The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-11-28

II
firms that the virtnous sick man, as
to appeal for help without limiting his
faith in God. M
Christian Science discerns by the
light Of our highest reason, as well as
by the authority OF, scripture that it is
sublimely true that stGod saw. every
thing that He, had made, and, behold,
it was very good" Not only good, but
very good. Hence 1t has no teaching that
admits or even suggests that God is the
author Of evil. It has no teaching which
admits or suggests divine hate, cruelty
or injustice. It is wholly incapable Of
drawing any portrait suggesting any OF
the attributes Of Satan and writing
beneath it the name Of God. Indeed,
it is incapable Of drawing any portrait
at all except with the celestial colors OF
love, Joy and promise.
You ask, then who made the phenom-
ena of evil, if God did not make themf
They are man-made, not God-made; for
they belong to human consciousness, and
it is unthinkable that they can belong to
the divine consciousness, which is Love.
Harmony, Wisdom, Good. Let me illus
trate. Suppose you have been erroneous
ly taught that twice two is five; such a
falsehood would belong. to human con-
seriousness, not to the divine conscious
ness. Suppose that you fully believe
this false rule, act upon it for years, CT
pher enormously by reason of it, lose
money and suffer from your false teach
ing that twice two is five. Can you say
that God made such falsehood9 God
is Truth, and so is utterly incapable Of
creating falsehood. -,
God is Harmony, not discord, and SO
is utterly incapable of creating aught
discordant. God is Love, and so is utter
ly incapable Of creating aught that is
hateful, unjust or cruel. God is ALL
Wisdom and A1l-Power, and, therefore,
does not need to mix evil and good to-
gether. God is Good, and, therefore,
does not employ evil as an instrument
or factor in His divine economy.
All the phenomena Of evil are con-
nected with and incident to that form
Of human consciousness which relates to
what we call the physical or material
universe. Not only the earthquake and
flood, but the appetites and passions
from which our race suffers, all have
their origin in our concepts Of the ma
terial universe. A false theology has
too long taught us to accept things for
what they seem to be, instead of For
what they really are. We have been
| taught and have come to believe, that
the little arc which we see, and not the
entire circle of which it, forms so small
a part, is the truth Of being. But Chris
tian Science teaches that all reality, all
which truly exists in reality, not in
seeming or as phenomena, is very good;
because nothing exists as reality which
is not of God, Of divine and infinite
Good. Christian Science teaches by
the light of our highest reason as well
as by the authority Of Scripture; that
man is spiritual being, and, therefore,
has dominion over the things Of the
earth; that whenever he seems subject
to material things and their incidents OF
sin, sickness, and suffering, it is be.
cause, thru his false education and ig.
norance, he submits himself to their
dominion instead Of asserting his God
given dominion over them. It is "a
+ false theology, contrary both to ou1
! highest reason and to the Scripture, that
the appearances Of evil, the phenomena
of sin; sickness and suffering, are the
creations Of God. We must, either re-
lect God altogether, or we must recog
nlze that it is really as unreasonable tc
say that infinite Good creates evil as il
is to say that infinite Truth creates
the falsehood that twice two is five
That we believe that sin, sickness. and
suffering are realities Of man g true be
ing does not make them So Appear
ances belong to one category in sound
reasoning, and truths belong to anothe,
and distinct category. $ ...-ss ~
: A profound truth is encompasseo
in the scriptural statement: .& q AS
man thinketh in his heart, 50 is he
The conceptions which a person has Of
| God exercise a most powerful influence
over that persons character, conduct
habits Of thinking and physical being
Indeed, it is impossible to measure Of
limit ilri the activities and scope Of these
influences and their far-reaching effects
Christian Science has been chief fac
tor in the last twenty-five years il
arousing the sleeping attention Of man
, kind to the pressing Importance Of 3
constant recognition Of these infln
ences and effects. If we believe tina,
God is the author Of sin,. we look upo1
| sin as an unavoidable and, indeed. in
> dispensable part Of the economy Of til,
! universe. Does not such a view Of sill
, tend to make us more tolerant of ii,
) presence in ourselves and others, and Il
| discourage the energies of our resist
: ance against it, If we believe God t
r be. the author Of sickness, and tina,
! sickness is one Of the dispensations 81
divine Providence Ito use a phrase tina
: was once much in fashion !, what is til.
use of our taking any steps t.. get well,
If we really believe that God intend
!, and DEGREES us to be sick, can. we ex
T pect that drugs, or prayers of faith, o,
{ anything else, will defeat the def,
4 purpose9 We can only become NOR,
9 hopeful in our: efforts to overcome asi,
2 and sickness as we lose our belief i
9 such q God. Thus our false belief tina
s God is the author of sin OF sickness