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YOUR QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Following the example set by the question-and-answer columns in the early Journals, when Mary Baker Eddy was Editor, this column will respond to general queries from Journal readers—such as the one above—with responses from Journal readers. You'll find information at the end of the column about how to submit questions.

YOUR QUESTION & ANSWERS

From the December 2008 issue of The Christian Science Journal


If God doesn't know of our imperfections—because they exist only in the mortal realm, in unreality—why did God send Jesus to die for our sins? How did God know we needed a savior or someone to teach us anything if we're already perfect and that's all that God can see of us?

A1 Isn't this question sort of like asking how the sun knows that the earth needs its light to free the earth of darkness? The sun doesn't "know" the darkness nor shine to get rid of darkness. The sun shines because that's what the sun does. Darkness is merely the absence of light. So when light is present, there is no darkness.

We can apply the same principle to help us understand the question: If God doesn't know about evil, why did he send Jesus to "save" us from it? In actuality, God always knows man (a generic term for both male and female) only as perfect, sinless. Because man is made in God's image and likeness, man naturally reflects God's sinless nature in infinite, individual ways. This is what is going on in reality—in the immortal, spiritual realm. But this is not the way things appear in the mortal realm, in the dark void of unreality.

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