Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?

Section 1

The Bible

1Matthew 14:14

14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

2Matthew 15:30, 31

30And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:

31Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

3Romans 8:31 If, 35, 37–39

31If God be for us, who can be against us?

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4I John 4:1, 6, 14

1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesby Mary Baker Eddy

1539:8–12

Only one
standard

What can be the standard of good, of Spirit, of Life, or of Truth, if they produce their opposites, such as evil, matter, error, and death? God could never impart an element of evil, and man possesses nothing which he has not derived from God.

2356:17

Copartnership
impossible

There is neither a present nor an eternal copartnership between error and Truth, between flesh and Spirit. God is as incapable of producing sin, sickness, and death as He is of experiencing these errors. How then is it possible for Him to create man subject to this triad of errors, — man who is made in the divine likeness?

3474:16

Divine
fulfilment

If sin, sickness, and death are as real as Life, Truth, and Love, then they must all be from the same source; God must be their author. Now Jesus came to destroy sin, sickness, and death; yet the Scriptures aver, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Is it possible, then, to believe that the evils which Jesus lived to destroy are real or the offspring of the divine will?

4228:27–29 (to 2^nd .)

The humble Nazarene overthrew the supposition that sin, sickness, and death have power. He proved them powerless.

5368:2

Real and
counterfeit

The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals, and truth will become still clearer as error is self-destroyed.

Section 2

The Bible

5Proverbs 29:8, 13

8Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.

13The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the Lord lighteneth both their eyes.

6Acts 6:8, 15

8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

15And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

7Acts 7:2 (to ;), 52 (to ;), 54, 58–60 (to 1^st .)

2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken;

52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One;

54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.

8Acts 8:3

3As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

9II Corinthians 13:5 (to ;), 7 (to ;), 8

5Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;

7Now I pray to God that ye do no evil;

8For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

Science and Health

637:6

Martyrs
inevitable

Mortals try in vain to slay Truth with the steel or the stake, but error falls only before the sword of Spirit. Martyrs are the human links which connect one stage with another in the history of religion. They are earth’s luminaries, which serve to cleanse and rarefy the atmosphere of material sense and to permeate humanity with purer ideals. Consciousness of right-doing brings its own reward; but not amid the smoke of battle is merit seen and appreciated by lookers-on.

7290:20

They who are unrighteous shall be unrighteous still, until in divine Science Christ, Truth, removes all ignorance and sin.

8453:18–20

You uncover sin, not in order to injure, but in order to bless the corporeal man; and a right motive has its reward.

9186:19–20

The only power of evil is to destroy itself. It can never destroy one iota of good.

10242:15 In

In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error, — self-will, self-justification, and self-love, — which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death.

11571:15

The armor
of divinity

At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.

Section 3

The Bible

10Psalms 51:10, 14

10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

11Acts 21:40 Paul

40Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

12Acts 22:1, 3, 4, 6–16

1Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

3I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

4And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

6And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

9And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

10And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

11And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

14And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

16And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

13Romans 5:20 where

20where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Science and Health

12494:15 (only)

The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love.

13324:19

Paul’s
enlightenment

Paul was not at first a disciple of Jesus but a persecutor of Jesus’ followers. When the truth first appeared to him in Science, Paul was made blind, and his blindness was felt; but spiritual light soon enabled him to follow the example and teachings of Jesus, healing the sick and preaching Christianity throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and even in imperial Rome.

14326:23

Conversion
of Saul

Saul of Tarsus beheld the way — the Christ, or Truth — only when his uncertain sense of right yielded to a spiritual sense, which is always right. Then the man was changed. Thought assumed a nobler outlook, and his life became more spiritual. He learned the wrong that he had done in persecuting Christians, whose religion he had not understood, and in humility he took the new name of Paul. He beheld for the first time the true idea of Love, and learned a lesson in divine Science.

15333:19–23

The divine
Principle
and idea

Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spiritual idea, — the reflection of God, — has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth.

16326:16

The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now. This point won, you have started as you should. You have begun at the numeration-table of Christian Science, and nothing but wrong intention can hinder your advancement. Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way. “Who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth?”

Section 4

The Bible

14Jeremiah 32:17

17Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

15II Corinthians 12:1 I will, 9, 10, 12

1I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

12Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

16Acts 28:3, 5, 8

3And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

5And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

8And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

Science and Health

17303:30

When the evidence before the material senses yielded to spiritual sense, the apostle declared that nothing could alienate him from God, from the sweet sense and presence of Life and Truth.

18380:19, 32

Nothing but the power of Truth can prevent the fear of error, and prove man’s dominion over error.

Ignorance
of our rights

Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God. Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust decrees, and the bias of education enforces this slavery. Be no more willing to suffer the illusion that you are sick or that some disease is developing in the system, than you are to yield to a sinful temptation on the ground that sin has its necessities.

19410:29–30

Christian scientific practice begins with Christ’s keynote of harmony, “Be not afraid!”

20390:20

Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon the thought. Dismiss it with an abiding conviction that it is illegitimate, because you know that God is no more the author of sickness than He is of sin. You have no law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sickness, but you have divine authority for denying that necessity and healing the sick.

21410:14–17

Love casteth
out fear

Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger. The more difficult seems the material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love.

22264:10

We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being.

Section 5

The Bible

17Proverbs 29:25

25The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

18Psalms 118:17

17I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

19Acts 13:43 many

43many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

20Acts 14:1 a great, 2, 19, 20 (to :)

1a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.

2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

19And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

20Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city:

21Hebrews 12:1, 12, 13

1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Science and Health

23309:29–30

Life is never for a moment extinct.

24164:17–18

If you or I should appear to die, we should not be dead.

25290:1

Life is the everlasting I am, the Being who was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase.

26426:23–28

Christian
standard

The relinquishment of all faith in death and also of the fear of its sting would raise the standard of health and morals far beyond its present elevation, and would enable us to hold the banner of Christianity aloft with unflinching faith in God, in Life eternal.

27406:20–25 We

Resist to
the end

We can, and ultimately shall, so rise as to avail ourselves in every direction of the supremacy of Truth over error, Life over death, and good over evil, and this growth will go on until we arrive at the fulness of God’s idea, and no more fear that we shall be sick and die.

2890:24–27

Scientific
finalities

The admission to one’s self that man is God’s own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea. This conviction shuts the door on death, and opens it wide towards immortality.

Section 6

The Bible

22Psalms 91:2, 3

2I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

23Luke 10:19 nothing

19nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Science and Health

29563:1–4, 7 (only)

Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal. We may well be astonished at sin, sickness, and death.

But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?

30346:9–13

Nothingness
of error

The nothingness of nothing is plain; but we need to understand that error is nothing, and that its nothingness is not saved, but must be demonstrated in order to prove the somethingness — yea, the allness — of Truth.

31276:27

Harmony is the somethingness named Truth.