God Vs Religion – Christian Science
Christian Science, originated in New England with Mary Baker Eddy, who argued that her personal misfortune and ill health contributed to question God’s responsibility for human suffering. Her book became Christian Science’s central text, along with the Bible.
Eddy, described Christian Science as a return to “primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing”. There are key differences between Christian Science theology and that of traditional Christianity.
Christian Scientists, believe that reality is purely spiritual, and the material world as we see it is only an illusion. Disease, mental disorders, sickness should not be treated by modern medicine, rather a form of prayer to correct the illusion of ill health.
When And Who Founded The Church?
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) was an influential American author, teacher, and religious leader, noted for her groundbreaking ideas about spirituality and health, which she named Christian Science. She articulated those ideas in her major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first published in 1875. Four years later, she founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, which today has branch churches and societies around the world.
History of the Church:
The story of the Church of Christ, Scientist begins with Mary Baker Eddy’s lifelong struggle with illness and her dissatisfaction with the medical practices of her day. Nineteenth-century medicine often relied on harsh treatments with dangerous side effects, and like many others, Eddy sought relief in alternative cures. Her exploration of hydropathy, homeopathy, and even placebos led her to conclude that belief itself played a powerful role in healing. Yet, her search was not merely medical—it was deeply spiritual, rooted in her ongoing engagement with the Bible and the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.
Her encounter with Phineas Quimby, a faith healer in Maine, initially seemed to offer answers. His methods of mental suggestion and therapeutic touch gave her temporary relief, but Eddy ultimately judged his system to be dependent on personality and hypnosis rather than divine principle. This realization set her apart: she longed for a healing method grounded not in human charisma but in God’s truth.
The turning point came in 1866, when a severe fall left her bedridden. In her desperation, she turned to the Bible. Reading an account of Jesus’ healing, she experienced what she described as a sudden restoration to health. This moment became the seed of Christian Science—a conviction that the healing works of Christ were not only real but divinely natural and repeatable. From then on, she devoted herself to intensive study of Scripture, teaching, and healing, convinced that she had uncovered the “science” behind spiritual healing.
Her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, published in 1875, became the cornerstone of her movement. In it, she articulated her belief that Jesus’ healing ministry revealed universal laws of God that could be applied today. When existing churches refused to embrace her discovery, she founded her own. In 1879, Eddy secured a charter for the Church of Christ, Scientist, declaring its mission to “reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.”
The church grew steadily. Reading rooms, publications, and eventually the Mother Church in Boston (1894) gave the movement permanence and visibility. Eddy’s Church Manual (1895) established a lay ministry, with services centered not on a human pastor but on two texts—the Bible and Science and Health. This dual-pastorate remains unique in Christian tradition. Testimony meetings, where members share experiences of healing and spiritual insight, became a hallmark of Christian Science practice.
By the early 20th century, the church had expanded worldwide, with its publishing society producing periodicals and literature to spread Eddy’s teachings. The Mother Church’s grand extension, completed in 1906, symbolized the movement’s confidence and reach.
At its heart, Christian Science presented itself as a return to the purity of early Christianity, emphasizing healing as evidence of God’s power. Yet, its theology diverged sharply from traditional Christianity, particularly in its denial of Jesus’ deity and its view of matter as illusion. For Eddy and her followers, salvation was not found in Christ’s atoning death but in the spiritualization of thought and the realization of humanity’s true, spiritual identity.
What Does The Church Believe?:
Mary Baker Eddy’s six Tenets of Christian Science form the theological backbone of the movement. They are framed in biblical language and emphasize devotion to God, the authority of Scripture, and moral purity. Yet, when examined closely, they reveal both points of contact with historic Christianity and significant departures from it.
1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.
2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God’s image and likeness.
3. We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.
4. We acknowledge Jesus’ atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man’s unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death.
5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter.
6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
There is a lot to break down here so I am going to address one statement at a time.
“1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.” – The Bible, is the inspired Word of God, and teaches us how we can know that we may know that we have eternal life, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” -1 John 5:13
“2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God’s image and likeness.” – God, is the Supreme being in that He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscience. His being omnipotent means that He has unlimited power to do anything and everything that He wants. His being omnipresent means that He is everywhere and anywhere, and His being omniscience means that He all knowing of everything, past, present, and future.
God, is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscience and that means that He is Jehovah, I Am, the Alpha and Omega, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit Himself. It also means that He is able to be all three persons of the Trinity at one time, [“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” -Revelation 1:8]
[“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”-1 John 5:7]
[“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”-John 1:1,14]
“3. We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.” – God, has not destroyed sin, but there will come a day that it will be, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”-Revelation 20:14
Evil is real! Sin is real! And one can believe that sin is not sin all they want, but that does not mean that God does not see it as sin, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”-Proverbs 6:16-19
Sin, is the wrong doing against God that He sees. Through the understanding of what sin is comes the acknowledgment that sin leads to the destruction of both the body and soul in hell, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”-Romans 6:23
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”-Romans 3:10-11,23
“4. We acknowledge Jesus’ atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man’s unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death.” -First of all, Jesus is not the Galilean Prophet, Jesus, Himself said, “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.”-Luke 7:26
Jesus, is the Christ, God Himself in the form of flesh though the immaculate birth of Mary, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”-Isaiah 7:14
Jesus, did overcome the curse of death when He gave His sinless and perfect body as the sacrifice who would give those who believe in Him the same victory, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”-1 Corinthians 15:55-57
And futhermore, Jesus, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”-John 14:6
“5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter.” -First of all, at least they acknowledge that Jesus was crucified and arose from the dead, but they are way off on this as they are referring to mans flesh as mere matter. Jesus, did not give His life for matter, He gave His life to save the souls of confessing sinners.
