Article February 12, 1977 Issue

Awakening from Hypnotic Influence

LOUIS H. KAMMERER

The Christian Science description of man as God's image may seem difficult to comprehend for individuals not aware of the absolute fact that there is only one creation—spiritual, perfect, and eternal. They will invariably ask the question, "If there is only one creation—spiritual, perfect, and eternal—how do you account for all the evil in the world?"

The Christian Scientist does not sidestep this question. He regards evil's supposed presence as illusory and explains the presentation by the five material senses as analogous to a blurred view of the landscape seen through binoculars improperly focused. There is nothing wrong with the landscape; a false view makes it seem as though there is something wrong. Similarly, everyday life is recognized by the Christian Scientist as being, at best, but a limited human view of spiritual reality. He learns that all the scenes in his daily life largely develop according to what he holds in thought. His experience is harmonious to the degree that he views reality and obeys its laws, but inharmonious if he accepts the pattern presented by the five material senses—too often sick, sinful, discordant.

Since human existence is a mental experience, an externalization of an individual's thought, it is conceivable how the fallible mental mechanism could err in its deductions, failing to acknowledge infallible Principle, God, and His perfect spiritual reflection, man and the universe, even as this mechanism can make mistakes in calculating a mathematical problem in line with the exact rule governing the solution. So, mistaken material beliefs about the one and only spiritual creation result from a limited understanding of the divine Principle governing creation. Material belief images forth a world of matter with its sickness, death, torture, violence, and so on.

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