ONE of the most pathetic phases of human endeavor is found in the persistent search for God, and in spite of the fact that apparently most of the effort expended in this search has been fruitless, it is continued. Numerous philosophies and religions, with the avowed and sincere purpose of revealing God to man, have come into being, flourished and decayed. Erroneous, even grotesque, concepts of God and His relation to man have found expression in many of these systems and caused their downfall. But the search for God goes on, as it must; the worst fate that could overtake the human race would be found in the abandonment of this search, if such abandonment were possible.
On page 269 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy has written: "The theories I combat are these: (1) that all is matter; (2) that matter originates in Mind, and is as real as Mind;" and it may prove profitable to consider some of the aspects of the search for God, the First Cause, as related to these two theories, and in the light of the statement by Mrs. Eddy that "all is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all" (p. 468).
Webster defines a materialist as "one who denies the existence of spiritual substance or agents and maintains that spiritual phenomena, so called, are the results of some peculiar organization of matter." In common with all others, the materialist must admit that, where there is an effect there must be a cause, and that his own existence therefore proves the existence of a cause or origin of himself and the universe. Thus in the last analysis it must be admitted that there is a First Cause; but in the very nature of the case, one who says that matter is all, must also say that the First Cause is not and cannot be known; for however far back one may go in search of the origin of things, such origin being material cannot be self-existent, and the question of First Cause therefore remains unanswered. The materialist therefore in effect says, that while there must be a First Cause, it is impossible to conceive of its existence. Can this be true?
