Article October 18, 1975 Issue

Can Ignorance Be Bliss?

ESME A. GOLLSCHEWSKY

Ignorance is not a quality of God, and it is no part of man, for all that man is emanates directly from God. If something does not come from God, then it can't be really good, or even true, so it can't possibly occasion any bliss. The only blissful condition it might engender would be precarious indeed, liable to be swept away at any minute because based on the premise that what we don't know can't hurt us. Plainly, this is a fallacy. Being unaware of threatening danger will not ensure being immune from it.

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, we read, "Ignorance of the error to be eradicated oftentimes subjects you to its abuse."^{Science and Health, p. 446;} Being forewarned of error and recognizing it does not mean accepting error as real. It means being alerted to the opportunity and necessity of rendering it powerless by knowing its unreality.

Would we rather be considered innocent than ignorant? The former word carries kinder connotations. The meaning of each, however, is quite different from the other, and they can't be used synonymously. Innocence is the natural state of man in God's likeness. Humanly, we are all ignorant in some spheres, however knowledgeable we may be in others. The important thing is to make sure it is not God's law of which we are ignorant. The necessity is to know that we can't be ignorant of any truth of being necessary to our spiritual enlightenment.

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