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{{Short description|19th-century American spiritual movement}} |
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{{Original research|date=September 2007}} |
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{{Distinguish|New Thinking}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} |
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{{NewThought}} |
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{{Spirituality sidebar |western |width=22.0em}} |
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The '''New Thought''' movement (also '''Higher Thought''')<ref>{{Citation | first = Horatio Willis | last = Dresser | author-link = Horatio Dresser | title = A History of the New Thought Movement | publisher = TY Crowell Co | year = 1919 | page = 154 | quote = In England the term Higher Thought was preferred at first, and this name was chosen for the Higher Thought Centre, the first organization of its kind in England. This name did not however represent a change in point of view, and the movement in England has been similar to the therapeutic movement elsewhere.}}</ref> is a [[new religious movement]] that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from a variety of origins, such as [[Classical Greece|Ancient Greek]], [[Culture of ancient Rome|Roman]], [[Culture of Egypt|Egyptian]], [[Chinese culture|Chinese]], [[Taoism|Taoist]], [[Hindus|Hindu]], and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] cultures{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} and their related belief systems, primarily regarding the interaction among thought, belief, consciousness in the human mind, and the effects of these within and beyond the human mind. Though no direct line of transmission is traceable, many adherents to New Thought in the 19th and 20th centuries claimed to be direct descendants of those systems. |
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The '''New Thought Movement''' or '''New Thought''' comprises a loosely allied group of denominations, organizations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of metaphysical beliefs concerning healing, life force, visualization, and personal power. The New Thought Movement developed in the United States during the mid to late 19th century and continues to the present time. It promotes the ideas that God is all powerful and ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human self-hood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, all sickness originates in the mind, and 'right thinking' has a healing effect. |
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Although there have been many leaders and various offshoots of the New Thought philosophy, the [[History of New Thought|origins of New Thought]] have often been traced back to [[Phineas Parkhurst Quimby|Phineas Quimby]], or even as far back as [[Franz Mesmer]], who was one of the first European thinkers to link one's mental state to physical condition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prentiss |first1=Craig R. |title='The Full Realization of This Desire': Garland Anderson, Race, and the Limits of New Thought in the Age of Jim Crow |journal=Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |date=Feb 2014 |volume=17 |issue=3 |page=87 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/nr.2014.17.3.84 |access-date=21 June 2023}}</ref> Many of [[List of New Thought denominations and independent centers|these groups]] are incorporated into the [[International New Thought Alliance]].<ref>[[J. Gordon Melton|Melton, J. Gordon]]; Clark, Jerome & Kelly, Aidan A.'' New Age Almanac''; New York: Visible Ink Press (1991); pg. 343. "The International New Thought Alliance, a loose association of New Thought institutions and individuals (approximately 350 institutional members), exists as a voluntary membership organization [to advance New Thought ideals]."</ref><ref>Conkin, Paul K. American Originals: ''Homemade Varieties of Christianity'', The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC (1997); pg. 269. "An International New Thought Alliance still exists, with offices in Arizona, a periodical, and around 200 affiliated societies, some of which still use the label 'church'".</ref> The contemporary New Thought movement is a loosely allied group of [[religious denomination]]s, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning [[Metaphysics (supernatural)|metaphysics]], [[Optimism|positive thinking]], the [[law of attraction (New Thought)|law of attraction]], [[healing]], [[Energy (esotericism)|life force]], [[Creative visualization (New Age)|creative visualization]], and [[personal power]].<ref>{{Citation | first1 = James R | last1 = Lewis | first2 = Jesper Aagaard | last2 = Peterson | year = 2004 | title = Controversial New Religions | page = 226}}.</ref> |
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==History== |
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===19th century origins=== |
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New Thought holds that ''Infinite Intelligence'', or God, is [[omnipresence|everywhere]], [[Pantheism|spirit is the totality of real things]], true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the [[mind]], and "right thinking" has a healing effect.<ref name = "newthoughtalliance.org">{{Citation | url = http://www.newthoughtalliance.org/about.htm | title = Declaration of Principles | publisher = [[International New Thought Alliance]] | date = 2008–2009}}.</ref><ref name= "newthought.info">{{Citation | url = http://newthought.info/beliefs/nt_beliefs.htm | contribution = Statement of beliefs | title = New Thought info | date = 2008–2009}}.</ref> Although New Thought is neither [[wikt:monolithic|monolithic]] nor [[doctrine|doctrinaire]], in general, modern-day adherents of New Thought share some core beliefs: |
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The earliest identifiable proponent of New Thought was [[Phineas Parkhurst Quimby]](1802-66) of [[Belfast, Maine]]<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566901/Quimby_Phineas_Parkhurst.html Phineas Parkhurt Quimby at MSN Encarta. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref>, an American [[Faith healing|faith healer]], student of [[Mesmerism]], and practitioner of [[hypnosis]], who claimed he could heal by mere [[suggestion]]. Quimby developed a [[belief]] system that included the tenet that [[illness]] originated in the [[mind]] as a consequence of erroneous beliefs and that a mind open to [[God]]'s wisdom could overcome any illness. |
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# God or Infinite Intelligence is "supreme, universal, and everlasting"; |
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During the late 19th century the [[metaphysical]] healing practices of Quimby mingled with the "Mental Science" of [[Warren Felt Evans]], a [[Swedenborgian]] [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]] <ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ne/NewThoug.html New Thought entry, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, at Bartleby.com. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref> and the ideas of the American [[transcendental]] [[philosophers]] [[Amos Bronson Alcott]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], and [[Henry David Thoreau]]. Emerson's writings in particular were a great source of inspiration to the nascent New Thought movement. |
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# [[divinity]] dwells within each person, that all people are spiritual beings; |
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# "the highest spiritual principle [is] loving one another unconditionally... and teaching and healing one another"; and |
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# "our [[mental state]]s are carried forward into manifestation and become our experience in daily living".<ref name = "newthoughtalliance.org" /><ref name="newthought.info"/> |
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[[William James]] used the term "New Thought" as synonymous with the "Mind cure movement", in which he included many sects with diverse origins, such as [[idealism]] and Hinduism.<ref>{{Citation | first = William | last = James | author-link = William James | title = The Varieties of Religious Experience | pages = 92–93 | place = New York | year = 1929 | url = http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JamVari.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120709041858/http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JamVari.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all | url-status = dead | archive-date = 9 July 2012 | publisher = U Virginia }}</ref> |
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Quimby did not support any religion or denomination and he eschewed hierarchical organizations and thus, in the wake of his teachings, the New Thought Movement never developed a centralized authority. By the 1890s, many organizations were calling themselves "New Thought", but due to the absence of centralization, they presented a multiplicity of diverse and sometimes contradictory ideas. Among the concepts found in New Thought are [[Panentheism]], [[Idealism]], [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|Spiritualism]], [[mysticism]], [[occult|occultism]], and [[Orientalism]], as well as a strong and pervasive [[Christian]] influence. |
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The major denominations that emerged from the New Thought Movement included the [[Unity Church]], [[Religious Science]], and [[Divine Science]]. Some branches of the movement resembled the [[mystical]] [[doctrines]] of [[Platonism]]<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861738653/Platonism.html Platonism at MSN Encarta. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref>; others self-described as a form of Practical Christianity or embraced [[Culture of Asia|Asian]] philosophies (especially [[Hinduism]]). The Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau (later known as the Home of Truth denomination), which was founded in the 1880s by the sisters Annie and Harriet Rix, was conceived from the start as an interfaith organization that gave equal emphasis to Christianity and Hinduism. |
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== Overview == |
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Some groups promoted 19th century semi-scientific theories such as [[animal magnetism]], others taught the cultivation of memory or the [[affirmation]] and [[self-help]] techniques of [[Emile Coue]]. Some advocated [[meditation]] and quietism, while others used the positivism of New Thought as a springboard for teaching students about what they called the "[[law of attraction]]" or how to develop personal and financial success and courage. Some advocated a [[vegetarian]] diet; others taught the importance of [[will (philosophy)|will power]] and directed thought-force. Some focussed attention on metaphysical healing and [[affirmative prayer]]; others encouraged the development of the gift of [[divination]] and seership through [[crystal gazing]]. |
