Verndigger says:
"Christian Science so-called, the sect of Mrs. Eddy, is the most radical branch of mind-cure in its dealings with evil. For it evil is simply a LIE, and any one who mentions it is a liar."
hmmm, and where does Mrs. Eddy get this idea? why, from Jesus Christ himself. viz, John 8:44
"44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, ***because there is no truth in him**. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for ***he is a liar, and the father of it.***"
Verndigger
About: Varieties of Religious Experience
is evil real ?
Jul 5, 2007
12:30 am
12:30 am
RonPrice says:
Having been exposed to this idea as a child and adolescent by a mother who was "into" C. Science, I am more than a little familiar with this idea..I am now a Baha'i and part of the Baha'i view is that: there is evil in the world. The true explanation of this subject is very difficult. The term "nonexistence of evil is used in a "specialized, technical sense." Any Bahá'í will be familiar with the analogies the Master drew. Ignorance is the want of knowledge. Forgetfulness is the want of memory. Blindness is the want of sight....So evil is the absence of good. The absence of a thing is "nonexistence" and therefore evil is "nonexistent." Yet, and this is the crucial point, nobody in their right minds would say that ignorance, forgetfulness, blindness, or death do not exist! So why would we say that evil does not exist?
This is a start to a comment on your post.-Ron Price, Tasmania
Having been exposed to this idea as a child and adolescent by a mother who was "into" C. Science, I am more than a little familiar with this idea..I am now a Baha'i and part of the Baha'i view is that: there is evil in the world. The true explanation of this subject is very difficult. The term "nonexistence of evil is used in a "specialized, technical sense." Any Bahá'í will be familiar with the analogies the Master drew. Ignorance is the want of knowledge. Forgetfulness is the want of memory. Blindness is the want of sight....So evil is the absence of good. The absence of a thing is "nonexistence" and therefore evil is "nonexistent." Yet, and this is the crucial point, nobody in their right minds would say that ignorance, forgetfulness, blindness, or death do not exist! So why would we say that evil does not exist?
This is a start to a comment on your post.-Ron Price, Tasmania
Jul 11, 2007
3:47 am
3:47 am
Verndigger says:
Hallo, Ron, nice to meet you. I have always admired what I have seen of the Baha'i faith.
As you said, the existence of evil is a very difficult subject.
In trying to figure out for myself how to justify, or show the validity of the concept of the unreality of evil,
I always think I would ask those who claim it IS real "do you expect to see Satan - or evil of any kind - in heaven?"
then upon receiving a negative response, I would say something like "well that is the CS view, or definition of "Reality". - i.e., the universe being the way Genesis 1 says God made it. "and God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good".
and John 1, "and without him was not anything made that was made".
approaching the question with simple logic, if God made everything, then if evil exists, God made it, and ergo, it must be GOOD. hmmmm.
well, if God did NOT make evil, then it cannot exist.
cont'd
Hallo, Ron, nice to meet you. I have always admired what I have seen of the Baha'i faith.
As you said, the existence of evil is a very difficult subject.
In trying to figure out for myself how to justify, or show the validity of the concept of the unreality of evil,
I always think I would ask those who claim it IS real "do you expect to see Satan - or evil of any kind - in heaven?"
then upon receiving a negative response, I would say something like "well that is the CS view, or definition of "Reality". - i.e., the universe being the way Genesis 1 says God made it. "and God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good".
and John 1, "and without him was not anything made that was made".
approaching the question with simple logic, if God made everything, then if evil exists, God made it, and ergo, it must be GOOD. hmmmm.
well, if God did NOT make evil, then it cannot exist.
cont'd
Jul 18, 2007
1:47 am
1:47 am
Verndigger says:
...BUT, we SEE evil all around us, of the most ugly and incomprehensible unimaginable types.
so what can we conclude about what we are seeing ?
only that it is a distortion or inverted view of God's harmonious and beautiful creation.
we see the sun rise and set each day, but we know that what our senses tell us is not the fact.
Yet, and this is the crucial point, nobody in their right minds would say that ignorance, forgetfulness, blindness, or death do not exist! So why would we say that evil does not exist?
well, perhaps all practising Christian Scientists are not 'in their right mind' !
because I have seen lots and lots of testimonies of people eliminating the belief of ignorance, forgetfulness, blindness from their experience through grasping the idea that they do not come from God, and that their opposites are the reality for God's idea.
cont'd...
...BUT, we SEE evil all around us, of the most ugly and incomprehensible unimaginable types.
so what can we conclude about what we are seeing ?
only that it is a distortion or inverted view of God's harmonious and beautiful creation.
we see the sun rise and set each day, but we know that what our senses tell us is not the fact.
Yet, and this is the crucial point, nobody in their right minds would say that ignorance, forgetfulness, blindness, or death do not exist! So why would we say that evil does not exist?
well, perhaps all practising Christian Scientists are not 'in their right mind' !
because I have seen lots and lots of testimonies of people eliminating the belief of ignorance, forgetfulness, blindness from their experience through grasping the idea that they do not come from God, and that their opposites are the reality for God's idea.
cont'd...
Jul 18, 2007
1:49 am
1:49 am
Verndigger says:
...I can't say I know any Scientists who have overcome death - but then the Bible says it shall be the last enemy to be overcome.
I've no interest in debating, Ron, - knowing the ideas of Science you are already familiar with the stand I would take.
we are all individuals with individual ideas of the Creator, and that is fine with me. I believe firmly that He/She is guiding each of us on our path to Her/Him.
Romans 11:36 says in the NEB translation, "Source, Guide, and Goal of all that is." amen!
Tasmania, wow!
regards,
Vern
p.s. - sorry for the length of this; it's just what came out. :-))
...I can't say I know any Scientists who have overcome death - but then the Bible says it shall be the last enemy to be overcome.
I've no interest in debating, Ron, - knowing the ideas of Science you are already familiar with the stand I would take.
we are all individuals with individual ideas of the Creator, and that is fine with me. I believe firmly that He/She is guiding each of us on our path to Her/Him.
Romans 11:36 says in the NEB translation, "Source, Guide, and Goal of all that is." amen!
Tasmania, wow!
regards,
Vern
p.s. - sorry for the length of this; it's just what came out. :-))
Jul 18, 2007
1:50 am
1:50 am
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