Article November 7, 1925 Issue

Substance

FREDERICK GEORGE WALKER

Viewed from the standpoint of material sense, substance is composed of that which can be detected by the material senses. Men are sometimes said to be substantial if they possess an accumulation of wealth; and we talk of a substantial building or a mass of substance. And yet this substance is the direct opposite of the idea of substance brought out in the Bible; for the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." If we take the Bible as our chart of life, surely it will be well to adopt its meaning of the words it uses.

What would be thought of a mariner who, reading his chart, should see the word "shoal" marked thereupon, but, through a perverted sense, take it to mean its opposite? We know the result would be confusion and disaster. When we reason from a wrong basis and think of matter as substantial and real, discord inevitably follows. We might as well start from the premise that two and two equal five, and expect correct results in our computations, as to regard matter as reality and hope to obtain harmony, security, and peace. The fact is that matter is neither substantial nor real, because it has no place in the divine Mind, God.

The Bible tells us that God is Spirit; that God is omnipresent, the only cause and power. And as Spirit is the direct opposite of matter, it follows that matter has no creator, no entity, and consequently is insubstantial. Mortals are apt to be bewildered because Christian Science thus apparently cuts the ground from under their feet; but they have to learn that Christian Science never takes away the seeming without leaving the real—that which is really substantial—in its place. As a matter of fact, nothing real, true, or desirable is ever taken away by Christian Science; all that happens is that a true concept takes the place of a false one.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

On Loving Our Neighbor