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[[William James]], in ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' (1902), described New Thought: |
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{{Blockquote| [F]or the sake of having a brief designation, I will give the title of the "Mind-cure movement." There are various sects of this "New Thought," to use another of the names by which it calls itself; but their agreements are so profound that their differences may be neglected for my present purpose, and I will treat the movement, without apology, as if it were a simple thing. |
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Despite the disparate trends named above, the New Thought Movement of the late 19th and early 20th century was held together by the dissemination of its underlying ideas through a number of national magazines, courses of study offered in book form, and via membership in New Thought organizations and denominational churches. There were also New Thought retreat centers and New Thought lecture bureaus, and by 1914, an [[International New Thought Alliance]] comprising individuals and groups who shared a common interest in the movement. <ref>[http://website.lineone.net/~newthought/ahotntinx.htm ''A History of the New Thought Movement'' by Horatio Dresser. 1919. Free online edition. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007]</ref> |
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It is an optimistic scheme of life, with both a speculative and a practical side. In its gradual development during the last quarter of a century, it has taken up into itself a number of contributory elements, and it must now be reckoned with as a genuine religious power. It has reached the stage, for example, when the demand for its literature is great enough for insincere stuff, mechanically produced for the market, to be to a certain extent supplied by publishers – a phenomenon never observed, I imagine, until a religion has got well past its earliest insecure beginnings. |
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By the end of the 19th century, the chief tenets of New Thought had become stabilized: |
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One of the doctrinal sources of Mind-cure is the [[four Gospels]]; another is Emersonianism or New England [[transcendentalism]]; another is [[Subjective idealism|Berkeleyan idealism]]; another is [[Kardecist spiritism|spiritism]], with its messages of "law" and "progress" and "development"; another the optimistic popular science [[evolutionism]] of which I have recently spoken; and, finally, [[Hinduism]] has contributed a strain. But the most characteristic feature of the mind-cure movement is an inspiration much more direct. The leaders in this faith have had an intuitive belief in the all-saving power of healthy-minded attitudes as such, in the conquering efficacy of courage, hope, and trust, and a correlative contempt for doubt, fear, worry, and all nervously precautionary states of mind. Their belief has in a general way been corroborated by the practical experience of their disciples; and this experience forms to-day a mass imposing in amount.<ref>{{Citation | first = William | last = James | title = The Varieties of Religious Experience | pages = 92–93 | place = New York | year = 1902 | url = http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JamVari.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120709041858/http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JamVari.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-07-09 | publisher = U Virginia }}.</ref>}} |
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* Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent. |
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* Spirit is the ultimate reality. |
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* True human self-hood is divine. ([[Higher Consciousness|Christ Consciousness]]) |
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* Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good. |
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* Most disease is mental in origin. |
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* Right thinking has a [[Faith healing|healing]] effect.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571544/New_Thought.html New Thought at MSN Encarta. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref> |
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== History == |
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From its initial emphasis on the healing of disease, New Thought had developed into an intensely individualistic and optimistic philosophy of life and conduct. |
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{{Main |History of New Thought}} |
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=== |
=== Origins === |
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The New Thought movement was based on the teachings of [[Phineas Parkhurst Quimby|Phineas Quimby]] (1802–1866), an American [[mesmerism|mesmerist]] and healer. Quimby had developed a belief system that included the tenet that illness originated in the mind as a consequence of erroneous beliefs and that a mind open to God's wisdom could overcome any illness.<ref>{{citation|title=Phineas Parkhurt Quimby|access-date=16 November 2007|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566901/Quimby_Phineas_Parkhurst.html|work=MSN Encarta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829064252/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566901/Quimby_Phineas_Parkhurst.html|archive-date=29 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> His basic premise was: |
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{{blockquote|The trouble is in the mind, for the body is only the house for the mind to dwell in [...] Therefore, if your mind had been deceived by some invisible enemy into a belief, you have put it into the form of a disease, with or without your knowledge. By my theory or truth, I come in contact with your enemy, and restore you to health and happiness. This I do partly mentally, and partly by talking till I correct the wrong impression and establish the Truth, and the Truth is the cure.<ref>{{citation|last= Phineas|first= Quimby|year= 2008|title= The Quimby Manuscripts|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RKEYteW3oEMC|chapter= Christ or Science|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RKEYteW3oEMC&pg=PA183 |publisher= Forgotten Books|pages= 183|isbn= 978-1-60506-915-9|access-date = 2011-05-08}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=The Quimby Manuscripts|url=http://newthoughtlibrary.com/quimbyPhineas/manuscripts/pages/quimby-manuscripts-194.htm|publisher=New Thought Library|access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>}} |
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The early 20th century was perhaps the high point for New Thought in terms of church membership, magazine circulation, book sales, and lecture attendance. [[William James]] took note of the phenomenon, which he termed both "mind-cure" and New Thought, in his 1901-1902 [[Gifford Lectures]], ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'', in the lecture entitled "The religion of healthy-mindedness." |
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During the late 19th century, the metaphysical healing practices of Quimby mingled with the "Mental Science" of [[Warren Felt Evans]], a [[The New Church|Swedenborgian]] minister.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} [[Mary Baker Eddy]], the founder of [[Christian Science]], has sometimes been cited as having used Quimby as inspiration for theology. Eddy was a patient of Quimby's and shared his view that disease is rooted in a mental cause. Because of its theism, Christian Science differs from the teachings of Quimby.<ref>"Quimby’s son and defender said categorically, 'The religion which [Mrs. Eddy] teaches certainly is hers, for which I cannot be too thankful; for I should be loath to go down to my grave feeling that my father was in any way connected with "Christian Science." ...In [Quimby's method of] curing the sick, religion played no part. There were no prayers, there was no asking assistance from God or any other divinity. He cured by his wisdom.{{'"}} (Dresser, Horatio W., ed. ''The Quimby Manuscripts''. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, 1921. - p436). "Christian Science is a religious teaching and only incidentally a healing method. Quimbyism was a healing method and only incidentally a religious teaching. If one examines the religious implications or aspects of Quimby’s thought, it is clear that in these terms it has nothing whatever in common with Christian Science." (Gottschalk, Stephen. ''The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. p. 130). A good composite of both Quimby, and the incompatibility of his ideas and practice with those of Eddy, can be found in these sources: [[Ann Taves|Taves, Ann]], ''Fits, Trances, & Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James''. Princeton University Press 1999 (pp 212-218); Peel, Robert. ''Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery''. Boston: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966 (chapter: "Portland 1862"); Gill, Gillian. ''Mary Baker Eddy''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books, 1998 (pp 131-146 & 230-233).</ref> |
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From 1900 through the 1920s, New Thought was popular in all regions of the United States, and spread to other nations as well. New Thought churches and centers began to form, as did New Thought clubs and other organizations. It was during this period that many classic books of the New Thought movement were published, including the financial success and will-training books of [[Wallace Wattles]], [[Frank Channing Haddock]], and [[Thomas Troward]]. <ref>[http://website.lineone.net/~newthought/ahotntinx.htm ''A History of the New Thought Movement'' by Horatio Dresser. 1919. Free online edition. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref> |
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In the late 19th century, New Thought was propelled by a number of spiritual thinkers and philosophers and emerged through a variety of religious denominations and churches, particularly the [[Unity Church]] and [[Church of Divine Science]] (established in 1889 and 1888, respectively), followed by [[Religious Science]] (the ''Institute of Religious Science and Philosophy'' was established in 1927).<ref name=lewis16>{{citation |title=Perspectives on the New Age |first=James R. |last=Lewis |author2=J. Gordon Melton |year=1992 |publisher=SUNY Press |pages=16–18 |isbn=0-7914-1213-X}}</ref> Many of its early teachers and students were women; notable among the founders of the movement were [[Emma Curtis Hopkins]], known as the "teacher of teachers", [[Myrtle Fillmore]], [[Malinda Cramer]], and [[Nona L. Brooks]];<ref name=lewis16/> with many of its churches and community centers led by women, from the 1880s to today.<ref name=Harley>{{citation| title=Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought| first=Gail M. |last=Harley |author2=Danny L. Jorgensen |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]]| year=2002|isbn=0-8156-2933-8 |page= 79| author2-link=Danny L. Jorgensen }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=The Religious Imagination of American Women |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousimagina00mary |url-access=registration |first=Mary Farrell |last=Bednarowski |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-253-21338-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/religiousimagina00mary/page/81 81]}}</ref> |
