Article October 5, 1940 Issue

True Substance

[Original article in German]

HERMANN GOTTSCHALK

MUCH of the fear which deceives and defrauds men and nations arises from belief in and desire for material possessions. A large part of the evil committed in the world, whether war, robbery, murder, fraud, or social oppression, is for the sake of gaining material things or personal power. What then is true substance, and wherein does it differ from so-called material substance?

God is Spirit. Consequently, the only substance is Spirit; nothing that is material is truly substantial; that is, real. Error may raise the question as to whether or not the things which contribute to the subsistence of human society are to be considered nothing? To this, Truth replies: All reality is Spirit and its spiritual idea or reflection.

Christian Science shows us how we can differentiate between the real and the unreal. On page 123 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, states that "Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas." This points to the difference between false and true concepts. The real man is forever separate from belief in material substance. Since man is spiritual, and Spirit and matter can never be united, so the desire for material possessions is a mortal error, a "vexation of Spirit," as the Preacher says. Belief in material possession is self-deception, and it makes one the servant of fear, of sin and death.