Does Divine Science have any connection with Scientology or Christian Science?
Why is “Science” in the title?
What Divine Science Believes About …
How Do We Read and Study the Bible?
How can we stay in a right relationship with life and with God?
Other things we teach in our church services and classes …
What is Divine Science?
Divine Science is a denomination that was founded in 1885 when Malinda E. Cramer, who had been an invalid for 23 years, had a life-changing spiritual realization. During those moments, the reality of God, Omnipresent, became infinitely more than a belief or a faith. She experienced the Presence of God. She quickly regained her health and began teaching others about the Omnipresence of God and how they could heal any inharmonious situation or condition in their lives through spiritual methods, whether the problem was physical, mental, emotional, interpersonal or financial.
Does Divine Science have any connection with Scientology or Christian Science?
No, Divine Science has no connection whatsoever with either Scientology or Christian Science.
Why is “Science” in the title?
In 1885 “Science” had a somewhat different meaning than it does today. To Malinda Cramer, a Divine “Science” meant an organized body of truths about God that you could prove, through your own experience, were true. This “Science” was based on the Omnipresence, the “Everywhere Presence” of God and the Universal Spiritual Laws that can be found in the teachings of Jesus and the Bible.
God
Like other Christian faiths, we believe that God is Omnipotent (all powerful), Omniscient (all knowing) and Omnipresent (everywhere present). More than other faiths, Divine Science emphasizes God’s Presence everywhere. We see our Creator as the “ground of the universe,” the basic Energy from which everything springs. These days, physicists recognize the existence of a universal field of energy. What we call God, they call the “… Zero Point Field” and they ascribe unlimited power and information to it. If, as we believe, God is Omnipresent, then all His qualities, like Goodness, Unconditional Love, Life, Knowledge, Power, Wisdom, Peace, Joy, etc. are either present or potential everywhere, too. God and His full nature are either present or potential in every person, place, thing, situation or condition. Jesus informs us that God isn’t just an impersonal universal force. He is a beloved Father with whom we can have a loving, intimate relationship.
Sin
Sin is a term in archery which means “to miss the bull’s-eye.” You never hear the term “sinful” used in Divine Science because it so often evokes feelings of shame and guilt. Everyone makes mistakes! We were created to learn through trial and error behavior. Why would God punish us for acting in the way He created us to be? While some mistakes have many more negative consequences than others, a mistake should not be an occasion for guilt, but an opportunity to “repent,” to “think again,” that is, to revisit our decisions and our behavior and firmly determine we’ll do better the next time. The mistake isn’t the most important thing. It’s what we do after the mistake that is all important. When we take responsibility for our error and make certain that we change our behavior and act in keeping with our spiritual nature (kindness, generosity, understanding, forgiveness, patience) we have learned a powerful spiritual lesson. Trial is turned into triumph.
Devil and Hell
Divine Science doesn’t believe in hell or damnation. How could a God of love, who is all knowing and all understanding of why we make mistakes, condemn us to a place of eternal punishment? And if God is present everywhere, where could such a place exist? Two totally opposite things can’t occupy the same place at the same time. We don’t believe that hell is a place we go after we die. We believe hell is a state of mind right here on earth where fear, rage, hatred, unforgiveness and other negative thoughts and feelings reign supreme. Divine Science doesn’t believe that we are punished for our mistakes. We are punished by our mistakes, because negative acts always have negative consequences. Mistakes are a learning opportunity. Didn’t Jesus mention “hell” several times in the New Testament? He did, but the word he used was “Gehenna”, which was translated “hell.” Gehenna was the garbage dump of the city of Jerusalem. It was there that they burned the refuse of the city. Jesus used it as a metaphor for self-destructive behavior or an inner state of mental suffering, torment and deep regret. We don’t believe in a personification of evil that tempts us to do negative things, i.e. the devil. We don’t believe in two powers. We believe there is only One Presence and One Power – God. When we make bad decisions, it’s not because of a Devil, but because of false belief, negative mental habits, or an ignorance of the consequences of our decisions.
Original Sin
We do not believe in original sin – that a mistake made by the so-called father of the human race has caused a permanent flaw in our character. Divine Science believes in Original Righteousness. We were created by God, in His Image, and Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” We are not a flawed creation. We are, “… very good.” God made no mistakes when he made us. Within us is the full potential of His Being!
