Christian Science Perspective audio edition

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Truthfulness is a valuable quality; upholding truth in our words and actions is certainly laudable. Throughout the Bible, truth is associated with God. Deuteronomy, for instance, speaks of God as “a God of truth” (32:4). A God of truth is naturally the source of all truth, of all that is legitimate, good, and real. And these adjectives describe the very nature of God – of Truth itself.

Clearly, anything that is erroneous or untruthful cannot originate in divine Truth. Mary Baker Eddy explains, “That God is Truth, the Scriptures aver; that Truth never created error, or such a capacity, is self-evident; that God made all that was made, is again Scriptural” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” pp. 49-50).

The understanding in Christian Science that God is All, and that He made everything good and created man in His image and likeness (as stated in Genesis 1), is a powerful starting point in spiritual healing. It recognizes that man, in divine Science, reflects divine Truth and can therefore be conscious only of what is good and true. The apparent opposite of Truth – called error, sin, sickness, disease, death – has no reality or power, and no basis in Spirit.

Christ Jesus consistently challenged the error of the material senses, or falsehood of life and intelligence in a mortal mind or man. He called it the devil and said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). Understanding this removes all supposed legitimacy from error and reveals it as absolutely nothing, no thing.

Once I had the opportunity to think deeply about the allness of Truth and the nothingness of error. Actions I had taken while managing a community-related project were misinterpreted by someone, and my role in the project was mischaracterized. What had seemed to be a successful project outcome was labeled a mistake, and my actions were described to me as intentionally and personally willful. Knowing that I had prayed diligently throughout the project to hear and follow God’s direction, I felt hurt by this description of my actions, as well as misunderstood and persecuted.

I discussed the situation with friends and family. I repeated the hurtful words that had been spoken to me, and their reactions were largely sympathetic. While I appreciated this support, I just couldn’t get past feeling caught between different relative truths.

Eventually, I resolved to humbly pray about the situation. Soon this sentence from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy came to thought: “Neither sympathy nor society should ever tempt us to cherish error in any form, and certainly we should not be error’s advocate” (pp. 153-154). Aha! Had I been looking for sympathy, and did that desire cause me to cherish the error by holding it in thought? And even more importantly, had I been behaving as error’s advocate?

I dug a little deeper into the meaning of “advocate.” Dictionary.com defines it as “a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc.” I knew that strategies of an advocate may include systematic and continuous repetition intended to persuade and influence. Wow. Why would I want to put any time and energy into defending error or persuading anyone else to?

I realized that I had inadvertently been holding on to the error that I had a mind separate from God that was mortal, fallible, and at odds with other minds.

Now I set out to argue for truth. I reasoned that there is only one Mind, from which originates all truth, and that this truth is objectively factual, not a human, subjective construct. It can’t be misunderstood or mischaracterized, because in the allness of Truth there simply is no room for error.

While I prayed along these lines, I felt a sense of peace, along with the assurance that God had always been leading the way forward and would continue to lead me and everyone involved. I felt secure in the knowledge that nothing but what God knows of me is true or known to others.

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As for the project, many are still benefiting from its elevating influence in our community. While that has been gratifying to witness, the peace I gained from this experience was the true reward. As we come to understand God as “a God of truth,” we can all feel the profound import of Jesus’ promise, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Adapted from an article published in the March 2026 issue of The Christian Science Journal.

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