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In 1914, the [[International New Thought Alliance]] was formed, encompassing many smaller groups around the world. The alliance is held together by one central teaching: that people, through the constructive use of their minds, can attain freedom, power, health, prosperity, and all good, molding their bodies as well as the circumstances of their lives. The 1915 INTA conference, held in conjunction with the [[Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)|Panama-Pacific International Exposition]] -- a [[world's fair]] that took place in [[San Francisco]] -- featured New Thought speakers from far and wide. The PPIE organizers were so favorably impressed by the INTA convention that they declared a special "New Thought Day" at the fair and struck a commemorative bronze medal for the occasion, which was presenting to the INTA delegates, led by [[Annie Rix Militz]]. <ref>[http://website.lineone.net/~newthought/ahotntinx.htm ''A History of the New Thought Movement'' by Horatio Dresser. 1919. Free online edition. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref> |
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===Growth=== |
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[[Elizabeth Towne]], [[Orison Swett Marden]], [[William Walker Atkinson]], and Ralph Waldo Trine contributed to the doctrines associated with INTA. Towne and Atkinson both edited influential New Thought Magazines (''[[The Nautilus (Magazine)|The Nautilus]]'', ''New Thought'', and ''Advanced Thought''), and Trine’s book ''In Tune with the Infinite'' (1897) provided a religious underpinning to what had earlier been a movement focussed on heath and healing. |
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[[File:NZ AK Higher Thought Temple (1).jpg|thumb|The historic Higher Thought Temple in [[Auckland]], New Zealand]] |
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{{see also|List of New Thought writers}} |
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New Thought is also largely a movement of the printed word.<ref name=Moskowitz>Moskowitz, Eva S. (2001) ''In Therapy We Trust'', The Johns Hopkins University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8018-6403-2}}, p. 19.</ref> |
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The economic Great Depression of the 1930s, and the aging and deaths of many of the movement's founders during the 1930s through the 1940s, ushered in a slow decline in memberships among philosophical and non-denominational New Thought groups. One of the oldest of the secular New Thought publications, [[Elizabeth Towne]]'s [[The Nautilus (Magazine)|Nautilus magazine]], which had been founded in 1898, ended its run in 1953, when Towne declared herself too old to continue publishing it. But philosophical New Thought did not die out, and it continues to be practiced by adherents throughout the United States to this day. |
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[[Prentice Mulford]], through writing ''Your Forces and How to Use Them'',<ref>{{citation|title=Your Forces and How to Use Them, Vol. 1|year=1888 |publisher=New York, F.J. Needham |url=https://archive.org/stream/yourforcesandho09mulfgoog}}</ref> a series of essays published during 1886–1892, was pivotal in the development of New Thought thinking, including the [[Law of Attraction (New Thought)|Law of Attraction]]. |
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Meanwhile, [[Ernest Holmes]], who in October 1927 had opened the [[Religious Science|Institute of Religious Science and School of Philosophy]], found himself with more study groups than he had anticipated. As a philospoher, he had not intended to create a church, but when adherents asked for the Institute and School to expand to a church organization in the 1930s, he agreed to do so, and thus the denominational era of Religious Science came about during the 20th century. |
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In 1906, [[William Walker Atkinson]] (1862–1932) wrote and published ''Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World''.<ref name=atkinson>[http://gitacademy.tripod.com/GodsInTraining/ThoughtVibration.htm William Walker Atkinson. ''Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction''. Advanced Thought Publishing. 1906.] Full text public domain version online.</ref> Atkinson was the editor of ''New Thought'' magazine and the author of more than 100 books on an assortment of religious, [[Spirituality|spiritual]], and [[occult]] topics.<ref>[http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n88-661832 "William Walter Atkinson"], WorldCat. Retrieved 10 June 2011.</ref> The following year, [[Elizabeth Towne]], the editor of ''[[The Nautilus (magazine)|The Nautilus]]'', published Bruce MacLelland's book ''Prosperity Through Thought Force'', in which he summarized the "Law of Attraction" as a New Thought principle, stating "You are what you think, not what you think you are."<ref name=maclelland>MacLelland, Bruce, ''Prosperity Through Thought Force'', Elizabeth Towne, 1907</ref> |
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From the denominational wing of the New Thought movement emerged several organizations that are active today, including Religious Science, founded by Ernest Holmes; Divine Science, founded by [[Malinda Cramer]] and the Brooks sisters; [[Home of Truth]], founded by Annie Rix Militz; and [[Unity Church|Unity]], founded by [[Charles Fillmore]] and [[Myrtle Fillmore]]. The largest of the New Thought denominations is Unity, which claims a membership of more than two million people worldwide. |
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Due to the variety teachings that co-exist under the New Thought umbrella, New Thought adherents are not always recognized as such by the general public. Rev. [[Della Reese]], a [[singer]] and [[actor]] who starred in the TV series [[Touched by an Angel]] from 1994 through 2003, is a New Thought minister leading the [[Understanding Principles for Better Living Church]] in [[Los Angeles]]. Author [[Louise Hay]] was trained as a Religious Science practitioner. |
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These magazines were used to reach a large audience then, as others are now. ''Nautilus'' magazine, for example, had 45,000 subscribers and a total circulation of 150,000.<ref name=Moskowitz/> One [[Unity Church]] magazine, ''Wee Wisdom'', was the longest-lived children's magazine in the United States, published from 1893 until 1991.<ref name=Miller>Miller, Timothy (1995) ''America's Alternative Religions'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-2397-4}}, p. 327.</ref> Today, New Thought magazines include ''[[Daily Word]]'', published by Unity (Unity.org) and the Religious Science magazine; and ''[[Science of Mind (magazine)|Science of Mind]]'', published by the [[Centers for Spiritual Living]]. |
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===21st century and beyond=== |
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=== Major gatherings === |
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In 1906, [[William Walker Atkinson]], the editor of ''New Thought'' magazine, wrote and published a book called ''Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World''. The principles set forth in this work are associated with the thinking behind the [[2006]] movie, ''[[The Secret (2006 film)|The Secret]]''. According to [[Rhonda Byrne]], who created ''[[The Secret]]'', she was also largely inspired by the New Thought author [[Wallace Wattles]] who published a book called ''[[The Science of Getting Rich]]'' in 1910. Furthermore, in the film's opening sequence there is a quick-cut image of the title page of one of Elizabeth Towne's books, ''The Life Power and How to Use It.'' |
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The 1915 [[International New Thought Alliance]] (INTA) conference – held in conjunction with the [[Panama–Pacific International Exposition]], a [[world's fair]] that took place in San Francisco – featured New Thought speakers from far and wide. The PPIE organizers were so favorably impressed by the INTA convention that they declared a special "New Thought Day" at the fair and struck a commemorative bronze medal for the occasion, which was presented to the INTA delegates, led by [[Annie Rix Militz]].<ref name=dresser>{{citation|last=Horatio Willis Dresser|url=http://archive.org/details/ahistorynewthou01dresgoog|title=A History of the New Thought Movement|date=1919|publisher=T. Y. Crowell Company|others=Harvard University|language=English}}</ref> By 1916, the International New Thought Alliance had encompassed many smaller groups around the world, adopting a creed known as the "Declaration of Principles".<ref name=lewis16/> The Alliance is held together by one central teaching: that people, through the constructive use of their minds, can attain freedom, power, health, prosperity, and all good, molding their bodies as well as the circumstances of their lives. The declaration was revised in 1957, with all references to Christianity removed, and a new statement based on the "inseparable oneness of God and Man".<ref name=lewis16/> |
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== Beliefs == |
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Most of the older New Thought books, as well as many magazine articles and sermons, are now in the public domain and can be found online for free downloading. The internet has made New Thought widely available to the public, and thus New Thought beliefs and techniques continue to influence the way people think about themselves, their health, and their relationship to the material world and to the Divine. |
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{{New Thought beliefs}} |
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The chief tenets of New Thought are:<ref name="NewThought">{{citation|title=New Thought|access-date=16 November 2007|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571544/New_Thought.html|work=MSN Encarta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091102072530/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571544/New_Thought.html|archive-date=2 November 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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==Belief systems== |
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* Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent. |
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===Evolution of thought=== |
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* Spirit is the ultimate reality. |
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* True human self-hood is divine. |
