Notes Taken from Colson and Pearcey pps 209 and 210
This is the strategy adopted by Christian Science and by some Eastern religions. Hinduism say that the physical universe is all an Illusion (maya) and that suffering of the body is just a misconception of the MIND. If we just train ourselves to think correctly, we can overcome all suffering through realising it does not exist.
[Maya] According to many schools of Hinduism, the world is an illusion, a play of the supreme consciousness of God. It is a projection of things and forms that are temporarily phenomenal and sustain the illusion of oneness and permanence.
Can we really life with such a Philosophy of denial of reality?
The story is told of a boy who went to a Christian Science practitioner and asked him to pray for his father, who was very ill. "Your father only thinks he is sick," the man told the boy. "He must learn to counter those negative thoughts and realise that he is really healthy."
The next day the boy came back to the minister who asked how is father is doing. "Today he thinks he's dead, "replied the boy.
The power of positive thinking cannot erase the objective reality of suffering and death.
A Christian Scientist cannot does not deplore and even try to eradicate sinful desires but tries simply to not notice them at all. Nor do those who have committed grave wrongs suffer any pangs of guilt and seek redemption. They just try to erase it from their minds.
But the Lessons of History tell us that if we do not believe in evil, we cannot cope with the reality when it hits us squarely in the face. The Illusion Theory simply cannot hold up under the weight of Human Experience.
#2 Deny that suffering and evil even exist.
Some people try to solve the problem of evil and suffering on earth saying they are merely illusions created by their own minds.Christian Science Monitor |
This is the strategy adopted by Christian Science and by some Eastern religions. Hinduism say that the physical universe is all an Illusion (maya) and that suffering of the body is just a misconception of the MIND. If we just train ourselves to think correctly, we can overcome all suffering through realising it does not exist.
[Maya] According to many schools of Hinduism, the world is an illusion, a play of the supreme consciousness of God. It is a projection of things and forms that are temporarily phenomenal and sustain the illusion of oneness and permanence.
Is this world just a Maya Illusion. |
Can we really life with such a Philosophy of denial of reality?
The story is told of a boy who went to a Christian Science practitioner and asked him to pray for his father, who was very ill. "Your father only thinks he is sick," the man told the boy. "He must learn to counter those negative thoughts and realise that he is really healthy."
The next day the boy came back to the minister who asked how is father is doing. "Today he thinks he's dead, "replied the boy.
The power of positive thinking cannot erase the objective reality of suffering and death.
A Christian Scientist cannot does not deplore and even try to eradicate sinful desires but tries simply to not notice them at all. Nor do those who have committed grave wrongs suffer any pangs of guilt and seek redemption. They just try to erase it from their minds.
But the Lessons of History tell us that if we do not believe in evil, we cannot cope with the reality when it hits us squarely in the face. The Illusion Theory simply cannot hold up under the weight of Human Experience.
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