Without Jesus, the soul is dead because it is missing God’s Spirit, also known as the Holy Spirit, due to the curse if sin which brought death to mankind, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”-Romans 5:12-14
If Jesus was crucified and resurrected just to uplift ones faith of what eternal life is, then it would have been in vain. The only way to receive eternal life is through ones faith in the only Gospel, and that is the sinless death, burial, and resurrection of God’s only begotten 0Son, who was born of a virgin, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”-John 3:16-18
“6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.” -Taken from this verse, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” – Philippians 2:5.
Those who receive Christ as their Saviour are to be living sacrifices, that means we live our lives through Him becoming a reflection of Him as we walk with Him. It is the Holy Spirit who guides and directs us to walk in the ways of Christ. And yes, we are to be as merciful, just, and pure as Christ is.
“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” -Titus 1:15-16
“Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” -Romans 12:16
“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” -Romans 13:9
About Sin:
Christian Science, teaches that sin in its broader meaning is all belief, every entertained belief in materialism. Sin, is the unresisted and unhandled belief in a material sense of existence. In other words, life, intelligence, and substance are in matter and is sin.
Sin, and its inevitable penalty must be understood in order to destroy both sin and penalty. Through spiritual revelation and divine logic we are enabled to see that there can be no such thing as everlasting punishment, but that sin, sinner, and penalty are all one, mortal mind and its material objectification and that they exist only in the Adam-dream.
Sin, is not simply forgiven but is also forsaken and destroyed through Christ’s precious power and love. This doesn’t mean the individual is destroyed. Only what is sinful. The process of salvation continues here and hereafter until all humankind is rescued from sin, disease, and death. All will eventually come to a knowledge or spiritual understanding of God, divine Truth, and to acknowledge God as the Creator and governor of all that is good. Then we will realize our eternal relation to God as beloved sons and daughters.
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible teaches that sin is real, rooted in disobedience to God, and its penalty is death—but through Jesus Christ, forgiveness and salvation are offered as a gift of grace, not merely the destruction of “belief in matter.”
Sin is universal, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” -Romans 3:23
Sin separates humanity from God, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” -Isaiah 59:2
The penalty of sin is death, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” -Romans 6:23
About The Bible:
The Bible is the foundation for the theology and practice of Christian Science. Jesus’ ministry especially shows how we can experience healing and regeneration as we learn that our true identity is completely spiritual. The first chapter of Genesis states clearly that we are made in the image and likeness of God. The lives of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets, as well as those of Jesus and his followers, are rich examples of God’s power to reform and heal.
For Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science flowed out of an inspired understanding of the Bible. Through prayer and biblical study, she learned about the divine laws behind spiritual healing. These laws of God are powerful, always in operation to heal, redeem, and bless humanity. The title of her primary work, Science and Health, includes the phrase “Key to the Scriptures.” This indicates its inseparable connection with the Bible. When describing her discovery of Christian Science, she wrote, “The Bible has been my only authority,” and, “The Bible contains the recipe for all healing” (Science and Health, pp. 126, 406). Of the six brief tenets of Christian Science, the first is: “As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life” (Science and Health, p. 497).
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible agrees with Christian Science that we are made in God’s image and that healing is possible through God’s power. However, Scripture emphasizes that healing, regeneration, and salvation come through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, not simply through rejecting matter or redefining sin. The Bible presents Christ Himself—not a system of divine laws—as the ultimate “Key to the Scriptures.”
The Bible on Our Spiritual Identity Confirms:
Humanity’s spiritual origin and dignity, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” –Genesis 1:26-27
Our relationship with God is spiritual, not material, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth.” -John 4:24
Regeneration is through Christ, not simply through rejecting matter, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” -2 Corinthians 5:17
The Bible on Healing and Regeneration Confirms
Jesus’ ministry: He healed the sick, raised the dead, and forgave sins, “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” -John 11:43-44
Healing connected to faith, “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” -Mark 5:34
Healing as a sign of God’s kingdom: Miracles pointed to Christ’s authority and the coming of God’s reign, “But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.” -Luke 11:20
Ultimate healing: The Bible teaches that healing is not only physical but spiritual—deliverance from sin and death through Christ, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” -Romans 8:2
The Bible on Authority Confirms
Scripture as sufficient: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” -2 Timothy 3:16
Christ is the foundation: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” -1 Corinthians 3:11
The Bible is indeed the foundation for Christian faith, but it emphasizes Christ Himself as the living Word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14
About Jesus:
Christian Scientists, believe in the Bible and in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. There is a strong belief that the teachings and healing practice of Christ, or the application of the laws of God, can be practiced today, but do not believe in His deity.
