mastermind3k
2006-02-06, 07:36
Lately, I’ve been at conflict with the teachings of Christian Science. As the followers say and teach, this reality is nothing more than an “imposter.” All objects that exist are only perceived through our five senses. Christians Scientists state that this unreality is a misunderstanding of what God and the nature of our existence is. As Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science states,
“There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter.
All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.
Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error.
Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.
Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness.
Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual. (p. 468)”
This makes sense up until the point that we live infinitely. When our lives are described as being infinite, it implies existence before this “fake” life. Upon asking how we existed before this life, I was told that we lived in as our true selves - as spiritual beings. Saying that we are spiritual beings is vague and can be interpreted in many different ways. From the teachings I have received, our spiritual selves are outside of this world and are with God. We are perfect. Essentially, it is heaven. But if it is heaven that we originally live in then why or how do we distance ourselves from God through a misinterpretation of him? We exist with him. On the car ride home from visiting my grandma, I asked my Dad why we would come from perfection to the so-called imperfection that we exist in now. He responded that it is for the mere enjoyment of experiencing something new. In a perfect world there would be no need of experiencing something new. You would have every necessity imaginable to man. The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis would supposedly explain this contradiction but teachers of Christian Science claim that the story of Adam and Eve are nothing more than story. As taught in church, the way to achieve a spot in heaven is through what you do in this life. “Universal salvation rests on progression and probation…. No final judgment awaits mortals…” (Science and Health, p. 291) When we die we live in the spiritual world whether we want to or not. The idea behind heaven and hell in church is, through the teachings of Jesus we learn the nature of our existence and so when we die and exist spiritually, we are not lost wondering where we are. Hell is putting faith in this reality and craving only for material things such as television and computers. When we move on to the spiritual world and have put our faith in this reality, we still look for objects in this reality and are lost in the spiritual world. If this is true then what about animals and plants? According the reasoning behind why we exist here, it’s from a misunderstanding of God and who we actually are. Plants and animals have no way of learning the teachings of Jesus. So does this mean that heaven is designated only for humans?
The next conflict is Jesus being interpreted as any other man. Christian Scientists claim that we can achieve the same level of spirituality as Jesus and have the capability to do the same things as he did. Many followers believe this because Mary Baker Eddy healed many people when doctors could do nothing. There is a monthly magazine that publishes healings that people performed on themselves or others. If they believe these stories, then they are entitled to believe that we the same capability as Jesus did. But the flaw in their belief is they trust God as being the ultimate being. By putting as much faith in Jesus as God and don’t accept them as one, you present yourself with two Gods. There should be no doubt that we are capable of healing ourselves with a much deeper understanding of our roots but to believe that we can emulate the same understanding as a spiritual being that always saw beyond our physical embodiment is ignorant. It should be thoroughly understood that Jesus reached a level beyond our comprehension in this realm. To believe that we can completely understand the mechanics of God and the spiritual world and in turn heal people all the time as Jesus did is simply a fallacy.
“There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter.
All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.
Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error.
Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.
Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness.
Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual. (p. 468)”
This makes sense up until the point that we live infinitely. When our lives are described as being infinite, it implies existence before this “fake” life. Upon asking how we existed before this life, I was told that we lived in as our true selves - as spiritual beings. Saying that we are spiritual beings is vague and can be interpreted in many different ways. From the teachings I have received, our spiritual selves are outside of this world and are with God. We are perfect. Essentially, it is heaven. But if it is heaven that we originally live in then why or how do we distance ourselves from God through a misinterpretation of him? We exist with him. On the car ride home from visiting my grandma, I asked my Dad why we would come from perfection to the so-called imperfection that we exist in now. He responded that it is for the mere enjoyment of experiencing something new. In a perfect world there would be no need of experiencing something new. You would have every necessity imaginable to man. The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis would supposedly explain this contradiction but teachers of Christian Science claim that the story of Adam and Eve are nothing more than story. As taught in church, the way to achieve a spot in heaven is through what you do in this life. “Universal salvation rests on progression and probation…. No final judgment awaits mortals…” (Science and Health, p. 291) When we die we live in the spiritual world whether we want to or not. The idea behind heaven and hell in church is, through the teachings of Jesus we learn the nature of our existence and so when we die and exist spiritually, we are not lost wondering where we are. Hell is putting faith in this reality and craving only for material things such as television and computers. When we move on to the spiritual world and have put our faith in this reality, we still look for objects in this reality and are lost in the spiritual world. If this is true then what about animals and plants? According the reasoning behind why we exist here, it’s from a misunderstanding of God and who we actually are. Plants and animals have no way of learning the teachings of Jesus. So does this mean that heaven is designated only for humans?
The next conflict is Jesus being interpreted as any other man. Christian Scientists claim that we can achieve the same level of spirituality as Jesus and have the capability to do the same things as he did. Many followers believe this because Mary Baker Eddy healed many people when doctors could do nothing. There is a monthly magazine that publishes healings that people performed on themselves or others. If they believe these stories, then they are entitled to believe that we the same capability as Jesus did. But the flaw in their belief is they trust God as being the ultimate being. By putting as much faith in Jesus as God and don’t accept them as one, you present yourself with two Gods. There should be no doubt that we are capable of healing ourselves with a much deeper understanding of our roots but to believe that we can emulate the same understanding as a spiritual being that always saw beyond our physical embodiment is ignorant. It should be thoroughly understood that Jesus reached a level beyond our comprehension in this realm. To believe that we can completely understand the mechanics of God and the spiritual world and in turn heal people all the time as Jesus did is simply a fallacy.