L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology:
An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature

Marburg Journal of Religion
Volume 4, No. 1 (July 1999)

Marco Frenschkowski
University of Mainz, Germany

<http://www.uni-marburg.de/​religionswissenschaft/​journal/mjr/​frenschkowski.html>

Note: Supplemental links have been added.

Contents

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Introduction

No New Religious Movement has been a subject of more public interest and of more heated discussions in Germany during the last two decades than Scientology. I first became interested in this debate in the early Eighties, but only in 1996/1997 — after completing a similar project about Theosophy and Helena Blavatsky — I seriously started to search for available material on Hubbard and the movement he founded. Only then I became aware of the rather paradoxical situation in Germany, that there exists a large New Religious Movement (whose status as a religion nevertheless is doubted by some) which is being discussed on German TV almost every week, which forms a topic of forensic debate in many legal proceedings, and which is the one movement treated most extensively in the official report on New Religious Movements published by the German parliament (Endbericht der Enquete-Kommission des Deutschen Bundestages "Sogenannte Sekten und Psychogruppen", 1998 [English translation (pdf) -ed.K]) — but nevertheless has almost never been treated on an academic level of research.

One simple reason for this situation immediately became clear to me: no German public (or academic) library has a collection of the pertinent material deserving the name. Some of the critical books about Scientology (Kaufman's, Haack's, Thiede's) are easily available. There is also no dearth of books by former Scientologists that want to expose the movement. Some of these are quite valuable (as Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky [linked -ed.K]). Others are not. Also they are extremely repetitive. When turning to the sources (that is, the writings of L. Ron Hubbard) I quickly discovered that they were hardly read by critics and sometimes not much more by sympathisers. Of the large output of Hubbard, the same 5 or 10 titles turned up again and again. A first step into research seemed to me to compile a bibliography of material available and to get a personal look at Hubbard as a writer. A minor outcome of this is my biographical article on Hubbard forthcoming in the supplements to Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (Verlag Traugott Bautz, Herzberg). This article contains as an appendix also a bibliography of which the following is an abridged, but also annotated version.

Observing the public discussion about Scientology in Germany while not being directly involved I became increasingly critical about the journalistic and sensationalist concentration on "atrocity tales". I only slowly realised that being an ex-scientologist is one of the most lucrative religious markets in Germany. People affiliated with Scientology just for a few weeks (!) who obviously had not read a tenth of the material already known to me wrote lengthy exposures of Scientology that were completey [sic] interchangeable, quoting always exactly the same material spiced by a very few personal experiences, to be used by the still growing anti-cult market. Christian apologetics has produced at least two excellent major studies on Scientology and a few minor ones, but is highly biased and very often completely unable to get a feeling for the dynamics of a non-theistic religion. The counter-cult publications also contain some quite comic Anti-Americanisms and rather violent reactions to the (very!) "American" side of Scientology.

A main drawback of the public discussion was that ex-scientologists formed a main and very often the only source of information. Now apostates have a special impact for exposing Human Rights violations in religious groups and similar problems. But what would we say of a book — let's say — about the Roman Catholic Church that almost only relied on statements made by apostate priests, while almost never taking into account the writings of e.g. catholic theologians? Wouldn't we consider such a procedure highly unfair (though very much conseding [sic] the importance of critical questions asked by apostates)? So I decided that my articles should give more attention to Hubbard's own writings.

The following survey of primary and selected secondary literature wants to contribute to a fair study of Scientology and especially its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Being a Protestant theologian, I regard it as highly undesirable that Scientology grows. I regard Hubbard's and Christian views on man, on the deity, on salvation as not reconcilable. But being also a scholar of religion I see basic fairness as a prerequisite of studying a religious movement: which means to look for the best sources, for all sources, for sources of all kinds, but most of all for original and authentic sources. As this is a somewhat abridged, but also reorganised and annoted [sic] version of a bibliography going to appear as an appendix to a biographical study of Hubbard, I have given most attention to material by and about Scientology's founder himself. I annotate only some of the material with a few remarks, the main reason being simply that this English version (written at the request of my colleague Andreas Grünschloß) had to be produced at very short notice.

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A. Primary sources: writings by L. Ron Hubbard

1. Hubbard's literary output (fiction)

As is well known, Hubbard started his career as a writer in all genres of popular literature. In the Thirties he wrote mainly adventure fiction, aviation stories, travel stories, but also mysteries, western, romance, and even some love stories. Later he concentrated on fantasy and especially science fiction. Many of his yarns touch religious aspects of man: his desire for transcendence and immortality, his struggle for happiness and freedom, his fascination with the starry heavens, his wonder about his own future. None of this fiction is "religious" in a traditional sense of the word, nevertheless is [sic] deserves some attention in the light of his later developments. Also in his later years — after founding Dianetics and Scientology — he turned back to the SF market with some major novels. I start with a few remarks on these texts as they are almost completely unknown in Germany.

