Christian Science vs.

Christian Doctrine
Mormon God the Father - Pure Spirit - An impersonal force - Did not create matter - The evil Jehovah created matter - Christ: the infallible spirit - Jesus: fallible man, became the son of God - Born through the thoughts of Mary thinking about God - Not separate from the eternal Spirit - Impersonal force Christian - Eternally God, there is no other - Personal - Created the material universe ex nihlo - Virgin born through the power of the Holy Spirit who came upon Mary (creation) - God in the flesh, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father - Fully God and Fully Man (theos-anthropos) - The agent of creation and salvation - Co-equal with God the Father and God the Son - Personal, not an impersonal force - Each person has a definite beginning, not preexistent - sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus Christ - Sinful by nature - Satan lied to Adam and Eve - Man is not like God - The fall was not necessary - Disobedience at heart of sin resulting in spiritual death - Salvation is through the act of Christs death on the cross, burial and resurrection - The blood of Christ is the perfect sacrifice for mans sin and brings reconciliation with God - Salvation could not be attained without the cross - Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone - Only two destinations - Heaven: only those who humbled themselves through faith - Hell: Reserved for Satan, his angelic followers and those who refuse to believe and reject God and His revelation - Biblical in origin - Describes Gods nature - Father, Son and Spirit co-equal, co-eternal, and personal - Completely reliable, the standard for all doctrine, over 5000 manuscripts available - Fully inspired by God - Only source for doctrine - Written in recognizable languages and translated by many

God the Son

Holy Spirit

Man

- Perfect like God since made in Gods image - Victim of bad thinking

Fall

- An illusion, man began to think of himself as material - Jehovah created the Fall - Jehovah equals Satan - An illusion as well - The blood of Jesus had no effect one way or the other - Jesus figured out how to beat death and heal himself

Atonement

Heaven and Hell

- Hell is what man makes of it by improper thinking; man believes that he is material in nature and then works to care for that matter - Hell is mental anguish - Heaven is harmony, the reign of divine science - An invention of the apostate Church - Wisdom, Truth and Love or Spirit, Truth and Love or Life, Truth and Love - Bible is not rightly interpreted since the Apostles learned of the Divine Science then later generations forgot it - Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is that right interpretation

Trinity

Scripture

Doctrine

- True doctrine is found in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy - Proper interpretation of the Bible is necessary in order to get true doctrine - The Manual for the Mother Church

Denominations

- Not applicable; Christian Science is the only right way - Unnecessary; the only grace was learning to follow Jesus thought process of healing

Grace

Priesthood

- There is no priesthood - Leaders are trained in the techniques of Mary Baker Eddy

Practices

- Right Thinking - Communion: uniting with the impersonal Spirit thru right thinking - Marriage: has no eternal significance since it is material in nature

- Established through careful reading of the Bible - Has come down through the teachings of the apostles and right reason and affirmed in the traditions of the Church - Prophetic word has ceased (Scripture is closed) - Salvation is opened to all who believe (not predicated on ethnicity, language, marital status, etc) - Unchanging in base doctrines - Formed over disagreements in worship practices (infant baptism, Lords Supper) - Practices consistent with the New Testament - Grace given freely - Works are a result of grace given - Perfection cant be obtained in this life which is why grace is necessary - Christ is great and only high priest who mediates the covenant between man and God - Priesthood of Believers based on doctrine of access to high priest - Believers are ambassadors that introduce people to Christ - No secrets required - Baptism: required for obedience, but not for salvation; it is individual and cannot be done for another - Communion: bread and wine/juice symbolizes Christs body and blood Church: open to anyone who will come in - Marriage: recognized either in or outside of the Church (civil marriage) and does not confer salvation or godhood - Dietary Laws: were OT regulations for the Jews which were superseded by Christs death, burial and resurrection; may be followed for health, but not for salvation purposes