THE present age little appreciates the magnitude of Mrs. Eddy's discovery and statement of the divine Principle of being, and the application of spiritual Science to all the problems of existence which is thereby made possible. Here it is well to ponder her words: "The ages must slowly work up to perfection. How long it must be before we arrive at the demonstration of scientific being, no man knoweth,—not even 'the Son but the Father;' but the false claim of error continues its delusions until the goal of goodness is assiduously earned and won" (Science and Health, p. 233). This recalls the prophet's question, "Watchman, what of the night?" and the response: "The morning cometh, and also the night." This would seem to imply that in human experience darkness would obscure the light again and again, until the understanding of Spirit dispelled forever the dream of mortal sense and all men walked in the light of Truth.
Chief among the many vital statements of truth found in Mrs. Eddy's writings, is her insistent and reiterated declaration of the entire separation of good from evil, and the related statement of the nothingness, the utter lifelessness of evil—this based upon the premise that God is good and is the only source of life; that He is indeed the Life of man and the universe. Here it is important to remember that God is Spirit; a statement which is self-evident truth, for God can never be cognized by the material senses, hence He must be Spirit and all that He creates spiritual. No definite or conclusive statements can be found respecting the nature and qualities of Spirit, and the entire separation of Spirit and spiritual things from evil and mortality, prior to Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Christian Science; that is, apart from a few brief but important statements by Christ Jesus and some of his immediate followers. These statements were not, however, understood, or people would not have insisted that spirit could be evil as well as good and yet be immortal.
According to the dictionaries there are evil spiritual influences as well as good, and this has doubtless been believed by mankind at large throughout mortal history; but this has only been because men have been so ignorant of the nature and qualities of Spirit. Jesus must have recognized this when he said: "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee;" and his entire work was to enable men to know God and to know man's spiritual, sinless, and deathless nature. In that age, however, no less than at the present time, there were those who turned away from his admonition, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Instead of doing this and following the narrow path of Truth, they have held persistently to the ancient but false belief in good and evil, variously known as necromancy, mesmerism, hypnotism, etc. Well might the Master say: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."
