Article June 8, 1957 Issue

DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL

ELIZABETH BICE LUERSSEN

The prayer which Jesus taught his disciples includes the line (Matt. 6:13), "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." How eagerly the followers of the Galilean Prophet must have yearned for this deliverance, besieged as they seemed to be by the evil forces of hatred, jealousy, envy, rebellion, and persecution. Evil, whatever the form it took, was long regarded as a real power—usually unavoidable and often insurmountable.

In the nineteenth century the unreal nature of evil was revealed by Mary Baker Eddy in her discovery of Christian Science. On page 330 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" she states, "Evil is nothing, no thing, mind, nor power." And our Leader interprets the above-quoted line from the Lord's Prayer as follows (ibid., p. 17): "And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death."

To anyone who feels helplessly pitted against the apparent forces of evil, such words bring comfort and assurance: first of all, the assurance that evil is powerless and unreal; and secondly, that God delivers us from the temptation to believe in evil or to fear its consequences.

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