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God
is Good
George Shaw Cook, C.S.B.
WORKS ON CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
Written by MARY BAKER EDDY
SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES. In one
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ALLISON V. STEWART, ""iS&.TLE u"^ 8
GOD IS GOOD
A LECTURE DELIVERED BY
GEORGE SHAW COOK, C.S.B.
AS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF LECTURESHIP OF
THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY
FALMOUTH AND ST. PAUL STREETS
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
U. S. A.
Copyright, 1917, by
The Christian Science Publishing Society.
GOD IS GOOD
UPON first hearing of Christian Science one will
very naturally inquire: What does it promise to
do for me? Does it promise to heal me of disease
and to save me from sin? Will it give surcease to
my sorrow and lift from me the burden of care?
Can it break for me the spell of poverty, limitation,
and fear? Is it able to say to the seething waves of
mortal tumult, "Be still"?
PROMISES AND THEIR FULFILMENT
Those who have become acquainted with Christian
Science in its application to human needs are able to
assure the inquirer that it does all of this, and more.
Unnumbered thousands are bearing grateful witness
to the fact that they have felt the beneficent touch
of Christian Science in their lives, and because of it
they are being redeemed from the ills to which flesh
is heir. Weekly in the Wednesday evening meetings
of Christian Science churches testimony is being given
to the healing and redemptive power of Christian
Science. Month after month and year after year
a never ending, uninterrupted stream of reliable
363016
4 GOD B GOOD
evidence of the healing power of Truth is going
out to the world through the Christian Science
periodicals. In these and in other ways the suffering,
the sinning, and the sorrowing are coming to know
that there is "balm in Gilead."
Unmistakable and irrefutable proof is to be found
on every hand of the power of spiritual truth to des-
troy human error. Any earnest seeker may with com-
paratively little effort learn that through Christian
Science his fellow men have been thoroughly and
permanently healed of chronic and acute disease by
spiritual means without the use of material remedies.
He will learn as the result of investigation that these
cases of healing by scientific mental treatment in-
clude many diseases ordinarily considered incurable.
He will find that those numbered among the bene-
ficiaries of Christian Science have been healed not
merely of so-called functional and nervous troubles,
but in many instances of those considered organic.
He will ascertain that frequently these cases have
been pronounced organic and incurable by reputable
physicians, but that notwithstanding such pronounce-
ment they have been healed perfectly, and often
quickly, by Christian Science treatment. He will
find that sometimes physicians are quite willing
to give Christian Science credit for these marvelous
cures.
GOD IS GOOD 5
The investigator will also learn that through
Christian Science many have been rescued from lives
of sin and vice, and that some have been lifted from
the very depths of degradation and depravity. He
will find that these persons have been restored to
their rightful heritage of freedom from evil, and have
thus become useful members of society. The seeker
for facts concerning the effect of Christian Science in
human experience will find that many who were not
able to succeed in the struggle for existence, believing
themselves to be the victims of environment and cir-
cumstances resulting in poverty and distress, are now
finding their condition greatly improved because
Christian Science has given them a new outlook on
the world and a new insight into spiritual truth. He
will find those who are glad to acknowledge that
Christian Science has shown them how to be more
honest, just, humble, loving, considerate — in a word,
less selfish — than formerly. He will be told that the
depressing atmosphere of discouragement and doubt
has for many been transformed into an invigorating
sense of courage and confidence.
MEANS OF DELIVERANCE
If the investigator were to inquire how all this came
to pass, and could have a concrete answer from all
the Christian Scientists on earth, that answer would
6 GOD IS GOOD
be, It is because we have come to know that God is
good. A simple answer, is it not? — and yet no more
simple and scarcely less profound than the declaration
of the apostle John that " God is love." If, as John says,
"God is love," then God must also be infinitely good;
for if we .agree that God is infinite Love, surely we
shall agree that infinite, universal, divine Love is
identical with all that is good.
Christian Science teaches that God is not both
good and evil, but that He is good only. Therefore
God as understood in Christian Science is all good,
and always good. He is never anything else than
good, nor ever anything less than infinite. So as
a basis for our discussion of Christian Science in
some of its phases, we have the fundamental prop-
osition that God is good, not merely in a relative
sense, but always and forever immutably and per-
fectly good.
God is also described with equal correctness by the
terms Spirit, Life, Truth, and by the word already
used, Love. Likewise we may properly refer to God
as infinite Mind, or Principle. Each of these terms
conveys a different shade of meaning. All taken
together serve to enlarge our conception of Deity.
