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1. Name: New Thought Movement
2. Founder: Phineas Parkhurst "Park" Quimby. Although there are many opinions on who the actual founder of New Thought is, since the essence of the movement is rooted in the interpretation of Quimby's teachings, Quimby should be credited as the overall intellectual father of New Thought.(1) See "Phineas Parkhurst Quimby: The Father of New Thought." (2) In fact, just about every one of the important names listed on this page have been credited with the creation of New Thought at one point or another in some source.
3. Dates of Birth - Death: February 16, 1802 - January 16, 1866(3)
4. Birth Place: Boston, MA (4)
5. Year Founded: 1838 (5)
6. History:
General Background
New Thought, and the related movement, Christian Science, were based on the integration of the more traditional Christian ideas with nineteenth century metaphysical traditions. The metaphysical tradition embodies a sense of spirituality concerned with mystical experience and the importance of the power of the mind over the body particularly in terms of enabling healing. The general ideas were essentially delineated by some of the prominent writers and philosophers of the time: Emanuel Swedenborg, Franz Anton Mesmer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, and Warren Felt Evans. While the common link between the New Thought movement and Christian Science and the most notable point of origin is Phineas Quimby, the influence from the others is equally important in developmental and influential ways.
During the 18th century, Emanuel Swedenborg offered spiritual interpretations based on his metaphysical thought in place of classic Biblical interpretations. Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science would similarly make their own interpretations while relying heavily on Swedenborg's metaphysical ideas. These interpretations were obtained as a result of his communications with supernatural beings and were numerous enough to fill several volumes. Two important elements were the very concrete elevation of the spirit over the physical matter and subsequently, according to the "law of correspondence," between the two mediums of existence. Swedenborg expounded on many elements of the Bible. In a similar fashion to Swedenborg and Eddy, New Thought would also create new interpretations of the Bible based their own metaphysical assumptions.
Franz Anton Mesmer outlined his ideas about a healing spiritual force in his work "21 Propositions" in the late 18th century. The essence of which was embodied in the properties of a fluid that he suggested pervades all of nature and communicates pulses between material bodies. This communicative substance could be used to heal and induce trance. Though Mesmer did not receive the academic acceptance that he wanted, other individuals sought to further develop his theory of Mesmerism and the idea of a pervasive healing force. Variants of these ideas have continued into current practices with modern exponents seen in the practices of hypnotism and certain systems of contemporary spiritualism as well as many of the contemporary New Age practices.(6) The latter movement has a foundation in these elements of New Thought.
The Founder
Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, born on February 16, 1802 in Lebanon, New Hampshire, was apprenticed as a clockmaker and had little traditional education. Several important elements of his life led to the development of his ideas of mental healing.
The first important milestone was when Quimby developed tuberculosis but became disillusioned with the method of treatment prescribed by his physician and gave up hope of recovery. A friend suggested that he take up a physical outdoor activity such as horseback riding to improve his condition. While his severe physical ailments prevented him from trying this suggestion, Quimby tried the next best thing and embarked on carriage trips. This course of action produced remarkable results and his recovery prompted much thought on the matter. (7) However, he did not pursue this further until several years later. Then in 1838, Quimby began studying Mesmerism after attending a lecture by Doctor Collyer. Soon he began further experimentation with the help of Lucius Burkmar, who could fall into a trance and diagnose illnesses. Quimby again saw the mental and placebo effect of the mind over the body when medicines prescribed by Burkmar, with no physical value, cured patients of diseases. From the conclusions of these studies, Phineas Quimby developed theories of mentally aided healing and opened an office in Portland, Maine in 1859.(8) Among the students and patients who joined his studies and helped him to commit his teachings to writing were Warren Felt Evans, Annetta Seabury Dresser and Julious Dresser, the founders of New Thought as a named movement, and Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science movement.
The Basis
Warren Felt Evans was one of the first individuals who wrote seriously on the teachings of Phineas Quimby. Unlike some other students, he did not specifically establish a movement under these teachings but he did, in fact, open a practice in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Although the most important gift that Evans left to New Thought was his written work, Evans also took the important step of integrating the philosophies of Swedenborg and Quimby.
