenly think they have to accept it as a reality. The allness of good as taught by Christian Science they may mistakenly consider to be wishful thinking. But wishful thinking would not get us very far. To demonstrate the spiritual truths in Christian Science here and now by healing discord and silencing the suggestions of evil takes spiritual understanding. The Bible says, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." ^{John 4:24.}

We cannot understand either God or the unlimited goodness and perfection of His creation with our material senses. As long as we worship materiality and act contrary to the law of God, good, not even big headlines announcing evil's nothingness as a new, scientific discovery could make us grasp the unreality of evil. Spiritual understanding unfolds individually as we study the letter of Christian Science and approximate the spirit of Christ Jesus, who was invariably pure and just.