OCR Text |
Show w CHRISTIAN SCIENCE THEORY OF EVIL. It Is difficult to' got a clear understanding under-standing of tho Christian Science idea of evil nor did Mr. McKonzIo in his lecture In the theatre throw much light on tho subject in his lecture. Their theory Is involved In motophy-slcs motophy-slcs and contradictions. Tho Christian Scientists deny tho reality of sin as strenuously as they do tho reality of sickness. They say It Is a falso beliefan be-liefan error of mortal mind. Their theory may bo thrown Into tho following follow-ing syllogism: God did not creato nor does ho know ovll; sin and sick-n'ess sick-n'ess aro evil, therefore God did not create them and thoy have no reality. Tho confusion in this statement Is in considering sin and sickness as entitles en-titles as nouns. Thoy aro no more actual things than Is color. Color Is a characteristic of matter. There can bo no such a thing as green, but wo can have green grass and foliage. Sickness Is a physical condition and sin a moral condition. Whllo there can be no such a thing as sin or evil wo know that evil thoughts and words and deeds fill tho world with suffering. suffer-ing. They aro as real as good thoughts, good words and good deeds, and who shall say thoy aro not as permanent per-manent in their effects? What a train of ovll followed tho ns-sasslnatlon ns-sasslnatlon of Lincoln? Bitterness, hatred and sorrow wore Its fruits, and tho innocent and tho guilty allko suffered. suf-fered. Tho effects of that evil deed will bo as permanent and eternal as tho crucifixion of Christ Itself. And thus with every evil deed In a greater or less degree. Wo may not always be able to traco Its consequences, but they must bo eternal. Those affected can never bo as though tho ovll deed had never been committed. Man Is entirely responsible for his nets, for God has given him tho power to chooso either tho ovll or tho good, to conform with or traverso tho moral law. Suffering has been tho chief schoolmaster to teach man what tho moral laws of tho unlvorso aro. Tho lesson has been a hard one and man has been slow to learn. From tho first cavo man, living as a boast and differing from tho beast only In his capacity for moral and intellectual development, de-velopment, what a weary and painful struggle It has been through tho unnumbered un-numbered centuries! Tho lessons learned In ono ago lmvo been handed down to tho next. Sometimes thoy have been lost In tho ilerco struggle lor cxlstcnco and tho lesson had to bo learned over again. But suffering and cxperlcnco aro thorough and stern teachers. Man has ilnally learned a few of tho great fundamental laws. That many yet remain to be learned is shown by tho poverty, misery mis-ery and suffering that still exists. In different ages teachers have arisen aris-en gifted with a dlvino Intuition of somo of tho moral laws. Buddha, Confucius, Plato, Socrates, Jesus-greatest Jesus-greatest of all Savonarola, Luther, Wesloy, Carlylo, Emerson thoso aro a fow of thoso who havo declared great moral truths which succeeding, If not their own generations havo accepted. ac-cepted. It Is- this moral consciousness conscious-ness of man, his capacity to recognize, if not always to discover, good that alone proves a moral purpose In tho universe. Nature conceals tho moral character of God, man alono reveals It. Tho moral evolution of tho Individual Indivi-dual Is an cpltomo of tho moral evolution evo-lution of tho race. Tho new-born Infant In-fant has but tho primary Instincts of self-preservation. But for his moral and Intellectual environment, which Is the accumulated cxperlcnco of his race, ho would grow up a primitive man. It Is doubtful If all tho powers of heredity could ralso him abovo tho lowest savage. As tho child grows older that second primary Instinct, tho preservation of tho raco, Is developed devel-oped and again but for environment ho would bo a gross and sensual animal. ani-mal. Not Instinct but tho oxperienco of tho raco has taught him that the family life of tho highest typo of civilization civili-zation results In tho real preservation of tho race. Wo thus find that man, contrary to tho Christian Science belief, Is not created perfect. But ho is endowed I with tho power of achieving perfection. perfec-tion. Not by calling to his aid somo outsldo being who will In somo way chango his nature, but by using tho power with which tho Creator has ondowed all men. In analyzing evil wo find It is tho i wrong exorclso or oxcosslvo lndul- genco of tho two primary Instincts, ' tno preservation of tho Individual and , tho preservation ot tho raco; instincts $ ns beneficent and necessary as moth- ( or lovo. Greed, nvarico, Jealousy, Intemperance, In-temperance, sensuality all tho crimes In tho calendar aro perversions