It is axiomatic that the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. It is obvious, then, that the whole of anything that may be considered can be comprehended only as the elements which comprise the whole are, one by one, understood. If this is true of finite subjects, it is even more true, when the realm of spiritual reality is explored. God is understood only as the spiritual idea that expresses Him is understood. It is through specific realization of lovingkindness that Love, as divine Principle, becomes known. It is through the spiritual sense of truth that Truth is unfolded, and through the demonstration of individual goodness God is known as good.

In the same way the whole of evil can be disclosed only as the specific manifestations of evil are uncovered, and evil in its entirely will be eventually dealt with only when the particular phases of evil have been destroyed. The vast difference between the knowing of good and the knowing of evil lies in the fact that, as the elements of good become known, they can be demonstrated in all their beautiful reality to be true; and, as the elements of evil are laid bare, their illusiveness is shown, and they disappear. An increasing perception of the elements of Truth is always accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the apparent reality of evil; and this constitutes the unreality of evil, that it disappears before Truth.

The disappearance of evil before Truth is not in the least mysterious. God is good, and He is All. If All is good, there is obviously no element of evil, the opposite of good, included in the creative divine Principle. The nearer the approach to divine Principle, the farther, necessarily, is the departure from evil. Man, as spiritual idea, expresses his divine Principle, God. His nature is inherently good, and, as man is the effect of creative Principle, and not himself a creator, he cannot originate anything unlike Principle. As spiritual man is thus understood as a perfect spiritual idea, it becomes possible to demonstrate the goodness and purity of man in the likeness of God, and evil thus inevitably disappears. "God could never impart an element of evil," Mrs. Eddy writes on page 539 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "and man possesses nothing which he has not derived from God."

When it is established that God and His idea, man, are good, the question as to humanity's basis and propensity for evil is scientifically disposed of. The supposititious sinner does not manifest all of evil, any more than does an individual spiritual idea express all of Principle. A sinner manifests some particularity of sinful sense, and the innumerable phases of sin comprise the elements of the one evil, or belief in something apart from God. A mortal's tendency to evil has its origin, then, in nothing more real or powerful than a mistaken belief in a counterfeit universe and man, a materiality which does not really exist, because it is not included in all-inclusive divine Principle. This "bondage under the elements of the world," to use Paul's phrase, is powerless, because of the falsity of its origin; and the realization of this fact, and the consequent liberation of consciousness, is coincident with the comprehension of Truth's exclusion, and, therefore, destruction, of evil.

Paul had grown to understand the nothingness of evil, when he could declare, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake." Because he had discerned the Christ, or Truth, and the infinite reality of good, he was able to resolve the sufferings of material sense into their elements as the false beliefs of an unreal carnal mind. He was therefore strong in the understanding that the struggle was not against matter, as an actual substance capable of pleasure and pain, but against the belief that there could be any existence or reality apart from God, good; and each particular triumph over the elements of evil was so much of the entire illusion of evil destroyed. Referring to the apostle's spiritual understanding and demonstration, Mrs. Eddy writes on page 201 of "Miscellaneous Writings," "The Science of Paul's declaration resolves the element misnamed matter into its original sin, or human will; that will which would oppose bringing the qualities of Spirit into subjection to Spirit. Sin brought death; and death is an element of matter, or material falsity, never of Spirit."

The effect that an increasing understanding of Truth must naturally have upon a world in bondage to evil belief, is a correspondingly increased exposure of the elements and activities of evil. "The day of the Lord," Peter declared, "will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." The extraordinary present day manifestations of evil certainly indicate that the elements of evil are writhing under the imperative demands of Principle, more clearly understood. Evil is not more real or powerful, because it is more flagrant in its abuses. Its daring is its desperation, before its approaching doom. "Science only can explain the incredible good and evil elements now coming to the surface," Mrs. Eddy writes on page 83 of Science and Health. "Mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter days."

To the man who seeks refuge in Truth, the elements of harmony — the spiritual love, joy, peace, patience, and purity, which Paul enumerates as fruit of the Spirit — are disclosed. The daily panorama of evil beliefs presents itself for destruction, not for verification as the reality of existence. Whether evil comes in the guise of personal sickness, difficulties, limitation, a general epidemic, corrupt governments, institutions, or what not, a man is able, through scientific understanding, to resolve the manifestation of evil into its elements of fear, hate, jealousy, greed, impurity. Every element of subjective evil belief, which produces the outward manifestation of evil shall eventually be thus purged away into its native nothingness by the operation of divine Principle, or Truth.

Copyright, 1920, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, Falmouth and St. Paul Streets, 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.