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What does Christian Science Teach?
The following doctrines are referenced out of the primary Christian Science work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. It is supposed to be a companion to the Bible. Science and Health, together with the Bible, are called the Pastor of Christian Science.
Of all the biblically based cults in America today, Christian Science is one of the most interesting. Not only does it deny the essential doctrines of Christianity, but it has completely reinterpreted the Bible. It drastically redefines the Bible’s culture and terminology and rips thousands of scriptures out of their historical and biblical contexts. The result is a non-Christian mixture of metaphysical and philosophical thoughts. Christian Science is so foreign to the Bible that, if it didn’t use words like Jesus, Trinity, Love, Grace, Sin, etc., you’d never suspect it had anything to do with the Bible at all.
Additionally, the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which is the Christian Scientist’s mainstay of spiritual knowledge, reads with a rhythm of pseudo-logical statements that has the tendency to dull the senses when read long enough. Is Christian Science Christian? Definitely not.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is the primary interpretive source of the Bible and is the source guide of Christian Science. It interprets the Bible in a radically different way. It is so different, in fact, that it absolutely rejects the substitutionary atonement of Jesus and states that it had no efficacious value (S&H, 25:6). It denies that Jesus is God, second person of the Trinity (S&H, 361:12-13). It says that sin is a false interpretation of Divine Mind and is nonexistent (S&H, 335:7-15). And it says that the Holy Spirit is Divine Science, which is best represented by Christian Science (S & H, 331:31). The list can go on, and, unfortunately, it does.
To the Christian Scientist, God (the Father-Mother) is a Principle known as the Divine Mind. It has no personhood and no personality. A catch phrase used in their literature is that God is "All in All." In other words, God is all that exists and what we perceive as matter is an interpretation of divine mind. Since God is love, it means that sin and sickness are only errors of interpreting the Divine Mind and have no true reality (S & H, 330:25-274; 470:9-14).
To the Christian Scientist, Jesus is a Way-shower. He is someone who epitomized the true principle of the Christ Consciousness which indwells us all. Therefore, Jesus did not really die on the cross. He was not God in flesh. He made no atonement in shedding His blood (S&H, 25:6).
Christian Science teaches that man does not have a sinful nature and is a reflection of Divine Mind. To achieve "salvation," he needs only to find the true reality of understanding, as revealed in Christian Science teachings. Unfortunately, these teachings are from Mary Baker Eddy, a woman who founded the religion in the 1870's, and not from God.
The Christian Scientists consider their philosophy to be consistent with the original teachings of Jesus. They consider truth a matter of higher understanding and learning. But the reality is that Christian Science has only produced unbiblical and false doctrines. Eternal destruction is the only thing that will result from its false teaching. The fires of hell will be a bitter reality for those who have been taught that they don’t exist.
Questions to Ask Christian Scientists
The following doctrines are referenced out of the primary Christian Science work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. It is supposed to be a companion to the Bible. Science and Health, together with the Bible, are called the Pastor of Christian Science.
- God is infinite...and there is no other power or source, S&H, 471:18.
- God is Universal Principle, S&H 331:18-19.
- God cannot indwell a person, S&H 336:19-20.
- God is the only intelligence in the universe, including man, S&H 330:11-12.
- God is Mind, S&H 330:20-21; 469:13.
- God is the Father-Mother, S&H 331:30; 332:4.
- The Trinity is Life, Truth, and Love, S&H 331:26.
- Belief in the traditional doctrine of the Trinity is polytheism, S&H 256:9-11.
- Christ is the spiritual idea of sonship, S&H 331:30-31.
- Jesus was not the Christ, S&H 333:3-15; 334:3.
- "Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared..." S&H 361:12-13.
- Jesus did not reflect the fullness of God, S&H 336:20-21.
- Jesus did not die, S&H 45:32-46:3.
- The Holy Spirit is divine science, S&H 331:31.
- There is no devil, S&H 469:13-17.
- There is no sin, S&H 447:24.
- Evil and good are not real, S&H, 330:25-27; 470:9-14.
- Matter, sin, and sickness are not real, but only illusions, S&H 335:7-15; 447:27-28.
- Life is not material or organic, S&H, 83:21.
