New Thought Resource Page
New Thought Introduction
New Thought is a spiritually motivated way of life that embraces the ancient wisdom traditions of east and west. It embodies the belief that God or Spirit is “in all as all”, that “we live, move and have our being” in God. This Divine Essence is known to us through the use of our intuition, by our consciousness, by our desire to be creative. New Thought recognizes that consciousness is elementally creative, reciprocates thought, and allows us to co-create with the Divine to shape the reality of our lives.
Although New Thought tenets can be found in ancient philosophies (such as Neoplatonism and the hermetic teachings), the name “New Thought” arose in the late 19th century of the United States. During that time, there was a growing number of people who combined the teachings of the Transcendentalists (Ralph Waldo Emerson and others), certain “mental healers” (most notably Phineas Quimby) and the American “can-do” positive mental attitude to forge this new practical philosophy. Information on many of those early sources can be found below.
The 20th century found the growth of formal New Thought organizations with their own “churches”, especially in the Unity and Religious Science (now Centers for Spiritual Living) movements. Many new authors continued to explore and push forward the ideas of New Thought and what it means for our lives although not all labeled their works “New Thought” (Normal Vincent Peale, Wayne Dyer and others).
New Thought continues to grow in the 21st century through such popular offerings such as “The Secret” (promoted by Oprah Winfrey) and other teachings of the “Law of Attraction” which is a part of New Thought.
Essential New Thought Resources
There are a number of websites with extensive background and links on New Thought sources. Here are some major ones:
New Thought Wisdom Website –More on the background of New Thought, its beliefs, links to authors and books and more.
Science of Mind Archives Website –Ernest Holmes created the New Thought philosophy the Science of Mind which is taught in more than 400 Centers for Spiritual Living communities around the world. These archives provide books, magazines and recordings on the history of the philosophy.
Centers for Spiritual Living Website –main site for the organization that teaches the Science of Mind.
Unity Website –Unity was founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore and is the largest worldwide organization teaching New Thought.
Association for Global New Thought –an organization that brings together the work of Unity, CSL and independent New Thought organizations.
International New Thought Alliance –oldest organization that served to bring together different branches of New Thought.
Newthought.net Website –an independent New Thought site that offers a list of New Thought communities around the world and various New Thought resources.
Affiliated New Thought Network –a membership organization of New Thought centers, churches and other organizations, as well as independent ministers, practitioners, authors, speakers and students.
TruthUnity.Net –a great resource of New Thought documents and recordings with an emphasis on those from Unity ministers and speakers.
New Thought Denomination Listing — Encyclopdia.com listing of many historical New Thought groups through the ages, many of them smaller, many now defunct. Good historical listing with references of what it cites although it does appear to not have been updated in many years.
Other New Thought Resources
New Thought Authors and Teachers —on this page we list information on many New Thought teachers with links to books, audios and videos.
New Thought Periodicals (Current and Historical)
New Thought Miscellaneous (Blogs, Other Organizations, Archives, Etc.)