Pannenberg argues that this reversal of the ends-means relationship means that human beings begin to seek transitory things as an end in themselves rather than using them as a means to ultimate human fulfillment that is to be found in God. It is this attitude that lies beneath materialistic thinking, which seeks possession and the accumulation of material wealth as ends or values in and of themselves rather than as tools that are rightly to be used for advancing humans toward their ultimate destiny.
