Are Christian Science and Scientology the same thing? I'm writing a report on Christian Science for religion but don't know if there the same thing or not. Thanks in advance for your answers.
2007-03-14 05:56:41 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Does anyone know how many members there are worldwide? Thanks for the answers so far.
2007-03-14 06:07:09 · update #1
There are a bunch of differences.
Christian Science prefers to rely on "prayer, faith and spiritual healing" rather than drugs and surgery. They believe that Jesus was "the Wayshower", a proof by example of the divine method of healing sin, sickness and death. They aren't officially forbidden to accept drug treatment or undergo surgery, though most do in accordance with the Biblical interpretations and teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the church.
Scientology does not teach any members to refuse medical treatment that would ensure their survival. The medicine Scientology opposes is psychotropic drugs (which includes drug treatment for conditions like ADHD, schizophrenia and autism, and pretty much excludes use of everything from aspirin and caffeine to LSD and heroin). They pretty much support only drugs that will save your life. There are no teaching which prohibit surgery or necessary treatments.
Both were founded by previously unremarkable individuals. Mary Eddy, mentioned above, was the youngest of 6 children. She developed Christian Science in 1869 after turning to the Bible, experiencing a sudden abatement of her symptoms, and coming to the conclusion that was an illusion that could be healed through a clearer perception of God. L. Ron Hubbard was a mediocre science fiction writer with an interest in the occult and in making money. He created a new self-help method (Dianetics), called it a religion and henceforth Scientology was born.
The scripture of Christian Science of obviously the Bible. They also, as mentioned previously, rely on the teachings and writing of Mary Eddy. The "scripture" in Scientology are the writings of Hubbard. What Hubbard has said and wrote is considered infallible and invaluable and NOT subject to interpretation.
Christian Scientists are generally like Christians besides the issues they have with modern medicine. They rely on the Bible, consider God and Jesus to be their personal saviors, go to church, pray, etc etc. Scientologists, on the other hand, are TOLD that believe in God is compatible with Scientology while the TRUTH is that Hubbard has stated that belief in Christ and God is an "implant", a false mental implant.
When it comes to ethics and morality, Scientology subscribes to Hubbard's interpretation of "ethics". Read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Scientology%29
Christian Scientists follows the commandments and teachings of the Bible just like Christians.
For more details as to what Scientologists believe, I suggest reading this pdf pamphlet: http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Letter.pdf and reading some of my previous answers about Scientology here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070116124002AAFUl25
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070223101800AARKR3f
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070222202928AAC0iiu
2007-03-14 10:11:14 · answer #1 · answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 · 3⤊ 3⤋
The ONLY similarity is that both names include the word "Science", but they use terms in very different ways.
There is absolutely no relationship or similarity between these systems of philosophy or religion.
Some of the false information posted about Scientology actually comes from confusion between Christian Science and Scientology. If you are seeing information that sounds like Christian Science, but is attributed to Scientology, this is probably the cause.
Most of the information posted by the public or former, disgraced members of any major religious organization is incorrect. It is a fallacy to believe something is true just because it is frequently repeated because most of the posters are only repeating each other's misinformation.
2016-10-12 02:39:01 · answer #2 · answered by Art M 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No they are completely different religions.
Scientology is not Bible based.
Here's a description of it to give you some idea of how it is different:
Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. When I say "applied" I mean you actually use it in your life to change or improve existing conditions. It is a very practical religion.
All religions if you learn about them have a basic philosphy, but they also have certain dogma, rituals and observances, and a certain faith or belief is required. There is nothing wrong with this, but Scientology is not that kind of religion. It does not intrude on anyones faiths of beliefs in the area of God , the Supreme Being, or the Infinite. This area is left totally up to the indivdual as pasrt of his life. It does not conflict.
You can have no specific religious beliefs and still benefit from it.
And it is only true for you according to your own observation and experience with it.
It is also not a messianic religion. This means there is no worship of messiahs in Scientology. There are no “beliefs” as such because a truth should be according to ones own observation and experience.
The dictionary definition that applies:
Religion: The spiritual or emotional attitude of one who recognises the existence of superhuman power or powers.
The most basic principle of Scientology is that YOU are your own immortal soul, that this is not a "thing" you HAVE but what YOU actually are.
The whole purpose of Scientology is to increase an individual's understanding and awareness of himself. and lifeAnd thereby his native abilities .
When you do this the sphere and zone of his positive influence increases and moves outward into his life, his family ,his friends, his groups and mankind which he is part of.
How this result is achieved is the "technology" of Scientology, which was developed by L.Ron Hubbard after his extensive research and the discoveries he made, about the human spirit. The basic religious philosophy and knowledge of Scientology is very old, going back 10,000 years at least to the Veda or Vedic Hymns from the East. L. Ron Hubbard researched and made new discoveries about the human spirit. He developed technology from these discoveries to apply to increase spiritual awareness and ability.
