Frequently Asked Questions

What You Might Want to Know About Us

What is Divine Science?

A Practical Path to Demonstrating the Sacred

Divine Science, a New Thought spiritual approach, is based on the changeless Truth that Divine Mind (God) constitutes the nature of all being and is the invisible, as well as, the visible realm of existence.

One of the founders of Divine Science wrote, “True prayer is not begging for more wisdom, more supply, or more good. Infinite, all-embracing Being cannot give us more than Itself. In sharing Itself with us, It has given all that we can possibly need. Our part is to accept.”

The Pueblo Divine Science Church offers New Thought course work which is designed to facilitate the understanding of and the experiencing of Truth. Change the mind, the attitude, change the experience. The neurobiologists and neuropsychologists in their scientific laboratories are demonstrating that mind does indeed change matter.

The Divine Science Statement of Being is as follows:

God is all, both invisible and visible.
One Presence, One Mind, One Power is all.
This One that is all is perfect life, perfect love, and perfect substance.
Man is the individualized expression of God and
is ever one with this perfect life, perfect love, and perfect substance.

Divine Science is progressive and inclusive. Divine Science believes in the Voice of God, in the soul of everyone, as the only certain guide. Divine Science believes in the Omnipresence of God, which means that God is everywhere present at the same time, no exceptions. If it is true, that God is everywhere present at the same time, and it is, then we (everyone) cannot be outside of God, even if we try. God is Love. God’s Love shines on the just and the unjust. God does not take sides. God is Principle.

A Divine Scientist believes that there are universal spiritual laws. If we live in harmony with these laws, we experience harmony in our lives. Because God gave us consciousness, wisdom and plain good sense to use in every aspect of our lives, especially our religious or spiritual beliefs, we never expect blind faith from someone who has become interested in our teachings. We just ask people to be willing try these ideas – these methods of practical, positive thinking and living and prove to themselves, through their own experiences, that these spiritual principles work!

What do Divine Scientists believe about God?

Divine Scientists believe that God is omnipresent (all-present); omnipotent (all-powerful); 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. When we live in Truth, we see God in all things. Divine Science emphasizes Omnipresence and its all encompassing meaning, perhaps more than other faiths. If you believe that God is everywhere, then it stands to reason that God is within you. Since what God is, is never separate from God’s presence, which is everywhere, then all God’s qualities are everywhere. We see God as that universal Energy that is perfect Wisdom, Love, Life, Truth, Understanding, Peace and Goodness. If God and all God is, is in us, then all these spiritual qualities are in us, too.

Genesis 1:26 reads, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Divine Science teaches that, since God is not a biological creature, and so obviously cannot have a physical appearance, there is a non-physical aspect in everyone that is the “image” of God, and is endowed with a full compliment of divine qualities and powers. Life, and all its challenges, presents an ongoing opportunity to discover and express what we really are – spiritual beings having a human experience. Our true identity is God’s image – God’s child. When we begin to see ourselves in that light, life takes on a vastly new look. We live in a “friendly” universe, despite occasional appearances. We already have the strengths and abilities to create and attract a life experience that is fulfilling and meaningful and that gives us an opportunity to be a source of blessings to others.

One of the greatest appeals of Divine Science is its ability to change your view of yourself from an ordinary, struggling person to a unique, exceptional one. Since one’s self-image becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, when we really see ourselves as unlimited, as having access to answers to our questions and solutions to our problems, we live with greater expectation of good and a deeper connection with the source of that good – God.

Do Divine Scientists believe that theirs is the only true religion?

No. Divine Science is an inclusive religion, as Jesus exemplified, which understands that some part of the Truth is found in all religions, but no one religion can claim to have a monopoly on the whole Truth. All Religions have value in that each one fills the needs of its members; but there is still only One God of all, no matter what name is used.

Is Divine Science CHRISTIAN?

