New Thought
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for New Thought. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)
A present-day religion which in some of its tenets is akin to Christian Science, or faith-healing. Unlike Christian Science, however, it does not affect entirely to dispense with all material aids, as drugs, the setting of broken bones, and so on. Nor does it give the whole credit for the cure to the imagination of the patient, as does hypnotism. But striking a point midway between the two it gives considerable prominence to the mind in the healing process, while not altogether despising the doctor. Mind is considered as highly refined matter, and therefore the "mind" cure is in a measure a material cure. It is clear that that part of the New Thought which deals with bodily healing has its roots in the Animal Magnetism and Mesmerism of bygone times. So much have they in common that it is needless to trace mental-healing further back than Dr. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866) the first to make use of the terms mental-healing" and "Christian Science." Dr. Quimby was the son of a New Hampshire blacksmith, and was himself apprenticed to a clockmaker, having had but little education. At the age of thirty-six he attended a lecture on Mesmerism, and thereafter practised for himself. With the aid of a clairvoyant youth he cured diseases, and so successful was his treatment that he soon adopted magnetic healing as a profession. At length, however, he got a glimpse of the true reason for his success-the expectation of the patient. The diagnoses of his clairvoyant he attributed to the latter's telepathic reading of the patient's own thoughts, and he judged that the treatment prescribed depended for its efficacy on the confidence it inspired rather than on its intrinsic merits. From this point he gradually evolved his doctrine that disease was a mere delusion, a traditional error that had. fixed itself in men's minds, which it behoved them to be rid of as soon as might be. The way to cure disease, therefore, was to destroy the error on which it rested. Besides Christian Science, Quimby called his doctrine the Science of Health, or the Science of Health and Happiness. He had many disciples, a among whom were Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science Church. Others whose influence was felt more in the direction of the New Thought movement were the Rev. W. F. Evans and Mr. and Mrs. Julius Dresser, whose son, Horatio W. Dresser, remains one of the ablest exponents of the New Thought As has been said, the method of healing practised by this school is not considered to be entirely immaterial. It is no longer believed, of course, that a fluid emanates from the finger-tips of the operator, or that he radiates a luminous odic force; but Mr. Dresser himself states that the communication is of a vibratory character, made up of ethereal undulations directed and concentrated by the thought of the healer. The power is equally efficacious at a distance and may be used without the patient's knowledge or even against his will. This belief in action at a distance is something of a bug-bear to the New Thinker, who fears the ascendency of an evil influence as the superstitious of the Middle Ages feared bewitchment. But there is a spiritual aspect of the New Thought as well as a physical one. The health of the soul is as fully considered as the health of the body. Spiritual sanity, then, is to be procured by lifting oneself to a higher plane of existence, by shutting out the things of the earth and living "in tune with the infinite." We must realise our own identity with the Infinite Spirit and open our lives to the Divine inflow. Ralph Waldo Trine, himself a New Thinker, says in an expressive metaphor, To recognise our own divinity and our intimate relation to the Universal, is to attach the belt of our machinery to the power-house of the Universe." In short, we must have sufficient self-confidence to cast our fears aside and rise unfettered into the Infinite. 66 66 66
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a name commonly used to describe the belief in the power of the spirit to create and control conditions and circumstances by mental causes. New Thought is based on old truths maintained for ages, but to many it offers a new viewpoint on the conduct of life. Metaphysical healing as demonstrated in mental science is based on the same curative methods as New Thought. Unlike Christian Science, it does not deny the existence of matter, while affirming the reality of the spirit. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, the first practitioner of mental science, and his contemporary, ry, John B. Dods, in the first Dods half of the 19th century believed and wrote that disease could be cured by a change of belief. New Thought first became known about 1906 as a system that included mental healing, and supplied a philosophy of life and conduct, and was opposed to the control of individual independence by a church organization or particular faith. New Thought literature displays variation in points of view, but general hostility to materialism, and faith in the power of the inner spirit to rule the senses. The number professing New Thought cannot be estimated as it includes many church members, but there are between 300 and 400 centers in the United States and Canada where the system is taught, and there are centers in England and the larger European cities. Among the most important books on New Thought are: "Power of Silence" (H. W. Dresser, 1904); "New Thought Simplified" (Henry Wood, 1904); "A New Alinement of Life" (R. W. Trine); "Increasing Your Mental Efficiency" (E. H. Williams).