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* Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good. |
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* All disease is mental in origin. |
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* Right thinking has a healing effect. |
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=== Evolution of thought === |
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New Thought emphasizes the idea of growing or developing thought. The word ''New'' stresses the movement's interest in what is innovative and progressive. New Thought practitioners hold that as ideas form and spread, they become part of the fabric of human consciousness and human thought is transformed; adherents accept and even embrace this endless transformation, while simultaneously acknowledging the thread of history and the unfoldment of creative thought. |
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Adherents also generally believe that as humankind gains greater understanding of the world, New Thought itself will evolve to assimilate new knowledge. Alan Anderson and Deb Whitehouse have described New Thought as a "process" in which each individual and even the New Thought Movement itself is "new every moment". Thomas McFaul has claimed "continuous revelation", with new insights being received by individuals continuously over time. [[Jean Houston]] has spoken of the "possible human", or what we are capable of becoming.<ref>Houston, Jean. ''The Possible Human''. 1997.</ref> |
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=== Theological inclusionism === |
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A central teaching of New Thought is that as thought evolves and unfolds, thinking itself creates one's experience of the world. In line with its [[Idealism|Philosophical Idealism]], New Thought professes the primacy of mind in relation to the experience of the physical world, and places great emphasis on techniques such as [[positive thinking]], [[affirmation]]s, [[meditation]], and [[affirmative prayer]]. Among New Thought adherents, these techniques are typically taught in the form of books or courses; among the denominations they are transmitted within the congregation, with supplementary printed materials made available if desired. |
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The [[Home of Truth]] has, from its inception as the Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau in the 1880s, under the leadership of [[Annie Rix Militz]], disseminated the teachings of the [[Hindu]] teacher [[Swami Vivekananda]].<ref>{{citation|title=Our History|url=http://thehomeoftruth.org/id4.html|access-date=31 January 2023|website=thehomeoftruth.org}}</ref> It is one of the more outspokenly interfaith of New Thought organizations, stating adherence to "the principle that Truth is Truth where ever it is found and who ever is sharing it".<ref>Home of Truth home page. Retrieved on 2007-09-20 from http://thehomeoftruth.org/.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2011}} [[Joel S. Goldsmith]]'s [[The Infinite Way]] incorporates teaching from [[Christian Science]], as well. |
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=== Therapeutic ideas === |
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New Thought denominational teaching asserts some distinction from traditional religious movements in that the adherent's personal experience and understanding of God, Presence, or Truth is expected to evolve during the course of his or her life, and not remain static. Life is seen to consist of evolving beings, capable of change physically, mentally, and spiritually. |
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Divine Science, Unity Church, and Religious Science are organizations that developed from the New Thought movement. Each teaches that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is the sole reality. New Thought adherents believe that sickness is the result of the failure to realize this truth. In this line of thinking, [[Faith healing|healing]] is accomplished by the affirmation of oneness with the Infinite Intelligence or God.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} |
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[[John Bovee Dods]] (1795–1862), an early practitioner of New Thought, wrote several books on the idea that disease originates in the electrical impulses of the [[nervous system]] and is therefore curable by a change of belief.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} Later New Thought teachers, such as the early-20th-century author, editor, and publisher [[William Walker Atkinson]], accepted this premise. He connected his idea of mental states of being with his understanding of the new scientific discoveries in [[electromagnetism]] and [[neural]] processes.<ref name="Atkinson">Dumont, Theron, Q. [pseudonym of [[William Walker Atkinson]]. ''Mental Therapeutics, or Just How to Heal Oneself and Others''. Advanced Thought Publishing Co. Chicago. 1916.</ref> |
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Adherents also generally believe that as humankind gains greater understanding of the world, New Thought itself will evolve to assimilate new knowledge. Alan Anderson and Deb Whitehouse have described New Thought as a "process" in which each individual and even the New Thought Movement itself is "new every moment." Thomas McFaul has hypothesized "continuous revelation," with new insights being received by individuals continuously over time. [[Jean Houston]] has spoken of the "possible human," or what we are capable of becoming. <ref> Houston, Jean. ''The Possible Human''. 1997.</ref> |
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=== |
===Criticism=== |
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The New Thought movement has been criticized as a "[[get-rich-quick scheme]]" as much of its literature contains [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] advice to make money.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Griswold, Alfred Whitney|year=1938|title=New Thought: A Cult of Success|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=40|issue=3|pages=309–318|JSTOR=2768263}}</ref> |
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New Thought denominations are [[Panentheism|panentheistic]] belief systems, although many adherents consider their beliefs to be a [[philosophy]]. |
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Although the movement began with roots in feminism and socialism, it increasingly attached itself to far right and racist ideology, arguing that poverty was a sign of spiritual weakness, and that "for the sake of race improvement... poverty and suffering must not be alleviated by the state."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gill |first1=Gillian |title=Minds over Matter |journal=The Women's Review of Books |date=1999 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=27–28 |doi=10.2307/4023353 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4023353 |issn=0738-1433}}</ref> |
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New Thought holds that an [[Immanence|immanent]] presence, often referred to as Mind, Universal Intelligence, Universal Presence, Life, or "God" is the primary basis of all interconnected reality, personal and transcendent. Other names for this presence found in the texts of new Thought authors are Divine Mind, Creative Intelligence, Creative Energy, and Mother-Father God. Some take literally the Christian teaching that "the kingdom of heaven is within." |
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== Movement == |
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===Theological Inclusionism=== |
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New Thought publishing and educational activities reach approximately 2.5 million people annually.<ref>Goldberg, P. (2010) ''American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West.'' [[Random House Digital]], Inc. p 62.</ref> The largest New Thought-oriented denomination is the Japanese [[Seicho-no-Ie]].<ref>"Masaharu Taniguchi." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. [[Gale Group]], 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.</ref> Other belief systems within the New Thought movement include [[Jewish Science]], [[Religious Science]]/[[Centers for Spiritual Living]] and [[Unity Church|Unity]]. Past denominations have included [[Psychiana]] and [[Father Divine]]. |
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Religious Science operates under three main organizations: the [[Centers for Spiritual Living]]; the [[Affiliated New Thought Network]]; and [[Global Religious Science Ministries]]. [[Ernest Holmes]], the founder of Religious Science, stated that Religious Science is not based on any "authority" of established beliefs, but rather on "what it can accomplish" for the people who practice it.<ref>Vahle, Neal (1993). ''Open at the top: The life of Ernest Holmes'', Open View Press, 190 pages, p7.</ref> ''[[The Science of Mind]]'', authored by Ernest Holmes, while based on a philosophy of being "open at the top", focuses extensively on the teachings of [[Jesus Christ]].<ref>Holmes, Ernest (1926) ''The Science of Mind'' {{ISBN|0-87477-865-4}}, pp. 327–346 "What the Mystics Have Taught".</ref> |
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New Thought churches often avoid dogmatic pronouncements about theological questions. They vary significantly in the degree to which they associate themselves with [[Christianity]], [[Hinduism]], or other major world religions. Those most closely associated with Christian culture may express a belief in some form of [[Heaven]] or unity with God after death; those that have incorporated elements of [[Culture of Asia|Asian]] philosophies, teachings, and techniques may express a belief in [[reincarnation]]. |
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Unity, founded by [[Charles Fillmore (Unity Church)|Charles]] and [[Myrtle Fillmore]], identifies itself as "Christian New Thought", focused on "Christian idealism", with the Bible as one of its main texts, although not interpreted literally. The other core text is ''Lessons in Truth'' by [[H. Emilie Cady]]. The ''[[Universal Foundation for Better Living]]'', or ''UFBL'', was founded in 1974 by [[Johnnie Colemon]] in Chicago, Illinois, after breaking away from the [[Unity Church]] for "blatant racism".<ref>DuPree, S.S. (1996) ''African-American Holiness Pentecostal movement: an annotated bibliography.'' Taylor & Francis. p 380.</ref> |
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== See also == |
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Unity Church is perhaps the most explicit of the New Thought denominations in identifying itself with Christianity, although it too has been influenced by non-Christian ideas. |
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{{div col|colwidth=20em}} |
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* [[Apotheosis]] |
