Had natural science then finally found materialism to be the highest expression of truth? In reality this was so far from being the case, that natural science, just at that time, had given entirely new impulses to a higher evolution of religious conceptions. How then could Büchner, with natural science as a basis, deny all religion, and how can materialism, in our days, live with undiminished force and vitality? No other explanation is possible than the one we have already proposed. When it remained unnoticed that natural science had discovered the inner, spiritual body, which is the very kernel of the belief in the body as an eternal part of man’s nature, then materialism was the only possible alternative for all those who were convinced that the body contained something imperishable. Materialism, in our days, springs from the same instinct as the death-cultus in ancient times. It has, therefore, integrally, something correct and true as a basis, which not only explains the rapid and wide expansion of this doctrine, but also the fact that the materialists are continually using data and evidence which clearly and plainly disprove their own position, although they do not perceive it themselves. As probably no one has treated this theme in a manner more characteristic of materialism than Büchner, we will, in the following study, use his work above mentioned, which may be said to be typical for the materialist’s mode of thinking and reasoning. It will here be evident, we hope, that the modern natural science does not limit but, on the contrary, widens the boundaries of existence, as we receive from precisely this science the palpable demonstration of the thesis that all life on this earth has its origin in a higher, immaterial world. CHAPTER IV. Importance of Spontaneous Generation. The manner in which this problem, from a materialistic point of view, can and must be treated, is not so complicated as we might imagine. The central thought in all materialistic discussions and investigations may be briefly expressed as follows: Life is a material force and nothing else. If this be true, then of course materialism is the only true religion. Whether God or some other higher being exists, must then become a question of little or no consequence. Man knows in any case his own origin and fate. The fundamental religious doctrines will then read: In matter alone dwell all the forces of nature and spirit; in matter alone can these forces appear and reveal themselves; nature knows of no supernatural beginning or continuation; it produces everything; consumes everything; is itself beginning and end, cradle and grave; by its own power nature produces man, by its own power it receives him back again.