One of the most important points in the theology of Christian Science is the unreality of evil. In "Unity of Good" Mrs. Eddy says: "What is the cardinal point of the difference in my metaphysical system? This: that by knowing the unreality of disease, sin, and death, you demonstrate the allness of God. This difference wholly separates my system from all others." ^{Un., pp. 9, 10:}

It is this basic fact of the reality and power of good and the unreality and powerlessness of evil that enables one to demonstrate Christian Science in healing sickness and sin. Instead of the endless struggle involved in a dualistic system where both good and evil are considered real, Christian Science dissolves the conflict and proves that good alone is the outcome of an all-powerful, good God.

Jesus' ministry proved indisputably that God's will is good and good alone. He said, "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me," ^{John 6:38;} and then he healed all manner of discord and established harmony and wholeness in the lives of those who sought his help. He also said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." ^{Matt. 5:17;} Through his teachings we can come to no other conclusion than that God is absolute good, His law is a law of harmony and blessing, and His creation is spiritual and perfect. There is no room for evil in the realm of God's universe.

As these facts dawn in the consciousness of the earnest seeker for Truth, he emerges from the belief in the reality of evil, and his experience is loosed from the tyranny of conflict and discord. He learns to have one God, who is wholly good. He learns to interpret all creation from the standpoint that God is the only creator. He finds that evil is a supposition, a belief in a mind apart from divine Mind. He finds that he is no longer impressed with evil.

At a certain time in his ministry Jesus had sent forth seventy disciples. "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." ^{Luke 10:17, 18;} In uncovering the unreality of evil, each one can experience this same phenomenon and have Satan fall from heaven, fall from any state of acceptance or standing as reality.

This is what comes about in healing. One wakes up to the fact that evil, sin, disease, and death are unreal. Then the glory of God's allness and goodness breaks in upon the night of discord, and he beholds the Christ as the true idea of God. Since evil is a belief only, it is the disbelief in evil that breaks the mesmerism and looses our experience from the domination of error. This rejection of the false becomes more effective as our confidence in God increases and our understanding of His creation becomes firm.

Mrs. Eddy often equates matter with evil. She shows that the unreality of evil includes the unreality of matter. Matter is the product of false, limited thinking and is the opposite of Spirit, which is true substance, perfect and eternal. Material sense testimony is not to be accepted as actual or real. It too is the product of belief. It has been shown repeatedly in the healing ministry of Christian Science that when the individual's belief is changed, his material experience is altered. When his thought is brought into harmony with the Science of perfect God and perfect man, the beliefs of sickness and sin are eradicated and harmony is restored.

The disclosure of the unreality of matter and evil is revolutionary. It is no wonder that it has met resistance and unbelief. But the fruitage of healing that has come with the practice of Christian Science has proved beyond question that Mrs. Eddy has discovered the Science that underlay Jesus' healing power and has brought it to light in this era. Satan is again seen to fall from heaven, and evil is despoiled of its claim to be a part of God's creation. We no longer need to lie fearful, restricted, diseased, or defeated. "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth," ^{Rev. 19:6;} and this fact becomes ever more provable as the unreality of evil is understood.

After stating the fact that God's creation is harmonious and perfect and that He is the only creator, Mrs. Eddy concludes: "Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God." ^{Science and Health, p. 472,}

William Milford Correll