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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.[citation needed]
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][failed verification]
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][failed verification][7][unreliable source?] 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]
- ^ 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. doi:10.1525/nr.2014.17.3.84. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2014.17.3.84. 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.; Petersen, Jesper Aagaard, eds. (2004). Controversial New Religions (1st ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-19-515682-9.
- ^ 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