Veritass' Religious Science Thread #1: Ask a Religious Scientist

[Veritass]

Veritass, does Religious Science as a faith involve any kind of organised religion, or personal worship?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Religious Science is an organized religion in that we have churches, regular Sunday services, incorporated church bodies, paid leaders, etc. We differ from a lot of other religions in that we do not have a lot of rituals, no dogma, and we borrow from a lot of sacred and secular texts. The main book is the Science of Mind textbook by Ernest Holmes, but it is not considered a sacred work.

We do not do personal "worship," which usually connotes an outside deity that we are worshipping. Rather, the techniques for raising spiritual awareness are:
1) prayer, of which there are many kinds but our preferred is the affirmative prayer or "spiritual mind treatment" that I have described above;
2) meditation, of which there are many kinds to choose from, including static meditation, moving meditation (e.g. tai chi), guided visualization, etc.;
3) study, of various scriptures or other writings; and
4) service, including tithing of your talents, treasures, and time.

At my church, I have taken classes based on the Science of Mind textbook, but I have also taken classes on the writings of Emerson, the writings of Thomas Troward (a New Thought pioneer from the 1800's and one of the first to try to synthesize eastern and western thought), the metaphysical interpretation of the Bible, the Seven Laws of Spiritual Success by Deepak Chopra, the mind-body connection, etc. Outside of this, I have read everything from The Dancing Wu Li Masters (oddly enough a book about quantum physics) to the collected Sufi stories of Idries Shah to the writings of Joseph Campbell regarding world mythology.

Now, lest someone go off on the tithing issue, the church does believe in tithing 1/10th of your moneys, your time, and your talents toward whatever bodies spiritually feed you. It does not have to be to the church itself, but could be to other mentors, other programs of growth, etc. As a part of your own growth, you should think in terms of sacred service as a practice as well. This is not a requirement, and certainly not a means of getting into heaven.

 

[happy_Alex]

It is illogical to assume that everything is logical.

...........
Why?

 

[Veritass]

Amanda (Spock's mother): Logic, I am sick of your logic!"
Spock: Emotional isn't she.
Sarek (Spock's father): She has always been this way.
Spock: Why did you marry her?
Sarek: At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do.

 

[Narz]

I agree, except that if everything is a metaphor, nothing is a metaphor

I don't follow.

 

[Bootstoots]

Does your religion believe in an afterlife of any sort? Also, is Religious Science more or less a form of pantheism?

 

[Perfection]

Except you do if we could only get the capacity to experience wonder, joy, love et al from God. If there is no God, I don't need God to do these things either. And there is no way to determine whether this is the case because we don't have any other universes for comparison.

I see no reason to believe that this comes from a non-physical cause. All of them make sense when applied to a evolutionary and biological framework.

 

[Veritass]

Does your religion believe in an afterlife of any sort?

We believe that at your fundamental level, you are not your body, which is merely form; you are the Life force that animates your body, and that Life is infinite and immortal.

Also, is Religious Science more or less a form of pantheism?

It is close, but probably closer to monism, the belief that everything is created from one single essence.

 

[happy_Alex]

We believe that at your fundamental level, you are not your body, which is merely form; you are the Life force that animates your body, and that Life is infinite and immortal.

That's a bit vague. I prefer christian eschatology if I'm honest.

 

[Veritass]

That's a bit vague. I prefer christian eschatology if I'm honest.

I support your choice. I only wish more people recognized that this is a choice, a preference as you have stated, instead of insisting their version is the "truth."

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I see no reason to believe that this comes from a non-physical cause. All of them make sense when applied to a evolutionary and biological framework.

Yes, but can we say this framework can exist without God? I am not saying that it is self-evident that God is necessary for these things, just that it is a possibility and that we couldn't tell the difference if He were.