In answer to a student's question as to why she once called Christian Science "the higher criticism," Mary Baker Eddy writes, "I now repeat another proof, namely, that Christian Science is the higher criticism because it criticizes evil, disease, and death— all that is unlike God, good—on a Scriptural basis, and approves or disapproves according to the word of God" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 240).
A dictionary defines "critic" as "one who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter, invoking a judgment of its value, truth, or righteousness or an appreciation of its beauty." Therefore in the light of Mrs. Eddy's teachings a true critic may be considered one who forms his opinions on the pattern of perfect God and perfect man in accord with the Scriptural declaration (Gen. 1:27), "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." At the same time the teachings of Christian Science do not ignore evil, but classify it, on the basis of the allness and omnipotence of God, as unreal and nonexistent.
Students of this Science understand error, or evil, to be but a contradiction of Truth. On page 286 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy states: "In the Saxon and twenty other tongues good is the term for God. The Scriptures declare all that He made to be good, like Himself, —good in Principle and in idea. Therefore the spiritual universe is good, and reflects God as He is."
