Malinda Cramer’s “Divine Science and Healing” (1902) explores the principles of Divine Science, emphasizing the omnipresence of God and the power of thought in achieving wholeness. It teaches that recognizing our unity with the Divine and understanding the Law of Expression are key to overcoming limitations and experiencing true being. Cramer contrasts Divine Science with other systems, advocating for direct connection with Spirit and a focus on inherent divinity rather than perceived mortality. The text offers lessons, affirmations, and insights on topics ranging from prayer and intuition to healing, marriage, and the nature of evil. It emphasizes that by aligning our consciousness with divine truth, we can manifest health, harmony, and success. The book encourages readers to shift their perception from the visible to the invisible, recognizing themselves as immortal spirit and expressing the allness of God in every aspect of life.

FAQ on Divine Science

What is Divine Science?
Divine Science is a spiritual teaching emphasizing the omnipresence of God (or Spirit/Good) and the inherent divinity within all individuals. It views God as the ultimate reality, the source of all creation, and believes that individuals can realize their divine potential through right thinking and living in accordance with divine principles. In this framework, all creation is a perfect expression of God, and that to think and believe rightly allows one to have dominion and not contradictory experiences.
How does Divine Science define God?
Divine Science defines God as Spirit, Mind, Principle, Infinite Being, and the permanent Good that is Life, Love, Truth, Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence. God is not separate from creation but is the very essence and substance of all that exists, and has been accepted only theoretically, which has made way for feelings of helplessness and ungratified wants.
What is the role of thought in Divine Science?
Thought is considered a powerful instrument that shapes our reality. Divine Science teaches that our thoughts precede our words, deeds, and sensations, influencing our external conditions and experiences. By controlling our thoughts and aligning them with the Truth of Being, we can bring about desired conditions and manifest the inherent goodness within us. It is the ancestor of word, deed, and sensation, and external conditions sensed are the result of subjects thought about, decisions rendered and believed in.
How does Divine Science view healing?
Healing in Divine Science is achieved through the realization of the omnipresence of God and the inherent wholeness of Being. It involves denying false beliefs about sickness and imperfection and affirming the truth of God’s perfect creation. Through right thinking and the application of spiritual principles, individuals can overcome physical, mental, and emotional challenges and experience healing. There is no law to God save his own supreme nature.
How does Divine Science address the concept of evil?
Divine Science asserts that evil is not a real power but a misconception or false belief resulting from a limited understanding of God’s infinitude and allness. It is a supposition of what might be, were not the All God or Good. Since God is all there is, there is no room for a separate power of evil. The belief in evil is a miscalculation or “falling short of Truth” and can be overcome through a clearer perception of God’s omnipresence.
What does Divine Science teach about individuality and identity?
Individuality in Divine Science is viewed as an expression of God, an indivisible aspect of the Divine Being. Each individual is a unique manifestation of God’s limitless nature, and our destiny is to fully express this divine identity. The path is of fully expressing the nature of one’s identity, and one’s identity is God-hood — limitless and free.
How does Divine Science explain the relationship between the Creator and creation?
Divine Science teaches that creation is within Infinite Spirit and is the perfect expression of God’s idea. Creation is not separate from the Creator but is an extension and manifestation of the Divine Being. Visible creation is God’s ideal image, and its nature is like the Creator. All things are embraced within God and sustained by Him. The omnipresence of the Creator is a working basis for the Unity of all there is, including right thinking, true judgment, and their true application in word and deed in all social and business relations.
What is the significance of “The Statement of Being and The Law of Expression” in Divine Science?
“The Statement of Being” is a foundational principle asserting the omnipresence and allness of God, while “The Law of Expression” explains how the Divine Mind expresses itself through thought, word, and deed. These principles form the basis for Divine Science’s conclusions and affirmations, guiding individuals to understand their true relationship with God and manifest their divine potential. The law works from within Being, out to visibility, by means of mentality.

Divine Science Study Guide

Quiz

Answer the following questions based on the provided text. Please answer with 2-3 sentences each.

