Illness, bodily malfunctions, and many diseases called incurable may be rooted in a deep and abiding sense of guilt. Medicine and material psychology will not relieve this guilt. Physical manipulation will not shift it; drugs will not cure it. In Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, Macbeth cries out to the English doctor:

Christian Science heals even what the eye cannot see or medical diagnosis expose. A vital part of its healing practice is to detect and destroy whatever error of guilt, wrongdoing, or sin may lie at the core of a stubborn malady.

It is deeply comforting to know that the Christ, Truth, casts out hidden sin, "that perilous stuff/Which weighs upon the heart." Not one of us can yet claim to be entirely free from sin. We may never have cracked a safe, mugged someone, or bolted with the contents of our employer's till, but how many of us can say that we've never stolen another's peace of mind or happiness by unkind words or outbursts of criticism or temper? Can we say we have never given in to any of the temptations and dishonesties that beset us in daily life? Whether our transgressions are great or small, we need the Christly forgiveness of sin uncovered and surrendered.

Recently the writer was afflicted with a sudden skin eruption on his face. Through prayer he realized that this was the direct result of an outburst of anger that had exploded only hours before. The condition yielded to Christian Science treatment when longstanding, latent resentment against the one who had provoked the anger was exposed and repented of.

Not all physical discords, of course, are manifestations of guilt or sin, either hidden or apparent, and we should never play interrogator, psychologically probing a mentality in search of supposed sin. Mrs. Eddy wisely advises, "Let Truth uncover and destroy error in God's own way, and let human justice pattern the divine." ^{Science and Health, p. 542.} Humble and consistent adherence to "A Rule for Motives and Acts" set out in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy will ensure that our approach to sin is Christianly scientific. Part of this Rule reads, "In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness." ^{Man., Art. VIII, Sect. 1.}

What deep compassion Christ Jesus showed in his tender care and forgiveness of the adulterous woman whom the scribes and Pharisees brought to him for judgment. It must have been a shock to them when he said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." ^{John 8:7.}

Such incidents show that Christ Jesus condemned sin, not the individual who needed reformation. Condemnation of individuals has the effect of cementing the sense of wrongdoing, whereas lifting thought out of the mortal sense of guilt into the consciousness of man's innate spiritual goodness, sinlessness, and purity frees and heals. A student experienced this when, weighed down with a sense of wrongdoing and regretting the act that provoked it, he was instantly healed by the inspired response of a Christian Science practitioner who quoted Paul's statement "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." ^{Rom. 8:1.}

Christian Science does not condone sin. It demands that sin be forsaken. The third of its six religious tenets reads: "We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts." ^{Science and Health, p. 497.}

Sin surrendered and destroyed is sin forgiven. A sin may claim to hold on to us tenaciously; but however long it has seemed to possess us, it cannot resist the ceaseless impulsion of the Christ, which urges us constantly back to the straight and narrow way from which we have strayed.

Sin is not a constituent of man. Evil seeks entry into human consciousness by a deceitful argument that it confers profit or pleasure. But sin is its own false sense of itself. It is never the real you or me. The knowledge that sooner or later sin must bring penalty and suffering helps to break its mesmeric hold and leads to freedom from its bondage. Sin can make no opposition to a genuine longing for repentance and reformation.

The Christ, the true idea of manhood so constantly and perfectly expressed in the humanity of Jesus, uplifts thought at all stages of human life and is ever present to silence and destroy wrong impulses and desires and lead and uplift thought out of the sinful tendencies of personal sense.

No form of sin can invade man's true, holy selfhood. The sinlessness of man made in the image and likeness of God, Spirit, is a changeless and demonstrable fact. Referring to Jesus' statement "The kingdom of God is within you," Mrs. Eddy declares: "Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love. If you maintain this position, who or what can cause you to sin or suffer?" ^{Pulpit and Press, p. 3.}

Every one of us can use this God-given "sovereign power" to bring to light progressively his true identity as a child of God and to demonstrate joyous freedom from sin.