It will be seen that that which is infinitely good is also
loving, tender, steadfast, merciful, and "unutterably
kind" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 312). That which
GOD IS GOOD 7
is Love itself must be not only loving and good, but
impartial, universal, changeless, and enduring. That
which is Life, the only creative Principle, is not only
good and loving, but also eternal, indestructible,
incorruptible, changeless, self -existent. That which
is infinite Truth, Spirit, or Mind, is not only good,
loving, and eternal, but must also be conscious,
active, omnipotent, and omniscient. Thus through-
using some of these definitions of God and of His
qualities or attributes, we find that we have greatly
amplified our sense of God. Not that words can
adequately describe the infinite and eternal, not that
the employment of terms or phrases can change God;
but the proper use of these terms can help us better
to comprehend the divine nature.
GOOD IS INFINITE
According to Christian Science this infinite God,
divine Love, eternal Life, incorporeal Spirit or Mind,
is the first and only cause or creator. Since there is
but one cause, which is infinite and good, there can
be but one kind of effect or manifestation, which must
also be good and infinite. As the effect or manifesta-
tion of a creator that is infinite Spirit, or Mind, we
can have as creation nothing less than the sum total
of those spiritual ideas that express their divine origin.
Therefore we learn in Christian Science that the only
8 GOD IS GOOD
real, enduring, indestructible universe is mental or
spiritual, and exists as the result or effect of the one
infinitely good cause. This throws new light on the
Scriptural declarations that God made all "that was
made," and "God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good."
The universal, complete expression of divine Mind,
comprising all that exists by way of creation, neces-
sarily includes individual spiritual man. This man
reflects perfectly the infinite being called God. And
this statement accords with the description of crea-
tion in the first chapter of Genesis, which says that
God made man in "his own image" and after His
likeness. If God made man in His image, it is certain
that man must be exactly like his creator. When we
recall that the one only cause is divine Mind, Spirit,
Life, Love, then we see that man in the image of his
creator must be spiritual, eternal, loving, and good,
like his divine Principle.
Reviewing our discussion from this point, we see
that we have, first, a perfectly good God who is
infinite Spirit, or Mind. Next, we have a perfectly
good universe which is spiritual or mental, and con-
sists of those ideas that are good and true. Then we
have a perfectly good man included in this spiritual
universe as the reflection or image of his infinite
Father-Mother, divine Mind.
GOD IS GOOD 9
But, you say, what of a material universe and
mortal man? What of the existence into which
mortals seem to have been born and out of which
they appear to pass into an uncertain and indefinite
future state? What of sin and suffering and sickness
a*nd death? What of evil, and matter?. We shall not
ignore them, although we have already seen why in
the best sense they cannot be real, for the simple
reason that they are not good. No one believes that
evil is good, although he may try to make himself
believe that in some way it has been provided for
his benefit. We have begun with a good cause,
which made all "that was made." Effect must be
like cause. Evil is not like good. Matter is not
like Spirit. Therefore evil and matter cannot
reasonably be attributed to the one good, spiritual
cause.
UNREALITY OF EVIL
Christian Science, in explaining the unreal nature of
evil, first declares that matter, being non-intelligent,
cannot be conscious of evil. It cannot of itself sin or
have the impulse to sin. It cannot be hateful, dis-
honest, or afraid. What, then, sins? God cannot
behold or look upon evil or iniquity; He cannot
have created evil, therefore He cannot know or be
conscious of it. Christian Science consequently makes
10 GOD IS GOOD
the positive assertion that evil, being utterly opposed
to good and totally unlike good, does not exist in God
or as the manifestation or effect of God. Christian
Scientists do not, however, ignore the claim of sin to
exist as a part of human experience. They under-
stand that in> this sense it must be recognized as a
false claim, to be repented of and forsaken before it
can be demonstrated to be what it really is — nothing.
They understand that the scientific forsaking of sin
and its forgiveness, or destruction, comes through
Christ, the true, spiritual idea of God as being of
"purer eyes than to behold evil. ,,
UNREALITY OF MATTER
Closely associated with the thought of evil is
the thought of matter. Indeed, they cannot be dis-
sociated. Where one is, the other will always be
found. Mrs. Eddy's teaching that matter is unreal,
and that what appears to be material substance is
but the concept of the human mind, is slowly but
surely being recognized by material scientists to be
correct. It has been said of what is called matter
that it is "a suppositional vacuum in a hypothetical
medium. " This " hypothetical medium " is known as
ether, of which it has been recently written by Edgar
Lucien Larkin, "The most refined experiments ever
made, those by Michelson, failed utterly to detect
GOD IS GOOD 11
the existence of ether." Rather indefinite and un-
satisfactory as a medium, is it not?
