Faith Infiltration: Divine Science Church of St. Louis

This is a two-part review of our weekly Faith Infiltration. The first part is by me, Ziztur. The second part is by my Guy, Flimsy.

When we walked into the Divine Science Church of St. Louis, it was cold. A woman (who we would later learn is a centenarian) stood near the entrance, handing out programs. We peeked into the sanctuary and saw a tiny group of people huddled near a space heater in the front.

When I opened the sermon pamphlet, I was astounded to find the words to Imagine by John Lennon printed on an insert. I thought, -Wow, this church gets 50 points for this. Far removed from typical churches, the ideas promoted by this particular brand of faith are pantheist: God is everywhere and in all things, is perfect and created everything in perfection. There is no literal hell, only oneness with god after death. They believed in and preached that all people are beautiful and that God does not send his followers to hell, because there is no hell. In this faith, since God is in all things, all people are part of God. Read more about Divine Science here

The idea of oneness with everything is not lost on me. We are all, in a very real sense, starstuff. Each and every one of my atoms, so far as evidence surmises, existed before time began, existed when time began, and will continue to exist after I am dead. In a way, this idea and deist ideas are identical, save for the fact that mine do not contain supernatural or mystical components.

If more people held these kinds of theistic beliefs, the world would be a beautiful place. Yet there were nine people in the entire building. Nine (9). There were four members of the congregation, two people to run the service, one guest soloist, and the two of us. I am disappointed. More people should subscribe to this line of thinking.

If we could get other church goers to go to this church instead of their typical the-bible-is-inerrant churches, the world would be AWESOME. When I pass by or enter into churches, I like to joke that churches would look better if they were abandoned... or on fire. Not this one.  

This church would look better if the pews were filled with people.

As such, I, Ziztur, staunch and vehement atheist, officially recommend this particular brand of theism. Services are at 10:30 am on Sundays. This church literally welcomed us with open arms and the congregation was delighted by our project. This was the first place where we felt comfortable openly stating the intent of our visit.

*Flimsy;
Some quick background; I was raised in a strict Fundamentalist Southern Baptist church. I’ve heard and read about this kind of uniquely non-fundamentalist theology, but until today, I’ve never actually seen a church based on it.

You see, I’ve never hesitated to mock theists before, but my intense dislike for theological thought is not necessarily that it is irrational, but rather that blind faith leads, in so many cases, to beliefs and behaviors that are patently unethical.

Case in point; an overwhelming majority of theists I’ve met would never entertain the thought of a ‘preacher’ of a different race than themselves, much less a *gasp* a . . . a . . . a woman!

The speaker this Sunday morning, at The Divine Science Church of St. Louis, was an African-American woman. The congregation was a man, a few women, all white, and very, very small.

And that is the main point of this post. The God of this church is ethical. He (It?) is moral. I daresay He doesn’t much resemble the God of the Christian Bible at all.

The speaker’s name was Tia Adkins, and she spoke openly, honestly, and frankly about the Bible. The title of the message was “Why are you mad at God?” and I completely expected to hear the same things I’ve always heard; that it’s a sin to be angry at God, and that anger at God is an indication of how generally worthless we all are as human beings. Not in this theology. When Tia spoke of how she was offended, along with many other women, at how the Bible calls for their submission, I thought how many men, including myself, are offended at that as well. She read a passage from Romans (if I remember correctly) that basically amounted to a reminder that people who are guilty of sins x, y, and z are going to hell. She used this verse not as a condemnation of those who have committed these sins, but as a springboard to elaborate on her conviction that hell, as envisioned by mainstream Christianity, does not exist.

This is just one possible example of the ways in which this church approaches the Christian Bible with more ethical thought than sheer blind faith. Words cannot express how disappointed I am that a church of more liberal, ethical thought is struggling to keep members in the pews while the coffers of churches that preach bigotry and hate overflow with donations.

All in all, I think the simplest indication of the incredible difference between this church and mainstream Christianity is this: In this theology, it’s absolutely okay to question God. It’s absolutely okay to be offended by immorality in The Bible. And even though I’m not one bit closer to discarding my blasphemous, atheist ways than I was yesterday… The good folks at The Divine Science Church absolutely wouldn’t be offended in the least.