Scientology: What is it and what do Scientologists believe?

Similarities 

Differences 

Both the Church of Scientology and Christian ministry is composed of the most dedicated and ethical members 

Both religions have a Sunday service where writing are read loud during the service. 

Both use a cross as a symbol of their faith. 

In the Hubbard religion, a belief in God is not essential for one to be a scientologist while in Christianity, it is mandatory for members to believe in God and God is trinity, that is, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Ministry in the Church of Scientology is not limited to gender, sex, race or ethnicity while in Christianity, some believe that it is unbiblical for women to minister in church. 

Analysis 

Scientology is a religion founded on the belief that people are not so much of bodies and minds, but we are spiritual beings altogether. A man named L. Ron Hubbard founded Scientology, and he established the first Church of Scientology in 1954 in Los Angeles, California (Urban 2006). L. Ron Hubbard’s goal was to spread the spirituality of Scientology as far as he could, and nowadays more than 9000 Scientology churches exist across 167 different nations. Christianity was founded by Jesus Christ and his devoted disciples Paul and Peter. Today there are more than 2.2 billion followers of Christianity. Christians believe in the idea of Heaven and Hell and believe and put their faith into one God (Stefon, Sullivan, Spencer, & Wainwright, 2019). They practice their religion through prayer, the Bible, implementation of the holy sacraments, and recognizing holy holidays.  

Although Christianity and Scientology appear to be dissimilar, they do have a few things in common. Both religions come together to practice their religion. They have conventional churches where they practice their rituals. They practice group prayers in their congregations and recites their shared beliefs. Both Scientology and Christianity followers attend a Sunday mass at their convectional churches. Every Sunday, both religions have church service for the Sunday rituals and read from their religious books. Scientology reads from the writing of L Ron Hubbard while Christian read from the Holy book called the Bible. 

Besides, they both use a cross as a symbol for their faith. In the church of Scientology, the cross differs by four rays between the conventional vertical and horizontal arms, giving it the eight points. These eight points represent the eight dynamics of Scientology. They include self, family, community, humankind, general life forms, the universe, spiritual being and the Supreme Being. The Christian cross symbol is a representation and memorization of Christ’s death by crucifixion on the cross (Stefon, Sullivan, Spencer, & Wainwright, 2019) . 

In conclusion, both Scientology and Christianity have been perceived differently. Scientology is perceived to be connected with Satanists due to their theories that contradict the Bible teachings. They believe that man is naturally good, and it is upon him to survive. On the other hand, the bible states that all men have sinned, and it is by God’s grace; they can be saved. In addition to that, the code of ethics of Scientology is that one should not hesitate to retaliate, and man is highly defied. Christianity perceives this as adoration and worship for the man. On the other hand, Scientology perceives Christianity as a belief that was technologically installed in the minds of human beings by their founders, created to suit their interests. They argue that Jesus Christ never existed, and man can exist on their own with the help of the other human beings and brotherhood to the universe. 

References 

Stefon, M., Sullivan, L., Spencer, S., & Wainright, G. (2019). Christianity | Description, History, Doctrines, & Traditions. Retrieved 13 October 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity 

Urban, H. B. (2006). Fair game: Secrecy, security, and the church of Scientology in cold war America. Journal of the American Academy of Religion , 74 (2), 356-389.