Page:The Origin of Christian Science.djvu/84

76 That world of ideas contributes the forms to the material things of this world of sense. The form or idea they regarded as real and eternal, the matter or substance as temporal and unreal. This is contrary to our common way of thinking of them but is the basis for Mrs. Eddy's way of thinking of them which she confesses is contrary to our common conception. Recall her statement: “From the infinite elements of the one Mind emanate all form, color, and quality and quantity, and these are mental, both primarily and secondarily.” That is, Mrs. Eddy believes in the reality of material things in so far as their forms are concerned. She is a thorough-going and consistent idealist and cannot allow reality in anything except what is mental. On this point of the unreality of matter the parallel of the two systems is perfect.

That matter is to be considered as the opposite or negation of the good, God, form, the ideal or the real is evident from this quotation from Plotinus: “It is correct then to speak of matter both as having no qualities and as being evil. For it is not called evil because it has qualities but rather because it has not, lest otherwise it were evil from being form and not from being the nature opposite to form.” Here is a parallel brought to light that will be taken up later, namely, that the two systems identify matter and evil, since both these are opposite to the good.