What Are Scientology’s Core Beliefs?

5 min read

Direct Answer

Scientology teaches that a person is an immortal spiritual being, called a thetan, who uses a mind and body. Its beliefs also include the Eight Dynamics, a framework for life that extends from the individual to a Supreme Being, and the possibility of past lives.

The Church’s own explanation is the best place to start with these terms: it defines the thetan as the spiritual being and uses the Eight Dynamics to describe the areas of life that matter to a person. Read the Church’s overview of Scientology’s core tenets.

There is a vocabulary here, and I will not pretend otherwise. The useful way through it is to take one term at a time and keep the ordinary-language meaning in view.

About the narrator: This site is written from a composite practicing-member perspective, assembled from published member accounts and Church materials. It does not present that composite voice as one named person’s testimony.

Last updated August 2026.

What is the “thetan” concept?

In Scientology, thetan means the spiritual being a person is. The Church says a thetan has a mind and occupies a body; it does not treat the person as identical to either the mind or the body. Its detailed explanation of the thetan uses that distinction as the starting point.

This is where the language can sound more formal than the basic idea. Scientology’s religious view is that there is a spiritual aspect of a person that is not reducible to physical matter alone.

The Eight Dynamics widen that view beyond the individual. The first concerns oneself; others include family, groups, humanity, living things, the physical universe, spiritual life, and, as the eighth, infinity or the Supreme Being. The Church presents them as a way of considering the connected areas of life rather than as eight separate articles of faith to memorize.

What do Scientologists believe about the afterlife?

Scientology teaches that spiritual beings are immortal and that people may have lived before and may live again. The Church distinguishes this from a fixed system of reincarnation, saying that past lives are not a required dogma but something individuals may come to know through their own experience. Read the Church’s explanation of past lives.

Its public materials do not frame the hereafter primarily as a simple heaven-or-hell destination. Instead, the Church describes a future existence in terms of the next life and of a person’s responsibility for what they do in the present. Its FAQ on heaven and hell explains that framing.

For a reader who is comparing traditions, the important point is modest: Scientology has its own terms and account of spiritual continuity. It does not ask that comparison to erase the differences between its teachings and those of other faiths.

How does Scientology view other religions?

The Church says Scientology respects all religions and states that Scientologists should respect other people’s religious beliefs. Its materials also point to interfaith work and describe tolerance as a basis for human relationships. See the Church’s statement on other religions and religious tolerance.

That is a useful place to be precise. Respect does not mean that Scientology teaches the same theology as every other religion; it means the Church’s stated position is that people have a right to their own religious practice.

The Church identifies infinity, or the Supreme Being, with the Eighth Dynamic. It describes a fuller understanding of that relationship as an individual matter of spiritual awareness rather than as a single required picture of God. The Church’s FAQ on the concept of God gives that explanation.

What is the role of L. Ron Hubbard’s writings in Scientology belief?

The Church says that L. Ron Hubbard’s written and recorded spoken words on Scientology collectively constitute the religion’s Scripture. It describes that material as the place where Scientology theology and its practices are set out. Read the Church’s FAQ on Scientology Scripture.

That makes Hubbard’s writings central to understanding Scientology belief. They are not a side shelf of commentary; in the Church’s description, they are the body of religious material through which the teachings are studied.

FAQs

What is a thetan in Scientology?

In Scientology, a thetan is the spiritual being that a person is. The Church teaches that the thetan uses a mind and occupies a body, rather than being identical with either one.

Does Scientology believe in an afterlife?

Scientology teaches that spiritual beings are immortal and may have lived before and live again. The Church describes past lives as something an individual may come to know through personal experience, rather than a required dogma.

Does Scientology believe in God?

Scientology includes the Eighth Dynamic, which the Church identifies with infinity and the Supreme Being. It describes fuller understanding of that relationship as a matter of personal spiritual awareness.

Conclusion

Scientology belief begins with the idea that a person is a spiritual being and then follows that idea outward: through the Eight Dynamics, spiritual continuity across lives, respect for other religions, and the teachings set out in L. Ron Hubbard’s writings. For the wider orientation, return to What Is Scientology?.

Sources

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