MRS. EDDY leaves Christian Scientists in no doubt as to the necessity for metaphysical workers to be ready and instant in meeting the claims of error which so constantly confront them. "The Christian Scientist," she writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 450), "has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death;" and she follows with concise directions as to the means which the Christian warrior is to use in his combat with the arguments of evil: "and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good."
Evil is scientifically destroyed when it is denied even the semblance of reality; and denial is made effective by substituting spiritual truth for the claims of evil. Established in consciousness in place of evil, good must be unflinchingly held to as the only reality; and thus Christian Science practitioners are successful in destroying the arguments of evil which present themselves through the countless channels of personal sense, proportionately to their adherence to the letter and spirit of divine Science. The healers' works in the destruction of evil constitute the firm foundation upon which the Christian Science movement stands. Error can never overthrow the Church of Christ, Scientist, or retard its rightful growth so long as the fruits of the Spirit in the form of healed and regenerated mortals are shown forth.
The question arises with the thoughtful practitioner, however, whether one has fulfilled his obligation in its entirety unless at times he lifts his vision above the need for personal healing which is presented to him and combats the claims of error before they become personalized, thus making a broader application of the power of spiritual truth to destroy evil. There is a current saying which expresses this necessity, albeit in homely phrase: "It is better to put a fence at the top of the precipice than to keep an ambulance at the bottom." If both the anticipated evil and its intention be effectively denied existence, the personal sense of suffering will be greatly lessened.