Divine Science is Christian in the deepest sense and in the tradition of the earliest Christian churches. Divine Science is is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. Divine Science is also considered to be a study in Christian metaphysics or Christian Mysticsm. Divine Science embraces the truth as taught by Jesus the Christ through his ministry but does not exclude the relevance of other teachings that enable us to live through love and compassion. This in no way invalidates the Bible’s historical significance, but rather adds another dimension of understanding to traditional teaching. We also recognize the great philosophies that originated in the East. Our religion is practical, reasonable, and livable. We believe that “a change in outer experience comes from a change in inner awareness through the mental and spiritual law of cause and effect.” Divine Science studies the Bible’s mystic teachings 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 unique individuals, divinely led and illumined, they find inspiration in the Old Testament (Hebrew Scripture) as well as the New Testament (Christian Scripture). While they do not take literally all that the Bible holds, they learn to search for the underlying Truths, always guided by the teachings of Jesus the Christ.

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 always.” (Matthew 28:20) This Christ nature is in everyone as a perfectly created and divine being.

What observations of the sacraments do Divine Scientists have?

Divine Scientists observe the sacraments of marriage, baptism or ‘consecration of children,’ burial and cremation. They believe that every process of life is a sacrament. As the Spirit of God is with us at all times, so our sacraments are also 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, 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 the world; Although Divine Science does not have a missionary arm to the church. Every individual student of Divine Science becomes a missionary according to his consciousness and call.

Do Divine Scientists go to hospitals or to doctors? Do they believe in vaccination?

Yes, Divine Scientists believe that all people are God’s children, spiritual beings, created in the image of God. However, we are still unfolding in understanding of this Truth, and doctors and hospitals 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?

Divine Scientist practitioner is one has learned the principles of Divine Science and practices these principles in his or her life. A licensed practitioner has had special training and education to enable him or her to practice the healing methods of Christ. A licensed practitioner is a counselor who uses prayer to assist people in uplifting their minds, hearts, and spirits; teaches the principles of Divine Science to facilitate the expansion and strengthening of the consciousness. The root practice of this is the practitioner’s ability to see the truth of the Divine Presence in all people and situations and thus to facilitate the unfolding of Holy Spirit. Healing is the result of revealing the presence and healing power of God.

Do Divine Scientists have ordained ministers?

Yes; the various Divine Science denominations ordain ministers after they have been educated and trained. Some of these include the United Divine Science Ministerial School, the Divine Science School or Brooks Divinity College. Usually there is an internship prior to ordination but this is not always the case.

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 our 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.

Divine Science doesn’t believe in hell or eternal damnation. How could a God of love create such a place? If God the Good is everywhere, where could Hell exist? The only hell that exists is a state of mind where negative thoughts and emotions reign supreme. Why does God allow terrible things to happen? We have all been given free will, and that includes the freedom to misuse our opportunities and abilities. But even when we misuse them, God’s unconditional love is still ours. We are never punished FOR our sins. We are punished BY our sins. God never punishes us. Negative acts simply have negative results. Jesus Christ, the greatest spiritual teacher the world has ever known, came to teach us a method of thinking and living that connects us with a sense of God’s presence and the experience of Divinely created good.

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 God is omnipresent, 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 consciousness moves into another level of expression; but life does not cease, for all is spiritual Life, eternally.

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 perfectly, Jesus was able to realize the Truth in every situation. The inner, eternal Truth was then manifested, causing what is known as a miracle. Jesus Christ, the greatest spiritual teacher the world has ever known, came to teach us a method of thinking and living that connects us with a sense of God’s presence and the experience of Divinely created good.

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. “Evil” in the world is a result of the actions of human beings and not the work of dark powers. As we turn toward God and take actions rooted in love we have the power to change any conditions in the world and manifest the time when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is part of all people’s lives in the world. Humanity can end hunger and disease but it is up to us to choose to do this and take actions rooted in love and compassion to bring this into being.

Do Divine Scientists hold communion?

For Divine Scientists, the taking of the bread and the wine, or an outward expression of communion, is not practiced. Divine Scientists seek a constant sense of mental and spiritual communion with God at all times, knowing the very flesh and blood of our being is the spirit of the living God functioning in and through us. Our goal is to have an ever deeper sense of our oneness with God that leads to the experience of illumination – directly knowing God, Himself. We will come to see the world and everything in it as God-in-action, a Divine process toward greater order and good and each will be participants in knowing it, experiencing it and bringing that good forth for others. Thus we seek the deepest spiritual communion possible.

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 choices constitutes a persons spiritual path.

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?

The eternal leader is God, the Holy Spirit as demonstrated and taught by Jesus the Christ. Daily leaders are the ministers of Divine Science churches. These leaders facilitate growth of their members but are not considered more important than their membership.