Handling Egregious Error
April 2, 1998
And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. #Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. #And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
A mortal attempting to handle error is working with human will power and may or may not see results that please him. All very Genesis II. Thanks to Mary Baker Eddy we have Christian Science which shows us how to first leave the mortal basis of belief — matter or dualism — and from the standpoint of infinite eternal divine Being, demonstrate perfection "as in Heaven so on earth". This is easier to do when fear or a personal sense of outrage or responsibility does not meld us to the problem. But results can be startling and joyous when these temptations are brushed aside and the Truth is seen, lived as all concerned.
One member got beyond understandable rage (100% mortal of course) to rapid resolution of late night noise in the apartment above by seeing how unscientific it was for a good person to treat a problem person. When the realization came that God is the Being of both and all, and does not torment Himself, the problem ended.
Another saw quick delivery of long overdue documents by dropping anger for the Truth that everyone and everything is divine idea, harmoniously functioning.
Healing of a severely injured knee followed immediately upon forgiveness of those who seemed to cause it. One woman stated "God can't forgive because He didn't hold a grudge in the first place."
One member seemed troubled by a statement in Science and Health, pg. 224:7-10, about sensuousness, but others pointed out that this refers to anything seeming to come through the senses or via dualistic belief. One man said "Everyone has his own road to Damascus".
Definition of egregious: 1) distinguished, 2) conspicuously bad: flagrant. (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
The statement that the teachings of Christian Science in this work are "absolutely false, and the most egregious fallacies ever offered for acceptance," is an opinion wholly due to a misapprehension both of the divine Principle and practice of Christian Science and to a consequent inability to demonstrate this Science.
Inasmuch as God is good and the fount of all being, He does not produce moral or physical deformity; therefore such deformity is not real, but is illusion, the mirage of error. Divine Science reveals these grand facts. On their basis Jesus demonstrated Life, never fearing nor obeying error in any form.
Truth is immortal; error is mortal. Truth is limitless; error is limited. Truth is intelligent; error is non-intelligent. Moreover, Truth is real, and error is unreal. This last statement contains the point you will most reluctantly admit, although first and last it is the most important to understand.
To suppose that sin, lust, hatred, envy, hypocrisy, revenge, have life abiding in them, is a terrible mistake.