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[[Home of Truth]], which, from its inception as the Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau in the 1880s, has disseminated the teachings of the [[Hindu]] teacher [[Swami Vivekananda]], is one of the more outspokenly interfaith of New Thought denominations, stating adherence to "the principle that Truth is Truth where ever it is found and who ever is sharing it." <ref>[http://homeoftruth.org/ Home of Truth home page. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2007]</ref> |
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* [[Divinization (Christian)]] |
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* [[Idealism]] |
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The majority of New Thought churches display, discuss, and sell a wide variety of religious and self-help literature. |
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* [[Magical thinking]] |
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* [[Panentheism]] |
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===Philosophical New Thought=== |
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* [[Prosperity theology]] |
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* ''The Secret'': 2006 [[The Secret (2006 film)|film]] and [[The Secret (Byrne book)|book]] |
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Because Phineas Quimby, the first identifiable proponent of New Thought healing practices, did not advocate any religion or denomination, not all New Thought adherents belong to denominational New Thought Churches or Centers. |
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* [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]] |
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* [[Universalism]] |
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New Thought's philosophical adherents have been instrumental in the development of a variety of [[self-improvement]], self-empowerment, and [[self-help]] philosophies, such as those advocated by the authors [[Napolean Hill]] and [[Charles F. Haanel]], with their emphasis on training the will for personal success. In particular, the New Thought writer and former Methodist minister [[Frank Channing Haddock]] exemplified the close links that have always existed between the New Thought and self-help movements. |
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One New Thought author who demonstrated the wide range of beliefs embraced by the movement was [[William Walker Atkinson]]. The editor of ''New Thought'' magazine and ''Advanced Thought'' magazine, and the author of more than 100 books, most of them written between 1900 and 1920, he covered topics as far ranging as mystical Christianity, seership, gnani yoga, [[hatha yoga]], [[raja yoga]], successful salesmanship, mental magnetism, mental therapeutics, health and healing, mind-reading and [[telepathy]], life after death, [[reincarnation]], [[karma]], [[psychology]], spiritual [[evolution]], [[crystal gazing]], the power of faith, [[mediumship]], and memory culture, all from a solidly New Thought perspective. |
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===Therapeutic theories=== |
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Because New Thought grew out of the faith-healing ministry of Phineas Quimby, healing services and affirmations have been important among many New Thought groups, especially those which are organized as churches or denominations. Agreement on how such healing comes about is not a hard-and-fast tenet of New Thought theology, however. Theories vary, and with them so do healing practices. |
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[[John Bovee Dods]] (1795-1862), an early practitioner of New Thought, wrote several books on the theory that [[disease]] originates in the electrical impulses of the [[nervous system]] and is therefore curable by a change of belief. Later New Thought teachers, such as the early 20th century author, editor, and publisher [[William Walker Atkinson]], delved into this theory as well. Atkinson wrote a number of books on healing and he also developed a theory of personal magnetism and success that outlined a linkage between general [[electromagnetic]] phenomena, [[neural]] processes, and mental states of being. <ref name="Atkinson"> Dumont, Theron, Q. [pseudonym of [[William Walker Atkinson]]. ''Mental Therapeutics, or Just How to Heal Oneself and Others''. Advanced Thought Publishing Co. Chicago. 1916.</ref> |
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Divine Science, Unity Church and Religious Science are denominations which developed from the New Thought movement, which teach that that Infinite Intelligence or God is the sole reality, sickness is the result of the failure to realize this truth, and [[Faith healing|healing]] is accomplished by the affirmation of the oneness of the human race with the Infinite Intelligence or God.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571544/New_Thought.html New Thought at MSN Encarta. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.]</ref><ref>[http://www.divinescience.org/ Official website of Divine Science. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.]</ref><ref>[http://www.unityonline.org/discover_faq.htm Official web site of Unity Church. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.]</ref><ref>[http://www.rsintl.org/ Official web site of Religious Science International. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.]</ref> |
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==Distinguishing New Thought from other belief systems== |
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Because New Thought embraces a wide range of small denominations as well as a group of unaffiliated practitioners and adherents, it is often confused with other groups. In particular, because some New Thought authors wrote about [[Hinduism]], New Thought may be conflated with the chronologically contemporary development of [[Theosophy]], which relied heavily on [[orientalism]] for its foundation. Similarly, because one of the New Thought denominations, Religious Science -- also known as [[Science of Mind]] -- has the word [[science]] in its name, this New Thought denomination, and, by extension, several others, are often confused with the similarly health-oriented religion [[Christian Science]]. And finally, because New Thought has the word "New" in its name, it has lately been mistaken for a form of [[New Age]] or [[Neopagan]] thought or belief. A brief elucidation of the differences between New Thought and each of these movements will put an end to any confusion. |
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===New Thought / Theosophy=== |
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Because some early New Thought authors, including [[William Walker Atkinson]] and [[Charles F. Haanel]], wrote books on [[yoga]], [[Hinduism]], and other allied [[orientalism|orientalist]] concepts, New Thought has sometimes been mistakenly described as a more practical or down-to-earth variation on [[Theosophy]]. However, whereas Theosophy predicates individual spiritual progress on the adherent's ability to understand the wisdom teachings of an advanced group of "masters" who are guiding humanity through a [[reincarnation]]al system of evolution involving seven "races" of human beings, New Thought preaches that there is a direct connection between any given individual and Godhead. Thus, historically, New Thought groups have allied themselves with politically progressive ideas such as [[female suffrage]] and [[human rights]], in contradistinction to the more reactionary and [[racist]] politics of the similarly popular [[Theosophy]] movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
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===New Thought / Christian Science=== |
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Both New Thought and Christian Science do place an emphasis on direct healing of the body, but Christian Science developed in a different direction from New Thought and is not considered a New Thought denomination. [[Mary Baker Eddy]]<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569507/Eddy_Mary_Baker.html Mary Baker Eddy at MSN Encarta. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref>, the founder of [[Christian Science]]<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761565319/Christian_Science.html Christian Science at MSN Encarta. Retrieved Nov. 16, 2007.]</ref>, was a [[wiktionary:Disciple|disciple]] and [[patient]] of New Thought pioneer Phineas Quimby, but she rejected his healing methods, citing her belief that healing came from the power of the Christian God, not the mind. [[Emma Curtis Hopkins]], another pioneer of New Thought, was at one time associated with [[Christian Science]], but she was eventually excommunicated from that denomination. As a New Thought advocate, she came to be considered the "teacher of teachers", that is, the mentor of several key New Thought leaders, but her influence on them was theoretical rather than theological and it took place only after her departure from Christian Science. |
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===New Thought / New Age / Neopaganism=== |
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At the close of the 20th century, New Thought churches and organizations began to be misidentified by non-adherents with the [[New Age]] movement or with [[Neopaganism]], but in fact New Thought beliefs predate New Age thinking by nearly a century, and New Thought churches and organizations typically do not share major tenets of the New Age movement. For instance, although some New Thought authors have promoted [[occult]] techniques such as [[crystal gazing]], Asian religious practices such as [[hatha yoga]], and the adoption of a [[vegetarian]] diet, and some have also endorsed the concept of a bi-gendered or dual Godhead (Father-Mother God), the New Thought movement as a whole neither endorses nor condemns such New Age and Neopagan staples as [[shamanism]], [[Charmstone|crystal healing]], [[Channeling (mediumistic)|channeling]], [[goddess worship]], [[astrology]], and [[tarot|tarot reading]]. |
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==See also== |
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* [[List of New Thought writers]] |
* [[List of New Thought writers]] |
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{{div col end}} |
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* [[List of New Thought denominations and independent centers]] |
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* [[Association for Global New Thought]] |
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* [[New Thought music]] |
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== |
== Citations == |
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{{ |
{{Reflist}} |
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== |
== General bibliography == |
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* {{Citation |last=Albanese |first=Catherine |title=[[A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion]] |publisher=[[Yale University]] Press |year=2007}}. |
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* Anderson, Alan and Deb Whitehouse. ''New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality''. 2003. |
