Across families

New Thought and Unitarian Universalism

Different families with 11 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.15 (0 would be identical).

New ThoughtMetaphysical

An impersonal Divine Mind that everything participates in, and a claim that thought shapes circumstance. There is nothing wrong with you that correct understanding will not fix — the highest C3 value in the matrix.

Unitarian UniversalismLiberal religious

A covenant rather than a creed: members hold theist, humanist, pagan and Buddhist positions inside one congregation, bound by shared principles rather than shared beliefs. Has the widest dispersions in the entire matrix, and that is the tradition working as designed.

Where they agree

D3 The body
Both sit at leaning to be celebrated — a gap of 0.00.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at leaning impersonal principle or order — a gap of 0.02.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at an individual choice — a gap of 0.02.
B1 Source of truth
Both sit at reason and direct experience — a gap of 0.04.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at ignorant but fundamentally sound — a gap of 0.05.
E1 Exclusivity
Both sit at many valid paths — a gap of 0.06.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at achieved by effort or insight and leaning achieved by effort or insight respectively — a gap of 0.06.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at leaning optional or absent and between essential and prescribed and optional or absent respectively — a gap of 0.06.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Both sit at metaphorical, or no text at all — a gap of 0.07.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at individual conscience decides — a gap of 0.07.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at leaning animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.10.

Where they part company

C1 Survival of the self
New Thought: continues in some form. Unitarian Universalism: leaning ends at death. A gap of 0.53 on an axis running from “ends at death” to “continues in some form”.
A1 Divine reality
New Thought: a divine reality certainly exists. Unitarian Universalism: between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly exists. A gap of 0.47 on an axis running from “nothing beyond the natural” to “a divine reality certainly exists”.
E2 Origin of the cosmos
New Thought: leaning an intentional act. Unitarian Universalism: leaning beginningless or natural. A gap of 0.47 on an axis running from “an intentional act” to “beginningless or natural”.

All seventeen axes

Axis	New Thought	Unitarian Universalism	Gap
A1 Divine reality	a divine reality certainly exists	between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly exists	0.47
A2 Personhood	leaning impersonal principle or order	leaning impersonal principle or order	0.02
A3 Plurality	strictly one	leaning strictly one	0.20
A4 Locus	fully present within it	leaning fully present within it	0.17
B1 Source of truth	reason and direct experience	reason and direct experience	0.04
B2 Reading of sacred text	metaphorical, or no text at all	metaphorical, or no text at all	0.07
B3 Institutional authority	individual conscience decides	individual conscience decides	0.07
C1 Survival of the self	continues in some form	leaning ends at death	0.53
C2 Shape of time	between one life, then judgment and cyclical return	leaning one life, then judgment	0.15
C3 The human condition	ignorant but fundamentally sound	ignorant but fundamentally sound	0.05
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good	achieved by effort or insight	leaning achieved by effort or insight	0.06
D2 Centrality of ritual	leaning optional or absent	between essential and prescribed and optional or absent	0.06
D3 The body	leaning to be celebrated	leaning to be celebrated	0.00
E1 Exclusivity	many valid paths	many valid paths	0.06
E2 Origin of the cosmos	leaning an intentional act	leaning beginningless or natural	0.47
E3 Locus of belonging	an individual choice	an individual choice	0.02
E4 Standing of nature	leaning animate and itself sacred	leaning animate and itself sacred	0.10

Positions for New Thought rest principally on Holmes, The Science of Mind (1926) and Unity’s statements of belief; for Unitarian Universalism, on UUA Seven Principles and Six Sources. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.

Which of the two is closer to you?

The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.