Jesus Christ
Divine Science sees Jesus as the greatest spiritual teacher the world has ever known. We don’t believe he was the divine Exception. We believe Jesus to be the divine Example that we can and must follow. He was a completely God-centered spiritual genius with a Divine Mission – to show each of us how to live, and how to relate to God and our fellow man. He said, “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) This didn’t mean a stronger physical body, but a deeper, more vibrant spiritual life. He said that we must love God with all our “… heart, soul, mind and strength,” and “… thy neighbor as thyself.” (Mark 12:30) Jesus said that this great statement summed up all the teachings of Moses and the prophets. God is love and when we love, we put ourselves on God’s wavelength. We open ourselves to more love and greater good. Jesus had an ongoing awareness of his connection, his oneness with God. He had complete faith and trust in his Heavenly Father. He took no credit for the things he said and did. “… the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10) Jesus was the Son of God – but we are all children of God. The difference was that he knew it and we don’t! He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” (John 14:12) “He that believeth on me” means the person who believes as he believed, who follows Jesus’ method of faith and trust in God will do “… greater works than these.” Jesus taught a spiritual method that will bless and transform our experiences in life and make a loving, intimate relationship with God possible.
All People
If a person begins believing that God is Omnipresent, then they realize that He is within us and all around us. His full nature is present within you as your soul nature. This truth is powerfully supported by the great statement found in Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” You might ask, “Well, if God and all His qualities are either present or potential in me and everyone else, why don’t we have heaven on earth? Why does God allow people to do destructive, terrible things?” God has given all His children free will, and that includes the freedom to misuse our opportunities and abilities. Sometimes our beliefs, our experiences and environment can create mental and emotional habits that prompt us to think and act in ways that hurt us and others. We are always happiest and healthiest when we think and live in harmony with our soul nature.
What Am I?
Every one of us is an inseparably part of God, because Divine Energy is the basis for and is present throughout the whole created universe. We are drops in a Divine Ocean. There is only one Life, God Life, and we participate in it. There is only one Mind – Divine Mind – and we have self-awareness, the ability to think, to reason, to create, to understand because we are part of it. As Emerson said, “You exist from Him.” Our Divine Science “Statement of Being” says that we are, “… individualized expressions of God.” “Individualize” means “undivided.” Our oneness with our Creator Father is eternal and indivisible. Divine Science teaches that there is a non-physical part of us some call the soul, that is the Image of God in us. This unseen part of us is endowed with a full complement of Divine qualities and powers. Life and its many challenges present us with an ongoing opportunity to discover and express what we really are – spiritual beings having a human experience. Earth-school, with all its joys and pains, teaches us spiritual lessons that can help us realize our “Child of God” nature, the fullness of God’s Love and His unlimited Good available to us. When we deeply believe in ourselves as, first and foremost, God’s Child; when we know He is within and around us, always available to help us, life changes dramatically for the better!
Why are we here on Earth?
Divine Science doesn’t believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. If we read the Bible literally, we find there are many contradictions in it. The Bible writers often used metaphors, symbols and exaggeration, which were a normal, Semitic way of expressing yourself, rather than striving for historical accuracy as we do today. When we read about an “angry” God, a “vengeful” God, we know that the writer was projecting how he would feel and react rather than describing an All Powerful, All Wise, All Loving, Universal Power for Good. There were many “redactors” or editors of the Bible, men who felt they knew what should be included and what should be omitted both from the Old and New Testament. However, when we read with discrimination, discarding anything that a God of Love and Wisdom would never do or say, what is left can and does contain great inspiration, truth and beauty. We believe that there is an “inner meaning” in most Bible verses and when we know how to discern that inner meaning, we learn universal spiritual laws; we find wisdom, peace and uplift in its pages.
How do we read and study the Bible?
How can we stay in a right relationship with life and with God? In order to live with a sense of inner peace, we must live with the highest integrity. There must be inner and outer congruency. We “…walk the talk.” We observe the Ten Commandments; the Golden Rule; the Law of Sowing and Reaping (What we sow, we will surely reap); the Law of Love (that is, looking for the good in everyone and everything); and knowing the Spiritual Law that “Like attracts like.” To follow this spiritual path will assure a sense of inner harmony and harmony in our outer experiences. A right relationship with God requires time spent daily in prayer and meditation. It includes “Practicing the Presence of God,” an ongoing spiritual discipline where we try to always remember God’s presence within and around us. We talk to Him, regard Him as our dearest Friend, our Companion and Advisor. We seek to love God with “heart, soul, mind and strength” as Jesus taught us.
How can we stay in a right relationship with life and with God?
In order to live with a sense of inner peace, we must live with the highest integrity. There must be inner and outer congruency. We “…walk the talk.” We observe the Ten Commandments; the Golden Rule; the Law of Sowing and Reaping (What we sow, we will surely reap); the Law of Love (that is, looking for the good in everyone and everything); and knowing the Spiritual Law that “Like attracts like.” To follow this spiritual path will assure a sense of inner harmony and harmony in our outer experiences.
Other things we teach in our church services and classes …
- Not the Power of Positive Thinking, but the enormous Power of Positive Believing
- The body-mind connection
- Thought is a force
- Our beliefs become a self-fulfilling prophesy
- Our capacity for self-healing
- Our ability to live a life filled with hope and confidence
And much more!
Please do us the honor and pleasure of joining us if any of these ideas strike a note of familiarity in you. All are welcome!
