Editorial May 17, 1975 Issue

Today's Confrontation

Carl J. Welz

The forces of evil confront the forces of good today much as they did in biblical times. Egyptians and Israelites, Baal's prophets and Elijah, Goliath and David, illustrate not ancient history but present human struggles. Now as then, the balance of power often seems to be on the side of evil. But good is Truth, and Truth is God. Evil is error. Truth is All, and error is nothing. There are not really two sides, but one—God, Truth, good.

The Ten Commandments, which God gave us through Moses, tell us how to behave if we are to enjoy life as children of God. The first of these Commandments is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."^{Ex. 20:3;} Christ Jesus' healing works demonstrated the effect of obedience to this commandment. Every case of illness he faced was a case of evil confronting good, with evidence that evil had all the power. But Jesus, like Moses, Elijah, and David, proved that an understanding of God changes the evidence. Instead of a little bit of good and a whole lot of evil, there is only good. There are "no other gods."

The ultimate dramatization of the conflict between Truth and error appeared in Jesus' trial before Pilate. Instead of destroying his pursuers, as was the rule in the Old Testament stories, Jesus allowed his enemies to crucify him. Instead of waging war against those who hated the Truth he exemplified, he showed on the cross the loving nature of Truth. At the height of their railing against him and their mockery, he said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."^{Luke 23:34;} Then in the tomb, alone, Jesus proved error to be powerless. Mary Baker Eddy says in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "His three days' work in the sepulchre set the seal of eternity on time. He proved Life to be deathless and Love to be the master of hate."^{Science and Health, p. 44;}