For the literary part of Hubbard's oeuvre exists a fairly complete and dependable bibliography: William J. Widder, The Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard. A Comprehensive Bibliography & Reference Guide to Published and Selected Unpublished Works, Los Angeles 1994. As many other books written from the Scientology point of view, Widder much overrates Hubbard's importance for genre literature; nevertheless he gives a complete listing and short plot summaries of the relevant titles and even lists unpublished piece [sic] (to be published at some later time). The history of religion scholar who wants to gain some first hand acquaintance with Hubbard as a fiction writer might start with the following texts that are of some interest in the light of Hubbard's religious and philosophical ideas (I give only first publication dates. All titles are available in many reprints):

The satire is not humorous, but biting and harsh, which makes the novels not easy to read. Also Hubbard somehow had lost contact with developing narrative techniques: he writes exactly as he had done 40 years earlier. When read as entertainment Mission Earth is disappointing: it does not entertain. Many of the scenes (especially some sexual encounters) are incredibly grotesque, not in a pornographic sense, but they are violently aggressive about modern American ideals. The Mission Earth novels on the whole are a subversive, harsh, poignant attack on American society in the 1980ies [sic]. As such they has so far received almost no attention, which perhaps they do deserve a bit more. They also have some quite interesting characters, especially when read with a deconstructionist approach. These 11 later novels by Hubbard are not Scientology propaganda literature, but have some topics in common, especially the very strong opposition against 20th century psychology and psychiatry, which is seen as a major source of evil. All open allusions to Scientology are strictly avoided. They are not as successful in their use of suspense and humour as Hubbard's early tales, but have to say perhaps more about the complex personality of their author.

When reading Hubbard's fiction myself, I had expected him to be third-rate hack writer as he is mostly seen by his critics. He is not. Before founding Dianetics he was a good, competent second-rate writer in many fields writing not for self-fulfillment but for a living. In this regard he is much overrated by Scientologists but also much underrated by critics who read him only with the glasses of antipathy against Scientology. Hubbard's literary output is enormous (about 220 tales and novellas, about 20 novels besides many poems and some pieces for the theatre; also film scripts). These items have become available almost completely in the last years in carefully edited, but also very expensive reprints published by Author Services, Los Angeles. A bibliography of some more recent editions is given in my study on Hubbard as a writer to appear in Quarber Merkur (see below). The insights these texts allow into the mind and soul of Hubbard have so far never been seriously used for an understanding of Scientology.

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2. Hubbard's books in the fields of Dianetics and Scientology

I first give a complete listing of relevant titles and then add some recommendations what perhaps to read first for those who want to gain some first-hand acquaintance with Hubbard's ideas.

These are only the publicly available titles by Hubbard. There is also much material regarded as confidential by the Church of Scientology. This refers especially to the so called OT materials and New OT materials that are delivered to Scientologists who have attained the status of "clear". Some of this material has been published by ex-scientologists; it is also available on some internet sites. The Church of Scientology has denied the reliability and authenticity of some of these irregular publications. Hubbard's many smaller pieces addressed to Scientologists, as e.g. the "LRH Executive Directives" or the "Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letters", are available in the above mentioned collections (as The Technical Bulletins of Dianetics and Scientology, 18 vols., and others). They are completely listed in What is Scientology?, 1998 edition (see below), pp. 891-971.

There are also many books published by Scientology organisations as "based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard". These usually are selected and thematically linked passages from his original books. For serious research I recommend using original material, not such compilations. As far as I know no effort has been made so far to compare early and late editions [linked -ed.K] of Hubbard. It is not known whether the recent editions have been adapted to the later developments of Hubbard's ideas.

