In a recent interview, a Scientology spokesman shares the basics of this religious group.
Here is what you need to know about a unique religious group called Church of Scientology.
Speaking with NewsChannel5 in the video above, Pastor Brian Fesler talks about the basics from the meaning of the church's name to the group's beliefs.
According to Pastor Fesler of the Church of Scientology of Nashville, Scientology basically means the study of wisdom or knowledge.
Beliefs
He goes on to say that Scientologists believe that people are spiritual and that they also believe in God.
In his words, "the more you know about yourself spiritually, the closer you can come to God, the closer you can come to understanding those ultimate truths."
Concerning the kind of God the group believes in, he says, "I only know of one God and that's just God, the allness of all."
Pastor Fesler adds that the church is all-denominational so Christians, Muslims, and everyone is welcome because "God is God and we don't really question that."
The group also believes in the afterlife and reincarnation.
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Church Service
Like most religious groups, Scientology has Sunday services. They hold by 11 am. During these services, Pastor Fesler says the minister does readings that cover universal topics like ethics and morals and parenting. Prayers and discussions are also done during the service.
He adds that the church also holds daily services from 9 am to 10 pm and offers spiritual counseling.
Pastor Fesler concludes the interview by saying, "We are not interested in conversion."
You can watch the video above to learn more about the church.
More on Scientology
It was founded in May 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard with his book Dianetics. The first Church of Scientology was opened in 195. Since then, 170 churches have been established with about 11–12 million Scientologists all over the world.
The aim of the group is to have, “A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights.”
For Scientology, God is seen as the Supreme Being and a concept that is expressed as the Eighth Dynamic—the vision of an infinite existence.
In Science of Survival, L. Ron Hubbard wrote: “No culture in the history of the world, save the thoroughly depraved and expiring ones, has failed to affirm the existence of a Supreme Being. It is an empirical observation that men without a strong and lasting faith in a Supreme Being are less capable, less ethical and less valuable to themselves and society….A man without an abiding faith is, by observation alone, more of a thing than a man.”
However, the church does not believe in imposing its concept of God on its members. It simply offers knowledge to anyone interested in finding it.