What is the definition of the “Science of God” as expressed in creation?
Describe the author’s initial experience and realization of Spirit that led them toward healing.
What was the author’s initial promise upon realizing the potential for healing through Truth?
Explain the realization the author had concerning the body during the evening after treating the seventeen cases.
What is the role of intuition in Divine Science, and what does it perceive?
What is the relationship between thought, word, deed, and sensation, according to the text?
Explain the concept of “forgiveness of sin” within the framework of Divine Science.
Why is Divine Science considered to be in the world at the right time and in the right way?
How does Divine Science approach the concept of self-hood and separateness from Spirit?
According to Lesson 3, what belief causes one to feel limited by their bodies or on account of external things and conditions?

Quiz Answer Key

The Science of God expressed in creation includes all Science or Truth and treats of the exact relationship existing between individuals and between them and God. It also treats of the true relationship existing between all things in creation and between the Creator and every creation, visible and invisible.
The author had an intuitive response from the depths of Being, realizing Omnipresent Spirit and feeling transformed. This led to the certainty that healing would come through the power of Holy Spirit.
The author promised that if healed through the knowledge of Truth, they would dedicate themself to proclaiming the Truth to the best of their ability. The author understood that Truth would present its own simple method of expression.
The author consciously withdrew from the body and realized it was a thought within My Mind. In answer to the question of “Where am I, and what am I?” the author saw a center of light radiating the light of Life – the pure intelligence or consciousness of the one Self-existing Omnipresence.
Intuition, considered “the eye of knowledge,” perceives only one Power: God. It also perceives one Faith (Substance) and one Law (Love).
Thought is considered the ancestor of word, deed, and sensation. All external conditions sensed are the result of subjects thought about, decisions rendered, and believed in.
Forgiveness of sin is not seen as an exceptional manifestation but as the expression of Omnipresent God’s nature. It is the practice of God’s nature toward His children, with Omnipresent Spirit the Source and Cause of nature that heals and gives to all Life and breath and all things.
Divine Science is in the world to teach Truth, which to know is the freedom of Life Eternal. The use of our mental faculties helps us demonstrate the Power of Knowledge and gives us a sense of the limitless.
Divine Science shows that those who believe themselves to be mortal, finite, limited, and subject to sin, sickness, and death are, in belief, living a separate life from God. In contrast, Divine Science seeks to acknowledge the Infinite Source as the I that I am, to then think and act divinely.
According to Lesson 3, if we feel limited by our bodies or on account of external things and conditions, it is because of a belief in physical causation, a cause separate from and unlike God.

Essay Questions

Consider the following essay questions and formulate well-supported arguments based on the text.

Discuss the role of “Truth” in Divine Science and its relationship to healing, freedom, and individual expression.
Explain how Divine Science redefines the concept of God, moving away from a distant or future-oriented deity to one that is omnipresent and integral to individual Being.
Analyze the Divine Science perspective on the nature of reality, addressing the relationship between Spirit, Mind, thought, and the visible world.
Explore the practical applications of Divine Science principles in everyday life, focusing on how individuals can cultivate correct thinking, achieve self-poise, and exercise dominion over the senses.
Compare and contrast the Divine Science understanding of “forgiveness” with traditional religious interpretations, emphasizing its emphasis on correcting error of belief and aligning oneself with the nature of God.

Glossary of Key Terms

Being: The immutable, indivisible, and One nature of God, encompassing Life, Love, and Truth. It is the permanent good that substands the three divisions of Time, the past, present and future.
Omnipresence: The state of being everywhere present, especially referring to the all-encompassing presence of God.
Spirit: God in essence; the Infinite Mind or Principle underlying all existence.
Truth: That which is unchanging and universally applicable; the realization of God’s omnipresence and the unity of all things within the Divine.
Divine Science: The science of God expressed in creation that includes all Science or Truth, and treats of the exact relationship existing between individuals and between them and God.
Law of Expression: The Trinity called Law of Expression shows that the One All is three fold in nature, Creator, creative action, and creation, that all things can say I am it.
Mentality: Mind’s center of action; it is more than thought; it means all that is essential to Mind for its perfect expression in visibility.
Idea: Potential in Supreme Being, i. e., is inherent in Infinite Mind, and is the very soul of our bodies and all visible things.
Intuition: The eye of knowledge which perceives but one Power, God; one Faith, Substance; and one Law, Love.
At-one-ment: Atonement is being At-one with God and thereby communing with him and self, and from this at-one-ment express inherent power and idea which we are in Being.