Piecing together bits of hearsay, people largely unacquainted with Christian Science sometimes draw mistaken—even humorous—conclusions. I once overheard these remarks from two people who were puzzled: "But what would a Christian Scientist think if he lost a toe—would he think he still had it?" "Well, I guess not," was the reply. "He never thought he had it in the first place!"

A common misunderstanding of Mrs. Eddy's teachings has to do with the question of what is real and what is unreal. Christian Scientists are sometimes perceived as people who don't believe disease or evil is real—or even that matter exists. But such a blanket classification fails to adequately describe what a Scientist believes on this subject. As a matter of fact, he has no doubt that sickness is very real—it is unquestionably a fact—to the material senses. The Scientist is asking a much larger question than whether sickness is real. He is asking if the material senses themselves are authentic—whether they are an accurate means by which reality can be gauged. Within the realm of those senses, evil of all sorts is obviously evident. Mrs. Eddy writes: "Sickness is neither imaginary nor unreal,—that is, to the frightened, false sense of the patient. Sickness is more than fancy; it is solid conviction."^{Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 460;}

Every popular yardstick for measuring the presence and substance of evil would support and confirm its existence. Divine Science doesn't ignore the apparent presence of evil but does ask some probing questions. For instance, what of the Christian conviction that God is infinite—that He is Almighty? It takes spiritual stamina to stand behind that truth and carry it to a logical conclusion. If God, who is good, is actually ever present, then where is evil? Evil exists in the realm of mortal perception. But are mortal perceptions valid—are they substantial or bona fide—if God is ever present, infinite, immortal? Evil is real to an ignorant state of thought. A scene is real to a dreamer. Black can seem white to someone hypnotized. The meaning of the term "real" appears to become relative. The fact is, however, that God is Spirit, and all that expresses Him—His infinite universe, including man—is spiritual and is final, the only reality.

The thoughtful Christian Scientist does not casually describe evil or materiality as unreal. He understands that evil is quite apparent to erring material sense. In fact, he can see that discord is actually the changing, fearful, uncertain beliefs of the material senses. When he denies the reality of evil, he is coming to grips with an enormously profound metaphysical truth. He is actually affirming that Spirit is the substance of all existence and that Spirit is utterly free of inharmony—that Spirit's allness precludes ignorance.

But to simply theorize, however sound the argument, is meaningless to suffering humanity. To be merely intellectually persuaded that God is real and evil is unreal is irrelevant. On the other hand, to humbly submit to the dawning of Christ on consciousness and to awake to its message that God is All and evil is nothing—this Christianization of thought heals.

The Christian Scientist's integrity forces him to acknowledge that he is only just beginning to discover what it means to acknowledge that evil is unreal. What he discerns is wonderful, but there is so much more. He realizes he has grasped only a hint of the significance of viewing reality entirely with spiritual sense. But the little he has glimpsed has shown him how futile it is to grope for reality within the context of mortal sense. And it has shown him the powerful transforming and healing effect of admitting the reality of perfection.

Christ Jesus understood that evil is unreal. But he didn't ignore the man who was paralyzed or the child who died or the sinful woman or the withered hand. He healed the discord! He could see the obvious evidence of the material senses. But he knew its fallacy. He understood that reality cannot be destroyed. Individuals, however, can be relieved of a mistaken concept of reality. Mrs. Eddy comments on this point: "Now Jesus came to destroy sin, sickness, and death; yet the Scriptures aver, 'I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.' Is it possible, then, to believe that the evils which Jesus lived to destroy are real or the offspring of the divine will?"^{ibid., p. 474.}

God's will constitutes reality. His will is good. Because He is All, there is no actual opposing power that mortals define as evil. Christian Scientists love the fact that God is infinite Spirit. They cherish an understanding that man is God's precious spiritual child—preserved in His goodness. They are finding that a growing trust in these truths and gratitude for them bring healing. They see no value in philosophizing or intellectualizing about the facts of reality. But they have found that an increasing love for God, a growing admission that He alone is power and reality, has given them a beginning understanding of what Jesus discerned.

It is useless to argue over discord as real or unreal. But there is deep meaning and value for the world when someone so faithfully and perceptively acknowledges the supremacy of God's goodness that discord vanishes. All are blessed—even if only modestly—when an understanding of reality dissolves specific evidence of evil.

More is needed than mere human efforts to persuade a mortal mind that evil is unreal. A genuine spiritual awakening to the new heaven and new earth urged by Jesus and perceived by John brings growing evidence of reality until the claims of evil simply become unbelievable.

Nathan A. Talbot