Immediately following a tragic terrorist attack in the United States last year, a public official in that city held a news conference. What struck me was the first thing he said: “Make no mistake: Evil is real.”
Having had a long career in law enforcement, I could certainly understand that sentiment. When we witness or hear of heinous acts, we may feel an overwhelming sense that evil is indeed real; we wonder if there’s anything we can do, individually or collectively, to stop such events from happening again and to contribute to a safer, more peaceful society.
Whenever I’ve wondered that myself, I have always been encouraged by what Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote on this subject: “Those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” pp. 96-97). The word “will” leaves no doubt that it is possible to control, even prevent, crime and violence, and Christian Science teaches that doing so begins in our own thought – through our gaining a better understanding of the allness of God and the powerlessness of evil.
I’ve often thought about how Christ Jesus dealt with evil. When the people in his hometown synagogue became enraged at his words, they drove him out of the city, intending to throw him off a cliff. But Jesus was able to walk away safely. He understood the might of God, good. He overcame evil – everything opposed to divine goodness and love – by calling it out for what it was: a lie, and therefore powerless, because not created or allowed by God, Truth. And because there is no truth in a lie, he was able to demonstrate his dominion over evil. Ultimately, following his crucifixion, that aggressive attack on innocence and goodness, he arose from death, proving that hatred and ignorance could not destroy the Life of man, which is God.
Tragic events are often considered to be proof that God does not exist or that evil is real and more powerful than good. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. A psalm says, “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God” (Psalms 62:11). To the degree that we understand that God is All – infinite and all-powerful – we are protected from the consequences of the general belief in evil.
At one point in my career, I was in charge of security at a courthouse. Each morning before work, I would pray with passages from the Bible, focusing on the safety of all who entered the building, which included deputies, judicial staff, and the public. Throughout the day, I would acknowledge that good is ever present and all-powerful and fills all space, so there is no place for evil. I would affirm that God has given all His children the ability to know this and to defend their thought from the aggressive suggestions of evil.
I would pray with the spiritual fact that the real man, created by God, is satisfied in doing good and can never believe that satisfaction or solutions can be found in harming oneself or others. God, divine Mind, perpetually expresses stability and intelligence in each of His children. No hateful or deranged thought can enter this Mind or disturb the harmony of God’s creation.
One day, a man who had a case before the court entered the courthouse and fired a gun as he ran down the hallway. His intent was to make it to the second floor and kill the judge presiding over his case as well as other officials who were part of the proceedings. After an exchange of gunfire with deputies, he ran out of the building and was arrested shortly thereafter. His plan was thwarted, and there were no life-threatening injuries.
Mrs. Eddy assures us of the unreality of evil and the supremacy of God, good, stating, “Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle, – is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal” (Science and Health, p. 306).
Every time we overcome evil in our individual experience, however modestly, we are demonstrating God’s allness and supreme power. Through the lens of Christian Science, one day the whole world will see, and rejoice in, this immutable truth: “Make no mistake: Evil is unreal.”
Adapted from an article published in the Jan. 26, 2026, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