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* {{Citation | last = Albanese | first = Catherine | title = The Spiritual Journals of Warren Felt Evans: From Methodism to Mind Cure | publisher = [[Indiana University]] Press | year = 2016}}. |
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* Braden, Charles. ''Spirits in Rebellion''. |
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* Anderson, Alan and Deb Whitehouse. ''New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality''. 2003. |
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* Gold, August and Joel Fortinos. ''The Prayer Chest''. Doubleday. 2007) ISBN 0-385-52349-1 |
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* [[Charles S. Braden|Braden, Charles S.]] ''Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought'', Southern Methodist University Press, 1963. |
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* Judah, J. Stillson. ''The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America''. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1967. [http://www.dci.dk/?artikel=422 Review] by Neil Duddy. |
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* {{Cite book |last=Harley |first=Gail M. |title=Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought |date=2002 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |oclc=606778962 |isbn=0-8156-2933-8}} |
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* McFaul, Thomas R. ''Religion in the Future Global Civilization'' printed in ''The Futurist'' magazine. September-October 2006. |
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* Judah, J. Stillson. ''The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America''. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1967. Review by Neil Duddy. |
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* White, Ronald M. ''New Thought Influences on Father Divine'' (Masters Thesis, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. 1980. [http://buildingutopia.org/ronwhite/father_divine_thesis/ Abstract] |
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* {{Citation | last = McFaul | first = Thomas R | title = Religion in the Future Global Civilization | journal = The Futurist |date=September–October 2006}}. |
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* {{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |title=Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions |date=2009 |publisher=Gale Cengage Learning |location=Detroit |isbn=978-0-7876-9696-2 |edition=8th |url=https://archive.org/details/meltonsencyclope0008melt}} |
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* {{cite journal |last1=Michell |first1=Deidre |title=New Thinking, New Thought, New Age: The Theology and Influence of Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925) |journal=Counterpoints: The Flinders University Online Journal of Interdisciplinary Conference Papers |date=2002 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=6-18 |url=https://www.academia.edu/423344/New_Thinking_New_Thought_New_Age_The_Theology_and_Influence_of_Emma_Curtis_Hopkins_1849_1925_}} |
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* {{Citation | last = Mosley | first = Glenn R | title = New Thought, Ancient Wisdom: The History and Future of the New Thought Movement | publisher = Templeton Foundation Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 1-59947-089-6}} |
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* {{cite book |last1=Satter |first1=Beryl |title=Each mind a kingdom: American women, sexual purity, and the New Thought movement, 1875-1920 |date=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-21765-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/eachmindkingdoma0000satt}} |
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* {{cite book |last1=Voorhees |first1=Amy B. |title=A New Christian Identity: Christian Science Origins and Experience in American Culture |date=2021 |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill |isbn=9781469662350}} |
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* {{Citation | last = White | first = Ronald M | title = New Thought Influences on Father Divine | type = Masters Thesis | publisher = Miami University | place = Oxford, [[Ohio|OH]] | year = 1980 | contribution-url = http://buildingutopia.org/ronwhite/father_divine_thesis/ | contribution = Abstract}}. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{Commons category|New Thought}} |
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{{Americana Poster|New-Thought}} |
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* {{Curlie |Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/New_Thought}} |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.agnt.org/ | title = Association for Global New Thought}}. |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.websyte.com/alan/intachrt.htm | title = INTA New Thought History Chart | publisher = Web site | access-date = 18 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000824113817/http://websyte.com/alan/intachrt.htm | archive-date = 24 August 2000 | url-status = dead }}. |
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* {{Citation | url = http://library.lessonsintruth.info | title = New Thought Unity and Divine Science Writings | publisher = Piscean-Aquarian Ministry}}. |
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{{Religious Science footer}} |
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*[http://www.newthoughtalliance.org/ International New Thought Alliance] |
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{{Unity footer}} |
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*[http://www.newthought.org/ Affiliated New Thought Network] |
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{{Divine Science footer}} |
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*[http://website.lineone.net/~newthought/ahotntinx.htm ''A History of the New Thought Movement'' by Horatio Dresser. 1919. -- free online edition] |
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{{Universalism footer}} |
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*[http://www.websyte.com/alan/intachrt.htm INTA New Thought History Chart] |
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{{New religious movements}} |
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*[http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Newthoug.html University of Virginia religious movements page - entry on the New Thought Movement] |
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{{Religion topics}} |
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*[http://findacenter.com/ Find a New Thought Center near you] |
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*[http://www.phineasquimby.com/ The collected works Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and a biography written by his son] |
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*[http://www.thoughtvibrations.com/ ''Thought Vibration or The Law of Attraction in the Thought World'' by [[William Walker Atkinson]]] |
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*[http://www.haanel.com/ a biography of [[Charles F. Haanel]], author of ''The Master Key System'' and other New Thought books] |
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*[http://NewThoughtLibrary.com/ Read New Thought texts online for free] |
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*[http://www.psitek.net/index2.html Free library of free online New Thought books] |
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*[http://tigerseyedowsing.com/ds/site_map.htm Divine Science denomination writings and sermons online for free] |
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* [http://www.7thkingdom.com/yourguidance/ebooks/03.html James Allen: As A Man Thinketh] (Public Domain) PDF eBook |
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[[Category:New Thought movement| ]] |
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[[Category:New religious movements]] |
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[[Category:New Thought| ]] |
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[[de:Neugeist-Bewegung]] |
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[[Category:Panentheism]] |
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[[ia:Nove Pensamento]] |
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[[it:New Thought]] |
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[[hu:Új Gondolat Mozgalom]] |
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[[ja:ニューソート]] |
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Latest revision as of 17:37, 1 May 2024
Part of a series of articles on |
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The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought)[1] is a new religious movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from a variety of origins, such as Ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese, Taoist, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures[citation needed] and their related belief systems, primarily regarding the interaction among thought, belief, consciousness in the human mind, and the effects of these within and beyond the human mind. Though no direct line of transmission is traceable, many adherents to New Thought in the 19th and 20th centuries claimed to be direct descendants of those systems.
Although there have been many leaders and various offshoots of the New Thought philosophy, the origins of New Thought have often been traced back to Phineas Quimby, or even as far back as Franz Mesmer, who was one of the first European thinkers to link one's mental state to physical condition.[2] Many of these groups are incorporated into the International New Thought Alliance.[3][4] The contemporary New Thought movement is a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning metaphysics, positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization, and personal power.[5]
New Thought holds that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is everywhere, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.[6][7] Although New Thought is neither monolithic nor doctrinaire, in general, modern-day adherents of New Thought share some core beliefs:
- God or Infinite Intelligence is "supreme, universal, and everlasting";
- divinity dwells within each person, that all people are spiritual beings;
- "the highest spiritual principle [is] loving one another unconditionally... and teaching and healing one another"; and
- "our mental states are carried forward into manifestation and become our experience in daily living".[6][7]
William James used the term "New Thought" as synonymous with the "Mind cure movement", in which he included many sects with diverse origins, such as idealism and Hinduism.[8]
Overview
William James, in The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), described New Thought:
[F]or the sake of having a brief designation, I will give the title of the "Mind-cure movement." There are various sects of this "New Thought," to use another of the names by which it calls itself; but their agreements are so profound that their differences may be neglected for my present purpose, and I will treat the movement, without apology, as if it were a simple thing.
