New Thought
Heresies of the Church Thru the Ages [1]
A form of philosophy based on the progressive ability of mankind, which its adherents have collected into a more or less definite system, though they deny the applicability of that term. Its fundamental ideas are:
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that God is omnipresent and immanent in all created things
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that man is a divine soul "a microcosm of God"
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that he is under the domination of universal law
New Thought denies all idea of atonement, regarding evil "as only misdirected energy." Its purpose is, through thought, to direct that energy properly. It recognizes no authority save the voice of the soul speaking to each individual, hence each man's actions are determined solely by and for himself.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
Any form of belief in mental healing other than (1) Christian Science and (2) hypnotism or psychotherapy. Its central principle is affirmative thought, or suggestion, employed with the conviction that man produces changes in his health, his finances, and his life by the adoption of a favorable mental attitude. AS a therapeutic doctrine it stands for silent and absent mental treatment, and the theory that all diseases are mental in origin. As a cult it has its unifying idea the inculcation of workable optimism in contrast with the "old thought" of sin, evil, predestination, and pessimistic resignation. The term is essentially synonymous with the term High Thought, used in England.
