Substance FROM THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR          It does not require any very exhaustive study of the New Testament to recognize that throughout its pages the endeavor is persistently made to instruct mankind as to the true nature of substance. In its pages Jesus is heard declaring, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." And Peter calls aloud: "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away." Similarly, also, it is Paul who announces to the Galatians in no uncertain language: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." In all such statements the truth is intimated that Spirit is substantial and that matter, or the flesh, which is Spirit's opposite, is insubstantial or unreal.          Now this teaching is fundamental. It lies at the very foundation of true Christian doctrine and demonstration. It was because of his understanding of the truth about substance that Christ Jesus performed every one of the miracles, as they are called, which proved so conclusively the divine nature of his mission. The Galilean Prophet had such a knowledge of God, the divine Principle of the universe, he knew so well the allness of Principle, that he was aware of the unreality of matter. He did not hold these facts merely as interesting theories. They were real and actual enough to be put to the test; and this he did, setting at naught the so-called laws of matter by stilling the tempest at sea, walking on the water, and raising the dead; indeed, every one of the healings he performed proved the power of Truth to annul so-called material law. To restore a paralyzed limb to normal activity was but the work of a moment to the man whose understanding of Principle was clear enough to enable him to perceive the total unreality of matter.          There is little doubt that the generality of mankind are often impressed by the fleetingness of human existence. No one can look upon the changing scenes of human life without recognizing that there is something, to say the least of it, insubstantial about material phenomena. Change and decay seem to be the outstanding feature of everyday experience. And this has struck many so forcibly that, not having the explanation of the phenomenal and not possessing a knowledge of reality which only Christian Science is capable of giving, they have been driven to the brink of despair, even while trying to cling perhaps to some of the most cherished dogmas. It is absolutely essential to get down to bedrock fundamentals. There can be no "open vision" otherwise. Unless the truth about God, divine Principle, becomes known to men, they are bound to remain in doubt as to the meaning of the transient happenings of material sense, and liable to be driven down before them in their lawlessness.          It is the truth about divine Principle which Christian Science is teaching the world today. Instructed by Christian Science, one can recognize with improved clarity of vision the extent and the nature of the whole human position. There is not a single human that Christian Science cannot heal. And how is this possible? Because Christian Science declares the truth about divine Principle, and explains how spiritual law, which is the law through which Principle operates, can be brought to bear on every human difficulty in order to solve it. Christian Science declares that divine Principle is infinite. Spirit is another name for Principle. And so Spirit is infinite. At the very outset one is thus brought face to face with a proposition which forces the thinker to contemplate the whole problem of existence in a new light. It must occur to him at once that the acceptance of the truth that Spirit is infinite necessitates the conclusion that matter is unreal, since nothing real can exist outside of infinity. And if he be faithful to the conclusion, he will have commenced the solution of the entire human problem. On page 335 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy states the position clearly and forcibly when she writes: "Spirit is the only substance, the invisible and indivisible infinite God. Things spiritual and eternal are substantial. Things material and temporal are insubstantial."          But, it is sometimes said: To think of Spirit does not convey much to me. What is Spirit? The term is indeed one of great value, revealing as it does to the metaphysician many phases of God's being. To some, especially at the beginning of their study of divine Science, the word Mind, although it is simply another synonym for Principle, may also be employed profitably. The moment the word Mind is used, the mode of Principle's expression is brought out. There is only one way in which Mind can express itself, namely, through ideas. Hence, as Christian Science states, infinite Mind expresses or manifests itself through an infinite number of ideas. It follows, therefore, that the ideas of Mind, which of course can never be separate from Mind itself, are real substance. Mind's ideas are perfect, because their divine Principle is perfect; and being perfect they are eternal.          As the real universe of spiritual ideas begins to unfold itself to a human being, he may be said to begin to live. He is awakening out of the dream in which matter appears to be real. This awakening not infrequently signifies the healing of some form of disease or sin; for all forms of disease and sin have their pseudo-origin in the belief that matter is real substance. When this false belief is entirely destroyed as human consciousness, sickness and sin will have vanished forevermore, and will have left not even the trace of a memory behind. But until that day arrives the struggle will go on between spiritual truth and material belief, between the understanding of true spiritual substance and the false material concept of it. This struggle is going on today as never before. Every time good prevails over evil, every time unselfishness gains the victory over self-will, every time love overcomes hate, injustice, impurity, another glimpse has been obtained of the truth of the statement in Science and Health (p. 468) that "substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay."   "Substance" The Christian Science Monitor, February 18, 1919

 

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