A noted Englishman, Mr. Balfour, at the London
Congress of the Natural Scientists of Great Britain,
is credited with having said, "The material sciences
are now explaining matter by explaining it away."
Those who have explained matter away, leaving
nothing in its place but an indefinite hypothesis, have
not done as well as Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science, for she has explained
the unreality of matter and of its supposed cause
by revealing the one infinite, indivisible substance
to be divine Mind and its ideas. (See Science and
Health, p. 468.)
We seem to exist in matter bodies which are part of
a material universe. But what dependence may we
place on the five physical senses which alone testify to
the reality of this existence? At best the testimony
of the physical senses is faulty and unreliable. Many
familiar illustrations of the unreliability of sense-
testimony could be cited. Every one knows that the
sense of taste is deceptive* and sometimes makes very
cold things seem hot. The sense of hearing often
seems to make sound originate in some place where it
does not. To illustrate the deceptive nature of the
sense of touch, one need only cross the second finger
over the index finger, and after closing his eyes roll
12 GOD IS GOOD
a pencil or small round object on a flat surface.
There will appear to be two of these objects instead
of one, if the sense-testimony is left uncorrected.
If these senses cannot testify truly of material
things, how can they be expected to give reliable
evidence regarding those things which are spiritual
and eternal? As a matter of fact, the physical senses
have no higher conception of reality than that which
can be weighed and measured, whereas spiritual sense
recognizes as substance only that which is imponder-
able and infinite.
Beginning with the objective universe, many
philosophers, reasoning inductively from effect back
to cause, ultimately arrive by way of atoms, ions,
or electrons, at what they call force or energy.
Mrs. Eddy attributes to what she terms "mortal
mind" all that seems to be material, evil, and mor-
tal. This term "mortal mind" is used by Mrs. Eddy
as the best term available to describe the false
sense of intelligence and life that claims to exist
as the antipode of God. But she explains that the
real Mind and creator is not mortal, but immortal;
not human, but divine. Thus the world of sense-
perception is left without a divine cause. The
troublesome thing called matter is left outside the
realm of divine reality; it is found to have no real
authority and no enduring substance. Of this fleet-
GOD IS GOOD 13
ing, temporary sense of substance Paul said, "The
things which are seen are temporal; but the things
which are not seen are eternal."
PAIN AND SUFFERING ILLUSIVE
Because the mortal, material body is not conscious,
it cannot, apart from the human mind, be painful or
sore or sick. The human body separate from the
human mind can have no sensation. It is obvious,
then, that the sense of pain and suffering is in the
human mind and not in the body. Many have
doubtless had the experience of dreaming that they
were in pain when the body was in what is regarded
as a normal state. Christian Science shows that all
suffering and disease is a dream from which the
dreamer needs to be awakened. The first step in the
direction of freedom from this evil dream of disease
and mortality is to know that these evils are not of
God. God never made anything that is not good.
Furthermore God, being always good, cannot make
use of evil for any purpose or tolerate its existence in
any form.
- The Christian Scientist is willing to admit that
suffering and disease seem to exist and that matter
often seems quite real and very painful. He does not
deny that to human sense this is so, but seeks to cor-
rect this false sense of things with the truth of being.
14 GOD IS GOOD
He finds that by letting that Mind be in him "which
was also in Christ Jesus," thereby substituting in
consciousness ideas that are good for beliefs that are
evil, he can free himself from the sense of pain and
suffering, which is called sickness, as surely as he
can by a similar mental process resist and overcome
the temptation to sin. Evil, pain, and disease are
without divine authority or actual existence, and can-
not even seem to exist to one who is fully conscious
of the allness and ever-presence of good.
DISEASE UNLAWFUL
The question is sometimes asked, Since the Bible
contains a record of human suffering, why does
Christian Science, which is said to be founded
upon the Scriptures, teach that suffering should
be opposed?
Christian Science is a restoration or rediscovery of
primitive Christianity. It is based upon the life and
works of Christ Jesus, who was the Founder of
Christianity. Christian Science, therefore, accepts
Jesus as the master Christian. The question arises,
What was the attitude of Christ Jesus toward human
suffering? A study of the gospels reveals the fact
that while the attitude of Jesus toward the sufferer
was one of great compassion, he evidently regarded
suffering and disease as illegitimate. He declared
GOD IS GOOD 15
that he came not to destroy, but to fulfil. He came,
in other words, to do the will of the Father, God.
We find that much of the ministry of Jesus consisted
in his work of destroying sickness, suffering, sin,
and death. If Christ Jesus came to do the will of
God, and spent his time largely in relieving man-
kind through the destruction of disease as well as
of sin, then it can only be concluded that he re-
garded suffering as unlawful and contrary to the
will of God.