Scientologists usually try to sell first Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, New York 1950, of which many reprints exist. This was written for a general public and can easily be read, but it gives only a very small part of what Scientology (that only developed later from Dianetics) is about. I do not recommend it for getting a first idea about Scientology. When it came out in May 1950, it remained a New York Times bestseller for 28 consecutive weeks, which is quite illuminating about the American situation in the early Fifties. A more general overview is Scientology: the Fundamentals of Thought, Washington, DC 1956, which contains a description of many of Scientology's fundamental concepts: the conditions of existence, the parts of man (thetan, mind and body), the ARC triangle, the cycle of action. Hubbard saw this as his first "real" Scientology book. Science of Survival: Simplified, Faster Dianetic Techniques, Wichita, Kansas 1951, today available as Science of Survival: Prediction of Human Behavior, is quite interestig [sic] for the so-called "tone-scale", Hubbard's psychology. To get a feeling for the pragmatic approach of Scientology and its appeal to devotees Scientology: A New Slant on Life, East Grinstead, Sussex 1965 is a recommended item. This is a series of popular essays which perhaps best describe what Scientology means for "normal people". For the therapeutic side of Scientology and its different "technologies" the best introduction is The Scientology Handbook. Based on the Works of L. Ron Hubbard, Hollywood, California 1994. The Way to Happiness, Los Angeles 1981, is Hubbard's "common sense ethics", a book given freely away by Scientologists as a gift.

The more esoteric side of Scientology teaching has as its basis the belief in "past lives" (like Crowley, Hubbard did not like the term reincarnation). He tried to give some kind of proof to this in Have You Lived Before This Life?, East Grinstead, Sussex 1960 (augmented with a new essay in the editions from 1977 on). A more general overview of man's "cosmic history" is given in Scientology: A History of Man, Los Angeles and Copenhagen 1988 (first published 1952), which starts with the sentence: "This is a cold-blooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years". Both are very strange books easily ridiculed. They should perhaps be compared to Buddhist or Hindu scriptures about reincarnation. Many Scientologists are not very much interested in these mythological matters and try to make them look only supplementary to the fundamental "life improvement approach" of Scientology. They have never been studied from the point of view of comparative religion.

Mission Into Time, Los Angeles 1972 is another strange but important book. Its preface gives an early biographic overview about Hubbard's life from the Scientology point of view and relates his travels in the Mediterranean in 1968 to check his "recall" of incidents occurring several thousand years ago. As in all such books, this never reaches the dignity of a "proof" but illustrates how Hubbard saw his earlier "past lives". These three books are quite important for the inner side of Scientology and its founder. Another such title is Hymn of Asia: An Eastern Poem, Los Angeles 1974 (written in 1955/56), where Hubbard speculates whether he might be Maitreya (Mettaya), the future Buddha spoken of in Buddhist literature.

I would not advise German researchers to use German translations of these titles. The translations available from the Church of Scientology usually are quite accurate but a bit lifeless and wooden by their slavish dependancy on the English versions which makes them not too easy to read. For serious research only original editions can be used, anyway. Nobody would claim to do research on the New Testament when just reading a translation: in the field of New Religious Movements this kind of second hand research is still quite common.

For Scientology it is impossible for a very special reason: "Scientologese". Hubbard had a bit of a kink creating new words and artificial composita (words like knowingness, enturbulation, MEST). He also used some words in a very special sense (like his favourite "to handle" which is the one word he could not abstain from employing in his own special way even in his late SF novels). It has also often been asserted that words like "ethics" do not exactly have the same meaning for him as in everyday language. For this reason more specialized Scientology literature cannot be used without giving attention to Hubbard's language and his own definitions (he was very careful about exactly defining how he used words, indeed more so than almost all religious personalities of the 20th. century). His special vocabulary is documented in some reference books:

A study of Hubbard's artificial language and often very unusual definitions is an undertaking very well worth the trouble. ("Art" for example is defined as "the quality of communication").

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B. Secondary literature

A complete bibliography does not exist so far. Some major monographs have fairly comprehensive overviews, especially Haack's classic German language monograph (see below).

3. Studies about Hubbard as a narrative writer

Most more general reference works on popular literature and especially on Science Fiction mention Hubbard at least en passant. In the Fifties and Sixties a vehement discussion about the merits and demerits of Scientology took place in some of the great Science Fiction magazines (who had their hey day [sic] in the Fourties and started to decline in the Fifties, loosing their market to the pocket book). This material from magazines has never been collected so far.