Although Warren Felt Evans focused on producing written works on the issues, and Annetta and Julius Dresser did not address their own learnings immediately, Mary Baker Eddy (formerly known as by the surname Patterson) developed a movement out of the ideas she derived from Quimby's teachings. Through the treatment for her poor health, Eddy came to be a student of Phineas Quimby and out of this came her own unique ideas about metaphysical healing. In 1862, Eddy received treatment from Quimby and was cured quickly. Though her health tended to fluctuate, when she practiced the latter techniques her condition improved. Though the commonalities between their work are quite apparent, Eddy had to personally integrate her own Christian faith with Quimby's ideas since he tended to be critical of traditional religious practices. In 1879 practioners assembled the Church of Christ, Scientist and soon ordained Eddy as the pastor. At this point the controversy that delineated the split between New Thought and Christian Science was characterized by the dispute between Mary Eddy and Edward J. Arens, her former student, and Julius Dresser, who continued along with his wife and son to dispute Eddy over the origin of certain ideas. However, Christian Science and Mary Eddy weathered the storm of plagiarism accusations and the movement still survives today.(9) Annetta and Julius Dresser continued their attack on Eddy throughout the rest of their lives.
The Role of Women
New Thought has had the unique position among emergent religious movements of having, from the very beginning, women play an integral role in leadership. A critical differentiation between New Thought and Christian Science coincided with the increasing establishment of women and feminist ideas in both of these emerging religious movements. In 1881, Mary Baker Eddy was already well established as the leader of Christian Science when Emma Curtis Hopkins participated in Eddy's class. Emma worked on the Christian Science Journal until 1885 when she left to form her own institution. The resulting Emma Hopkins College of Metaphysical Science was highly successful and made a huge impact, particularly in terms of advancing women in the field.
In the first graduation ceremony of the Emma Hopkins College of Metaphysical Science in 1889, Hopkins graduated a total of 22 individuals of which 20 were women. Not only did her school encourage women to take these leadership roles, but she actually based her theology on an interpretation of the Trinity based on ideas initiated by Joachim of Fiore which stated that there were three eras in the history of this traditional trio. The first was the patriarchal idea of "God the Father", the second was a time of freedom for the general population which was signified by the birth of Jesus, and the third, "the Spirit, the Truth-Principle, or the Mother-Principle," focused on the power of women. (10) The latter element of this interpretation of the Trinity was embodied by the pioneering roles which each of these women had in helping to even the playing field of the genders.
Groups
Given the increasingly coherent nature of the independent groups which were becoming more and more separated from Christian Science, the need for unique names became more apparent. Some of the main institutionalizations of independent New Thought are as follows:
Divine Science
In spite of popular belief, Divine Science did not begin in Denver, Colorado, but with the conception of the recognition of a common nature of the healing of two different women. In love with a young man from the University of Virginia and then various other men after the first individual married, Nona L. Brooks found her family in poverty after her father's business went under. After taking ill with a severe throat illness, she was eventually persuaded by a friend, who had been healed by Emma Hopkins, to attend a class. After several sessions, Brooks suddenly found herself healed. (11) One of Hopkins' students, Melinda Cramer, who had had a similar experience, met with Nona Brooks and initiated Divine Science.
