Q: Often I see the phrase “God’s love for humanity” mentioned in Christian Science articles. My understanding is that God doesn’t know mortal mind, since “mortal mind” is how Mary Baker Eddy describes humanity in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Usage classes both evil and good together as mind; therefore, to be understood, the author calls sick and sinful humanity mortal mind,—meaning by this term the flesh opposed to Spirit, the human mind and evil in contradistinction to the divine Mind, or Truth and good” (p. 114). Am I missing something?
A: This is a deeply important question, one that gets to the heart of healing in Christian Science.
Mary Baker Eddy sometimes uses the words human and humanity to describe mere mortality, as in the passage quoted in the question. Other times, she uses these terms to describe a higher sense of things, where material beliefs are progressively giving way to spiritual understanding, and individuals are reaching out to God for healing and salvation.
