NEARLY two thousand years ago, John, in a vision recorded in the twelfth chapter of Revelation, saw that "the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."

Throughout the Bible, a serpent or dragon is metaphorically used to symbolize evil. The Scriptures abound in figurative language, and to understand their teachings, one needs to perceive the inner meaning of Biblical metaphors, allegories, and parables. Spiritual discernment will reveal the truth behind the figure.

The dragon, as John says, is that "which deceiveth the whole world." It is a fiction, in which not a single fact of true being appears. Its so-called facts are merely false impressions made on the material senses. Evil is parasitic. It depends on mortal belief to give it a semblance of power. It operates as an aggressive mental suggestion. It suggests that it will be good for one to accept its insinuations.

The allegory in Genesis shows the operation of suggestion. Eve's words, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat," uncover the method of mortal mind's action. The serpentine argument was intended to make Eve feel that she was missing something if she did not know evil by experience. The serpent is representative of the animal instinct which, if not conquered, plunges the one who indulges it into the suffering which every lie, entertained, inevitably brings.

Mary Baker Eddy says (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 67): "Sin was, and is, the lying supposition that life, substance, and intelligence are both material and spiritual, and yet are separate from God. The first iniquitous manifestation of sin was a finity." Was it not the acceptance of this belief in limitation that made Eve, in the allegory, open to the serpent's arguments?

Do we believe that we are limited, hampered in capacity or ability, unable to receive from God everything needful for growth and happiness? If so, we need to close our thought to this lying argument of corporeal sense, and not be tricked into believing that partaking of evil will add to our intelligence or happiness. The more the suggestions of the carnal mind are accepted, the more puffed up an error becomes, until it may appear as a huge dragon, from the fearful clutches of which there seems to be no escape.

The consciousness of the unlimited realm of spirituality, which is ever at hand for our discovery and utilization, will keep us from following the will-o'-the-wisp of false theories. The lie of limitation or finiteness has to be faced and conquered in our mental journey out of mortality. Human beings too often believe themselves to be limited in strength, courage, health, wisdom, and in the ability to make right decisions. These nagging suggestions are destroyed by seeing them as the serpent's lies, and by discerning the everpresent loveliness, grandeur, beneficence, and completeness of divine Mind.

The escape from mortal limits is never attained by daydreaming. The escape is made by an intelligent grasp of the facts of divine being; these facts illumine spiritual thought and are thus proved to be practical realities.

What a heavenly light dawned upon human consciousness when our beloved Leader perceived not only the true nature of God, but also the utter falsity of the dragon! The knowledge of God's goodness flowed into her consciousness as a glorious sunrise brightens the earth. To declare God's goodness was instinctive and natural to the loving heart of our Leader. But tearing the mask from evil, showing up its false nature, required utmost spiritual courage. Why? Because the carnal mind arrays all its resistance against the truth which destroys it.

Mrs. Eddy saw that the dragon's claims to power are legion. She saw before her the battle with ignorance, superstition, prejudice, atheism, pantheism, ecclesiasticism, material systems of treating disease, envy, hatred, slander, and spite. With mortal mind fighting against the uncovering of its fictitious nature, no wonder that she needed steadfast spiritual insight to sustain her.

In his vision of evil, John saw the dragon as "the accuser," one who lays the fault on another. This characteristic of the dragon should awaken one to guard against becoming the dragon's tool, in accusing others of being responsible for one's so-called troubles. In this warfare, evil beliefs must be met with calm fearlessness, and seen as impersonal. Scientific good will overcomes ill will. Christian Scientists assume the responsibility for their individual thoughts and acts. Only by so doing can they demonstrate Christian Science and avoid accepting the dragon's lies as facts.

Why was Jesus hated and crucified? Was it because he declared the devil, evil, to be a mighty power which should be feared and placated? No; this was not Jesus' method of overcoming evil. Jesus gave evil its true name and announced its nature, saying, "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Mrs. Eddy's spiritual insight, as well as her trials, gave her an appreciative understanding of the reason why Jesus was "despised and rejected of men." She writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 345), "This thought of human, material nothingness, which Science inculcates, enrages the carnal mind and is the main cause of the carnal mind's antagonism." Throughout her life, Mrs. Eddy chose to obey God. If we would understand and demonstrate the Science she discovered, we must pray as she prayed, labor as she labored.

Many theologians in the past, not understanding Jesus' teaching that devil or evil is a lie, have set up some personal being as the devil or dragon. Personalizing evil has never reduced its false claims one iota. Believing our problem to be one of family, finance, race, or nationality is holding to the dragon's claim that evil has personality, locality, and activity. Thus we hold ourselves in bondage when, instead, we should be attaining a consciousness of the universe of Spirit, wherein all is safety, harmony, freedom.

Only as we fully accept our Leader's statement (ibid., p. 71), "Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense," can we overcome the falsities of material sense. Maintaining love and compassion will prevent evil beliefs from gaining an entrance into one's thinking. The erroneous testimony of the senses is limited to matter. It can never compete with or destroy spiritual consciousness.

It is written of Moses that he "endured, as seeing him who is invisible." It is this ability to look beyond the veil of matter that gives one the power to meet triumphantly the serpent's subtle lies.

The great truths of Christian Science preserve the commandments of God and hold sacred the testimony of Christ Jesus. Christian Science is like a pure spring which refreshes one's whole life with its sparkling flow. The new tongue is found in the spiritual signification of the Bible. The "still small voice" will be more clearly heard above the dragon's roar as in quietness and humility we listen and wait for Spirit to speak.

No matter what form evil presents, it is always an illusion, senseless and lifeless. Mastery of the dragon begins with the recognition of its false nature and the rejection of its claims to power. Now, as of old, spiritual strength, armored with invincible, demonstrable innocence and purity, will cast out the dragon.

Copyright, 1941, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, One, Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918. [Printed in U.S.A.]