The Power of Print: How New Thought Magazines Spread the Movement

Introduction

The New Thought movement, a loosely affiliated collection of religious communities emphasizing idealistic theology and the power of the mind to heal and prosper, emerged in the United States in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It grew from the teachings of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and the organizational genius of Emma Curtis Hopkins, but its rapid expansion owed much to a seemingly mundane tool: the printed periodical. In an era before mass electronic media, New Thought magazines such as Unity, Science of Mind, and The Nautilus served as the movement’s circulatory system, carrying its message of mental healing and practical spirituality to a vast and dispersed readership. This article examines how these publications spread the movement, shaped its theology, and created a sense of community among believers who often never met face-to-face.

Historical Context

The intellectual soil from which New Thought grew was rich with transcendentalism, mesmerism, and Christian Science. Ralph Waldo Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts, laid out principles of self-reliance and the divine within, while Phineas Parkhurst Quimby of Belfast, Maine, developed a methodology of mental healing through hundreds of experiments [2]. Mary Baker Eddy, a student of Quimby, founded Christian Science, which emphasized faith healing and the unreality of matter. In 1902, William James, a Harvard professor, captured the essence of this new spiritual sensibility in his Gifford Lectures, calling it “a religion of healthy-mindedness” [2]. The New Thought movement emerged as a more diffuse and democratic alternative to Christian Science, rejecting rigid dogma in favor of practical idealism. It was, as the Encyclopedia.com entry notes, a diverse and loosely affiliated collection of communities that shared an idealistic theology and an optimistic worldview [1]. This decentralization made print media essential: with no central authority, magazines became the primary means of disseminating teachings and connecting scattered groups.

Main Narrative

The First Generation of New Thought Periodicals

The earliest New Thought publications grew out of the mental-healing circles of the 1880s. Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925), properly cited as the founder of the movement [1], had been a student of Mary Baker Eddy but broke away to teach her own synthesis of Quimby’s methods and Emersonian idealism. In 1887, she began publishing The Christian Science Journal (later renamed), which, despite its title, served as a vehicle for her broader metaphysical teachings. Hopkins’s journal was one of the first to carry the message of mental healing to a national audience, and it attracted a diverse readership of healers, ministers, and laypeople. Her students—among them Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Nona Brooks, and Malinda Cramer—would go on to found the major New Thought denominations, each with its own magazine.

The Rise of Denominational Magazines

In 1889, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore founded the Unity School of Christianity in Kansas City, Missouri. Their magazine, Unity, became one of the most influential New Thought periodicals, combining practical advice with metaphysical teachings. The Fillmores emphasized the power of affirmative prayer and the presence of God within, and their publication reached hundreds of thousands of subscribers by the early twentieth century. Similarly, Nona Brooks and Malinda Cramer founded Divine Science, which published Harmony and other periodicals to spread its message of wholeness and healing. In California, Ernest Holmes, a student of the movement, founded the Institute of Religious Science and began publishing Science of Mind magazine in 1927. This magazine, still published today, became the flagship of the Religious Science movement, offering a systematic presentation of New Thought principles.

The Nautilus and the Popularization of New Thought

Not all New Thought magazines were tied to a specific denomination. Elizabeth Towne, a prolific writer and editor, launched The Nautilus in 1898, which became one of the most widely read New Thought periodicals. Towne’s magazine blended New Thought with personal success themes, anticipating the self-help genre. It published articles by leading figures such as William Walker Atkinson, Ralph Waldo Trine, and Orison Swett Marden. The Nautilus was known for its accessible style and practical advice, making New Thought ideas accessible to a broad middle-class audience. Towne’s editorial vision helped transform New Thought from a healing movement into a broader philosophy of personal achievement and well-being.

The Role of Print in Building Community

Magazines did more than disseminate ideas; they created a sense of belonging. In the absence of a centralized authority, readers of Unity or Science of Mind felt part of a larger movement. Letters to the editor, testimonies of healing, and advertisements for correspondence courses and conventions knit together a geographically dispersed network. The International New Thought Alliance, founded in 1914, used its own publications to coordinate activities and define a common creed. As the movement grew, magazines also served as a platform for theological debate and refinement. The 1910s saw a “New Thought” versus “Christian Science” controversy, with periodicals on both sides articulating their differences [3]. Print allowed the movement to adapt and evolve, incorporating new ideas from psychology and neuroscience even as it maintained its core idealist principles [2].

Why It Matters in New Thought History

The power of print was central to the New Thought movement’s survival and growth. Without magazines, the movement might have remained a series of isolated healing circles. Instead, periodicals created a shared vocabulary, a sense of common purpose, and a means of transmitting teachings across generations. They also facilitated the movement’s expansion into global culture, as the principles of New Thought were integrated into corporate self-help and popular psychology [2]. For students of New Thought history, magazines are essential primary sources: they reveal not only the movement’s ideas but also its institutional development, its controversies, and its everyday practices. The Science of Mind magazine, for instance, continues to publish today, a testament to the enduring power of print to carry a spiritual message.

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Publication History

New Thought magazines emerged in the 1880s and proliferated in the early twentieth century. Key titles include The Christian Science Journal (1887), Unity (1889), The Nautilus (1898), and Science of Mind (1927). Each had its own editorial vision, but all shared a commitment to mental healing and idealist philosophy.

Author and Editors

Emma Curtis Hopkins edited her journal for several years before training a generation of leaders. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore edited Unity for decades, while Elizabeth Towne edited The Nautilus from 1898 until her death in 1942. Ernest Holmes edited Science of Mind from its founding until his death in 1960. These editors were not just publishers but theologians, shaping the movement’s doctrines through their editorial choices.

Key Concepts and Reception

New Thought magazines promoted the idea that the mind can influence physical health, material success, and spiritual well-being. They were received enthusiastically by a middle-class audience seeking practical spirituality. Critics, however, dismissed the movement as superficial or heretical, as evidenced by the adverse criticisms in the Andover Review and The Century in the 1880s [3]. Nevertheless, the magazines’ combination of inspiration and practicality proved remarkably durable.

Influence and Editions

These magazines influenced not only their immediate readers but also the broader culture. They contributed to the rise of the human potential movement and the self-help industry. Many are still published in print or online, and their archives are available for research. For example, Unity magazine has been in continuous publication since 1889, making it one of the longest-running New Thought periodicals.

Primary Sources

• The Christian Science Journal (later Unity and others) – Emma Curtis Hopkins, 1887–present. This journal contains early New Thought teachings and healing testimonies.
• Unity magazine – Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, 1889–present. A rich source for the Unity School’s teachings and practices.
• The Nautilus – Elizabeth Towne, 1898–1942. A popular magazine that blended New Thought with success philosophy.
• Science of Mind magazine – Ernest Holmes, 1927–present. The flagship publication of Religious Science, offering systematic lessons and articles.
• Letters and correspondence – Personal letters between New Thought leaders, such as those between Emma Curtis Hopkins and her students, are held in archives at the Unity Library and the International New Thought Alliance.