Science of Mind, New Thought, and AA

[admin]

Science of Mind, New Thought, and AA, Part 1 of 3

Religious Science (also known as Science of Mind), founded in 1927 by
Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), was one version of the NEW THOUGHT movement.

It was the New Thought movement as a whole (and not just this one
version) which had a major effect on early AA. New Thought was a
religious movement originally stemming from the ideas of Phineas
Parkhurst "Park" Quimby (1802-1866). From his study of hypnotism and
the effect of placebos on disease, he came to the conclusion that the
way we think can have a profound effect both on creatingphysical
illness and healing physical illness.

The NEW THOUGHT movement which developed out of Quimby's ideas pointed
to the way our ideas and attitudes actually created the world we lived
in. If I view the world as a hostile place full of people trying to do
me harm, I will eventually live in a world filled with people who are
trying to do me harm. If I view the world with seething resentments, I
will create a world around me where I will increasingly find more and
more things to resent. But if I view the world around me as filled
with mostly good people, and if I regard the world with love and
forgiveness towards all, I will increasingly find myself living in a
world filled with good and loving people who treat me with kindness
and tolerance.

(1) Religious Science (Science of Mind), the group your sister-in-law
is involved with, was one of the New Thought churches which developed
out of Quimby's ideas.See their web site at http://www.religiou
sscience. org/

(2) Unity Church is the largest New Thought group at present, with
over two million members in over fifteen different countries. See
their web site at http://www.unity. org/

(3) Divine Science is another New Thought group. See their web site at
http://divinescienc e.com/

EMMET FOX (1886-1951) was a famous Divine Science minister. Early AA
members went to hear him preach at New York's Church of the Healing
Christ. Fox's book "The Sermon on the Mount" was especially nfluential
in early AA and widely recommended reading for newcomers.

JAMES ALLEN, "As a Man Thinketh" (see http://hindsfoot. org/kML3rc1.
html for Mel B.'s edition of this little book) was another important
New Thought book which was widely recommended reading for AA newcomers
during the early period.

Emmet Fox's book and James Allen's book both appeared on the
recommended reading list for AA newcomers used in early Akron AA. This
is important, because it makes it clear that the New Thought movement
was just as influential on early Akron (midwestern) AA as it was on
early New York (east coast) AA.
to be continued...

Received in email

[admin]

Science of Mind, New Thought, and AA, Part 2 of 3

NEW THOUGHT & SWEDENBORGIANISM

Warren Felt Evans was one of the first individuals who wrote seriously
on the teachings of Phineas Quimby. Evans was also the one who took
the important step of integrating the philosophies of Quimby and
Swedenborg.

The presence of certain Swedenborgian elements in New Thought may have
been one of the things which made New Thought so congenial to Bill and
Lois Wilson (Lois had been brought up as a Swedenborgian) .

OTHER RELATED IDEAS

(a) Norman Vincent Peale (author of "The Power of Positive Thinking")
openly admitted the deep influence of New Thought on his ideas.

(b) Dale Carnegie (author of "How to Win Friends and Influence
People") presented a sort of secularized version of New Thought
principles.

(c) "A Course in Miracles" is based heavily on the sort of ideas which
appear in New Thought.

(d) The Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902),
published a book called "COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS" in 1901, just a year
before his death. There are ideas in his book which are very similar
to New Thought concepts. Mel B. told me that when he spoke with Bill
Wilson in 1956, Bill recommended that he read Bucke's book, and told
him how important an influence it had been on his ideas.

You said that your sister-in-law "credits Science of Mind for the
start of AA." That would be overdoing ita little. AA started out as
part of the Oxford Group, not as part of a New Thought group.

>From the Oxford Group, early AA got its understanding that only acts
of divine grace can produce real psychic change. AA also got the
substance of a good many of the twelve steps from the Oxford Group,
including the ideas of confession and restitution (making amends). The
Oxford Group was the most important source of ideas for early AA.

But early AA got important ideas from the New Thought movement also. A
good many of Bill W.'s statements about the nature of God in the Big
Book are cast in New Thought terminology. The same thing could be said
about the second most published AA author, Richmond Walker, in "Twenty-
Four Hours a Day."

The focus in the Big Book on removing resentment and fear from our
lives (in the fourth through seventh steps) is very much a kind of New
Thought approach to spirituality. By removing the disturbances in our
thoughts, we will heal our lives at every level.

Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana)
to be continued...

[admin]

Science of Mind, New Thought, and AA, Part 3 of 3

APPENDIX 1: UNITY CHURCH BELIEFS

Five basic Unity Church principles:

1. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and
as my life, God the Good.

2. Our essence is of God; therefore, we are inherently good. This God
essence was fully expressed in Jesus, the Christ.

3. We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held
in mind.

4. Through prayer and meditation, we align our heart-mind with God.
Denials and affirmations are tools we use.

5. Through thoughts, words and actions, we live the Truth we know.

What are the basic tenets of the Unity teachings?

1. God, Divine Mind, is the Source and Creator of all. There is no
other enduring power. The nature of God is absolute good; therefore,
all manifestations partake of good. What is called "evil" is a limited
or incomplete _expression of God or good. Evil's origin is ignorance.

2. We are spiritual beings, ideas in the Mind of God, created in God's
image and likeness. The ideal _expression for every human being is the
pattern every person is seeking to bring forth. Each individual
manifests the Christ in his or her own unique fashion. The perfect
_expression of the Christ is, therefore, different for each person.

3. Jesus was a special person in history who expressed perfection and
thereby became the Christ, or Jesus Christ. He was a Teacher who
demonstrated the importance of thoughts, words, and deeds in shaping
the life and world of the individual.

4. Jesus' teaching was based on prayer, which to Him was conscious
communion with God. Preparation for prayer involves the use of the
spoken word, the creative power of God, which is made practical
through denials and affirmations. Unity teaches that repeated use of
statements of Truth (denials and affirmations) establishes right
patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. This is one way individuals
use the creative power of God to take dominion over mind, body, and
affairs.
Received in email