New Thought is a diverse movement emphasizing mind-healing that emerged in the United States through the hypnotist Phineas P. Quimby (1802-1866). More broadly, New Thought also refers to metaphysical religions affiliated with Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) and Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925).

Early on, Quimby stressed that all illness of the body is the product of the mind and a consequence of an individual’s false beliefs. Illness is curable by changing one’s beliefs, which allows one to travel down the path toward discovering the truth. Historian Richard Huber clarifies this idea: “Since you are divine and one with God, by thinking you are one with God, you cannot be sick because God cannot be sick” (1). Quimby considered his method of curing illness a faithful application of Jesus Christ’s (c. 6-4 BCE – c. 30 CE) teachings. Eddy viewed Jesus’s miracles as showing the illusionary nature of the world.

Quimby regarded God as Spirit, the ultimate reality and ideal wisdom, and that all other things, especially matter, as illusory.

Proponents taught prosperity theology, which is the notion that when people learn to change their thinking toward abundance, God can manifest it in their lives (2). According to Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), the founder of the Church of Religious Science: “Our idea of prayer is not so much of asking God for things as it is believing that we already have the things that we need” (3). 

The movement’s objective is “to show that through right thinking, one’s loftiest ideals may be brought into present realization; and to advance intelligent and systematic treatment of disease by spiritual and mental methods” (5). Further, “Since you are divine and one with God, by thinking you are one with God, you cannot be poor, because God cannot be poor” (6). God wants humans to be happy, healthy, and successful.

Hopkins was a student of Eddy and founded a school where she trained New Thought teachers. These teachers went on to establish the International New Thought Alliance. Contrary to Quimby, Eddy viewed matter as real, although she agreed that Mind/thought is primary and that God is Mind.

Traditional Christian discourse and terms are cited by New Thought proponents to convey their messages. A successful businessman and New Thought proponent, Charles Haanel (1866-1949), drew on Christian terms, “Build firm foundations for your consciousness upon forces which flow directly from the Infinite Source, the Universal Mind of which you are the image and likeness”.

The Christian underpinnings of New Thought writers influenced mainstream American culture, especially in the business community and later the self-help genre of literature and on how to achieve success. Many listeners and readers perceived New Thought proponents as Christian writers who focused on healing and prosperity. It did not appear that these proponents were asking audiences to convert to a new religion.

New Thought proponents do not limit themselves to one text. The texts are viewed hierarchically along a spectrum of importance. Primary are sacred religious texts with the Judeo-Christian Bible being viewed as the most important. Important insights are also pulled from Eastern texts and metaphors. These sources are referenced to lesser or greater degrees by different New Thought writers of various denominations. These religious scriptures also tend to be interpreted esoterically or allegorically.

Certain biblical texts are stressed: A verse in Proverbs: “for as he thinks within himself, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he’ll say to you, but his heart won’t be with you” (23:7) is cited, as is a verse in Romans: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (12:2). The Bible is interpreted as describing the spiritual development of the individual’s soul and what manifests when different states of consciousness interact in collective human existence.

Secondary texts are those produced by the fore-parents of New Thought, which include Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Thomas Troward (1847-1916), Hopkins, and Warren Felt Evans (1817-1889). These works interpret sacred scriptures according to esoteric or allegorical meanings.

References

Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. “New Thought’s Prosperity Theology and Its Influence on American Ideas of Success”. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 18(2):28-44. p. 28

Griffith, R. Marie. 2001. “Body Salvation: New Thought, Father Divine, and the Feast of Material Pleasures”. Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation 11(2):119-153.

1. Quoted in Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. Ibid. p. 31.

2. Quoted in Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. Ibid. p. 28.

3. Quoted in Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. Ibid. p. 29.

4. Quoted in Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. Ibid. p. 31.

5. Quoted in Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. Ibid. p. 30-31.

6. Quoted in Hutchinson, Dawn. 2014. Ibid. p. 31.