Two stories in the Bible focus specifically on meeting temptation. One is the account of Eve with the serpent in the garden of Eden (see Gen. 3:1–6), and another is Jesus’ encounter with the devil, Satan, in the wilderness (see Matt. 4:1–11).
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy defined serpent as “a lie; the opposite of Truth, named error; . . . . The first audible claim that God was not omnipotent . . .” (p. 594). She defined devil as “evil; a lie; error; . . . the lust of the flesh, which saith: ‘I am life and intelligence in matter’ ” (p. 584). In not overcoming temptation, Eve’s sorrow was “multiplied.” Jesus, unyielding to temptation, was ministered to by angels.
Eve gradually accepted one lie after another—a kind of false logic. First, she saw the apple (attractive matter) as “pleasant” and “good for food”—a source of sustenance and supply. But Science and Health instructs that “in divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine Principle of being” (p. 530). So Spirit is the true source of supply and maintains its image and likeness, man.
