The Problem of Evil

I do not believe that evilÐ'--as we typically understand itÐ'--exists in the world. I believe that what we perceive as evil is simply our misdirected use of the good that God provides. The reason that we even have an experience of perceived evil is because for the soul to experience itself as any particular thing, the exact opposite of that thing must come into the space. In other words, in this relative existence, hot cannot be hot without cold, tall cannot be tall without short, and you cannot be you without that which is not you. So I believe that what we call evil is just the opposite end of the spectrum of good, not something separate. Following this line of thought, the next step our logical minds would take, it would seem that in order for God to experience Itself as the all-consuming good, there had to be something called the all-consuming evil. Wrong! There is only God. God is all there was, all there is, and all there ever will be. Yet God wished to know Itself in Its own experience. Logically speaking, that which is divine cannot know and experience Itself except in the presence of that which is not divine. The problem is that which is not divine does not exist. So, since we have the power to create anything, we have simply called it forth through our thought process. That is to say we have imagined it.

All religionsÐ'--and philosophiesÐ'--must wrestle with the problem of evil. We can look all around the world and see what we would clearly label as evil. Many say, therefore, that in addition to the power of God, who is good, there must be a second power at work in the universe: a power of Evil, often personified as the Devil. Traditional Christianity teaches that the Devil is a fallen angel, part of God's creation that went wrong. This makes evil a twofold problem. If God is all-good and all-powerful, how come there is evil at all? And if there is a Devil, how come God's power or ability as a universe designer is so limited or flawed that things got so screwed up? Some say God sends evil to punish people for misdeeds, but that is unworthy of a merciful God, and that would mean that at least some of his creatures by being merciful are better than GodÐ'--another problem. So what is itÐ'--is God weak or mean?

My answer to that question is that God simply is. I don't believe that I must qualify God with the terms all-loving, all-powerful, and all-knowing because God is Love and God is Power and God is Knowledge. God simply is.

Religious Science, or Science of Mind, founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes, teaches that there is only one Presence and Power and that that Power is good. Evil is simply good that is immature or misdirected (Holmes). It has no power of its own; it has only the power that our minds give to it. It doesn't have to be destroyed or fought, any more than when you come into a darkened room and turn on the light, you have to chase the darkness away. It is dealt with by thinking about and working to bring about the good that you want in its place.

It is difficult for us to understand why God would allow some [evil] things to happen. But simply because we find it difficult to imagine what reasons God could have for permitting them, does not mean that no such reasons exist. It is possible that such reasons are not only beyond our present knowledge, but also beyond our present ability to understand. A child does not always understand the reasons that lay behind all that his father allows or does not allow him to do. It