The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-04-19


vine Mind forsvsr unfo lding md ap-
pearing IN perfect harmony OF d.
vine science governed BY the perfect
law Of divine Love. and expressing
the indestructible substance OF
Spirit. .~~-... ......~~> =
Basis Of Christian Science
THUS Christian Science shows
that reality by its very nature must
be infinite, perfect, indestructible,
immortal, and spiritual; for in no
other way can we conceive of the
infinite God and His infinite express
sion.
This Is the basis OF all Christian
Science teaching, practice and analy-
sis. In order to analyze anything
according to Christian Science and
determine it's real value, it must be
tested by this absolute standard, it
must be weighed in the balance with
God.
The Nature of Evil.
with regard to evil, we see that
all that is evil is unlike God. It is
limited, destructible, discordant,
mortal; In ohter words, it is Gods
opposite. Christian Science shows
that evil can have no actual place
in the infinity and allness of the d.
vine being and His infinite manifes-
tation, hence it must have it's SEEM
ing place. outside of the realm of
Spirit. Thus it has it's seeming ex-
1stence only in the mortal, or, as
St. Paul names it, the carnal mind.
1t is a belief in the absence of good.
AS darkness is the absence of light,
so evil is a negative condition, not
an entity. To illustrate: Suppose
person were earnestly to believe
| that two times two make FIVE. This
belief would exist solely in the con-
seriousness of the believer. 1t would
have no actual existence, for the
simple reason that two times two
do not make Ave, and the belief
that they do is untrue, hence non.
existent, except as a false belief.
Evil Not Real
! IF evil were real it would have
to be a quality or condition of Truth
and as Truth by it's very nature il
indestructible, evil would be indie.
structible, the hope of our salvation
Our deliverance from it-would
be lost, and the mission of our Sa
| vlour would be futile.
But since evil has no existence
in Gods universe, it is restructible
it can be corrected, and we there
fore have hope of our salvation, ant
we are made sure that the Bible
promises will be fulfilled, that al
evil will be destroyed, and that
when we come to know enough, W.
shall enter into our heritage as tn.
children of God.
when we see that evil has NJ
divine Principle, no divine law, ant
therefore no real power. We can SCI
that it has NO divine authority, W.
can begin to realize our freedom
from bondage to it's falsity.
| Evil Must Be Overcome.
Those who indulge in evil sim
ply prove that they believe in tn,
reality of evil and in its power. Onl,
those who cease SHINING demon
strate the unreality OF evil and thu
supremacy Of good over evil.
Jesus said Of evil, 1t is a liza,
and the father Of it, and then hi
proceeded to solve the problem Of
evil in the only way by which it car
be solved. namely, by denying ant
destroying 1t. Why are we so un
willing to believe and practice Je
sus' teachings? Christian Science
enables us to see that evil is false
mental state. and that it is destroyed
through Christ, through divine
Truth coming to human conscious.
ness.
Matter and Evil Inseparable.
"Christian Science also enables uf
to see that evil and what is termed
matter are indissolubly associated
for we cannot conceive of evil in any
form, whether as sin, misery, dis.
ease, or mortality, that is not in
some way caused by, dependent
upon, or associated with matter. AS
they are thus inseparably connected
being interdependent, it is nantes,
that we cannot become superior tc
becoming superior to the Law of the
the asserted law of the one withou,
other. This Immediately raises the
question as to the nature of matter
a question which has puzzled the
ages. Neither philosophers, physi.
cal scientists, nor religionists have
been able to explain it. They have
neither understood it nor known
what to do with it. Belief in the
stability of its laws has practically
interdicted the acceptance of the