QUESTION: In her writings, Mary Baker Eddy indicated that men and women are ideas of God. But ideas do not think; they are what we think about. For example, the equation 2x2=4 does not think, but is the basis for right thinking. So if men and women are the ideas of God, how can these ideas think?
A1 You're right, ideas, do not, of themselves, think. An idea is dependent upon its creating mind, for the idea expresses this mind's nature. Likewise, in Christian Science, man—the term Mary Baker Eddy used to designate the spiritual nature of all men and women—is understood to possess "... no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475). Humanity's mental faculties, then, derive solely from their reflection of this creative divine Mind, the Father-Mother God.
You may now ask, "If man is God's idea, is it God who is really thinking when I'm thinking?" Well, yes and no. God is the originator of all that is good and real in one's thought and actions. But any beliefs that would misrepresent life as being separated from God's natural good cannot come from the perfect divine Mind. I have found that to the degree I'm receptive to God's thoughts of goodness, I experience their harmony.
