As an understanding of Christian Science is obtained, any follower of its teachings comes to regard substance very differently from the way he did before. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy writes (pp. 349, 350): "In Christian Science, substance is understood to be Spirit, while the opponents of Christian Science believe substance to be matter. They think of matter as something and almost the only thing, and of the things which pertain to Spirit as next to nothing, or as very far removed from daily experience. Christian Science takes exactly the opposite view."
Christian Science is engaged in the great work of imparting to mankind the truth that spiritual existence alone is real. In doing so it is opposed by the claims of the physical senses, which testify to the reality of matter. In this "opposite view" Christian Science takes the position that God is infinite Mind, or Spirit, and concludes that, Spirit being infinite, God's creation, including man, must be entirely spiritual. This reasoning is in accord with the first chapter of Genesis, where the spiritual record of creation is set forth. Here we are assured that the real creation is spiritual; that it consists of spiritual ideas, not material organisms and objects. As these truths become known to the student of Christian Science he is able to regard the material sense of existence as devoid of reality and to see all imperfection as having no Principle, and as, therefore, no part of true existence.
The word substance is derived from the Latin words sub, signifying under, and stare, to stand. The Science of being, discovered by Mrs. Eddy, declares that the true substance which stands under, underlies, and supports all that is real and enduring is God, divine Mind, or infinite Spirit. Moreover, it declares that everything proceeding from this spiritual cause is as immutable and eternal as Spirit itself; that that which is spiritual and real is maintained in perfection by the one perfect creator, God. In answer to the question, "What is substance?" on page 468 of Science and Health. Mrs. Eddy says, "Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay," thus making clear the nature of true substance.
