What Christian Scientists Believe

More on the Church of Christ, Scientist

•	Belief in Deity God is incorporeal Spirit--creative Principle, supreme, omnipotent Father-Mother, omnipresent, omniscient--the only intelligence and all that actually exists. God is Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love. "God is All-in-all."
•	Incarnations We are all sons/daughters of God, though not at the level of understanding of Christ Jesus. Jesus was a divine Exemplar, and Christ is the divine idea of "sonship"--the Master. Jesus showed the way (the “wayshower”) for all to realize Truth, which is God.
•	Origin of Universe and Life The universe and humans are reflections of God's likeness and image, which is Spirit--without beginning or end. Illusions, or delusions, of a material world and material body result from error in thought and ignorance of the true and only nature of reality, which is spiritual. God is all that truly exists.
•	After Death Death is the belief in death. There is no death as humans are immortal spirit. After that which we call "death," spiritual development toward Truth continues until all evil, or "error," destroys itself. Heaven and hell are not places, but states of consciousness that continue after death. "Heaven" is the self-made eternal bliss of realizing oneness with God. "Hell" is the self-made anguish of believing in pain and death.
•	Why Evil? Evil is the belief in evil. God is all that is real and God is completely good; therefore, good is real and evil is an illusion/delusion. The only power evil has is to destroy itself; attempts to destroy good naturally result in punishment for the evildoer. Sin creates its own hell. Not realizing one's true nature as spirit results in selfishness, which can lead to error and disharmony.
•	Salvation Salvation lies in bringing oneself into harmony with one's true nature as God's reflection, through good works, patience, meekness, love, watchfulness, prayerful gratitude, devout obedience in following Christ's example. There are two basic commandments: that one turn only to God, perfect Mind, for guidance--the Mind that was also in Christ; and that one "love thy neighbor as thyself." Healing and immortality are realized by becoming conscious that the only true reality is God, which is Love, and that one's true and only nature is in God's likeness. As one realizes the error of belief in the reality of suffering and evil, these images of thought impressed upon the mortal mind can be altered, thus banishing sickness, death, and sin--testimony to the power of faith in God, of Mind over matter.
•	Undeserved Suffering Though appearing real, suffering (and illness) is a false belief or error of mortal thought. Suffering is overcome by asserting the truth of one's being as an idea of God. Often, a trained Christian Science practitioner is called to support the patient's thought through prayerfully "knowing the truth."
•	Contemporary Issues The church claims no position on abortion, though such a step would clearly not be in harmony with seeing God’s child as perfect and divine. Reliance on conventional medicine, though discouraged, is left up to the individual. Physicians are not viewed antagonistically; but their methods are seen as ineffective because they treat disease as originating in the body rather than mind. Homosexuality is often regarded negatively, a belief that requires healing through Christian Science practices--the Mother Church has not announced opposition to this view.