Article October 13, 1917 Issue

Reality versus the Counterfeit

LEWIS C. STRANG

In pursuit of her stupendous task of uncovering to the human consciousness the unreality of matter and contrasting this unreality with the reality of Spirit, Mrs. Eddy frequently characterizes as "counterfeits" the universe and man which are cognized by the material senses. The following quotation from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 337) is illustrative: "The visible universe and material man are the poor counterfeits of the invisible universe and spiritual man."

Students of Mrs. Eddy's writings often marvel at her accurate use of words and her ability to choose from the many meanings which human usage has gathered around the same word, the one distinctive concept that best serves her purpose of making clear the spiritual idea. Her use of the word counterfeit is markedly characteristic of this keen selective quality, so much so that to gain an adequate and accurate sense of the fundamentally important teaching contained in passages of which the one quoted is typical, it is essential to acquire a clear, definite understanding of the metaphysical meaning of this term.

At first thought the meaning seems quite obvious. One thinks of a counterfeit dollar bill, picturing it in thought as something which looks like a genuine dollar bill. Without realizing it there has forthwith been given to the counterfeit a certain sense of reality and substance. Unfortunately, in too many instances thought as regards the nature of the counterfeit stops at this point, with the result that right there begins the deception of the material senses which would cloud the understanding of what Mrs. Eddy means.

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