Editorial December 24, 1938 Issue

A Suppositional Warfare

Duncan Sinclair

Mortals are apparently engaged in a constant warfare. From the cradle onwards they are subject to and have to combat beliefs common to the whole human race, namely, that matter is real, that material law governs health and intelligence, that matter supports life and destroys it, that life and intelligence are limited, and that all mankind must sooner or later submit to death. Mortals are subject to these and kindred phases of material belief, but they do not readily submit to them; rather do they wage an incessant battle against every material belief that would destroy happiness and health, and shorten or destroy life.

The warfare with materiality, the struggle for mastery over the flesh, goes on. Throughout the ages men have rebelled against the evils which have made them sick, sorrowful, and unhappy, and have destroyed their peace of mind And even while they have done so, many of them have instinctively felt that a material sense of existence is not the true sense of being. They have sensed, although feebly at times, that "there is a spirit in man;" or, in other words, that man is spiritual; and this has spurred them on in their warfare against materiality, their aim being to overcome it. Often they have seemed to go down under the pressure of material beliefs. Nevertheless, the human race has taken marvelous steps forward in mastering these beliefs and establishing itself more firmly and more securely under spiritual law.

One thing has acted, and continues to act, however, as a deterrent to spiritual progress—the belief that man is both material and spiritual. The belief that matter is as real as Spirit, and that man is material as well as spiritual, is hindering the spiritual victory. But, it is asked, is not matter real? Are not material phenomena real? Is not material man real? What does Christian Science say in reply? It proclaims the truth that God, Spirit, is the sole creator or source of true being. It confirms the teaching of Jesus that man is the son of God, the idea of God, and that he is therefore spiritual, not material. And from the premise that God is infinite Spirit or Mind, it deduces the fact that matter is unreal and, consequently, that in reality there is no material man. The revolutionary nature of the teaching of Christian Science is apparent, since by revealing the truth about God's, Spirit's, allness, and man as His reflection or idea, it denies reality to matter and so-called material man.

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