Religious Science

• Formation: 1927
• Founder: Ernest Shurtleff Holmes

Religious Science is a religious movement founded by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes (1887–1960) in the United States. His book, The Science of Mind, which was written in 1926, laid out those of his beliefs that became the basic text for Religious Science. Science and mind are so closely connected that Religious Science is sometimes referred to as the science of mind. Holmes formed the Institute of Religious Science and Philosophy in 1927 to instruct others in his principles and healing practices. Some of his graduates went on to found churches to share what they had learned. In 1949, the Religious Science denomination was established.

Religious Science teaches that there is a Universal Mind and that this Universal Mind is one with individual minds, that all living beings are one, and that everyone is an expression of God. A belief in the power of the mind to promote healing and a full life is fundamental to the religion.

Over time, two distinct Religious Science groups formed, but in 2012, they reunited under the name Centers for Spiritual Living. At that time, the Centers for Spiritual Living became a worldwide organization of nearly four hundred spiritual communities. As of 2023, there were more than four hundred CSL groups in thirty countries.

History

Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, studied with Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925), one of the founders of the New Thought religious movement. New Thought was a mental healing movement that started in the 1800s in the United States. After Holmes finished his studies, he wrote The Science of Mind in 1926, and it became the foundation for the beliefs of Religious Science. Other New Thought communities also use it as their basic religious text. Holmes brought together various philosophies, including New Thought, as well as ancient wisdom. In 1927, he established the Institute of Science and Philosophy, Inc., to share his beliefs and help people establish a relationship with God by way of a positive approach to life. The Institute published a magazine called Religious Science Monthly, which changed its name to Science of Mind by 1929 and has been in continuous publication with that title ever since.

Throughout the 1930s more congregations were started, and in the mid-1940s the first Religious Science church was formed. Although the Institute did not want the new group to be called a church, the idea that it was a church spread, and in 1949, the International Association of Religious Science Churches (IARSC) was established. In response, Holmes formed the Church of Religious Science in 1953, and then in 1954 he suggested that churches in the IARSC join his church. Forty-six agreed, and the name of Holmes’s group changed to the United Church of Religious Science. The nineteen churches that did not leave the IARSC adopted the name Religious Science International (RSI) in 1972. A small group of ministers subsequently left RSI and, in the 1990s, founded Global Religious Science Ministries. Through the early years of the twenty-first century, Global Religious Science Ministries, Inc., continued as an organization under the Alliance for Spiritual Understanding.

The two large branches of Religious Science, Holmes’s United Church of Religious Science and Religious Science International, have continued to maintain belief in the same doctrines and have differed chiefly in their organization. They remained separate for almost sixty years. Then in 2012, after several years of negotiations, the two groups merged under the name Centers for Spiritual Living.

Beliefs & Practices

Religious Science teaches that God is a Universal Spirit, operating through a Universal Mind that can receive and act upon an individual’s thoughts. A core belief is that positive thoughts and prayer lead to both spiritual and physical healing, and also to a positive life. A life free of tension and strife, a life of harmony and peace, is the ultimate goal. It is believed that the Universal Mind will manifest whatever is thought and believed by an individual. A belief in the unity of life and the belief that all life is sacred are two additional tenets of Religious Science, which honors and welcomes all people, of all backgrounds and faiths.

Religious Science advocates many kinds of healing, including prayer, meditation, and traditional medicine. An affirmative form of prayer called Spiritual Mind Treatment opens the individual to the good in life. Affirmative prayer is defined as a prayer that declares a spiritual truth. Spiritual Mind Treatment has five steps, including recognition (God Is All There Is), unification (I Am One with God), realization (Speaking Your Desired Good), thanksgiving (Grateful Acceptance), and release (Let Go, Let God). Within each step, the individual makes positive statements that may change with each prayer. According to the Centers for Spiritual Living website, an example for step one, recognition, would be this statement: "I recognize that Spirit is all there is and ever will be."

Religious Science recognizes two kinds of religious professionals—ministers and practitioners. Before one can be trained as a minister, he or she must first reach practitioner status. Both practitioners and ministers give individual Spiritual Mind Treatments and help individuals with the process of mental healing and creating a healthy and successful life. Such individuals are licensed and bound by a code of ethics.

The Centers for Spiritual Living has a School of Spiritual Leadership; at the end of this school’s three-to-five year program, its graduates have earned the title Science of Mind and Spirit Minister. The program includes an accredited master’s degree program in consciousness studies or a certificate in consciousness studies for those without a bachelor’s degree.

Global Religious Science Ministries offers credentialed classes for a Religious Science Practitioner License, Ministerial License, and Doctor of Divinity. The course to become a Religious Science Minister is a two-year program that can be followed by ordination after two years of active ministry.

The Centers for Spiritual Living also offers teaching chapters, study groups, classes, conferences, and summer and winter camps for individuals so that they can learn more about the group’s principles. The monthly magazine Science of Mind, published continuously since Holmes first started it, offers articles and affirmations for learning about Religious Science.

Bibliography

Centers for Spiritual Living, 2014, www.csl.org/en/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Chryssides, George D. Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2012. Print.

DeChant, Dell, Natalie Hobbs, and J. Gordon Melton. "Religious Science." Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Ed. J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Print.

Doniger, Wendy. Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006. Print.

"Centers for Spiritual Living—FAQ." Centers for Spiritual Living. Centers for Spiritual Living, n.p., n.d. Web. 28 June 2015.

Gentry, Patricia. "Religious Science Reunifies after 58-Year Split." Los Angeles Sentinel, 07 Mar. 2012: C6. Print.

Holmes, Ernest. The Science of Mind. 1926. New York: Putnam, 1997. Print.

Litwin, David W. "In 2024, Are Science and God Compatible?" Medium, 24 May 2024, medium.com/re-thinker/in-2024-are-science-and-god-compatible-56ba234cb6d1. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Juergensmeyer, Mark, and Wade Clark Roof. Encyclopedia of Global Religion. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2012. Print.

Teel, Roger. This Life Is Joy: Discovering the Spiritual Laws to Live More Powerfully, Lovingly, and Happily. New York: Tarcher, 2014. Print.