There is often confusion about how to handle sin in Christian Science through metaphysical treatment. It is not okay to simply deny sin reality in order to overcome it. Sin is wrong thinking that must be exposed, and then corrected with an understanding of spiritual truth.
For instance, if one is facing abuse from another, to say, “There is no abuse,” would not address the leading issue. It would likely allow the abuse to continue. The motives behind the abuse need to be seen, and then stripped of power through an understanding of Almighty God’s presence.
Jesus Christ showed us how to do it. He faced evil persecutors at every corner of his ministry. He did not say, “There are no persecutors.” In fact, he faced them head on and had specific replies to their attempts to morally and physically assassinate him. However, he did not give them power. His understanding of God’s almighty power was so clear, that he could disarm them and prevent them from touching him. When the angry mob wanted to push him over the cliff, he stayed calm, cool and collected, and exited the scene without them noticing (Luke 4:28-30).
The crucifixion was inevitable for Jesus, for it was part of his mission to prove the triumph of Life over death, but when it happened, it was on his terms, not on his enemies’ terms. And Jesus triumphed over his abusers proving them harmless.
Dishonesty, deceit, selfishness, greed, envy, and their kin, are sins. To say, “They don’t exist,” is not the first step to healing. They need to be exposed first, then they can be handled with truth and neutralized.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “A sinner is not reformed merely by assuring him that he cannot be a sinner because there is no sin. To put down the claim of sin, you must detect it, remove the mask, point out the illusion, and thus get the victory over sin and so prove its unreality” (Science and Health, p. 447).
Thank you, Evan, this is very helpful. Motives are unseen, even our own motives can be largely hidden from us. That is why Article VIII Section 1 A Rule for Motives and Acts from the Church Manual is so important and is read as part of the Church service on the first Sunday of the month. It is also why Mrs Eddy put such emphasis on examining our own heart (rather than what we believe to be our neighbour’s thinking!).
There is a very helpful article entitled ‘Look for Good, not for Error’ by Park Wolaver published in the Christian Science Sentinel of 4th November 1950 on JSH-online which deals with the right way to uncover and dispose of sin.
Thank you very much for this, Evan and Eleanor. Here is a link to the article, should this be helpful to anyone: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/5oaflj7ue?s=e
Thank you for the link. Very powerful article.
Excellent article. Thank you for sharing. Thank you Evan for this inspiration. Blessings to all today.
I found Park Wolaver’s articles and this one you mentioned is perfect and very helpful for me and another CS that I forwarded it to. Thank you very much, I’d never heard of this writer before. Gratefully, Pam
Thank you, Evan.
I love this, Evan! Deeply grateful.
Many thanks to Evan for introducing this topic, thanks to Eleanor for the article reference and thanks to Beatrice for the link. Very helpful 🙂
We don’t ignore evil. We meet it head on with the truth. In a mathematical mistake, we don’t just say, hmmm, 2 and 2 is not 5, and then proceed with the problem. No, we have to correct the mistake with the right answer (the truth of it) to proceed.So, we cannot sweep sin under the rug and say it doesn’t exist. All wrong thinking needs to be challenged and overcome, from the tiniest white lie on up! If we are honest with ourselves, we know what needs to be overcome. Empowered with spiritual understanding, we expose sin and gain the victory over it. It’s not all done in a day. 🙂
Detect the sin
Remove its mask
Point out the illusion
PROVE its unreality
(a rephrase of Mrs. Eddy’s statement on p. 447 of Science and Health)
Thank you, Evan. This is so good.
Thank you Evan and everyone that has contributed! The article that Eleanor referenced, and for which Beatrice provided a link, was very clear about it not being necessary to “go on a search” to expose error in our thinking. But rather as we study and learn more and more about God and God’s idea, errors of all types (sin, sickness, etc.) will be “exposed” as not true about God and God’s idea. And once exposed, or “unmasked”, we can “… pour in truth through flood-tides of Love” (S&H 201:17-18) to replace the error in consciousness with the true idea of God’s creation.
There was a daily lift a few years ago that illustrated the concept of pouring in truth to displace error very effectively. It can be viewed via the link below, but warning, this web site has a lot of advertisements.
https://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=00F9CMNU
The article is good, but I think it may suggest that there is something I have the power to do. It seems to ask me to use my mortal mind to do something which it can’t do–my mortal mind can’t look for good. God has to do the work–He has to send me the “angel thoughts” which lift me to God’s eye view. God is not training my mortal mind to think better. God is giving me a new mind–and I can’t give myself that mind that was in Christ Jesus. Only God can heal my thoughts.
