Throughout Biblical history consecrated prophets have arisen to declare, despite all evidence of the material senses, that the one and only living God is a God of good and not of evil. Such a prophet was Habakkuk, who, in the midst of oppression and religious depression, could lift his vision above the onslaught of the dreaded Chaldeans and gratefully pray to his God (1:13), "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity."

In like manner, many devout Christians of today no longer accept the discouraging belief that a good God sends grief and sorrow to punish His children. This gradual change in Christian thought from the fear of a deity who creates both good and evil to the worship of a loving Father-Mother God leads to the question, How can a merciful God comfort the sorrowing, heal the sick, and forgive the sinner without even being conscious of these errors?

In "Unity of Good," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, tells us how to approach this question reverently and spiritually. On page 4 of the remarkable article "Caution in the Truth," she writes, "To gain a temporary consciousness of God's law is to feel, in a certain finite human sense, that God comes to us and pities us; but the attainment of the understanding of His presence, through the Science of God, destroys our sense of imperfection, or of His absence, through a diviner sense that God is all true consciousness; and this convinces us that, as we get still nearer Him, we must forever lose our own consciousness of error."

God's pity has no element of sorrowful human sympathy, only the loving, gentle helpfulness of an omnipotent divine Parent, constantly guarding and guiding His beloved children.

In spite of the erroneous belief that man is a mortal, asleep and dreaming that evil has befallen him, God's spiritual creation never slumbers; His image and likeness, man, in constant wakefulness joyfully acknowledges God's fatherhood.

In Science we learn that every form of evil is a mistake, an illusion, a false assumption; but since these erroneous beliefs seem to appear in our human experience, their claim to existence as part of God's creation must be vigorously denied. The sooner a mortal lie is recognized as such and refused the dignity of existence, the sooner we lose all consciousness of it.

In our daily affairs we must, through our understanding of Truth, instantly deny and refute every erroneous, sickly, or malicious thought that presents itself by way of the material senses. This refutation is essential. The ever-available method of utilizing Christian Science, which method consists of the denial of error and its replacement with the true, spiritual idea, is the greatest blessing of this age. It is thus that we clear away the mortal mist and let the light of Truth shine in human consciousness to bless and heal.

Even on the basis of ordinary reasoning, there may be an indeterminate number of mistakes for every truth or fact, as is indicated by simple mathematics.

It is absurd to believe that God would waste His divine effort pondering such a vast array of mistakes, an infinite number of errors pertaining to an infinitude of spiritual ideas. In this connection Mrs. Eddy writes in her article "The Deep Things of God" (Unity of Good, p. 13): "If God could be conscious of sin, His infinite power would straightway reduce the universe to chaos. If God has any real knowledge of sin, sickness, and death, they must be eternal; since He is, in the very fibre of His being, 'without beginning of years or end of days.'"

One student of Christian Science found that she needed assistance in overcoming a physical condition which was impairing her activity. At a Wednesday testimony meeting, she had a brief opportunity to speak to a Christian Science practitioner and asked simply, "Will you give me some help?"

The practitioner's answer was, "Of course I will."

After thanking her, the student left for home. That night she was entirely healed of the difficulty and was very grateful for Christian Science and for the metaphysical work that had been done. When she thanked the practitioner a few days later for her work, the student said, "I just realized that I forgot to tell you what was wrong with me."

The practitioner's response was cheerful and positive, "I knew what was right with you."

The practitioner knew the truth with such powerful conviction and denied the error so thoroughly that the mistaken belief of illness, whatever it seemed to be, had no further apparent existence, and it disappeared.

Christ Jesus said (Matt. 5:48), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." To us, this benediction is both a command to deny and thus destroy the erroneous beliefs of material sense, and a glorious proclamation of the truth that God's spiritual children, reflecting their heavenly Father, are too pure to behold evil.