Welcome to Vlad's Subject podcast.

Our mission at Vladimir Subject Ministries is to reach the world globally and disciple them digitally.

Let's dive into this episode. Is Christian science Christian or is it a cult? What are some of the differences between

their belief system and the Christian Orthodox view? Now Christian Science Church is not

Christians who believe in science. This is totally different. Let's start from the beginning.

So it starts with Phineas, Parkhurst, Quimsy. He was the founder of the New Thought Movement.

He was from New England and his practices involved using hypnosis and suggestion to heal.

He had this teaching where sickness is only in your mind

and it's stemming from wrong thought. Somewhat traceable to Plato who taught that ideas

are more real than the material substances which reflect those forms. Now, this guy, Thienis, he had a student named Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian science,

drawing upon his teaching and modifying them. Now a little bit about Mary Baker Eddie.

She was born in 1821 and died at 1910. She was from New Hampshire. She experienced much suffering in her life.

Her first husband died six months into the marriage. Second marriage ended in divorce. She became

student and patient of Phineas Quimby. She claims that in 1866 she slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk and was bedridden for months and near death.

But that Phineas' teaching resulted in her miraculous recovery.

She penned science and health with key to the scriptures in 1872.

She founded the Church of Christ in Boston, Massachusetts in 1879, and in 1810, she died from pneumonia.

Here are some of the basic statistics of the Christian Science Church. As of 2023, there's 1,253 churches and societies worldwide.

839 churches and societies in the United States.

So it's not a very large sect.

These churches are in decline.

Christian science has lost over 1,000 churches and societies in the USA alone since late 1980s.

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