Modern Religions

This is the homepage for the Modern Religions category, a subcategory of Belief.

Christian Science

Also known as Church of Christ, Scientist.

Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) was the founder of Christian Science. Sickly for much of her life, she sought treatment from many different healers, including a mesmerist and magnetic healer named Phineas Quimby. This experience inspired Eddy to write a book in 1875 titled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, in which she equated God with the mind and argued that sickness is spiritual, not material. Eddy believed that mental techniques could be used not only for healing, but also to harm people, which she termed “malicious animal magnetism.” She laid out guidelines for her church in The Manual of the Mother Church.

There are 26 topics for Christian Science’s Lesson-Sermons, but sometimes “Christ, Jesus” gets read three times in a year.

Adherents of Christian Science meet on Sundays in Reading Rooms (which were established in The Manual of the Mother Church), mostly in the United States but around the world.

Christian Science publishes a newsletter focused on domestic and international current events, titled The Christian Science Monitor. It was founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

Christian Science does not condone the use of medicine because of the belief that disease comes from fear.

Bahá’i

Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892) was the founder of the Bahá’í faith. He was a follower of the Báb, the founder of a predecessor of Bahá’í called Bábism. At the Garden of Ridvan, Bahá’u’lláh declared himself to be the fulfillment of the Báb’s prophecy about “he whom God shall make manifest.” He was exiled to the outer reaches of the Ottoman Empire for fear that his teachings would cause unrest. He was later imprisoned in Acre (in what is now Israel), where he spent much of his time writing texts such as the Kitab-i-Aqdas (literally, “the book of laws”). Bahá’u’lláh’s other books include The Book of Certitude and Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.

For more information, see the BBC’s page on Bahá’i

Mormonism

Joseph Smith (1805–1844) was the founder of Mormonism (many of whose followers now call themselves Latter-Day Saints). He is said to have had a vision in which the angel Moroni directed him to a set of golden plates, from which he claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon, the founding scripture of Mormonism. Based on Ezekiel’s vision of a New Jerusalem, he hoped to establish a latter-day Zion in America. Smith initially planned to establish his Zion in Independence, Missouri, but his followers were driven out of the area and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. When the Nauvoo Expositor criticized him for his teachings on polygamy and other matters, he had the press destroyed and was charged with inciting a riot; while awaiting trial, he was killed by a mob.

Brigham Young (1800s) led the Mormons to Utah.

Book of Mormon: Published in 1830 by the founder of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith. Mormons believe that the prophet Moroni revealed the location of the Book of Mormon to Smith, and then Smith translated it from a “reformed Egyptian” language. The Book of Mormon is inscribed on thin gold plates, and documents the history of a group of Hebrews who migrated to America around 600 BC. This group divided into two tribes: the Lamanites (ancestors of American Indians), and the highly civilized Nephites, a chosen people instructed by Jesus but killed by the Lamanites around AD 421.

Ethical Culture Movement

Founded by Felix Adler (US, 1800s-1900s)

Nation of Islam

Elijah Muhammad (US, 1900s) was a leader from 1934-1975.