Furthermore, Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free." The question
occurs, Free from what? The answer is again found
in the record of his works among men. It is recorded
that he "went about doing good," and "healing all
manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people." The conclusion again is that if the truth
as taught by Christ Jesus makes free from sickness
and disease, then these evils are the opposite of truth,
and should be opposed and cast out as being no part
of the purpose and plan of God for man, who is
created in His likeness. Christian Science teaches
that the works of Jesus were done in accordance
with divine law. It teaches, therefore, that the same
works can be done again in the same way, for real
law never varies in its operation.
16 GOD IS GOOD
DISEASE HAS A MENTAL CAUSE
What of the experience called sickness, or disease?
Practically all are familiar with the fact recognized
and admitted by physicians, that certain kinds of
disease have a mental cause. Christian Science de-
clares that all disease has a mental cause.
Human emotions, such as fear, anger, worry,
hatred, etc., are now said to produce poisonous con-
ditions on or in the physical body. If this is so, may
not many cases of chronic poisoning in the human
system be traceable to a chronic disposition to give
way to the emotions? Is it not as reasonable to admit
this as to recognize the fact that acute fear immed-
iately manifests itself in a blanched face? If one is
obliged to admit the mental cause of some kinds of
physical disease, why not agree with Christian Science
that, primarily, all disease is due to a mental cause?
This does not mean that all disease is the result of
conscious fear or of wilful sin. Many types of disease
are effects of latent fear, hereditary temperament,
superstition, ignorance, or some of the generally
accepted beliefs of the human mind which seem to
operate as law. Suppose a man to be sick from one
or more of these mental causes. Will drugs cure
him? Is there any antitoxin that will destroy hatred
or any serum that will prevent fear? Nothing but
GOD IS GOOD 17
the knowledge that God is Love, and that man
as the image of God is in reality nothing less than
the expression of Love, and therefore can not and
does not fear or hate, will effect a permanent cure
in such a case.
FEAR OVERCOME
All that is real exists as the effect of an intelligent
cause, divine Mind. One has only to look at a badly
frightened person to see that he manifests little or no
intelligence while under the sway of fear. Therefore
we may conclude that fear is not the manifestation
of an intelligent cause. It is plain that if one could
be freed from fear it would be greatly to his ad-
vantage. Many are ready to point out the evil effects
of fear. They are even quite ready to urge their
friends not to be afraid, but they are not always able
to tell them why they have no need to fear.
Christian Scientists having discerned the fact that
fear is not an attribute of God, are beginning to
understand why it is no part of man, who is in the
likeness of God. They reason that God is the only
cause and is good. Fear is not good. Therefore it is
not the effect of the one only cause and consequently
is without actual existence. There is no fear in the
universe of God and nothing in that universe of which
man could be afraid. There is no good in fear, for
18 GOD IS GOOD
"fear hath torment;" hence there is no God in it, and
no truth in it. Christian Scientists do not, however,
claim to have demonstrated as yet that they are en-
tirely immune from fear; but they are much less
fearful than formerly, and consequently much less
subject to disease and disaster.
HEREDITY NOT LAW
No more discouraging and distressing thought
confronts mankind than the belief in hereditary
transmission of disease or of certain evil tendencies
and traits. When the so-called law of heredity seems
to have resulted in a vigorous constitution and rela-
tively good traits of mind and character, we are apt
to rejoice that the individual has derived these from
his progenitors; but when the inheritance is that of
diseased physique or evil mentality, there is regret
and despair in place of rejoicing.
If we are to admit that good tendencies can be
transmitted by heredity, we shall also be obliged
to admit that evil is likewise transmissible. But
Mrs. Eddy has freed thousands from bondage to be-
lief in hereditary transmission by her teaching that
"heredity is not a law" (Science and Health, p. 178).
Christian Science teaches, as Jesus taught, that God
is the only Father of man. It shows that in his true
nature man is the offspring of Spirit. Man's origin
GOD IS GOOD 19
being divine Mind, and that Mind being infinitely
good, man can have no evil heritage. His heritage
is the heritage of good, and of good only. He is
therefore not subject to hereditary taint or contam-
ination. Purity and perfection are man's divine
right and are derived from his heavenly Father.
Today in many instances Christian Science is healing
so-called hereditary, diseases and congenital defects
through the understanding that there is no law of
God to sustain them, and that therefore they have
no right to exist.
MAN-MADE LAWS NOT GOOD
The entire category of beliefs — such, for example,
as those that claim to control the effect of food,
climate, contagion, and many other generally accepted
beliefs — are being proved not to be real law. The