- The sacrifice of Jesus was not sufficient to cleanse from sin, "S&H, 25:6.
- True healings are the result of true belief, S&H, 194:6.
- Additionally, Christian Scientists prefer not to use doctors, medicine, or immunizations. Christian Science Practitioners are used to help people through the false reality of illness.
- Proper prayer and training are employed to battle the "non-reality" of illness.
- They have no ordinances like the Lord's Supper or baptism.
- Church services are interspersed with Bible reading and readings from Science and Health.
- Mary Baker Eddy is highly regarded as a revelator of God's word.
Of all the biblically based cults in America today, Christian Science is one of the most interesting. Not only does it deny the essential doctrines of Christianity, but it has completely reinterpreted the Bible. It drastically redefines the Bible’s culture and terminology and rips thousands of scriptures out of their historical and biblical contexts. The result is a non-Christian mixture of metaphysical and philosophical thoughts. Christian Science is so foreign to the Bible that, if it didn’t use words like Jesus, Trinity, Love, Grace, Sin, etc., you’d never suspect it had anything to do with the Bible at all.
Additionally, the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which is the Christian Scientist’s mainstay of spiritual knowledge, reads with a rhythm of pseudo-logical statements that has the tendency to dull the senses when read long enough. Is Christian Science Christian? Definitely not.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is the primary interpretive source of the Bible and is the source guide of Christian Science. It interprets the Bible in a radically different way. It is so different, in fact, that it absolutely rejects the substitutionary atonement of Jesus and states that it had no efficacious value (S&H, 25:6). It denies that Jesus is God, second person of the Trinity (S&H, 361:12-13). It says that sin is a false interpretation of Divine Mind and is nonexistent (S&H, 335:7-15). And it says that the Holy Spirit is Divine Science, which is best represented by Christian Science (S & H, 331:31). The list can go on, and, unfortunately, it does.
To the Christian Scientist, God (the Father-Mother) is a Principle known as the Divine Mind. It has no personhood and no personality. A catch phrase used in their literature is that God is "All in All." In other words, God is all that exists and what we perceive as matter is an interpretation of divine mind. Since God is love, it means that sin and sickness are only errors of interpreting the Divine Mind and have no true reality (S & H, 330:25-274; 470:9-14).
To the Christian Scientist, Jesus is a Way-shower. He is someone who epitomized the true principle of the Christ Consciousness which indwells us all. Therefore, Jesus did not really die on the cross. He was not God in flesh. He made no atonement in shedding His blood (S&H, 25:6).
Christian Science teaches that man does not have a sinful nature and is a reflection of Divine Mind. To achieve "salvation," he needs only to find the true reality of understanding, as revealed in Christian Science teachings. Unfortunately, these teachings are from Mary Baker Eddy, a woman who founded the religion in the 1870's, and not from God.
The Christian Scientists consider their philosophy to be consistent with the original teachings of Jesus. They consider truth a matter of higher understanding and learning. But the reality is that Christian Science has only produced unbiblical and false doctrines. Eternal destruction is the only thing that will result from its false teaching. The fires of hell will be a bitter reality for those who have been taught that they don’t exist.
Questions to Ask Christian Scientists
- If God is all in all, then where did evil come from?
- If everything is an interpretation of divine mind, then why do people have different understandings of God?
- If sickness is an illusion, why do you have practitioners who go out to Christian Scientists in attempts to heal them?
- If sin is not real, then why does the Bible say that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23)? As well as, "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).
- In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy said, "The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon ‘the accursed tree,’ than when it was flowing in his veins as he went daily about his Father’s business." Why would she contradict so plainly the teaching of Scripture that says, "but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
- Why would Mary Baker Eddy directly contradict Jesus’ own claim of Himself? She said that "Jesus is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but the Son of God" (S & H 361:12-13). Is she calling Jesus a liar?
- If "Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death," as Mrs. Eddy said in Science and Health 475:28, then why do people die? Why does the Bible say that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23)?
- Why would Mrs. Eddy say Jesus did not die (S&H 45:32-46:3) when the Bible clearly teaches that He died (Rom. 8:34; 1 Thess. 4:13; 1 Cor. 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 1:7).
- If our physical senses do not tell us the truth about the material world, then how can we trust them when we read the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures or hear its message with our ears?