New Thought
New Thought describes a set of religious ideas that developed in the United States during the late 19th century, originating with Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. Other early New Thought teachers include Emma Curtis Hopkins, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others. See also New Thought Movement.
From this movement emerged several religious denominations that are actively spreading today, including Divine Science, Religious Science, the Universal Foundation for Better Living and the Unity Church. Although Emma Curtis Hopkins, formerly associated with Christian Science, was considered the "teacher of teachers" of several key New Thought groups, Christian Science developed in a different direction and is not considered a New Thought denomination.
New Thought religions generally share a belief in the universal presence of a creative energy, or God, within the world and within all people. Some take literally the Christian teaching that "the kingdom of heaven is within."
The central teaching of New Thought is that our thinking can create our world. The movement places great emphasis in positive thinking, affirmations, meditation, and prayer. New Thought churches often avoid dogmatic pronouncements about the afterlife or other theological questions, and vary in the degree to which they associate themselves with Christianity or other major world religions. However, they generally have been influenced by a wide range of ideas.
Although New Thought churches are often identified with the New Age movement, New Thought beliefs predate contemporary New Age thinking by nearly a century, and New Thought churches typically do not share major tenets of New Age thinking. New Thought is distinctive from traditional religious movements in that it is expected to evolve and not remain static. As humankind gains greater understanding of the world, it is considered logical that belief systems should assimilate new knowledge.
History
The following individuals figured prominently in the history of the New Thought Movement:
- Phineas Parkhurst Quimby
- Emma Curtis Hopkins
- Ernest Holmes
- Charles Fillmore
- H. Emilie Cady
- William Walker Atkinson
- Myrtle Fillmore
- Nona Brooks
- Thomas Troward
- Emanuel Swedenborg
- Mary Baker Eddy
See also
- New Thought movement
- A Course In Miracles
- Metaphysical Bible Dictionary
External links
- International New Thought Alliance
- Modern teaching of New Thought/Religious Science
- University of Virginia religious movements page - entry on the New Thought Movement
- United Church of Religious Science
- Religious Science International
- Divine Science
- Charles Fillmore
- Emma Curtis Hopkins
- The One and Only pages on New Thought in Japan (with multilingual links)
- Universal Foundation for Better Living
- Global Religious Science Ministries
- Unity School of Christianity
- Association of Unity Churches
- Unity Progressive Council
- World Federation of Unity Churches
- Seicho-No-Ie
- United Divine Science
- Divine Science
- Divine Science
- Divine Science Federation
- Divine Science
- Divine Science
- Divine Science
- New Thought History Chart
- Addington New Thought Archives
- Society for the Study of Metaphysical Religion
- Affiliated New Thought Network
- Celebration Center of Religious Science
- Agape International Spiritual Center