The Basic Substance of the Universe?

Here is an example of a debate I had on a science forum this morning.

Topic: Is there a basic substance that everything else is made of?

Energy

energy isnt a substance

what is substance? atoms? time, love, hope, faith?

...no interactions of energy fields/probabilities? most of matter is empty space

but there is an equivalence between matter and energy

no between mass and energy

why isn't energy susbtance?

mass is no more substantive

what is matter?

because it's a potential

why isn't energy actuality?

to say energy is a substance is like saying 'motion' is a substance

to put it another way, from whence did matter derive?

big bang, everyone knows that

i.e. energy - subatomic particles smashing together in a violently expanding singularity something like that