Editorial November 28, 1994 Issue

The evidence of Christ

Richard C. Bergenheim

In the Old Testament account, while wrestling with misfortune and sickness, Job finds himself tormented further by the unsympathetic counsel and rebukes of his friends. He rebukes them in turn for their lack of understanding and compassion. Then at one point, after recounting the extent of his problems and reason for distress, he declares, "I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25, 26).

The persistent surfacing of this assurance in the midst of his struggles is one of the factors that makes Job's experience so meaningful to men and women today. Many students spend hours considering the theological arguments that rage at times like storms throughout this book of the Bible (and many valuable insights are to be found there), but what should never be lost in this account is Job's indomitable spiritual sense and his certainty that one can come into the presence of God and His perfect justice, now.

In a discussion on Bible study, Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "The one important interpretation of Scripture is the spiritual. For example, the text, 'In my flesh shall I see God,' gives a profound idea of the divine power to heal the ills of the flesh, and encourages mortals to hope in Him who healeth all our diseases; whereas this passage is continually quoted as if Job intended to declare that even if disease and worms destroyed his body, yet in the latter days he should stand in celestial perfection before Elohim, still clad in material flesh,—an interpretation which is just the opposite of the true, as may be seen by studying the book of Job" (pp. 320–321).

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