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What We Teach / Believe
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It is impossible to answer this question in a few words. It is best to narrow it down to some specific points. New Thought, not to be confused with New Age, is a more than century-old, practically oriented spirituality that promotes fullness of all aspects of living, through constructive thinking, meditating, and other ways of realizing the presence of God. New Thought includes Unity, Religious Science (Science of Mind), Divine Science, and other groups and individuals. It has no one creed, but has affinities to idealistic philosophical traditions of all ages and places. It is mostly Christian in background, but has become allied to various religions. New Thought continues to develop conceptually, educationally, and organizationally. There is a tremendous amount written about New Thought so visit the New Thought link to explore some related sites.
In general we teach how to have a happy, healthy and successful life. What follows are more definite statements that explore some of the more often asked questions about our philosophy. This is just scratching the surface but should serve to entice you to learn more and consider just how broad and beautiful this concept is.
What do you teach about God? - We do NOT teach that God is an elderly gentleman or tyrant on a throne up in the sky somewhere, not too interested in man’s problems, and seeking ways to punish him for every little mistake. Rather, we teach that God is Spirit; God is love; God is omnipresent; He is forever ready and willing to help us when we turn to Him.
What do you teach about Jesus? – Jesus is the “Way-Shower.” That is, He came to show us how to have the “more abundant life.” Jesus came teaching that if man could “believe” all good things are possible and, therefore, we do not have to live a life of limitation.
Was Jesus divine? – YES! However, we also believe that all men are divine for all men are “sons of God” as we are told by Jesus in the Scriptures. The difference between Jesus and man today is that Jesus knew about His divinity and was able to express the power of His ”sonship.” Whereas, many haven’t realized this great truth about ourselves, for we have been taught by well-meaning religious teachers with the false concept that we are “sons of perdition” or “sinners.” Our present limited condition does not alter the truth that we are children of God.
Do you believe in the devil? – We believe that there is only one Presence, one Power and this Power, God, is good and only good. If there is only one Power then there can be no devil. The devil is a personification of the wrong use of the good power. The devil is a symbol to represent an adverse state of mind one has established as a result of negative thinking. There is no entity called the devil that has the power to make you do things that are not right in principle.
Do you believe in heaven and hell? – We believe that heaven and hell are also symbols rather than places where man will eventually go, depending upon whether he has been good or bad. We think of heaven and hell as states of consciousness. Hell is a negative state of consciousness brought about through ignorance and negative thinking. In this state of consciousness man experiences pain, anguish, sickness, fear, torment, tension, and poverty. He doesn’t have to wait for a hereafter to experience this. He can experience it here and now.
Heaven is a peaceful, harmonious state of consciousness in which man experiences power, mastery, and dominion over all areas of life. In this state of consciousness, man knows his oneness with God and, therefore, he feels secure in knowing that God will guide him and provide for all his needs.
We Believe – That the ultimate goal of man is to know His oneness with God, to enter the “secret place of the Most High” or as Jesus expressed it, to enter the closet of his own mind and turn to the Father within for everything that he needs to know or needs to have. Rituals and symbols are not necessary for this relationship. In fact for many, symbols and ritual have been a great stumbling block, for they have worshipped the symbol and have forgotten its meaning.
For example, Baptism with water is a symbol that has been taken literally and many feel they must be dipped or sprinkled with water. Water baptism was a symbol for repentance which is a changing of the mind, a willingness to let go of preconceived beliefs so that the mind could be open and receptive to the truth that Jesus said would “set us free” – free from our limitations.
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