Frequently Asked Questions

What is Divine Science?
In “Divine Science Its Principle and Practice” (the Divine Science textbook), Page 27, we find the following:
“An organized teaching pertaining to God and his manifestation in creation would be known as divine knowledge, knowledge of Truth. And when this knowledge is based upon eternal God-Principle as the source of all that is, it becomes a science. Thus we have a divine science; a science of unity of the Creator and His creation; of God action and the results; of existence proceeding from God or Being. Hence the teaching of Divine Science is classified knowledge of Being manifesting in existence. It is God expressing in creation. It is the Creator revealed in the creature.”

The foundation truth of Divine Science is that God, limitless Being, is equally present everywhere . . . God is pure Spirit -- absolute, changeless, eternal -- manifesting in all creation.

What do Divine Scientists believe about God?
Divine Scientists believe that God is omnipresent (all-present); omnipotent (all-power); omniactive (all-active); and omniscient (all-knowing). Everything, both invisible and visible, is an expression of God; God and God acting is all there is. God is the universal Mind. God is creative intelligence, Principle and not person.

Do Divine Scientists believe that theirs is the only true religion?
Certainly not. They know that some part of the Truth lies in all religions, but no one religion holds all the truths. All churches have value in that each one fills the needs of its members; but there is still only One God of all.

Is Divine Science CHRISTIAN?
Also considered to be a study in Christian metaphysics, Divine Science embraces a symbolic interpretation of the Bible. This in no way invalidates the Bible's historical significance, but rather adds another dimension of understanding to traditional teaching. Divine Science studies the Bible's mystical teaching and looks to Jesus the Christ (the anointed) as the Wayshower. Therefore, Divine Science is christian.

Do Divine Scientists Follow the Bible?
Divine Scientists follow the precepts and teachings of Jesus, the Christ, which are contained in the Bible. Recognizing that the early prophets were great men, divinely led and illumined, they find inspiration in the Old as well as the New Testament. While they do not take literally all that the Bible holds, they learn to search for the hidden Truths.

Do Divine Scientists believe in Jesus?
Yes, both as a man and as the highest expression of God -- The Christ, or Anointed One. Divine Scientists believe that Christ represents the divine nature of each person, of all persons. This divine nature is the universal Presence, saying, “Lo, I am with you alway.” (Matthew 28:20) This Christ nature is in everyone as a perfectly created and divine being.

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What observations of the sacraments do Divine Scientists have?
Divine Scientists observe the sacraments of marriage, baptism or “consecration of children,” and burial. They believe that every process of life is a sacrament. As the Spirit of God is with us at all times, our sacraments are with us at every moment, eternally.

Can biochemists and natural scientists believe in God?
Scientists not only can but do believe in God. Einstein has said: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” And Dr. Werner von Braun wrote: “Many people seem to feel that science has somehow made religious ideas (such as immortality) untimely or old-fashioned. I think science has a real surprise for the skeptics. Science tells us that nothing in nature, not even the tiniest particle, can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation.”

Einstein also says, “A person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings, and aspirations to which he clings because of their superpersonal value.” And again: “It is only to the individual that a soul is given. And the highest destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule, or to impose himself in any other way.”

Divine Science, since its beginning in 1898, has taught principles which accord with, strengthen, and enlarge upon present-day scientific findings.

Does Divine Science believe in missionary work?
There are Divine Science churches throughout the United States and some abroad; they do not send missionaries, as such, to other countries. Every individual student of Divine Science becomes a missionary according to his consciousness.

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Do Divine Scientists go to hospitals or to doctors? Do they believe in vaccination?
Again, Divine Scientists believe that we all are God’s children, spiritual beings, created perfect. However, we are still unfolding in understanding of this Truth, and the above facilities are often necessary and helpful as we grow in understanding. On all levels of unfoldment we know there is a solution for every individual need. Each individual is spiritually guided to the right solution.