perver-sions of theso natural Instincts. Thcso Instincts havo their seat in tho sub-conscious mind, which Is susceptible sus-ceptible to tho auto-suggestions, of tho conscious mind which is tho throno of reason and tho recipient of tho son- n sory impressions through which our B experience comes. Now tho moral development of tho I Individual is but tho education of tho I sub-conscious mind through tho rca- 1 son nnd oxperienco of tho conscious I mind. f Tho Christian Scicnco healer effects the moral chango In his patient by tho samo means that ho brings about physical healing, suggestion. Tho patient Is impressed with tho thought that ho Is a perfect moral being, that ovll Is not real, that It has no power over him. Ho reads from tho BIblo . and "Sclonco nnd Hoalth," much tho samo statements until his sub-conscious mind accepts thorn as truo and reformation is effected. Tho hypnotic j healer works through tho samo law of J suggestion, but its operation Is more clear and simple. It is not mixed up with tho supernaturallsm of religion, the personality of a woman believed to bo only second to Christ, nnd the reading of her mystical book which gives tho BIblo tho most oxtraordl- nary of interpretations, Injects tho sex Idea into our conception of Deity and Improves (?) tho plain and simple prayer of Jesus by her own Interpo- I lntlons. I Tho hypnotist simply throws his patient into a trance in which tho subconscious sub-conscious mind becomes tho actlvo ono. Ho Impresses upon this mind the belief that it will disliko liquor or ! drugs, that It will no longer havo an J (Continued on page 12) ! Christian Science Theory of Evil. I (Continued from page 5) I appetite for them; that other vicious H habits aro wrong and that It will H abandon them. Tho patient is I brought out of his tranco and ho can- H not remember a word or an lmprcs- I sion that has been made upon him, H but his sub-conscious mind has been I, so impressed that vicious habits have B been abandoned, vicious impulses ou- H llterated. Not by ono treatment per- H haps, mul perhaps not until tho roa- son, tho will nnd all tho powers of tho H conscious mind have been brought to act with and upon tho sub-conscious H mind Is complete reformation effected. H Mr. McKonzlo did not answer the H real argument for tho necessity of H evil. It is not to afford a contrast to H good. Not because thcro must bo a H wicked world against which to con- H trast tho righteousness of tho saint; H a Judas to contrast with n Jesus. It H is rather because no good act can H havo any moral value without tho H power of committing ovll. Thoro is no H moral value in tho gentleness of tho H lamb or tho ferocity of tho tiger. H These animals cannot act otherwise. H Man has tho power of doing evil; li theroforo when ho chooses to do good H thoro Is a moral valuo to tho act. It H Is by tho rcslstanco of evil impulses as ho comes to know them that his H moral nature Is dovoloped and H strength gathered. It is because man H has ovll propensities and desires to re-H re-H slat that makes him a moral being. H It is tho joy of victory over tompta-H tompta-H Hon, of good over ovll that gives tho H highest happiness and satisfaction; a H joy unknown to tho bruto who can H break no moral law, who knows not H moral ovll. H Let us not delude ourselves. Sin H and sickness uro real. Tho physical and moral laws of tho universe nro H eternal and unchangeable and wo H may not break them with Impunity. H Their Infraction will inevitably bring punishment and suffering. This suf-H suf-H ferine Is tho means by which wo loam H what these laws aro. It Is slow i learning, why tho raco should havo Hj gono through countless ages, with un-H un-H told suffering alike for tho Ignorant H and tho wilful, to learn theso lessons H Is tho real problem of ovll. If wo H could road tho whole destiny pf man H In tlmo and eternity wo might know. H But convinced that thoro must bo a moral head to tho universe, a moral H purposo by tho creator, wo must be-H be-H Hovo that tho methods of God work to H, benoflcent ends. Wo mny accept tho great central truth of Christian Science and bencllt ; by it. As I said In my previous Hi article, wo do not know tho limits ot j its power, but that it must work In H harmony with tho physical and moral H; laws wo cannot doubt. It is for us H to moro fully know its laws and do-H do-H flno its limits. i But lot us not lmaglno that sugges-H! sugges-H! tlon can tako tho place of right hu- 2 man laws for physical and moral wells' well-s' being. Unsanitary conditions nnd J poverty aro tho spurs to tho primary j Instincts and theso are removable by proper human laws. How much long-Hi long-Hi er must tho world bo whlppod by suf- I ferlngs before it learns its lesson? Mi N. B. D. |