Christian Scientists, in order to be free from sin, must not only cast evil out of themselves, but also cast out the fear of evil, which would make them believe that they can be harmed by the thoughts and desires of others. This should not be a difficult task, in view of their acceptance of the fundamental statements, "God is All-in-all" and "God is good" on page 113 of Science and Health, also "Evil is not power" on page 192, but experience shows that not all who wish to be Christian Scientists have awakened to this necessity, notwithstanding the great stress which Mrs. Eddy has laid upon it in all her writings.
On page 231 of Science and Health our Leader writes: "To fear sin is to misunderstand the power of Love and the divine Science of being in man's relation to God,—to doubt His government and distrust His omnipotent care;" again, on page 234, "Evil thoughts and aims reach no further and do no more harm than one's belief permits. Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defense." In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 284), she says: "Evil is not something to fear and flee before, or that becomes more real when it is grappled with. Evil let alone grows more real, aggressive, and enlarges its claims; but met with Science, it can and will be mastered by Science."
Christian Scientists who take the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount for their standards of right living are on the right road, but to make the progress to which are entitled they must not encumber themselves with fear. The fear of evil is practically synonymous with a belief that evil has power, and to indulge this fear is to deny the omnipotence of good, and to assume a position inconsistent with the demonstration of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy writes (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 10): "Note this, that if you have power in error, you forfeit the power that Truth bestows, and its salutary influence on yourself and others."
