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| Religious Science | |
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| Name | Religious Science |
Religious Science is a modern spiritual movement that emerged in the early 20th century, synthesizing metaphysical ideas with elements drawn from diverse figures and institutions. It developed in the milieu of American New Thought currents and interacted with religious, philosophical, and medical communities. Proponents articulate a framework linking consciousness, prayer, and healing while opponents situate it within broader debates involving institutional religion, legal regulation, and scientific methodology.
Religious Science asserts that consciousness and mind play causal roles in individual experience, connecting ideas from thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, Charles Fillmore, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Prentice Mulford, and Phineas Quimby. Central tenets parallel themes found in works by Thomas Troward, Henri Bergson, G. I. Gurdjieff, Aldous Huxley and institutions like Unity Church, Divine Science, International New Thought Alliance, and Metaphysical Club (late 19th century). The movement interprets prayer and affirmation similarly to practices promoted by authors such as Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, Florence Scovel Shinn, and Ernest Holmes. It borrows scriptural exegesis techniques that sometimes reference texts associated with King James Bible translation, Biblical criticism, Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship, and comparative studies involving Bhagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching, and Upanishads.
Origins trace to intersections among people and events like Phineas Quimby's 19th-century clientele, the 1890s activities of Emma Curtis Hopkins and the institutional formation by Charles Fillmore and Malinda Cramer in the 20th century. Key moments include lectures in cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City, with contemporaneous movements including Christian Science, Spiritualism, Transcendentalism, and the Theosophical Society. Influential publications and conferences—parallel to gatherings like the World Parliament of Religions and the Chautauqua movement—helped disseminate ideas, while legal cases such as those involving First Amendment jurisprudence and medical regulation influenced organizational development. Prominent teachers and authors associated with early formation include Emma Curtis Hopkins, Charles Fillmore, Ernest Holmes, Malinda Cramer, and figures from the New Thought network.
Communal and individual practices often mirror techniques promoted by authors and organizations such as Ernest Holmes’s writing, Charles Fillmore’s liturgies, Unity Church congregational formats, and study groups affiliated with International New Thought Alliance. Rituals and services may incorporate readings from authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson, musical selections connected to composers who appeared in salons similar to those for Ignacy Jan Paderewski or Antonín Dvořák performances, and prayer formats paralleling those in Unitarian Universalist gatherings or Quaker meetings. Organizational structures range from independent ministries modeled after Unity Church to federations resembling International New Thought Alliance, with credentialing systems akin to those in American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology-style professional organizations or clergy orders in denominations such as United Methodist Church and Episcopal Church.
Theology synthesizes ideas from classical and modern sources, referencing philosophical currents associated with Plato, Aristotle, Baruch Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Metaphysical claims engage with notions advanced by William James and Henri Bergson about consciousness, and draw on occult and esoteric trajectories found in the Theosophical Society and texts by Helena Blavatsky. Discussions of divine immanence and mind mirror debates in literature by Ernest Holmes, Charles Fillmore, Emma Curtis Hopkins, and often intersect with comparative theology referencing Paul of Tarsus, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and strands of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy.
Interactions with scientific and medical institutions involve controversies similar to those seen in cases involving Christian Science and regulatory bodies such as state medical boards, the American Medical Association, and jurisprudence shaped by courts including the United States Supreme Court. Proponents cite experimental and observational work in psychology and psychiatry related to figures like William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, B. F. Skinner, and contemporary researchers at universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, and Johns Hopkins University. Critiques trace parallels with historical debates about placebo effect studies, psychoneuroimmunology research, and legal disputes over medical malpractice and child welfare statutes.
Scholars and commentators from institutions like Harvard Divinity School, Yale University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Columbia University, Oxford University, and periodicals such as The New York Times and The Atlantic have variously analyzed and critiqued the movement. Critics invoke concerns addressed in works by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and legal scholars who have examined tensions similar to those in cases involving First Amendment protections and public health law. Supporters respond with writings that engage with themes from William James’s pragmatism, John Dewey’s philosophy, and clinical literature emerging from positive psychology labs led by figures associated with Martin Seligman.
Cultural influence appears in self-help and popular religious literature by authors like Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, and Esther Hicks, and in entertainment and media involving personalities linked to communities in Los Angeles, New York City, and Hollywood. Notable ministers and teachers include figures such as Ernest Holmes, Charles Fillmore, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Malinda Cramer, and later proponents whose work parallels that of Florence Scovel Shinn, Ernest Holmes’s successors, and cultural intermediaries who engaged with celebrities, philanthropic institutions, and publishing houses like HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. The movement’s ideas have appeared in dialogues alongside currents represented by New Age movement, Transcendentalism, Christian Science, Theosophical Society, and broader American religious life.
Category:New Thought movements