Divine peace reigns supreme in the realm of God, good. God fills all space and knows nothing opposed to Himself, for there is in reality nothing which does or can oppose Him. He is incontrovertible. His peace and harmony are continuously expressed in and through the real man, who embodies by reflection all that God is and knows. As Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book "Unity of Good" (p.3): "God is All-in-all. Hence He is in Himself only, in His own nature and character, and is perfect being, or consciousness. He is all the Life and Mind there is or can be. Within Himself is every embodiment of Life and Mind. If He is All, He can have no consciousness of anything unlike Himself; because, if He is omnipresent, there can be nothing outside of Himself."

What then wars? War or strife exists only within the limits of the belief in a material existence. To this ignorant belief the human being appears to be in a constant state of warfare between the opposing forces of good and evil which seem to comprise his individuality. This apparent conflict is caused by the belief of animal magnetism, or mind in matter, which resists the truth that there is but one perfect God, Spirit, who governs man harmoniously, and that matter is but an illusion. But God is true, and the belief of animal magnetism is false. Victory appears on the side of God as revealed Truth replaces in our consciousness the false sense of being with the true understanding of God and man.

The battle between truth and error which appears to be taking place in human consciousness constitutes Christian warfare, which Mrs. Eddy describes as follows (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 288): "The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spiritual senses and the testimony of the material senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the understanding of divine Love."

Divine Love knows only that which is blessed and imparts blessing. The real man embodies Love's blessing by reflection. The Christian warrior, understanding divine Love and having faith in its power, is striving not to harm, punish, or destroy. but to bless and be blessed. He knows that it would be futile to do otherwise, since Love is divine Principle. Both enemies and enmity are merely mistaken conceptions of the carnal mind.

Christ Jesus did not employ the ordinary implements of war in opposition to error. He warred against the enemies of mankind by healing all types of sin, disease, and death, proving man's unity with immutable, immortal, and indestructible Love. His life and work were the embodiment of the most perfect concept of divine Love which has ever been known to human sense. At no point, even at the time of his unjust conviction before an erroneously influenced human court, did he lose his perfect understanding of God, divine Love.

Love, which sustained him during his struggle in the garden of Gethsemane, was the means of his victory over death and the grave. Had he permitted evil thoughts, such as disappointment, envy, hatred, or revenge, to motivate him, he could never have reached that point of spiritual perception which enabled him to say (Matt.5:43—48): "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

All are privileged to emulate the pure spiritual affection which Jesus manifested toward friends as well as so-called enemies. Christlikeness includes unselfish love, tender compassion, and patience. Jesus loved all men. His warfare was against the belief of evil, never against people. In this he was emulated by our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, who counsels (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 12), "We should measure our love for God by our love for man; and our sense of Science will be measured by our obedience to God,— fulfilling the law of Love, doing good to all; imparting, so far as we reflect them, Truth, Life, and Love to all within the radius of our atmosphere of thought." Armed with love for God and man, we shall be better prepared to see, uncover, and denounce the various aspects of evil belief which would mesmerize men into believing error. Thus healing will become more spontaneous.

The need to be alert in the warfare with sin is constant, especially in regard to its masquerade as a God-created or God-sent agent. Its claim to be part of the divine economy is false. God never expresses Himself through any phase of evil belief; error alone claims that He does. The false must be separated from the true and seen and defined as nothingness. Right must be distinguished from wrong, and the wrong condemned and discarded. The Bible says (Prow 28:13), "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and for-saketh them shall have mercy."

Had the prodigal son in Jesus' parable (Luke 15:11—32) understood the nature of God as Love and the falsity of the claims of sin, he would not have been misled by the allurements of false pleasure, lust, and wickedness. Nor would the elder brother, had he understood God, divine Love, have succumbed to envy or jealousy. Both obviously believed something about God, man, and sin which was not true. This illustrates the necessity of a correct understanding of good as real and of evil as nothing. The warfare with sin includes the necessity for genuine repentance, which renounces sin's fraudulent claims. Sin is pardoned only when it is repented of and abandoned. It is not enough to regret its indulgence. The belief in sin must be vigorously grappled with and forsaken before the sinner can demonstrate the pure sense of Soul, expressed in health and moral freedom. Christian Science denies that absolution from the guilt of sin is achieved by a mere declaration of faith or by participation in a material rite. Forms and ceremonies do not cleanse the hearts of men, and God, the divine Principle of man, does not vary according to conditions or petitions. Successful repentance must involve accepting Christ, the true idea of God, not only as one's ideal but as man's true and only selfhood.

As Christian warriors, we are equipped with the weapon of spiritual understanding. We know that God is divine Soul, Spirit, Love, and Principle, and that matter is unreal. This knowledge, applied, destroys the sense of sin, disease, or death. He who has spiritual understanding is strong in God's strength, armed with "the whole armour of God," and equipped to wage the Christian warfare—to prove, as our Leader states in the passage quoted at the beginning of this article, that God "is all the Life and Mind there is or can be," and that "within Himself is every embodiment of Life and Mind."