They publish magazines named Daily Word and Unity. They have one of the largest religious mail order services in the world. They are the Unity School of Christianity (USC), and they are a pseudo-Christian cult.

The Daily Word is read by some Christians who are not aware of the heresy behind the biblical terminology it uses. Sometimes Christian study groups use the Daily Word as a devotional guide.

Founded in the last decade of the 19th century by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, this offspring of Christian Science (Mrytle was a student of Mary Baker Eddy) denies virtually every essential Christian doctrine.

Regarding Jesus Christ, USC teaches that Jesus and Christ are really two separate entities. Jesus was a man who displayed the Christ principle in His life. As a matter of fact, “Christ existed long before Jesus.” (The Revealing Word, 34. All books cited are published by USC in Unity Village, Missouri) This Christ principle is called “The incarnating principle of the God-man [not exclusively Jesus]; the perfect Word or idea of God.” (Ibid.) Consequently, Jesus is not the Christ, and the Christ dwelled in Jesus in such a special way that “Jesus is the Way-Shower.” (Ibid., 111) USC even goes so far as to state that it is error to believe that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God (See Talks on Truth, 166-67).

This counterfeit Jesus of USC is far removed from the biblical Jesus, who is the Christ (Matt 16:16), the only begotten (unique) Son (John 1:14, 18), God the Son (John 1:1; 20:28), and the way (John 14:6). Moreover, the apostle John gives a stern rebuke to those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, stating that such a person is the antichrist (I John 2:22).

According to USC, humanity is not to look outwardly to the cross for salvation: “The belief that Jesus in an outer way atoned for our sins is not salvation.” (The Revealing Word, 173) In addition, “Jesus of Nazareth played an important part in opening the way for every one of us into the Father’s kingdom. However, that way was not through his death on the cross…” (Talks on Truth, 164) Therefore, “Each of us has within him the Christ, just as Jesus had, and we must look within to recognize and realize our sonship, our divine origin and birth, even as He did.” (The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, 150) Yet, we find that Jesus did atone for our sins in an outer way by His shed blood on the cross (Eph 1:7; 2:16). We must believe in Him and His work on the cross in order to have eternal life.

As stated earlier, USC denies Jesus is the only begotten (unique) Son of God. The outcome of USC’s heresy regarding Jesus and humanity is found in the following exhortation to each of us: “Reveal yourself to yourself by affirming, ‘I am the Christ, son of the living God.'” (Ibid., 150) And this is not all: “God is I AM, and man, His offspring, is also I AM.” (The Revealing Word, 100)

“Trinity” is a Christian term used by USC, but its definition is entirely different from what we find in the Bible. Trinity is defined as “mind, idea, and expression, or thinker, thought, and action.” (The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, 664). We also read, “The Father is Principle. The Son is that Principle revealed in a creative plan. The Holy Spirit is the executive power of both Father and Son carrying out the creative plan.” (Ibid., 629)

Contrary to the biblical teaching that Jesus was resurrected after he died, and that His resurrection was bodily (see John 2:19-22; 20:24-27; Luke 24:36-40), USC teaches that Jesus “projected the divine-body idea, and through it His mortal body was transformed into an immortal body. This was accomplished before the crucifixion.” (Mysteries of John, 173) Since “resurrection” is redefined to mean “The restoring of mind and body to their original, undying state” (The Revealing Word, 169), Jesus’ mind was elevated to become one with God, or Principle, when He walked the earth before His crucifixion.

With the growth of the cults, and with the apathy among Christians concerning the necessity to learn and apply the essentials of the Christian faith to their lives, the teachings of USC can easily escape detection. All too often I have entered Christian homes only to find some form of heresy on the coffee table or book shelf. Satan is the master counterfeiter, and the cults that he energizes are polished counterfeits. Let us study the Word of God and pray for discernment in these last days.