It is an optimistic scheme of life, with both a speculative and a practical side. In its gradual development during the last quarter of a century, it has taken up into itself a number of contributory elements, and it must now be reckoned with as a genuine religious power. It has reached the stage, for example, when the demand for its literature is great enough for insincere stuff, mechanically produced for the market, to be to a certain extent supplied by publishers – a phenomenon never observed, I imagine, until a religion has got well past its earliest insecure beginnings.
One of the doctrinal sources of Mind-cure is the four Gospels; another is Emersonianism or New England transcendentalism; another is Berkeleyan idealism; another is spiritism, with its messages of "law" and "progress" and "development"; another the optimistic popular science evolutionism of which I have recently spoken; and, finally, Hinduism has contributed a strain. But the most characteristic feature of the mind-cure movement is an inspiration much more direct. The leaders in this faith have had an intuitive belief in the all-saving power of healthy-minded attitudes as such, in the conquering efficacy of courage, hope, and trust, and a correlative contempt for doubt, fear, worry, and all nervously precautionary states of mind. Their belief has in a general way been corroborated by the practical experience of their disciples; and this experience forms to-day a mass imposing in amount.[9]
History
Origins
The New Thought movement was based on the teachings of Phineas Quimby (1802–1866), an American mesmerist and healer. Quimby had developed a belief system that included the tenet that illness originated in the mind as a consequence of erroneous beliefs and that a mind open to God's wisdom could overcome any illness.[10] His basic premise was:
The trouble is in the mind, for the body is only the house for the mind to dwell in [...] Therefore, if your mind had been deceived by some invisible enemy into a belief, you have put it into the form of a disease, with or without your knowledge. By my theory or truth, I come in contact with your enemy, and restore you to health and happiness. This I do partly mentally, and partly by talking till I correct the wrong impression and establish the Truth, and the Truth is the cure.[11][12]
During the late 19th century, the metaphysical healing practices of Quimby mingled with the "Mental Science" of Warren Felt Evans, a Swedenborgian minister.[citation needed] Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, has sometimes been cited as having used Quimby as inspiration for theology. Eddy was a patient of Quimby's and shared his view that disease is rooted in a mental cause. Because of its theism, Christian Science differs from the teachings of Quimby.[13]
In the late 19th century, New Thought was propelled by a number of spiritual thinkers and philosophers and emerged through a variety of religious denominations and churches, particularly the Unity Church and Church of Divine Science (established in 1889 and 1888, respectively), followed by Religious Science (the Institute of Religious Science and Philosophy was established in 1927).[14] Many of its early teachers and students were women; notable among the founders of the movement were Emma Curtis Hopkins, known as the "teacher of teachers", Myrtle Fillmore, Malinda Cramer, and Nona L. Brooks;[14] with many of its churches and community centers led by women, from the 1880s to today.[15][16]
Growth
New Thought is also largely a movement of the printed word.[17]
Prentice Mulford, through writing Your Forces and How to Use Them,[18] a series of essays published during 1886–1892, was pivotal in the development of New Thought thinking, including the Law of Attraction.
In 1906, William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) wrote and published Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World.[19] Atkinson was the editor of New Thought magazine and the author of more than 100 books on an assortment of religious, spiritual, and occult topics.[20] The following year, Elizabeth Towne, the editor of The Nautilus, published Bruce MacLelland's book Prosperity Through Thought Force, in which he summarized the "Law of Attraction" as a New Thought principle, stating "You are what you think, not what you think you are."[21]
These magazines were used to reach a large audience then, as others are now. Nautilus magazine, for example, had 45,000 subscribers and a total circulation of 150,000.[17] One Unity Church magazine, Wee Wisdom, was the longest-lived children's magazine in the United States, published from 1893 until 1991.[22] Today, New Thought magazines include Daily Word, published by Unity (Unity.org) and the Religious Science magazine; and Science of Mind, published by the Centers for Spiritual Living.
Major gatherings
The 1915 International New Thought Alliance (INTA) conference – held in conjunction with the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, a world's fair that took place in San Francisco – featured New Thought speakers from far and wide. The PPIE organizers were so favorably impressed by the INTA convention that they declared a special "New Thought Day" at the fair and struck a commemorative bronze medal for the occasion, which was presented to the INTA delegates, led by Annie Rix Militz.[23] By 1916, the International New Thought Alliance had encompassed many smaller groups around the world, adopting a creed known as the "Declaration of Principles".[14] The Alliance is held together by one central teaching: that people, through the constructive use of their minds, can attain freedom, power, health, prosperity, and all good, molding their bodies as well as the circumstances of their lives. The declaration was revised in 1957, with all references to Christianity removed, and a new statement based on the "inseparable oneness of God and Man".[14]
Beliefs
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The chief tenets of New Thought are:[24]
- Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent.
- Spirit is the ultimate reality.
- True human self-hood is divine.
- Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good.
- All disease is mental in origin.
- Right thinking has a healing effect.
Evolution of thought
Adherents also generally believe that as humankind gains greater understanding of the world, New Thought itself will evolve to assimilate new knowledge. Alan Anderson and Deb Whitehouse have described New Thought as a "process" in which each individual and even the New Thought Movement itself is "new every moment". Thomas McFaul has claimed "continuous revelation", with new insights being received by individuals continuously over time. Jean Houston has spoken of the "possible human", or what we are capable of becoming.[25]
Theological inclusionism
The Home of Truth has, from its inception as the Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau in the 1880s, under the leadership of Annie Rix Militz, disseminated the teachings of the Hindu teacher Swami Vivekananda.[26] It is one of the more outspokenly interfaith of New Thought organizations, stating adherence to "the principle that Truth is Truth where ever it is found and who ever is sharing it".[27][failed verification] Joel S. Goldsmith's The Infinite Way incorporates teaching from Christian Science, as well.
Therapeutic ideas
Divine Science, Unity Church, and Religious Science are organizations that developed from the New Thought movement. Each teaches that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is the sole reality. New Thought adherents believe that sickness is the result of the failure to realize this truth. In this line of thinking, healing is accomplished by the affirmation of oneness with the Infinite Intelligence or God.[citation needed]
John Bovee Dods (1795–1862), an early practitioner of New Thought, wrote several books on the idea that disease originates in the electrical impulses of the nervous system and is therefore curable by a change of belief.[citation needed] Later New Thought teachers, such as the early-20th-century author, editor, and publisher William Walker Atkinson, accepted this premise. He connected his idea of mental states of being with his understanding of the new scientific discoveries in electromagnetism and neural processes.[28]
Criticism
The New Thought movement has been criticized as a "get-rich-quick scheme" as much of its literature contains esoteric advice to make money.[29]
Although the movement began with roots in feminism and socialism, it increasingly attached itself to far right and racist ideology, arguing that poverty was a sign of spiritual weakness, and that "for the sake of race improvement... poverty and suffering must not be alleviated by the state."[30]
Movement
New Thought publishing and educational activities reach approximately 2.5 million people annually.[31] The largest New Thought-oriented denomination is the Japanese Seicho-no-Ie.[32] Other belief systems within the New Thought movement include Jewish Science, Religious Science/Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity. Past denominations have included Psychiana and Father Divine.