What is a Divine Science Practitioner?
A Divine Scientist practitioner is one who has spent at least four years studying Divine Science and training to practice the healing methods of Christ. A practitioner counsels, for the uplifting of mind, heart, and spirit; teaches, to enlarge and to strengthen the consciousness and to release the unfolding of spirit. Healing is the result of applying scientific spiritual knowledge and prayer.

Do Divine Scientists have ordained ministers?
Yes; after the study and training as listed above, plus ministerial preparation and practice.

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Do Divine Scientists believe in Heaven and Hell?
Divine Scientists believe that we individually make our own heaven or hell right here on earth, through his own attitude of mind, outlook, and level of consciousness (or spiritual understanding). Divine Scientists do not believe that individuals are burnt in fire or tortured, unless it be through thinking, through remorse, sorrow, or regret. God can in no way cause hurt of any kind, for God knows only Perfection, or Good. It is our own ignorance of the Truth that causes hurt of any kind. Our own attitude, or our feeling of well-being as we see only good in all things and conditions, will likewise produce for us “heavenly” conditions in our lives.

Do Divine Scientists believe in sin, sickness, and death?
Divine Scientists believe that sin is the result of ignorance of the Truth. The word sin, from its early Greek meaning in archery, merely meant a “missing of the mark.” In other words, we sin or miss the mark when we fail to attain to our highest calling, which is the realization of our Christ nature.

Sickness is the lack of full realization of what we are, i.e. spiritual beings. Doctors today are increasingly aware that many physical manifestations of illness are “psychosomatic”, or expressions of an inner attitude. Divine Scientists have found that when an individual is expressing on a high level of consciousness, and knows completely that only Spirit is, then harmony with the one creative Power, God, results in perfection.

For Divine Scientists, the appearance of death is only one of many experiences in the spiritual unfoldment and development of the soul. As stated earlier, in the paragraph on the attitude of biochemists and scientists to religion, nothing in life is wasted. At the time of what is referred to as death, the soul moves into another level of expression; but life does not cease, for all is spiritual Life, eternally.

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Do Divine Scientists believe in miracles?
Divine Scientists believe that miracles are the logical result of spiritual oneness with the Creator of all Good, God. Jesus the Christ understood through his perfect “at-one-ment” with God, the inner and eternal perfection of every being. Through this absolute knowledge and faith in God, who creates everyone perfect, Jesus was able to realize the Truth in every situation. The inner, eternal Truth was then manifested, causing what is known as a miracle.

Do Divine Scientists believe in two powers (good and evil)?
No. Divine Scientists believe in only one power, which is the power of God, or Good. Having been given free choice, we sometimes fail to express or apply this One Power. When we drive a car, for example, we can send it either forward or backward, though it is still the same force we use to run it in either direction.

Do Divine Scientists hold communion?
For Divine Scientists, the taking of the bread and the wine, or an outward expression of communion, is no longer necessary. Divine Scientists try to hold a constant sense of mental and spiritual communion with God at all times, for they know the very flesh and blood of their being is the spirit of the living God functioning in and through them.

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Are Divine Scientists restricted in their reading?
No. Divine Science does not say “thou shalt not” to any individual. Individuals are responsible for their own evolution or unfoldment. Divine Scientists realize that all beliefs or religions hold a part of the Truth; that not any one can encompass it all. Therefore, some truth is to be found in all spiritual reading. In time, the individual discovers what is helpful and what delays spiritual growth. Making these choice sconstitutes unfoldment.

Do Divine Scientists have a creed?
Some have said that Divine Scientists have no creed; others, that the Divine Science Statement of Being is a creed, or profession of faith -- but no one is limited to it. Divine Scientists are ever seeking to understand more fully this Statement of Being. If one could rise in consciousness to this concept, then possibly they could be ready to move on to something higher and better.

Do Divine Scientists have a leader?
Their eternal leader is God, the Father, and Jesus, the Christ. Their daily leaders are the ministers of their churches.

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