WHEN CHRIST JESUS encountered the man born blind, as reported in the ninth chapter of John, his disciples asked him whether the man's condition was the outcome of some sin either he or his parents had committed. Jesus handled this erroneous theological concept firmly by stating, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Thus he repudiated the doctrine of inherited sin long held by the Jews, and, at the same time, he denied the claim of disease based upon the so-called law of material causation or heredity.
We can see the full relevance to this case of the true record of creation found in the first chapter of Genesis. There we read, "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The account goes on to affirm the dominion with which God's perfect image and likeness is endowed. Christian Science teaches that such dominion is nothing less than the kingdom of God in man. For the first Christian healer, blindness was entirely baseless, causeless, and unreal.
The disciples, not convinced of the present activity of spiritual causation, had expected their Master to comment upon the blind man's past in order to account for the material condition from which he suffered. However, Jesus did not attempt to explain error but instead disposed of it.
