Article December 10, 2012 Issue

Where does evil come from?

Marian English

Where does evil come from? It’s a tough question that thoughtful people have wrestled with through the ages.

Christian Science gives a definitive answer: “Mankind must learn that evil is not power. Its so-called despotism is but a phase of nothingness” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 102). But even those who sincerely agree with that statement need to understand why evil has no power, and we might begin by asking more questions.

Where does a bad dream come from? In my early childhood I had a series of dreams that bothered me. Every night it was the same dream: running breathlessly through the woods to escape an ugly creature that looked very much like an artist’s description of a devil—horns, wicked face, long tail (although my dream-devil was green!). I’ve laughed about it since then, but I wasn’t laughing at the time. I felt like the lady who dreamed she was being chased by a terrible dragon. When it caught up with her, she whimpered, “What are you going to do to me?” The dragon sighed and answered: “I don’t know, lady. It’s your dream!”

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