On the other side there are not many dependable discussions of Hubbard's literary output from a point of view dedicated mainly to genre history. Very few books on general American literature (that is, main-stream literature) mention Hubbard, but most histories of SF do. The most useful general introduction to the SF field at the moment is John Clute and Peter Nicholls (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, London 1993 (new edition), pp. 187s. 327. 592s. 1078. 1268-1270. A scholar who wants to get a feeling for the SF genre is strongly advised to start with this reference work, that for sheer comprehensiveness, objectivity and clear presentation is unsurpassed. A quite good short German introduction is: Klaus Geus, Science Fiction und Dianetik, Bonsai 6/Zimmerit 5, Aalen und Gärtringen 1995, pp. 20-26. I cannot recommend the articles on Hubbard in the German standard reference works in the fields of fantasy and SF: Heiko Langhans and Uli Kohnle, L. Ron Hubbard. Biographie. Bibliographie, in: Bibliographisches Lexikon der utopisch-phantastischen Literatur, 7. Erg.-Lief., Meitingen 1986 and Hans Joachim Alpers/Werner Fuchs/Ronald M. Hahn/Wolfgang Jeschke (ed.), Lexikon der Science Fiction Literatur. Augmented New Edition, München 1988, pp. 566s. These are well-known reference works in the field, but the articles about Hubbards [sic] are not too well-informed and very polemical. One does not get a feeling that the authors have read the original English language versions of most of Hubbard's literary works.

A not to be neglected source is The John W. Campbell Letters, vol. I and II, ed. by Perry A. Chapdelaine, Sr., Tony Chapdelaine and George Hay, Franklin, TN 1985-1993. John W. Campbell (1910-1971) of course was the most important SF editor in the "golden age" of SF (as the time between 1938 and approximately 1950 is often called). He is probably the one individual who did most for Science Fiction to become a part of American popular culture. When Campbell first encountered Dianetics, he was immediately spell-bound: the young "science of the mind" promised to fulfill many of the ideas, expectations and secret hopes of SF afficionados. He gave Hubbard much encouragement and supported him for some time. Eventually he became disillusioned, like A. E. van Vogt, James Blish and many other authors and fans from the SF scene. In some regards his story is quite typical. His letters give some rare insights into the SF movement of the time when Hubbard became notorious, and discuss him regularly.

I only give the titles of some more specialized literature on Hubbard as a writer:

The articles by the Roman catholic theologian Linus Hauser (though also not too well-informed) are sensitive to questions history of religion scholars might ask. Insofar they are certainly a step in the right direction. Nevertheless they start to mix religious judgements and literary evaluations much too quickly. I have tried to give an as [sic] I hope balanced view on Hubbard as a writer and on his theoretical views on SF in the following article: Marco Frenschkowski, "Science Fiction und Scientology. Beobachtungen zum Erzählwerk L. Ron Hubbards". Forthcoming in: Quarber Merkur, ed. by Franz Rottensteiner (1999/2000). This contribution is part of an ongoing project of research into the exact relationship between artificial mythologies, fantastic and supernatural literature, religious traditions and the late 20th. century religious situation.

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4. L. Ron Hubbard: biographical material and similar matters published by Scientologists

I mention first L. Ron Hubbard — Images of a Lifetime. A Photographic Biography, Los Angeles, CA 1996, a splendid photographic picture book, given freely away by the Church of Scientology, but containing very little real information. An ongoing project of collecting and presenting biographical material on Hubbard by the Church of Scientology is The Ron Series, a collection of booklets devoted to different aspects of Hubbards [sic] life and oeuvre. It started publication with: L. Ron Hubbard: A Profile, Los Angeles 1995 (German edition as: L. Ron Hubbard. Ein Porträt, n. p. 1995). Further titles from the series are:

Many further issues are in preparation. Non-Scientologist readers immediately recognize some parts of Hubbard's life are here systematically left out: no information whatsoever is given about his private life (his marriages, divorces, children), his legal affairs and so on. Nevertheless the series makes available material otherwise unknown, if cautiously used. A full biography is in preparation.

Other relevant titles by Scientologists are:

The official "guide-book", so to say, and the best general introduction to Scientology at the moment is What is Scientology? Based on the Works of L. Ron Hubbard, Los Angeles and Copenhagen 1998. No serious discussion about Scientology is possible without taking into account this "official" representation.

Of course there also exist many magazines edited by the different local Churches of Scientology and affiliated organisations. I might mention: Ability. Minor Issue, Bi-Monthly, Washington; Advance!, Los Angeles; Centre, Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex; Die Brücke, Wien; Freedom, Los Angeles; Freiheit, München; Neue Zivilisation, Hamburg; Source. Magazine of Flag Land Base, Tampa, Florida; The Auditor, Los Angeles; Theta, Stuttgart; Ursprung, München.

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5. L. Ron Hubbard: biographical studies and related material by non-scientologists

I first mention the more important titles and then add some minor other articles.

