The Eternal Commitment: Scientology's Billion-Year Contract

Abstract

This paper analyses the billion-year contract, a fundamental instrument in the Scientology religion. This contract is signed solely by members of Scientology’s most senior order, the Sea Organisation, after they have proven their unqualified allegiance to the Organisation. This paper provides an overview of the Sea Organisation and of the onerous process which leads to it. It, then, undertakes an analysis of the billion-year contract and its fundamental role in defining and strengthening the commitment which binds the members to their organisation. It concludes that the billion-year contract is, contrary to what the Church suggests, far more than a “symbolic” commitment – it is, at once, a rebellious, visionary, and constitutive act.

Keywords: law and religion, religion, scientology, new religious movement, religion and law, cult, church, sociology