Religious Science operates under three main organizations: the Centers for Spiritual Living; the Affiliated New Thought Network; and Global Religious Science Ministries. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, stated that Religious Science is not based on any "authority" of established beliefs, but rather on "what it can accomplish" for the people who practice it.[33] The Science of Mind, authored by Ernest Holmes, while based on a philosophy of being "open at the top", focuses extensively on the teachings of Jesus Christ.[34] Unity, founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, identifies itself as "Christian New Thought", focused on "Christian idealism", with the Bible as one of its main texts, although not interpreted literally. The other core text is Lessons in Truth by H. Emilie Cady. The Universal Foundation for Better Living, or UFBL, was founded in 1974 by Johnnie Colemon in Chicago, Illinois, after breaking away from the Unity Church for "blatant racism".[35]
See also
Citations
- ^ Dresser, Horatio Willis (1919), A History of the New Thought Movement, TY Crowell Co, p. 154,
In England the term Higher Thought was preferred at first, and this name was chosen for the Higher Thought Centre, the first organization of its kind in England. This name did not however represent a change in point of view, and the movement in England has been similar to the therapeutic movement elsewhere.
- ^ Prentiss, Craig R. (February 2014). "'The Full Realization of This Desire': Garland Anderson, Race, and the Limits of New Thought in the Age of Jim Crow". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 17 (3): 87. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ Melton, J. Gordon; Clark, Jerome & Kelly, Aidan A. New Age Almanac; New York: Visible Ink Press (1991); pg. 343. "The International New Thought Alliance, a loose association of New Thought institutions and individuals (approximately 350 institutional members), exists as a voluntary membership organization [to advance New Thought ideals]."
- ^ Conkin, Paul K. American Originals: Homemade Varieties of Christianity, The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC (1997); pg. 269. "An International New Thought Alliance still exists, with offices in Arizona, a periodical, and around 200 affiliated societies, some of which still use the label 'church'".
- ^ Lewis, James R; Peterson, Jesper Aagaard (2004), Controversial New Religions, p. 226.
- ^ a b Declaration of Principles, International New Thought Alliance, 2008–2009.
- ^ a b "Statement of beliefs", New Thought info, 2008–2009.
- ^ James, William (1929), The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: U Virginia, pp. 92–93, archived from the original on 9 July 2012
- ^ James, William (1902), The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: U Virginia, pp. 92–93, archived from the original on 9 July 2012.
- ^ "Phineas Parkhurt Quimby", MSN Encarta, archived from the original on 29 August 2009, retrieved 16 November 2007
- ^ Phineas, Quimby (2008), "Christ or Science", The Quimby Manuscripts, Forgotten Books, p. 183, ISBN 978-1-60506-915-9, retrieved 8 May 2011
- ^ The Quimby Manuscripts, New Thought Library, retrieved 3 June 2015
- ^ "Quimby’s son and defender said categorically, 'The religion which [Mrs. Eddy] teaches certainly is hers, for which I cannot be too thankful; for I should be loath to go down to my grave feeling that my father was in any way connected with "Christian Science." ...In [Quimby's method of] curing the sick, religion played no part. There were no prayers, there was no asking assistance from God or any other divinity. He cured by his wisdom.'" (Dresser, Horatio W., ed. The Quimby Manuscripts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, 1921. - p436). "Christian Science is a religious teaching and only incidentally a healing method. Quimbyism was a healing method and only incidentally a religious teaching. If one examines the religious implications or aspects of Quimby’s thought, it is clear that in these terms it has nothing whatever in common with Christian Science." (Gottschalk, Stephen. The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. p. 130). A good composite of both Quimby, and the incompatibility of his ideas and practice with those of Eddy, can be found in these sources: Taves, Ann, Fits, Trances, & Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James. Princeton University Press 1999 (pp 212-218); Peel, Robert. Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery. Boston: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966 (chapter: "Portland 1862"); Gill, Gillian. Mary Baker Eddy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books, 1998 (pp 131-146 & 230-233).
- ^ a b c d Lewis, James R.; J. Gordon Melton (1992), Perspectives on the New Age, SUNY Press, pp. 16–18, ISBN 0-7914-1213-X
- ^ Harley, Gail M.; Danny L. Jorgensen (2002), Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought, Syracuse University Press, p. 79, ISBN 0-8156-2933-8
- ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1999), The Religious Imagination of American Women, Indiana University Press, p. 81, ISBN 0-253-21338-X
- ^ a b Moskowitz, Eva S. (2001) In Therapy We Trust, The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-6403-2, p. 19.
- ^ Your Forces and How to Use Them, Vol. 1, New York, F.J. Needham, 1888
- ^ William Walker Atkinson. Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction. Advanced Thought Publishing. 1906. Full text public domain version online.
- ^ "William Walter Atkinson", WorldCat. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ^ MacLelland, Bruce, Prosperity Through Thought Force, Elizabeth Towne, 1907
- ^ Miller, Timothy (1995) America's Alternative Religions, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4, p. 327.
- ^ Horatio Willis Dresser (1919), A History of the New Thought Movement, Harvard University, T. Y. Crowell Company
- ^ "New Thought", MSN Encarta, archived from the original on 2 November 2009, retrieved 16 November 2007
- ^ Houston, Jean. The Possible Human. 1997.
- ^ "Our History", thehomeoftruth.org, retrieved 31 January 2023
- ^ Home of Truth home page. Retrieved on 2007-09-20 from http://thehomeoftruth.org/.
- ^ Dumont, Theron, Q. [pseudonym of William Walker Atkinson. Mental Therapeutics, or Just How to Heal Oneself and Others. Advanced Thought Publishing Co. Chicago. 1916.
- ^ Griswold, Alfred Whitney (1938). "New Thought: A Cult of Success". American Journal of Sociology. 40 (3): 309–318. JSTOR 2768263.
- ^ Gill, Gillian (1999). "Minds over Matter". The Women's Review of Books. 17 (2): 27–28. doi:10.2307/4023353. ISSN 0738-1433.
- ^ Goldberg, P. (2010) American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Random House Digital, Inc. p 62.
- ^ "Masaharu Taniguchi." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
- ^ Vahle, Neal (1993). Open at the top: The life of Ernest Holmes, Open View Press, 190 pages, p7.
- ^ Holmes, Ernest (1926) The Science of Mind ISBN 0-87477-865-4, pp. 327–346 "What the Mystics Have Taught".
- ^ DuPree, S.S. (1996) African-American Holiness Pentecostal movement: an annotated bibliography. Taylor & Francis. p 380.
General bibliography
- Albanese, Catherine (2007), A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion, Yale University Press.
- Albanese, Catherine (2016), The Spiritual Journals of Warren Felt Evans: From Methodism to Mind Cure, Indiana University Press.
- Anderson, Alan and Deb Whitehouse. New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality. 2003.
- Braden, Charles S. Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought, Southern Methodist University Press, 1963.
- Harley, Gail M. (2002). Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2933-8. OCLC 606778962.
- Judah, J. Stillson. The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1967. Review by Neil Duddy.
- McFaul, Thomas R (September–October 2006), "Religion in the Future Global Civilization", The Futurist.
- Melton, J. Gordon (2009). Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions (8th ed.). Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-7876-9696-2.
- Michell, Deidre (2002). "New Thinking, New Thought, New Age: The Theology and Influence of Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925)". Counterpoints: The Flinders University Online Journal of Interdisciplinary Conference Papers. 2 (1): 6–18.
- Mosley, Glenn R (2006), New Thought, Ancient Wisdom: The History and Future of the New Thought Movement, Templeton Foundation Press, ISBN 1-59947-089-6
- Satter, Beryl (1999). Each mind a kingdom: American women, sexual purity, and the New Thought movement, 1875-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21765-2.
- Voorhees, Amy B. (2021). A New Christian Identity: Christian Science Origins and Experience in American Culture. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469662350.
- White, Ronald M (1980), "Abstract", New Thought Influences on Father Divine (Masters Thesis), Oxford, OH: Miami University.
External links
- New Thought at Curlie
- Association for Global New Thought.
- INTA New Thought History Chart, Web site, archived from the original on 24 August 2000, retrieved 18 September 2007.
- New Thought Unity and Divine Science Writings, Piscean-Aquarian Ministry.