He completed his research before his death in 1986 and left all of his results and copyrights
to the Church of Scientology along with most of his considerable personal estate, when he died.
He published a book in 1951 to communicate the basic principles he discovered called: " Scientology The Fundementals of Thought"
There are currently over 10 million Scientologists in more than 163 countries world wide. However we are a new religion, only 53 years old.
The true story of Scientology as a religion goes like this:
1. A philosopher developes a philosophy about life and death.
2. People find it interesting.
3. People find it works.
4. People pass it along to others.
5. It grows.
This is just an overview.
L. Ron Hubbard explained fully the theology and technologies of Scientology in more than 500,000 pages of writings, including dozens of books and over 2,000 tape-recorded public lectures.
2007-03-14 16:29:21 · answer #3 · answered by thetaalways 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are different belief systems completely. Christian Science is a religion that believes in Christ. Scientology has a belief in reincarnation which is not a christian belief and inconsitant with being a christian. One cannot be both.
Scientology has the belief that psychiatry and psychiatric meds are wrong and that Auditing is the way to get rid of problems.
Christian Scientists do not believe in medical care because the belief is that god will cure you. I had a neighbor who went blind because she was a christian scientist who had cataracts and that was contrary to her beliefs to get them fixed.
If you want more info on Scientology look here http://www.xenu.net It also has a link to the south park episode about scientology which tells you about the beliefs that people high up have.
2007-03-15 20:29:44 · answer #4 · answered by adobeprincess 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm a Scientologist. No they are different things.
Hello Smarterthanthou,
www.tfccs.com
Christian Science At a Glance
Christian Science is fully explained in Eddy’s primary text on spirituality and healing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
Membership in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, is not a prerequisite for the practice of Christian Science.
A means of spiritual care through which individuals have found better emotional and physical health, answers to life’s deepest issues and progress on their spiritual journeys. Healthcare decisions are always a matter of individual choice.
Basic ideas include:
God is divine Love, Father-Mother, supreme.
The true nature of each individual as a child of God is spiritual.
God’s infinite goodness, realized in prayer, heals.
www.scientology.org is the site for Scientology facts.
2007-03-14 06:00:23 · answer #5 · answered by michaeljripley 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No, they are not the same thing at all. Christian science is a semi-loony Christian sect which believes that modern medicine is useless and only Jesus can heal people, or something similar. Scientology is completely different. They believe in alien space lords called Xenu, brain implants, thetans, all kinds of really odd things. Scientology has no relation to Christianity.
CS was started by a woman called Mary Baker Edy ages ago. Scientology was started some time in the 50s by L Ron Hubbard, a washed-up science fiction author who started the religion to make money.
2007-03-14 05:59:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 3⤋
No
Mary Baker Eddy stole many of her Ideas in Science and Health from Phineas T Quimby.
Scientology stems from Works Created by L Ron Hubbard, and there is some indication that 1967 was the Watershed Year, that is pre 1967 Scientology books went one way, and post 1967 Scn Books went another.
SCN books from the 1950s do show he claimed a Phd from Sequoia University, later Books do not
2007-03-14 05:59:50 · answer #7 · answered by Mictlan_KISS 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
They're similar in that both of them ignore facts, contradict reality and look for gaps in scientific knowledge to place their faith.
Scientology is it's own religion however, started by sci-fi writer L.Ron Hubbard. Christian "science" is obviously christian, and the two beliefs are mutually incompatible. So they're not the same.
Though in several ways scientology is actually a little more accurate and scientific than "christian science" in that scientology acknowledges some minor scientific background. It's all bogus of course.
Christian "science" though, as your research will no doubt demonstrate, is not actual science as it never forwards any hypothesis that's testable, demonstrable, repeatable, or anything else required for logic and understanding - nor do they have experiments or perform other parts of the scientific method. They simply try to find pieces that science can't explain and simply pronounce "that's evidence for god!" It's very much a leap of faith clumsily and pathetically disguised as "science."
EDIT:
There are around 500,000 scientologists worldwide. Not sure about christian scientists but I'd assume there are only a few of them.
2007-03-14 06:07:15 · answer #8 · answered by Mike K 5 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Mary Baker Eddy started Christian Science and L. Ron Hubbard started the other one.
2007-03-14 06:00:32 · answer #9 · answered by Royal Racer Hell=Grave © 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that there is any close relationship between science and christianity. Scientology was written by a science fiction writer. They may have a website to tell you more, or you could call John Travolta, or Tom Cruise. They might go with you as props when you do your presentation, and John might let you fly his jet.
2007-03-14 06:01:53 · answer #10 · answered by Devil in Details 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