Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1916-09-26
DELIVERS A LECTURE ON
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

]lOVe, 10 say mourning on lnCelnSence.
Therefore they are not expected to
believe that God created evil or uses
evil to accomplish good, or that He
could put into the heart of man the
capacity to yield to sinful tempta-
ton and then eternally torture man
for succumbing to God-bestowed
tendency, or that an infinitely good
1God ever did or could destroy any
of His children or even make them
sick. In Christian Science God is
revealed as loving father, whose
love is real and tangible, ever oper-
alive, impartial and consistent.
Christian Science thus h0nors Him
supremely by showing that Deity is
not directly or indirectly the author
of or responsible for sin, disease,
death, or any other form of evil.
The Nature of Evil
The question that naturally
arises at this point is: What and
whence, then, is evil? increasing
lily large numbers of intelligent men
and women are finding that outside
of Christian Science there is no ans
wer to this question that they can
conscientiously accept. The ancient
theory, for instance, that appears
to have been offered merely for want
of better theory. that an individ-
ual called the devil made evil, could
have been entertained only in dis
regard of the difficulty of determine
ing who or what made the DEVIL If
there were such a devil, the task of
providing for him an ancestry would
seem to involve the acceptance of
one of two conclusions-either God
made him, with all his capacity for
evil, or that God is not the only
creator. Small wonder then, that
the notion that there could exist in
reality a being capable of upsetting
Gods plans, defying Gods laws, In
terferring with Gods purposes, en-
Shaving Gods children, and turning
Gods creation topsy-turvy, has been
RELOCATED largely to the realm of
|out-wOrn superstitions. This repre-
|sents progress, of course, but pro-
gress at rate that is not particular
ly complimentary to the human
mind, for it is now nearlye nineteen
hundred years since one whose state
ment ought to have settled the ques-
ton Immediately and for all time,
so far at any rate as Christians are
concerned, declared the devil to be
ga liar, and the father Of it," and
to have mo truth in him." Now
that which has in it no truth must
be an utter falsity or deception. exz
listing by, through, and in mistaken
belief only.
OF course those who have aban-
doned the hoofed and horned con-
lcept of devil, only to substitute a be-
lief in an incorporeal or bodiless
power or influence opposed to God,
have not really advanced very far,
though they may be said to shine as
veritable fountains of light in COM
parison with those who still hold
evil to be a part of the divine plan
and essential to it's proper consum-
nation. Some of the advocates of
this latter theory do not seem to
catch the significance of the fact
that an inherent sense of right Of
ten prompts them to try to stem the
tide of the very evil which, if their
belief be correct, is to serve the ulti-
mate purposes of good. In Chris
tian Science it is shown that the
term devil is properly synonymous
with the term evil, and that evils
source, origin, and field of opera
|tion is the human mind To at
tempt to personify evil is to lose
sight of what it is, and consequent
ly OF how to combat it. BY present
ing an explanation of evil that is
consistent with the Scriptural as
|surance that God who made all
things" is Love, Christian Science
has made it possible for many think
ing persons to come out of unbelief.
Surely evil must be accounted for
in manner entirely in accord with
mans natural desire. to acquaint in
finite intelligence of having COM
mitted blunder that would be in
excusable even on the part of the
so-called human mind, namely, of
having established universe and
then deliberately put into that uni
verse the elements Of self-destruc-
ton. What would you think of an
inventor Who in working out an
elaborate device for the accomplish
ment of cherished purpose should
knowingly insert into the delicate
mechanism something that would be
certain to disturb the harmony of
it's action and would eventually re-
duce it to wreck and ruin? Would