A topic of special interest has been for many years Hubbard's short-lived acquaintance with the nuclear physicist John ("Jack") Whiteside Parsons (1914-1952) who was also a devotee of the founder of modern neo-pagan "magick", Aleister Crowley. In the winter of 1945/1946 Hubbard lived in Parson's house in Pasadena, CA and took part in Parson's magical experiments to produce a "moonchild". This connection has been a subject of much speculation, especially in the books of Brent [sic] Corydon, Miller and Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack. A better discussion can be found in Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky (see below). Nevertheless it remains quite obvious that Hubbard did not take much inspiration from Crowley and Parsons. Some sources for the Hubbard-Parsons connection became available only in recent years. It is discussed also in the most thorough biography of Crowley: John Symmonds, The King of the Shadow Realm. Aleister Crowley: His Life and Magic, London 1989, pp. 562-565.

Which brings us to Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky. Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, Secaucus, N. Y. 1990. This is the most thorough general history of Hubbard and Scientology, very bitter, but always well-researched and on the whole to be prefered to Haack. It has a very fine documentation and omits many unproven sensationalist claims made by Corydon and others. Atack — who was a Scientologist from 1974-1983 — is also violently opposed to Scientology, but tries to stick to facts (whereas Corydon often speculates). The starting point for all further researches. Atack has since then only written minor pieces on Scientology, but is a collector of pertinent material much of which he has made available on internet.

Other more general articles on Hubbard include:

Newspaper Obituaries: Chicago Tribune, Jan. 29th., 1986; Detroit News, Jan. 28th., 1986; Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28th., 1986; Newsweek, Febr. 10th., 1986; New York Times, Jan. 29th., 1986; Publisher's Weekly, Febr. 14th., 1986; Time, Febr. 10th., 1986; Washington Post, Jan. 29th., 1986; Washington Times, Jan. 29th., 1986.

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6. Selected general literature on Dianetics and Scientology

I begin my short overview with remarks on three important authors who write on an academic level of research: Roy Wallis, Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack and Werner Thiede.

There are so far very few professional sociologists of religion who have studied Scientology. The most important one is Roy Wallis, whose book The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology, London 1976. New York 1977 already forms something of a small, well-balanced classic. But it is now sadly in need of an up-date. Other writings by Roy Wallis about Scientology are:

In 1974 another very important writer started to publish about Scientology: Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack. As he wrote the single most influential book on Scientology in Germany, a few words about Haack might be desirable. Haack (who died in 1991) was "Sektenbeauftragter" of the Protestant Bayerische Landeskirche and is usually seen as the most outspoken proponent of a stricly Christian apologetic approach. He also coined the label "Jugendreligionen" (youth religions) in 1974. Some of his books ran into as many as 24 editions. A good bibliography of his writings (with excellent English annotations) can be found in Elisabeth Arweck and Peter B. Clarke, "New Religious Movements in Western Europe. An Annotated Bibliography", Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies 41, Westport, CN/London 1997, pp. 88-99. It cannot be denied that Haack in some regards was a problematical personality. On the other side he was an excellent researcher almost fanatically devoted to getting first-hand material. As a collector of source material on New Religious Movements in many quite different fields he is unsurpassed in Germany. His extreme and sometimes very unfair polemics have made him a primary target of counter attacks by Scientology and many other organisations. On the other side his books are absolutely indispensable for the rich documentation they contain, and this especially is true for Scientology — Magie des 20. Jahrhunderts, München 1982. 3rd ed. augmented by Thomas Gandow 1995, his major study on the topic. Still no research on Scientology is possible without a careful reading of this study. In the Seventies and Eighties Haack's book were read widely and formed a main source of information on New Religious Movements and the religious sub-culture for German society for many readers (that a New Religious Movement might form a part of the German religious main culture was completely unthinkable in those not so far-away days). One of Haack's seminal more substantial publications in the field was Von Gott und Der Welt verlassen. Der religiöse Untergrund unserer Tage, Düsseldorf 1974, which on pp. 140-158 also deals with Scientology. Later relevant writings include:

Another important writer with a counter-cult apologetic approach is Werner Thiede (born 1955, another theologian of the Protestant Bayerische Landeskirche). His Scientology — Religion oder Geistesmagie?, Konstanz 1992. 2nd edition (R. A. T. 1), Neukirchen-Vluyn 1995 is at the moment the most sophisticated treatment available on Scientology in Germany, though I completely disagree with him on many points. This book is well-researched on Hubbard's own writings, but not on Hubbard's background. He denies the religious status of Scientology, a question I discuss more fully in a forthcoming paper. Other important articles and books of his include:

Other secondary literature, with special emphasis on books about the European discussion, I give here only in a general chronological list, without much annotation: