Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-23
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
EOUlPS STUDENT FOR
OVERCOMING EVIL
RESISTANCE OF THE UNREAL
NECESSARY
Purpose of All Reform and spirhf al
Education Is to Prevent Wrong
from Finding Ex-
preston

1t has been truly said that no mortal
is totally depraved. No matter to what
extent the sense of evil seems to hold
the control, there is always some sense
of good in the human heart that unltes
the individual to Life or God. Thls
sense of good is the extent to Whlch
that person has gained his freedom
and is able to exercise his dominion
over evil. If a mortal were totally de-
praved he would be obliterated. GOOD
is real to some extent to every, one
The reality of good is the only thing
there is in human character to bulld
upon, The work of salvation must OF
necessity begin with a persons sense
of good. AS the person is saved from
evil his sense of good increases and
conversely as his sense OF good IN,
creases he is saved from evil ana all
the effects of evil.
The purpose of all reform, all moral
and spiritual education, is to prevent
evil from finding expression in deed,
word and thought. Before Sci
ence and Health with Key to the Scrip
lures" the textbook of Christian
Science. by Mary Baker Eddy, was
published, there was promulgated no
teaching or Interpretation of the Scrip
lures which denied the reality and
power of evil. The desire to overcome
evil and the effort to do so were not
wanting but the effort was against the
deep-seated conviction that evil is real
and as d power is equal If not superior
to good. The truth of that teaching
which denies the power of evil and the
reality of evil is not yet generally ac-
cepted; many persons support the claim
which evil makes to reality and power,
not preceiving that such a course works
against their own efforts to overcome
evil.
Must Find Expression
Suppose it could be said there was no
Individual in all the world through
whom a particular form of evil could
find expression, how much reality would
that evil have i'll human experience!
Not any. Is it not evident then that all
down the ages when humanity has
Welded to the influence of good the ef-
fort has been to make evil unreal? 1t IS
generally believed that on most occa-
sions the practice of mortals falls short
of their preaching, but there is encour-
agement in the fact that they some
times practice better than they preach,
as when in their speech they proclaim
the reality and power of evil, while they
refuse to allow that evil any place or
mower in their lives. 1t is sometimes
said of people that they builded better
than they knew, so it can be said of
most men and women that at times
they have by their efforts expressed a
better concept OF evil than they could
put into words.
These words of Paul have broader
application to the people of this age
than may be generally supposed, For
when the Gentiles, which have not the
law. do by. nature the things contained
in the law these, having not the law
arc a law unto themselves" He had
previously declared that mot the hear
ers of the law are just before GOD, but
the doers of the law shall be justified"
His effort was to arouse the people TO
see that they could not be saved Just
because they knew the law. Unless
thew were obedient to the law they
wonld not be as fortunate as those who
knew not the letter of the law yet were
obedient to the spirit thereof.
Have Borne Testimony
In all ages the lives of good men and
women have borne faithful testimony
TO the reality of good. Such spiritual
growth and progress prepared the
world for Christian Science, wherein
the Science of good is revealed. The
good man endeavors to make good
real, and if good is real in his life, evil
can have no abiding place therein. The
reaching of Christian Science rs In
strict accord with what this man is en-
deavoring to do. Christian Science
teaches that good is real and has
power: the good man is trying to
demonstrate this fact He is hindered