What is "scientology"

1951, system of beliefs founded by L. Ron Hubbard. According to www.scientology.org:\n\nThe word Scientology, conceived by L. Ron Hubbard, comes from the Latin scio which means "knowing, in the fullest meaning of the word" and the Greek word logos which means "study of." It means knowing how to know. Scientology is further defined as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life."\n\nThere was a German scientologie (A. Nordenholz, 1937).

Scientology is a body of religious beliefs and practices created in 1954 by American author L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86). After he developed Dianetics, the Dianetics Foundation entered bankruptcy and Hubbard lost the rights to his seminal publication Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1952. He then recharacterized the subject as a religion and renamed it Scientology, retaining the terminology, doctrines, the E-meter, and the practice of auditing. Within a year, he regained the rights to Dianetics and retained both subjects under the umbrella of the Church of Scientology.

Hubbard's groups have encountered considerable opposition and controversy. In January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners brought proceedings against Hubbard's Dianetics Foundation on the charge of teaching medicine without a license. Hubbard's followers engaged in a program of covert and illegal infiltration of the U.S. government.

Hubbard-inspired organizations and their classification are often a point of contention. Germany classifies Scientology groups as an "anti-constitutional sect" (verfassungsfeindliche Sekte). In France, Scientology groups have been classified as a cult by some public authorities.

Scientology is a compilation book about the Church of Scientology and the new religious movement Scientology, edited by James R. Lewis. It was published in March 2009 by Oxford University Press. In addition to Lewis, other contributors to the book include J. Gordon Melton, William Sims Bainbridge, Douglas E. Cowan, David G. Bromley, Anson Shupe, James T. Richardson, and Susan J. Palmer. Scientology gives an overview and introduction to the organization, and presents an analysis of the movement from the perspective of sociology. The book compares the organization to other religious movements, and goes over its history of controversy. It delves into the practices of the organization and activities of its missions.

Scientology was given an unfavorable review in the International Journal of Cultic Studies, which considered the book unduly biased in Scientology's favour, a view echoed in a review in satirical magazine Private Eye. It received a positive review in Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review, describing it as "the most sophisticated academic item published on Scientology" to date, a book to be read by journalists and academics alike, and "the most important collection of scholarly articles on Scientology published so far – in any language".

Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. The word also refers to the Church of Scientology which claims a monopoly over Scientology services.

Scientology may also refer to:

• "The Science of the Scientismus" the first known occurrence of the term as a neologism in The Primary Synopsis of Universology and Alwato, 1871 book by Stephen Pearl Andrews
• Scientology: A History of Man, 1952 book by L. Ron Hubbard
• Scientology: The Now Religion, 1970 book by George Malko
• Scientology (James R. Lewis book), 2009 book edited by James R. Lewis