Article February 24, 1951 Issue

SUPPLY SPIRITUAL

ISRAEL PICKENS

In the eleventh Chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews there is a verse which is familiar to Christian Scientists, for it is one that is quoted several times by Mary Baker Eddy in her writings. It reads, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The word faith as here used is from the Greek pistis, meaning conviction. To have faith, then, is to be convinced of the reality of that which, though unseen, yet exists as an idea in Mind. Conviction, based on the understanding of spiritual truth, rather than on the evidence of the material senses, is that enlargement of faith wherein the qualities of constancy and steadfastness displace fear and uncertainty. It enables one to put off the restrictions and limitations of human belief.

Christian Science stresses the need for this larger faith, which is characterized by an increasing ability to comprehend that which is unseen. Mrs. Eddy states in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 297), "Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine."

Thus faith in its higher unfoldment, or spiritual understanding, is true substance—"the substance of things hoped for." Seeing this, one also perceives that supply is spiritual; that we demonstrate spiritual ideas, not material things. Supply includes those ideas needed in the solving of all problems, not just financial problems. Thus we see the supply of God's ideas manifested in the healing of physical problems and the overcoming of church, business, and family discords. Supply includes such ideas as consecration, purification, steadfastness, the ability to hold to the truth even in the midst of temptation or fear.

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