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible is clear that Jesus is not only the Son of God but also fully divine. While Christian Science emphasizes His example and healing ministry, Scripture insists that His authority and power flow from His unique identity as God incarnate.
The Bible affirms that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. His healing ministry was not simply the application of divine laws but the demonstration of His divine authority. Denying His deity undermines the very foundation of salvation, because only God Himself could bear the penalty of sin and offer eternal life.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” -Colossians 2:9
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” -Hebrews 1:3
About Salvation:
Christian Science believes that salvation is an individual experience contingent upon individual understanding and assimilation of truth.
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible teaches that salvation is not contingent on human understanding or assimilation of truth, but on God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. While Christian Science emphasizes individual enlightenment, Scripture emphasizes Christ Himself as the Truth and the sole source of salvation.
The Bible teaches salvation is God’s gift, not something achieved by intellectual grasp or assimilation of truth. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” -Ephesians 2:8–9
Salvation rests on faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, not on personal enlightenment alone, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” -Romans 10:9
Truth is not merely an idea to assimilate—it is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” -Romans 10:13
Salvation is exclusively through Christ, not through human understanding of spiritual laws, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” -Acts 4:12
About The Trinity:
Christian Science Believes that God is separate in his divinity, but not deity. It departs from traditional Christianity in rejecting the deity (but not the divinity) of Jesus, seeing his life as exemplifying a divine sonship that belongs to all men and women as God’s children. The denomination is thus usually regarded as non-Trinitarian.
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible speaks directly to the deity of Jesus Christ and the Trinitarian nature of God, which are central to historic Christianity. The clearly teaches that Jesus is God in the flesh, not merely an example of divine sonship. It also affirms the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as the one true God. Denying Christ’s deity departs from the foundation of biblical Christianity, because only God Himself could provide salvation through the cross and resurrection.
One name, three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” -Matthew 28:19
The three persons are presented together in unity, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.” -2 Corinthians 13:14
Jesus promises the Comforter (Holy Spirit), distinct from Himself yet sent by the Father, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” -John 14:16–17
About Heaven:
Christian Science defines heaven very abstract, in metaphysical terms as “harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul.
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible presents heaven not merely as a state of harmony but as a real, eternal dwelling place with God, prepared by Christ for His people. It is defined by God’s presence, eternal joy, and worship, not simply by abstract principles.
Heaven is God’s dwelling place, “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” -Psalm 103:19
Heaven is eternal inheritance for believers, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” -Matthew 6:20
Heaven is a real place prepared by Christ for His followers, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” -John 14:2
Heaven is eternal joy and fellowship with God. Heaven is not just harmony—it is the end of suffering and the fullness of God’s presence, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” -Revelation 21:4
About Hell:
Christian Science interprets hell as a mental or spiritual condition, not a literal place of judgment. Christian Science does not teach that hell is a place to which people who fail in God’s sight are banished. Eternal damnation and the possibility that only some will attain heaven are insupportable doctrines. At the same time, Mary Baker Eddy did not deny the existence of hell as a condition of mortal thinking, which at some point in every human life appears real and insurmountable
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible teaches that hell is not merely a state of thought but a real place of eternal punishment for those who reject God. At the same time, it emphasizes God’s mercy and desire that all come to repentance. There are actually more references in the Bible pertaining to hell then there are heaven.
Hell is a place of punishment. Jesus Himself warns of hell fire as real judgment, “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” -Matthew 5:22
Hell is eternal separation from God. The Bible teaches eternal punishment for the unrepentant, contrasted with eternal life for the righteous, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” -Matthew 25:46
Hell is a place of torment. Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus depicts hell as conscious suffering, “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” -Luke 16:23
Hell is fire and destruction, it culminates in the lake of fire, which is the final judgment, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” -Revelation 20:14
Not all will attain heaven, Jesus teaches that not everyone will enter heaven; only those who follow Him, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” -Matthew 7:13-14
About Baptism:
Christian Science does not believe in believers baptism or that one is baptized with the Holy Spirit upon their faith in Christ. There is no valid baptism in the Christian Science Churches. They believe, “Baptism is the daily purification and spiritualization of thought, and communion is finding one’s conscious unity with God through prayer. (Christian Science Publishing Society, 1994).
What Does The Bible Say About This?:
The Bible teaches that baptism is a real, commanded act of obedience that follows faith in Christ. It symbolizes union with His death and resurrection, and is connected with receiving the Holy Spirit. Christian Science’s purely symbolic view departs from Scripture, which presents baptism as both spiritual and physical obedience to Christ’s command.
Baptism symbolizes union with Christ, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead… even so we also should walk in newness of life.” -Romans 6:3–4
Baptism is a visible sign of dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” -1 Corinthians 12:13
Resources: christianscience.com, Encyclopediabritanica.com, marybakerlibrary.org