Hi Ashpenaz, I don’t think of myself as having a mortal mind. I think of myself as reflecting Mind (God). I believe Mind is knowing an individual identity of “man” that is me. That ‘me’ of God’s creating already exists. However humanly it can appear that my God created identity is intermixed with error (i.e. the wheat and tares). When I detect that suggestion of error being mixed with my (or others) pure identity, I just need to realize error for what it is…a lie. And treat it like any other lie…don’t believe it and instead realize the truth the lie would hide from me if believed.
I would like to be able to do that–but it feels like I’m just in denial. It feels like I’m closing my eyes and plugging my ears and humming, “I don’t see you, I don’t hear you!” I feel like I’m trying to simply ignore the elephant in the room until it goes away. When dealing with abuse, I need to see it for what it is before I can expose it as a lie.
If I’ve put the wrong answer to an equation on the chalkboard, I don’t think I can simply say “The chalkboard isn’t there. My writing isn’t there.” I have to look at it carefully and ask for God’s angel thoughts to give me the right answer. Then, I can erase the wrong answer and replace it with the right answer.
I think it’s easy to misunderstand Mrs. Eddy when she says evil doesn’t exist. I think she means evil has no substance. If we look past the beauty of a rose, we find the substance of spiritual beauty. If we look past the annoyance of a cold, we find nothing, no substance. The beauty of a rose is eternal; the annoyance of a cold can be defeated since God didn’t create it. But we have to deal with the cold as something that appears to us as real–we can’t just say it’s not there and ignore it away.
From your comment it almost seems like you stopped reading the last sentence of my comment before you got to the part that reads “and instead realize the truth the lie would hide from me if believed.” 🙂
CS treatment is not just denial. It’s denial AND affirmation. It’s not ignoring the error…it’s understanding the error (abuse, sickness, envy, etc.) is not the effect of God. Once that admission is made, the error is exposed or unmasked as not the effect of God. The next step is to realize what IS the effect of God that the error seems to be hiding from us.
So to use your chalk board example, we are saying exactly the same thing about not just denying the incorrect equation. The difference may be what approach we each feel is required to correct the equation. I believe in using prayer to realize in my own thought what is true and that process could lead to being directed to take some human steps or I’ve had other cases where prayer alone resulted in the situation being resolved without me needing to take any human steps. I get the impression you don’t trust prayer completely and therefore you always think some human step is needed.
Here’s a link to an article that I feel does a great job of pointing out CS Treatment is not denial and that it’s affirmation that really results in healing (realizing what is true about God and God’s idea).
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1k813rihzd2?s=e
I think human steps are impossible. God has to do all the work of supplying me with the needed Truth.
I think the stereotype is the Christian Scientist who grits his teeth and closes his eyes and tries to get mortal mind to deny reality until it goes away. I feel that’s how my mother approached things sometimes, and it doesn’t work. As I’ve looked back into Christian Science, I find a lot of what I thought in my childhood wasn’t Christian Science–it got mixed up with a lot of New Age. I’m having to relearn things! 🙂
P.S. Great article! 🙂
this has been a missing step for me, and I am so thankful for it being pointed out!!!!!!!
Thanks to all. I’d like to share some thoughts about mortal mind, the human mind, and the divine Mind. To human sense we are in the middle—the human mind; we are either opening ourselves up to mortal mind with all its suggestions of evil or we are letting in the light, the angel thoughts from divine Mind. As we resist the suggestions from mortal mind, and open our thought to the angel messages from divine Mind (immortal Mind) our human mind (thought) becomes better and we grow spiritually and reflect more of who we really are as God’s image and likeness. This is how I understand healing to take place because it is all in thought. We can claim that we have “the mind of Christ,” (I Cor 2:16)
Thank you Daphne for your comment. It was so helpful to me.
Thanks to all for your insightful and helpful sharing. I especially appreciate Eleanor’s reference to the article, “Look for Good, not for Error” and for Beatrice providing the link.
Barbara Vining had an editorial “The transparency most needed” in the Sentinel of April 1. 2019. What stood out most to me was this statement, “The role for you and me is to consent to Love’s cleansing activity – to humbly yield to God’s power to expose and remove whatever resides in our consciousness or character that is unlike God” then she states that “God’s love does this work..” I especially liked her inclusion of “character” and the we don’t do the work, God’s love does.
Evan,
Thank you for addressing this. And thank you for all the comments. All things work together for good that love God.
Thank you for all the comments and reading suggestions on this very challenging and though provoking subject.
Thank you Evan for.that great and important topic. That is necessary for healing .
I find it very helpful praying everyday the Daily Prayer by MBE from the Manual of the Motherchurch, where it says partly : …and rule out of me all sin.” And Mrs. Eddy advises us to pray that daily.
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Absolutely wonderful. And, wow, does this have me pondering. I’m so grateful for these Truths you share. 🙂