THE RELIGIOUS NATURE
of
SCIENTOLOGY
ABOUT THE EXPERTISE
In this piece from 1977, Professor Geoffrey Parrinder discusses the religious nature of Scientology, based on his own academic study and visits to Church sites in England such as Saint Hill Manor, which is now preserved as an L. Ron Hubbard Landmark Site available to tour. Dr. Parrinder shares some of his ethnographic observations and provides analysis of features of life as a Scientologist, including weddings and funerals, putting these and other examples in comparative religious and secular context. He concludes that the Church’s “pervasive teaching of the spiritual nature of man and his indestructible inner essence is in accordance with much in some of the major religions of the world.”
BIOGRAPHY
Geoffrey Parrinder, Ph.D., (1910–2005) was professor of the comparative study of religions at King’s College, London, where the future Bishop Desmond Tutu numbered among his early students. For nearly two decades he worked as a Christian missionary in Benin and Côte d'Ivoire, during which time he became an authority on indigenous West African religions. He was also world-renowned for his expertise on Hinduism. Dr. Parrinder authored the bestseller What World Religions Teach Us (1968). This was one of his over thirty books in the field of religion that also included West African Religion (1949); The Story of Ketu (1956); Man and His Gods (1971); A Dictionary of Non-Christian Religions (1973); Avatar and Incarnation: A Comparison of Indian and Christian Beliefs (1970); The Bhagavad Gita: A Verse Translation (1974); and Sexual Morality in the World Religions (2003). He served in numerous professional academic societies and was a founding member of the British Association for the Study of Religion (BASR).
Scientology, Social Science and the Definition of Religion
by James A. Beckford, Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick, England
Social Change and New Religious Movements
by Bryan R. Wilson,
Emeritus Fellow in Sociology, Oxford University
The Church of Scientology
by Juha Pentikäinen, Marja Pentikäinen, University of Helsinki, Finland
The Relationship Between Scientology and Other Religions
by Fumio Sawada, Eighth holder of the secrets of Yu-itsu Shinto, the oldest religion in Japan; President, Ahlul-Bait Center
The Religious Nature of Scientology
by Geoffrey Parrinder, Methodist minister, Professor, Comparative Study of Religions, University of London
Religious Philosophy, Religion and Church
by G.C. Oosthuizen, Professor of Science of Religion, University of Durban-Westville, Natal, South Africa
Scientology a New Religion
by M. Darrol Bryant, Department of Religious Studies, Renison College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Apostates and New Religious Movements
by Bryan R. Wilson,
Emeritus Fellow in Sociology, Oxford University
Scientology: An Analysis and Comparison of its Religious Systems and Doctrines
by Bryan R. Wilson,
Emeritus Fellow in Sociology, Oxford University
The Reliability of Apostate Testimony About New Religious Movements
by Lonnie D. Kliever Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies
The Sea Organization and its Role Within the Church of Scientology
by Frank K. Flinn Ph.D. Adjunct Professor in Religious Studies
Brief Analyses of the Religious Nature of Scientology
by J. Gordon Melton, Baylor University, Samuel Hill, Gary Bouma, Irving Hexham
Congregational Services of the Church of Scientology
by Bryan R. Wilson,
Emeritus Fellow in Sociology, Oxford University
Is Scientology A Religion?
by Alan W. Black, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
Is Scientology a Religion?
by Dean M. Kelley, National Council of Churches
Religious Toleration & Religious Diversity
by Bryan R. Wilson,
Emeritus Fellow in Sociology, Oxford University
Scientology A Religion In South Africa
by David Chidester, Professor of Comparative Religion, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Scientology: A True Religion
by Urbano Alonso Galan, Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Gregorian University of Rome
Scientology: A Way of Spiritual Self-Identification
by Michael Sivertsev, Moscow Academy of Sciences
Scientology: A Worshipping Community
by Lonnie D. Kliever, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
Scientology and Contemporary Definitions of Religion in the Social Sciences
by Alejandro Frigerio, Professor of Sociology, Catholic University of Argentina, Buenos Aires
Scientology and Islam an Analogous Study
by Fumio Sawada, Eighth holder of the secrets of Yu-itsu Shinto, the oldest religion in Japan; President, Ahlul-Bait Center
Scientology and Religion
by Christiaan Vonck, Rector, Faculty for Comparative Study of Religion, Antwerp, Belgium
Scientology: A Comparison with Religions of the East and West
by Per-Arne Berglie, Professor of History of Religion, University of Stockholm
Scientology Its Cosmology, Anthropology, System of Ethics and Methodologies
by Régis Dericquebourg, Professor of Sociology of Religion, University of Lille III, France
Scientology – Its Historical-Morphological Frame
by Dario Sabbatucci, Professor of History of Religions, University of Rome
Scientology: Its True Nature
by Harri Heino, Professor of Theology, University of Tampere, Finland
Scientology: The Marks of Religion
by Frank K. Flinn, Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies Washington University