Religious Science (Science of Mind)
The most recent of the large New Thought groups to be formed was Religious Science. One of Hopkins' later students, Ernest S. Holmes, initiated the Church of Religious Science. He wrote the text, Science of Mind, in 1926 which became the fundamental text that Religious Science still follows today. (12)
Unity
A relatively uneducated real estate operator, Charles Fillmore, and a college educated woman with a family history of tuberculosis, Myrtle Fillmore, founded the largest of the movements within the New Thought tradition. After an economic crisis wiped out the successful real estate business and Myrtle became sick with tuberculosis, Myrtle and Charles Fillmore followed the recommendation of a friend and went to a lecture given by Dr. E. B. Weeks, a student of Emma Curtis Hopkins. As a result of this lecture, Myrtle was cured of her illness and the roots of the Unity School of Christ were set. The Fillmores later went to study with Hopkins herself and continued to develop their religious movement wholeheartedly. (13)
7. Sacred or Revered Texts:
In some ways the Bible is the main sacred text of the New Thought movement, although this is subsequent to the metaphysical interpretations of the Bible which are specific to the movement and the individual sects therein. In 1932, Charles S. Fillmore of the Unity Church created the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, a volume containing these interpretations.(14) Also, there are many lesser known texts which are quite important to individual movements, such as the aforementioned book, Science of Mind, and the Practitioner's Manual of the United Church of Religious Science.
8. Cult or Sect:
Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.
Charles S. Braden said "New Thought is neither church, cult, nor sect; it asks no allegiance to creeds, forms, or personality, and is quite nonracial". (15)
9. Size (16):
New Thought group (17)
Number of churches
Number of members
400
75,000
350
between 50,000 and 70,000
33
5,000
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New Thought and Quimby's Teachings
While New Thought is a loose conglomeration of a variety of individual religious movements, there is an overall sense of unity that delineates the movement and makes a definite distinction between New Thought and Christian Science. The essential difference between the latter two branches of Quimby's ideas centers on the fact that New Thought is "more of a point of view than a movement, or a movement rather than a closely organized institution" like Christian Science. (18) The latter is a religious movement in the more traditional sense since it is characterized by much more specific definitions than can be applied to New Thought. The basic fact that New Thought is not one specific faith but ideally stands for the collective of all religious traditions, on the basis of Quimby's teachings, characterizes the movement. The fundamental institution behind New Thought is the idea of metaphysical healing and the power of the mind over body in relation to the cure of ailments.
According to the Metaphysical Club of Boston, which was started in 1895 and was one of the first distinct New Thought organizations, the purpose of New Thought is "to promote interest in and the practice of a true philosophy of life and happiness; 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."(19)
Horatio W. Dresser, son of Annetta Seabury Dresser and Julius Dresser, explained Quimby's ideas in a seven element list.
1. The omnipresent Wisdom, the warm, loving Father of us all, Creator of all the universe, whose works are good, whose substance is an invisible reality.
2. The real man, whose life is eternal in the invisible kingdom of God, whose senses are spiritual and function independently of matter.
3. The visible world, which Dr. Quimby once characterized as "the shadow of Wisdom's amusements;" that is, nature is only the outward projection or manifestation of an inward activity far more real and enduring.
4. Spiritual matter, or fine interpenetrating substance, directly responsive to thought and subconsciously embodying in the flesh the fears, beliefs, hopes, errors, and joys of the mind.
5. Disease is due to false reasoning in regard to sensations, which man unwittingly develops by impressing wrong thoughts and mental pictures upon the subconscious spiritual matter.
6. As disease is due to false reasoning, so health is due to knowledge of the truth. To remove disease permanently, it is necessary to know the cause, the error which led to it. "The explanation is the cure."
7. To know the truth about life is therefore the sovereign remedy for all ills. This truth Jesus came to declare. Jesus knew how he cured and Dr. Quimby, without taking any credit to himself as a discoverer, believed that he understood and practiced the same great truth or science.(20)
New Thought stands as a movement which has no specific dogma to which the member religious movements must adhere. This idea stands in contrast to Christian Science which does have a more strictly outlined set of beliefs that define the organization. The first focus of the New Thought point of view is on the idea of metaphysical healing and secondarily, the different sub-organizations put varying degrees of emphasis on the traditional Christian religious beliefs that are practiced in tandem.
