How is scientology similar to other religions

Get to Know the Real You. Your first step to find out more can be as simple as a free Personality Test. Related Sites. Ron Hubbard. What is Scientology? HOME L. Scientologists home How to Stay Well. What are some specific examples? Can Scientology do anything to improve the world situation? How are secular programs based on L. Who are the Volunteer Ministers? What is the Way to Happiness Foundation?

What is Applied Scholastics? What is Criminon? What is Narconon? What is the Foundation for a Drug-Free World? Why are Scientologists so vocal on the subject of human rights? Why is Scientology opposed to psychiatric abuses? What is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights? Why is the Church of Scientology considered a pioneer regarding Freedom of Information laws? Jesus did too, but unlike these others, Jesus resurrected.

Jesus , being God , had the power to lay down his life and take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father John — Only Christ has power over death as proved by his resurrection.

Only he is in a position to inform us what happens after death. Those in Scientology, even its founder, could not conquer death. Ron Hubbard finally died of a stroke. According to the Bible , death is a punishment for sin as far back as the first sin with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 see also Genesis and Romans A fundamental tenet of Scientology is that Man is basically good; that he is seeking to survive; and that his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.

However, his experiences in the physical universe, through many lifetimes, have led him into evil, where he has committed harmful acts or sins, causing him to become aberrated departing from rational thought or behavior. Through Scientology, one confronts these acts, erases the ignorance and aberration which surrounds them, and comes to know and experience truth again.

All religions seek truth. Freedom of the spirit is only to be found on the road to truth. Sin is composed, according to Scientology, of lies and hidden actions and is therefore untruth. Scientologists consider things that are constructive and enhance survival as good and things that are destructive as evil. Scientology, like Eastern religions, also holds to a form of reincarnation, though it is slightly different.

They have a varied understanding of the soul which they call a thetan that endured countless lifetimes. They also hold to a multitude of races of mankind. Each person is seen as a spirit or thetan what makes you, you that has a mind the expression of thoughts and emotions and inhabits a body a temporary physical expression of the self.

Hubbard described the odd account of the origin of man in Scientology: A History of Man. The book has gone through several editions, but the history of the thetans and their origin on alien planets and subsequent evolution is described in detail.

The engrams of trauma in these previous lives hinders survivability and must be removed through auditing. As such, his teaching has been ridiculed by many people. Man was made by a perfect God in original perfection Genesis —27, 31; Deuteronomy We were made in the image of the God who created us.

Thus, we die and are in need of a Savior. This culminates in death Romans , which results in the second death e. In Genesis 3, man goes from a having a perfect relationship with God and a perfect nature, to a relationship which is severed and a nature that is sinful. Genesis 3 describes this historical account of the Fall. Genesis —7 states:. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. In Romans chapter 5, Paul ties this account into his reasoning on the topic of justification by faith through grace, which is found in Christ. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin , and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Romans — Throughout the Old and New Testament, the authors of Scripture paint a narrative not only of the sinful condition of man but his actions, which show that he has a fallen nature. In the Old Testament, God implemented a sacrificial system to remind us of the need for a sacrifice and to point to the One who would redeem mankind from their sin.

Christ, being God , was an acceptable sacrifice to endure the punishment from God the Father. Jesus said:. Upon death, God will judge man based on his Word. Those who die without receiving Christ, who covers all our sin with his death, burial, and resurrection, will die an eternal death in hell described as eternal fire. There will be no rest from this punishment. Since sin came into the world, our hearts and minds have been corrupted and can only be set free through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet the entirety of Scientology comes from the mind and actions of one man, L. Ron Hubbard. The authority of God has been replaced with authority in a man.

Thus, in the simplest sense, it is merely a variant form of humanism. But man is not the authority. Even God writes of man:. In Scientology, this view flows from the theory of theta the life force, or spirit creating MEST a coined word for the physical universe, Matter, Energy, Space and Time. In fact, it could be said that the creation of the universe is an inseparable part of that theory. The origins of theta and the creation of the physical universe set forth in Scientology are described in The Factors , written by L.

Ron Hubbard in Theta is expressed as an impersonal force or spirit manifested in individual thetans which created the physical universe. The thetan is the impersonal creator or god for Scientology hence the name Thetanism is sometimes used. Scientologists recognize that a god exists, and this god is mentioned twice in the Creed of the Church of Scientology.

The age of the earth is not addressed by the Church of Scientology specifically on their website. However, tidbits on their website reveal they believe in an older earth, as opposed to the biblical age of the earth. Couple this with their view of nearly infinite past lives for individuals makes for a very old existence.

So the concept of millions and billions of years is a common factor among Scientologists. Hubbard dates some of the early events in his creation myth to a quadrillion years in the past. There are many erroneous beliefs built into the Church of Scientology regarding salvation. The first issue is the problem of reincarnation. The orthodox Hindu idea of reincarnation teaches that when you die, your soul does not go to heaven or hell. Instead, you soul goes into some other kind of body here on earth.

This body can be an insect, fish, animal or human body. Scientologists prefer to use rebirth instead of reincarnation to describe their means for salvation even though reincarnation is included in many of their teachings.

Hubbard believed that the way to salvation is to end the continuous cycle of birth and rebirth—a distinctive of Eastern religions. The third Holder of the secrets was the founder of the Shugendo religion.

In addition and reflective of his background as a Muslim, Mr. Sawada was accorded the venerated Islamic title of Haji, having completed a pilgrimage to Mecca. Toggle navigation. Introduction II. What is Scientology III. Scientology Practice—Auditing V. Moreover, while many religions promise salvation in the hereafter, Scientology offers certainty of eternal salvation now.

Then, too, Scientology makes it possible for any religion to attain its goals and is therefore a religion of religions. Get to Know the Real You. Your first step to find out more can be as simple as a free Personality Test. Related Sites. Ron Hubbard. What is Scientology?

HOME L. Scientologists home How to Stay Well. Is Scientology like hypnotism, meditation, psychotherapy or other mental therapies? In what way does Scientology differ from other religions?