Christian Science, Scientology, Wicca, and Mormons: A Comparison of Modern Religions

Christian Science, Scientology, Pagan Witchcraft, and Mormonism

Have you ever wondered what new religions are being invented everyday? Really, if you wanted to, you could start your own religion. These days, some of the newest religions are along the lines of Christian Science, Scientology, practicing Wicca’s, and Mormons. You have to think though, what do these religions have in common?

Let’s start with Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy founded Christian Science in the 19th century with the primary goal of “…Love. Christian Science is about feeling and understanding God's goodness.” This, according to the Christian Science website is what people truly believe in. There are six “tenets” of Christian Science:

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.”

Today, these same rules are followed. It is all about spreading God’s love in combination with the belief in one specific God.

With Scientology, things get a little different. Instead of the belief in spreading love, it is more about finding oneself and understanding ones spiritual path. Being a bit more modern than Christian Science, Scientology was founded in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard. It has gained popularity in recent years through press and word of mouth. For example, many celebrities have spoken out about joining and leaving the church, such as Tom Cruise and Leah Remini. The three most important fundamentals are these:

“Man is an immortal spiritual being.

His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.

His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.”

With this thought, it is really based on being your full true self and accepting that you’ve lived many lives beforehand and are going to live many more in the future. With this in mind, being the best spiritual person you can be is mandatory. If you believe in what you do, you can do anything.

Again, staying more modern, we can look at another religion – Pagan Witchcraft. In common terms, Wicca is widely practiced across the world. Since 1968, Wiccans have been putting their faith in the universe rather than one specific God. This goes along with their tenets being:

“Harmony

Reincarnation

Power Through Knowledge

Law of Attraction

And imagine that Diety exists in the center of your star”

Harmony refers to looking to the sun, moon, and changing seasons for comfort and trying to connect with them in order to keep balance. With reincarnation comes the belief that we are never just one person. After we die, our soul progresses on. Then, with knowledge comes self-empowerment. The Law of Attraction, however, is not necessarily what it sounds like. What this means is similar to Christianity, as it is what you do to others will be done to yourself. And then the Diety, a God-ess that transcends gender and human emotions. This is the center of the Wiccan religion. Relying on things like Earth, fire, water, and air, Pagan Witchcraft depends on the elements and allows for a belief in nature.

Finally, we move on to Mormonism. We revert back to a little less modern times now, as Mormonism started in the 1820s, following the true path that says, “The idea of God as our parent is not allegorical; it is literal. Our mortal bodies are remarkable scientific wonders and works of art—they are widely diverse, mortal bodies patterned after God’s own glorified, immortal body.” With this, Mormons believe that God is their one true father and that this great gift must be returned to him. They live their lives saying, “Throughout time, God has asked us, as His children, to consecrate (or give back to Him) portions of all that he has given to us. We make that contribution in the form of offerings, tithes, and service to others. And above all else, He asks us to consecrate a portion of our free will through obedience.” That is how they find their spirituality – through listening and obeying their God.

All of these religions do have something in common, despite their very apparent differences. First, we can compare Christian Science and Scientology. With Christian Science being a branch of Christianity, it is truly hard to compare bot religions in terms of a “God.” So, we can look at values instead. The values of Christian Science are mostly based around the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. However, one thing remains true. Christian science is about spreading love and knowledge. This is also true about Scientology, just in different terms. Scientology is about finding ones true self. Christian Science is about knowing your true self and sharing that belief with others.

The same can be said about Mormonism. Mormonism focuses on God being the holy father and having a part of him in every one of his creations. This, compared to Christian Science, is almost the same thing. Both religions have a heavy focus on God the Father and believe that through discipline and obedience, God will reward every one of his followers.

Then finally, we can compare Pagan Witchcraft to Christian Science, Scientology, and Mormonism all together. There is not much to compare here, as Wiccans use most of the elements around them as resources, but we can note how every one of these religions have some sort of God type. Whether it is man himself, God himself, or a genderless being – something or someone is being prayed and worshipped. This is just how similar most religions are.

To sum up, not all religions are as different as we think. Through patience and taking the time to learn these things, we can find that regardless of what religion we are devout to, we are mostly still the same. There is always some way to find a common ground between two people, two religions, or even two universes – you just have to look for them.