First Use of the Word The English language term Scientology originated neither with Hubbard nor Nordenholz but with philologist Allen Upward who coined the term in 1907 in his book The New Word This reference is cited to be a use of the word to ridicule pseudoscientific theories by Jon Atack a COS critic Atack Jon A Piece of Blue Sky p 127 Lyle Stuart 1990 ISBN 081840499X This would not be a problem if the critic were actually accurate in his understanding of the text However examination of the original text shows that in Upward s book The New Word the word scientology is used to describe science elevated to unquestioning doctrine and does not have sense implied by Atack unhappily scientology is as often mistaken for science as theology is for worship The New Word p 149 The reference to the original source text should be maintained and the misinterpretation should be pulled out