Article March 5, 1984 Issue

Rule out temptation by relying on God

JOHN F. ANDERSON

Until I became a student of Christian Science, the subject of temptation always puzzled me. I knew that in the Lord's Prayer, given us by our Way-shower, Christ Jesus, we ask God, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Matt. 6:13.

For me the puzzle was this: If we are told to petition God not to lead us into temptation, this must imply that He is capable of subjecting us to temptings. I supposed that He probably did this as a matter of course, placing before us opportunities to engage in various sins. If we succumbed, according to the beliefs I accepted then, we'd better soon repent and turn over a new leaf or we'd wind up in hell rather than heaven. In other words, God was tempting us in order to prove our worthiness of reward or punishment hereafter.

The teachings of Christian Science resolved this mental predicament for me. The solution came from a careful study of the subject of temptation in the writings of Mrs. Eddy.

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