History of New Thought and Unity

In the similarities of traditional and Unity Christianity the first similarity I find is they both are monotheistic, which means they both only believe in one God. They also believe in the oneness of God and Goodness of God. In the Bible references to this exist in (James 3:11), “The same fountain cannot send forth both sweet and bitter water.” “I am Lord and there is nothing else.” (Isaiah 45:5).

They both have a belief in the trinity, but the details defining them are different in their various interpretations. In traditional Christianity the trinity exists of one God, with three external aspects: The Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Unity has a trinity as well: Mind, Idea and Expression. So, when you talk about similarities, they both have a trinity, even words might be same at times, but meanings are quite different.

Where another similarity exists is in believing in Jesus and Christ in both traditional and Unity Christianity. But the meanings of the words diverge in their differences. Both religions believe Jesus the man lived. But New Thought sees Jesus the man as a historical figure. But New Thought believes in universal spiritual sonship for all. I call this the Christ Consciousness. In my understanding Unity’s version of Christianity is a more mature version.

Both versions of Christianity have their members use prayer. The techniques are where the difference exists. Unity utilizes affirmative prayer while traditional Christianity uses a more beseeching of God.

In researching the similarities most articles, I found were critical of Unity’s Christianity and unfortunately were not really interested in how we were both similar. I found this a weakness of traditional Christianity. I found them focusing on the weaknesses of Unity in their discussions was more of a retention tool of their congregants. A fear tactic if you don’t go with our version of Christianity, you could seriously be missing the mark. It saddens me that talking about God’s oneness they cannot see the oneness in two versions of Christianity and how they could coexist.