WHY do you call evil error?" asks the newcomer in Christian Science. "Evil appears to us just as often as good, and often more poignantly." In answer we may remind ourselves that in building a bridge, an engineer knows that to erect a structure which will endure the strain put upon it, he must understand the mathematical laws which enter into its construction. If the materials used are good, yet the bridge crashes down, the world unhesitatingly says that it is the result of some error in the work of the engineer. Now, his work was mental; the perfect structure was conceived in his thought, but his understanding of the basic laws involved was manifestly inadequate.
What is true in this instance is true of that structure built by every man,—his own life. He brings to the problem his ambitions and his beliefs of what constitutes good. He frames his building according to his concept of the nature and capabilities of man, and according to the methods that he thinks will bring him to the goal of his desires. The results are manifold. Some men win their way, some fail utterly, some are turned aside by ill health. In these latter cases men are wont to consider the true life as consisting of both evil and good, and misfortune as sometimes the result of mistakes, but more often of fortuitous circumstance and what they believe to be "real" disease.
In the light of Christian Science, however, we can see that the illustration holds good throughout. The true life, like the perfect bridge, is a perfect structure, which cannot be cast down by storm and stress, because it is based on a right understanding of Principle. "With all thy getting get understanding," said Solomon; "take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life." The many unfortunates, those who have failed in life, as well as the sick, have found that as they change their view-point respecting the nature of God, and man's relation to Him, in accordance with the teachings of Christian Science, their way becomes smoother and their bodily troubles begin to disappear. As in the case of the bridge, ill results are the effects of error, which in turn is the outcome of a faulty concept of the law involved.
