In the first chapter of her book, Happy Lies, Melissa Dougherty described a talk she gave where she asked members of the audience if they had heard of the term “New Age” before. Several people had, and could give examples of New Age practices such as: chakras, spiritual-channeling, crystal energy, and tarot cards. But almost no one had heard of the term “New Thought;” no one could define or describe it either. She then unpacked in her presentation how “New Thought is much trickier, stealthier, and deceptive than New Age, particularly for Christians. And most Christians have never heard of it.”
She said in her Introduction that New Thought ideas have already infiltrated our churches. The key beliefs of New Thought led us to self-obsession, not the worship of God. They don’t promote true spiritual health, but a toxic false-positivity. They lead us to the old lie of Genesis 3—that we can be like God. Like an online predator, they spiritually bait, groom and woo you; hijacking Christian doctrines and words, redefining them. A New Thought author said:
New Thought is a system of thinking that virtually everyone is familiar with; They just don’t know it. Numerous authors and speakers, even composers and movie producers use New Thought in their works; they just don’t call it by that name. To put it simple, New Thought is about right thinking, thinking that leads to positive results—to health, wealth, peace and happiness. . . New Thought is a lifestyle, a metaphysic, and a religion. . . [New Thought] practices what Jesus taught: healing, unity, cooperation, seeing good in others and trusting God for all our needs.
Redefining Christian Doctrines on God, Jesus, and Humanity
Dougherty said New Thought is a metaphysical viewpoint on Christianity. “This means they look beyond the literal historical account of Christianity to what they consider a more awakened spiritual perspective.” New Thought followers will say they affirm Christian doctrines such as justification and the atonement. But then redefine them until those beliefs look nothing like orthodox Christian doctrines.
God is not personal; but rather like a creative force or consciousness. Therefore, biblical Christians incorrectly attribute human characteristics to God to make “him” seem more personal. “We needlessly give humanlike qualities to something impersonal.” Because God is only goodness, love, and light, “it” only wants to give us good things.
New Thought teaches that God is within us, waiting to be awakened. Like Gnosticism, our aim is to recognize our spiritual birthright. “Through techniques like affirmation, visualization, and meditation, everyone can access and harness the power of God.” As we progress and change over time, so does God.
In The Presence, New Thought author Emmet Fox said God is perfect Good, and can only cause good. God never sends sickness, trouble, accident, temptation or death. “Nor does He authorize these things.” Rather, we bring them on ourselves “by our wrong thinking.” Notice how this corresponds to Bill Johnson’s teaching about bringing heaven to earth. See “Kingdom Now: Bringing Heaven to Earth” and “Deconstructing the Lord’s Prayer.” Fox said:
I am Divine Spirit. I am the child of God. In God I live and move and have my being; so I have not fear. I am surrounded by the Peace of God and all is well. I am not afraid of people; I am not afraid of things; I am not afraid of circumstances; I am not afraid of myself; for God is with me. The Peace of God fills my soul, and I have no fear. I dwell in the Presence of God, and no fear can touch me. I am not afraid of the past; I am not afraid of the present; I am not afraid for the future; for God is with me. The Eternal God is my dwelling place and underneath are the ever-lasting arms. Nothing can ever touch me but the direct action of God Himself, and God is Love.
Jesus was a great human teacher who awakened his inner divinity, according to New Thought. He is comparable to Buddha or Gandhi, but not Christ. “Christ has a secret metaphysical meaning that is a separate entity from Jesus the man.” Christ is God within us; the dormant spark of inner divinity within all humans. So, when we are properly attuned, “Christ” becomes a channel for humanity to connect to health, prosperity, abundance and happiness. This sense of Christ is described in Richard Rohr’s book, the Universal Christ. See The Perennial Fallacy.”
Dougherty said this teaching was popularized by Phineas Quimby, the founder of New Thought. “Jesus” was the historical figure, while “Christ” was a deeper, metaphysical truth; a universal divine mind that anyone could access for healing and insight. The New Thought name for this was the “Christ principle.” We have the potential to be as much as Jesus was. “In the Christ Consciousness, you can do everything he did.” You are “a god in embryo,” progressing to the awakening of your divine development toward the Christ principle. Listen as Steve Furtick of Elevation Church says, “I am God almighty!”
This so-called Christ Consciousness underlays another popular New Thought teaching—the notion of the true self, versus the false self. This teaching can be found in the writings of Thomas Merton, the enneagram and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). “Biblically, there is no false self. There is no true self.” There are only two kinds of selves: the old self and the new self.” See “Pseudoscience of the MBTI and Personality Testing, Part 2” and “Is the Enneagram Spiritually Neutral? Part 3.”
Since humans are made in the image of God, we have divine qualities, creative potential, and the ability to shape reality through our thoughts and beliefs, according to New Thought. Horatio Dresser, another New Thought writer, thought people were inherently good. “If man is made in the image of God, he partakes of the divine nature. God is Love, God is Health, God is Abundance, God is Joy, God is Peace, God is Illuminated Intelligence.” Man, who is the child of God, partakes of all these things. “This core belief makes it difficult for anyone immersed in New Thought to accept the true gospel.”
It then follows that if humans are inherently good, then we’re God. If humans are God, then we create our own reality and morality. If we create our reality and morality, then truth is what we define it to be.”
These were just some of the orthodox doctrines redefined by New Thought. Dougherty also described how Satan, being born again, prayer, love, and the Bible are refashioned. Someone steeped in New Thought teachings could be happily participating in a bible study, and not realize how their idolatry distorts what they see and hear; how they are estranged from God through their idols (Ezekiel 14:3-5). Why is understanding the impact of New Thought important? Towards the end of her book, Melissa described an encounter she had.
It was a large group, and everyone was casually conversing. I went over and sat next to her to ask more questions. As I dug deeper, my suspicions were confirmed. This lovely, intelligent, funny, God-loving woman has been reading The Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox. A friend recommended it to her. Another victim of New Thought. I couldn’t say I blamed her. I remember trying to explain to my Christian friends what New Thought was. They had no idea what I was talking about. Yet some already believed in New Thought teachings. Those of us who unknowingly adopt New Thought beliefs desire what we all do: love, belonging, spiritual fulfillment, and to know God. . . They end up getting a distorted reflection of reality and who they are.
New Thought philosophy is simply a revised version of the oldest lie, that we can be like God, knowing good from evil (Genesis 3:5). In Happy Lies Melissa Dougherty correctly said New Thought was a different gospel and taught a different Jesus. She encouraged her readers to build on, to extend what she introduced here. She shared with the above woman Emmet Fox’s spiritual background and the New Thought movement he is know for. The woman was confused, and said: “But . . . why don’t more Christian know this, then?” Look for “Emmet Fox Among the Alcoholics” to learn more of how Fox’s New Thought teaching infiltrated Alcoholics Anonymous.
