Chapter X - Science Of Being
Substance versus supposition
278:1
Is Spirit the source or creator of matter? Science re-
Is Spirit the source or creator of matter? Science re-
veals nothing in Spirit out of which to create matter.
Divine metaphysics explains away matter.
Spirit is the only substance and consciousness
recognized by divine Science. The material
senses oppose this, but there are no material senses, for
matter has no mind. In Spirit there is no matter, even
as in Truth there is no error, and in good no evil. It is
a false supposition, the notion that there is real substance‑
matter, the opposite of Spirit. Spirit, God, is infinite,
all. Spirit can have no opposite.
One cause supreme
278:12
That matter is substantial or has life and sensation, is
That matter is substantial or has life and sensation, is
one of the false beliefs of mortals, and exists only in a
supposititious mortal consciousness. Hence,
as we approach Spirit and Truth, we lose the
consciousness of matter. The admission that there can
be material substance requires another admission, –
namely, that Spirit is not infinite and that matter is self‑
creative, self-existent, and eternal. From this it would
follow that there are two eternal causes, warring forever
with each other; and yet we say that Spirit is supreme
and all-presence.
278:23
The belief of the eternity of matter contradicts the
The belief of the eternity of matter contradicts the
demonstration of life as Spirit, and leads to the conclu-
sion that if man is material, he originated in matter and
must return to dust, – logic which would prove his an-
nihilation.
Substance is Spirit
278:28
All that we term sin, sickness, and death is a mortal
All that we term sin, sickness, and death is a mortal
belief. We define matter as error, because it is the oppo-
site of life, substance, and intelligence. Mat-
ter, with its mortality, cannot be substantial
if Spirit is substantial and eternal. Which ought to
279:1
be substance to us, – the erring, changing, and dying,
be substance to us, – the erring, changing, and dying,
the mutable and mortal, or the unerring, immutable,
and immortal? A New Testament writer plainly de-
scribes faith, a quality of mind, as "the substance of things
hoped for."
Material mortality
279:6
The doom of matter establishes the conclusion that
The doom of matter establishes the conclusion that
matter, slime, or protoplasm never originated
in the immortal Mind, and is therefore not
eternal. Matter is neither created by Mind nor for the
manifestation and support of Mind.
Spiritual tangibility
279:11
Ideas are tangible and real to immortal consciousness,
Ideas are tangible and real to immortal consciousness,
and they have the advantage of being eternal.
Spirit and matter can neither coexist nor co-
operate, and one can no more create the other than
Truth can create error, or vice versa.
279:16
In proportion as the belief disappears that life and in-
In proportion as the belief disappears that life and in-
telligence are in or of matter, the immortal facts of
being are seen, and their only idea or intelligence is
in God. Spirit is reached only through the understand-
ing and demonstration of eternal Life and Truth and
Love.
Pantheistic tendencies
279:22
Every system of human philosophy, doctrine, and
Every system of human philosophy, doctrine, and
medicine is more or less infected with the pantheistic
belief that there is mind in matter; but this
belief contradicts alike revelation and right
reasoning. A logical and scientific conclusion is reached
only through the knowledge that there are not two
bases of being, matter and mind, but one alone, –
Mind.
279:30
Pantheism, starting from a material sense of God,
Pantheism, starting from a material sense of God,
seeks cause in effect, Principle in its idea, and life and
intelligence in matter.