People, Ideas, and Movements That Shaped New Thought
Explore how German Idealism, mediated through Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and Swedenborgianism, profoundly shaped the mental healing philosophy of the New Thought movement, especially through the writings of Warren Felt Evans.
The New Thought movement, known for its emphasis on the power of the mind, traces its lineage back to Franz Anton Mesmer’s 18th-century theory of animal magnetism. This article explores how a discredited medical theory about an invisible universal fluid evolved into the metaphysical principles that shaped New Thought, from Phineas Quimby’s mental healing to modern law of attraction teachings.
Emma Curtis Hopkins, known as the ‘mother of New Thought,’ taught and ordained the founders of Unity, Religious Science, and other major metaphysical movements. This article traces her life, teachings, and enduring legacy.
Explore the intertwined yet distinct histories of New Thought and Christian Science, from shared roots in 19th-century idealism and mental healing to their divergent paths, key figures, and lasting impact on American metaphysical religion.
Tracing the evolution from 19th-century metaphysical healing to 20th-century self-actualization, this article explores how New Thought’s core ideas shaped the human potential movement and continue to influence modern self-help culture.
Nona Lovell Brooks was a pioneering leader of the New Thought movement and co-founder of the Church of Divine Science. This article traces her life, healing, teachings, and lasting impact on American metaphysical religion.
Explore the profound intellectual dialogue between William James, the father of American psychology, and the New Thought movement, a spiritual healing tradition that shaped modern self-help culture. This article traces James’s engagement with mind-cure, his philosophical assessments, and the lasting impact of this exchange on both psychology and spirituality.
Nona Lovell Brooks (1861–1945) was a cofounder of the Divine Science movement, a New Thought religious tradition that emphasized the omnipresence of God and the power of spiritual healing. This article explores her life, her healing, and her role in building the first Divine Science church.
From the late 19th century onward, New Thought magazines served as the movement’s circulatory system, carrying its message of mental healing and idealist philosophy to a vast, decentralized network of readers. This article traces the rise of these periodicals, their key editors and publications, and their enduring impact on the movement’s growth.
This article explores how homeopathy and other alternative medical practices shaped the New Thought movement, from Phineas Quimby’s mental healing to Warren Felt Evans’s published works, and traces the evolution of the movement’s core belief in the mind’s power to heal.