The metaphysical notion of mind over body has found a 20th century exponent in the even more diverse category of new religious movements known as New Age. As an illustration of how loose the conglomeration of New Thought groups is, the Church of Religious Science sees itself as a forerunner to New Age while Unity does not recognize this relationship. None the less, the metaphysical traditions of mental healing which started in 19th century Transcendentalism and organized into New Thought and Christian Science have progressed to the plethora of New Age practices which now flourish in tandem with the continuation of the New Thought movement. (21)
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New Thought Movement Home Page
Created by Anderson-Whitehouse New Thought, this is the most comprehensive resource available online on New Thought. The page includes links to other pages and individual churches that fall in the New Thought category as well as articles, documents, publications, and books online. The topics vary from explanations of the history of the movement to current discussions.
http://websyte.com/alan/New Thought Community Online
Newsletter, educational, Science of Mind, and various explanatory resources about the New Thought Movement.
http://www.new-thought.org/Affiliated New Thought Network
The Affiliated New Thought Network (ANTN) is an international education affiliation of independent member Centers and Churches. ANTN focuses on the expression of the philosophy of New Thought. This is the webpage for the loose congregation of New Thought denominations.
http://www.newthought.org/What is Divine Science?
A large compilation of links to resources regarding New Thought and, more specifically, the religious movement of Divine Science.
http://www.angelfire.com/il/divinescience/Divine Science Church
The Divine Science Church homepage.
http://www.divinescience.org/United Church of Religious Science
The United Church of Religious Science homepage has links to churches by state as well as international listings. This is the official United Religious Science page.
http://www.scienceofmind.com/Celebration Center of Religious Science
The Science of Mind webpage has a link to the current magazine of the same name as well as informational resources about their beliefs.
http://www.scienceofmind.com/Celebration Center of Religious Science
The Center is a New Thought organization affiliated with the United Church of Religious Science and this webpage contains related resources.
http://www.ccrs.org/Religious Science Explained
A page by Rev. Nancy Anderson titled "Business and Love working together!" which discusses Religious Science beliefs and Science of Mind.
http://www.innerlight.com/nsdccrs/relsci.htmAssociation of Unity Churches
The Association of Unity Churches provides administrative assistance and global networking to member churches.
http://www.unity.org/Unity World Headquarters
Unity School of Christianity is the headquarters of the Unity Church. They note that they are not affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church or the Unification Church.
http://www.unityworldhq.org/Seicho-No-Ie Truth of Life Movement
One of the smaller groups, and less widely known groups that fall under the broad wing of the New Thought Movement, which was organized in Japan through the efforts of Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi. Though not covered on the current page, a link is provided to give access to other resources.
http://www.snitruth.org/
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- Anderson, Alan. 1963.
- "Horatio W. Dresser and the Philosophy of New Thought." Boston: Boston University, Ph.D. dissertation.
- Anderson, Alan. New Thought Movement Homepage.
- <http://websyte.com/alan/> (20 March 1998).
- Beebe, Tom. 1977.
- Who's Who in New Thought. Lakemont, GA.
- Braden, Charles S. 1963.
- Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press.
- D'Andrade, Hugh. 1974.
- Charles Fillmore. New York: Harper & Row.
- Dresser, Annetta Gertrude. 1895.
- The Philosophy of P.P. Quimby. Boston: George H. Ellis.
- Dresser, Horatio. n.d.
- A History of the New Thought Movement. London: George G. Harrap and Company.
- Dresser, Horatio W. Quimby's Teachings.
- <http://websyte.com/alan/> (15 March 1998).
- Judah, J. Stillson. 1967.
- History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America. Philadelphia, PA.
- Melton, J. Gordon. 1986.
- Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
- Melton, J. Gordon. 1996.
- Encyclopedia of American Religions. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Co. Fifth Edition.
- Practitioner's Manual. 1967. Los Angeles: United Church of Religious Science.
- Quimby, Phineas Parkhurst.
The Father of New Thought.- <http://www.gis.net/~caa/qfounder.html> 15 March 1998).
- Quimby, Phineas Parkhurst. 1921.
- The Quimby Manuscripts, edited by H. W. Dresser. New York.
- Quimby, Phineas Parkhurst. 1982.
- The Healing Wisdom of Dr. P. P. Quimby, edited by Mason Alonzo Clark. Los Altos.
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For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
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Last updated: 07/25/01
