Christ Jesus' statement "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" John 7:24. can be very helpful to us in learning how to deal with the appearances of evil that so often present themselves in daily experience.
Evil is the claim of animal magnetism that something apart from God, good, exists or has power. And animal magnetism often operates by false appearances—the appearance of a disease forming on the body; the appearance of an almost empty bank account; the appearance of isolation and aloneness—and especially the appearance that we are mortals living in a troubled and deeply divided world. But if we remember Jesus' command that we are not to judge by appearances, we have made a strong beginning toward meeting the claim of animal magnetism.
Mrs. Eddy defines animal magnetism in Science and Health when she writes, "It is the false belief that mind is in matter, and is both evil and good; that evil is as real as good and more powerful." And then with a firm rejection of this claim she adds, "This belief has not one quality of Truth." Science and Health, p. 103.
