New Thought

Beginnings:

The New Thought movement had its beginnings in the idealogy of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, a metaphysicist of the nineteenth century. Although technically founded in the late nineteenth century by a follower of Phineas' ideas, Emma Curtis Hopkins, it counts among its heirs and leaders Julius & Horatio Dresser, Charles & Myrtle Fillmore and Warren Felt Evans as well as Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, and Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science.

Organizations:

The New Thought movement has spawned a number of related organizations. These include, among others:

• The Unity Church
• Seicho-No-Ie of Japan
• The Church of Truth
• Religious Science International
• The Divine Science Association

Beliefs:

New Thought groups vary widely in theology, but generally share a belief in an all-pervasive universal creative energy/deity, and that all things are part of this universal phenmoena.

Virtually all believe in some form of affirmation, whether through prayer, meditation, thought conditioning, or other means. In other words, that our thoughts and intents are made manifest by their existence, and that positive thoughts effect positive change.

Beyond this, New Thought groups differ on concepts of afterlife, god belief, etc., although these are generally left up to the individual believer.

A Course in Miracles:

One of the modern works that popularize New Thought ideas was Helen Cohen Schucman's Course in Miracles,which married New Thought's "oneness" theology with a focus on forgiveness. The CIM posits that there are only two basic emnotions, love and fear, and that one may "live in love" by elimninating negative, fear-based emotions.

The Secret:

"The Secret" is a slickly packaged book/DVD double release by author Rhoda Byrne. The Secret contains brief profiles of 24 "teachers," mostly motivational speakers, and prmotes various aspects of the "Law of attraction," which is a simplified, New Thought version of the Hermetic Axiom (As above, so below). The "secret" of the Secret: wishing makes it so- basically, if one desires something enough, and surrounds oneself with "focused intention," one will receive everything one desires.

Criticism of New Thought:

A persistent criticism of New Thought theology is that it promotes self-centeredness and materialism, by encouraging adherents to "manifest" that which they desire, which is very often expressed as financial prosperity. Another is that the idea that one's condition in life is self-generated can lead to a tendency to overlook the misfortunes of others and to blame others for unfortunate circumstances.