Val Kilmer has always been an enigma. One minute he’s the cocky Iceman in Top Gun, the next he’s the hauntingly beautiful Jim Morrison or the sharp-tongued Doc Holliday. But behind the movie star jawline and the reputation for being "difficult" on set, there’s a deeply spiritual man whose life has been governed by a faith most people don’t quite understand.
So, was Val Kilmer a Christian? Yes, but with a very specific, often misunderstood asterisk.
Kilmer is a lifelong, devout Christian Scientist. If you’re looking for a simple "yes" or "no" regarding his Christianity, it’s not that easy. While Christian Science identifies as a Christian denomination, it deviates significantly from mainstream Catholicism or Protestantism, particularly when it comes to how the physical world—and sickness—is perceived.
The Roots of Val Kilmer's Faith
Kilmer didn't just find religion late in life after a Hollywood bender. He was born into it. Raised in Los Angeles, he attended a Christian Science school called Berkeley Hall until the ninth grade. For him, the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, weren't just Sunday school stories. They were the lens through which he viewed reality.
Honestly, to understand Val, you have to understand the core of his belief system. Christian Scientists generally believe that the material world is a sort of "mortal error." They believe that God is entirely good and that because God is spirit, reality is actually spiritual, not material.
This leads to the big one: Sickness isn't a biological reality to them; it’s a "suggestion" or a mental error. Kilmer has spent his entire life reading the Bible every morning. He’s been vocal about his devotion, even when it made him an outlier in a secular industry. He doesn't just "believe"—he practices.
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Why People Get Confused: Is Christian Science "Christian"?
This is where the debate gets heated. Many mainstream Christians argue that Christian Science is a "cult" or at least "unorthodox" because it rejects the traditional view of the Trinity and the reality of physical suffering.
However, if you ask Val, he’ll tell you he follows the teachings of Jesus. He views Jesus as the ultimate "Way-shower" who proved that the laws of Spirit can overcome the laws of the flesh. In his 2021 documentary Val, and his memoir I’m Your Huckleberry, he speaks about prayer as a form of "magical realism." To him, it’s not about wishing for things; it’s about aligning your mind with a divine truth.
The 2014 Health Crisis: Faith vs. Medicine
The question of was Val Kilmer a Christian took a dark, public turn around 2014. Rumors started swirling that Kilmer was deathly ill. People saw him wearing scarves to cover his neck.
He was coughing up blood. He was struggling to speak.
Because of his Christian Science beliefs, Kilmer initially resisted traditional medical intervention. In his faith, seeking a doctor is often seen as "claiming" the disease—essentially giving power to the illusion of sickness instead of the reality of God's health. He spent a significant amount of time working with a "practitioner" (a spiritual healer in the church) to pray the "suggestion" of cancer away.
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But here’s where the human element kicks in.
Kilmer’s children, Mercedes and Jack, are not Christian Scientists. They were terrified. They saw their father dying. Eventually, the pressure from his family—and the sheer physical reality of his condition—led him to seek medical help. He underwent a tracheotomy, chemotherapy, and radiation.
The Paradox of His Healing
Even though modern medicine saved his life, Kilmer’s perspective on it is... complicated. He has famously said that he had a "healing of cancer" through prayer, even while acknowledging he went to the hospital.
"People that know I am a Christian Scientist make the assumption that I have somehow endangered myself," Kilmer once wrote during a Reddit AMA. "But many, many people have been healed by prayer throughout recorded history. And many, many people have died by whatever was modern medicine."
To Kilmer, the medical treatments were a concession to his children’s fear. He often speaks as if the medical intervention was the thing that "damaged" him (leaving him with a rasping, broken voice), while the prayer was what actually "healed" the underlying spiritual issue. It’s a nuance that frustrates skeptics but remains central to his identity.
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His Obsession with Mary Baker Eddy
You can’t talk about Val Kilmer’s Christianity without mentioning his obsession with a movie he’s been trying to make for decades. He wrote a script about the rivalry between Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy.
He even toured a one-man show called Citizen Twain. He sees the conflict between Twain’s cynical materialism and Eddy’s spiritual idealism as the definitive American story. He’s spent millions of his own dollars trying to get this project off the ground. That’s not the behavior of someone who’s "kinda" into their religion. That’s a man whose faith is his north star.
How He Practices Today
Today, Val Kilmer lives a much quieter life. He’s an artist. He paints, he makes collages, and he uses a specialized device to speak.
If you watch his documentary, you’ll see him constantly surrounded by spiritual texts. He still identifies as a Christian Scientist. He still believes in the power of "Love" (with a capital L, as the church uses it to describe God) to transform the human experience.
What should you take away from this?
- He is a Christian Scientist, not a mainstream Protestant. This means his view of doctors, medicine, and the physical body is radically different from yours or mine.
- His faith almost cost him his life. The delay in treatment is a point of huge contention among his fans and family.
- He doesn't see a contradiction. In his mind, the spiritual work and the physical recovery are parts of a whole, though he prioritizes the spiritual.
- He’s still active in his belief. He hasn't "renounced" his faith despite the grueling physical toll of his illness.
Actionable Insight for Fans:
If you want to understand Kilmer's current mindset, skip the tabloid articles and watch the documentary Val. Pay attention to how he talks about "the illusion." It explains why he can be so joyful despite having lost the very thing that made him a star: his voice. He truly believes the voice is just a material detail, and the spirit remains untouched.
If you’re researching this because you're interested in the intersection of celebrity and faith, look into the history of Christian Science in Hollywood. Kilmer isn’t the only one; everyone from Robert Duvall to Ginger Rogers has been linked to the church. Understanding this helps contextualize why Kilmer makes the choices he does—choices that might seem "bizarre" to us but are perfectly logical within his spiritual framework.