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Joel S. Goldsmith

American spiritualist and New Thought author

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ3187457 ↗
Source-derived summary

Joel Solomon Goldsmith (March 10, 1892 – June 17, 1964) was an American spiritual teacher, author, spiritual healer and modern-day mystic. His teachings, in the form of dozens of books and more than 1,300 hours of recorded class instruction were known as The Message of The Infinite Way, which became the basis of a worldwide spiritual path, practice and community.

Early years and career

Joel S. Goldsmith was born in New York City on March 10, 1892. His parents were non-practicing Jews, who were married in New York City in 1891. Joel was their first child. They had another son two years later, followed by a daughter two years thereafter.

In 1915, Joel's father became critically ill while in England and word was sent to the Goldsmith family to come for the body. However, according to Joel, his father was healed by a Christian Science practitioner in London. From his early adulthood, Joel Goldsmith had many spiritual experiences.

He was a healer who spent many years in spiritual studies, reading original scriptures of Aramaic, Greek and Sanskrit origins.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Joel S. Goldsmith” as american spiritualist and New Thought author. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Joel, Goldsmith and American.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1892, 1964, 1891, 1915—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1892-03-10. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Joel, Goldsmith and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Joel S. Goldsmith”, the useful work is to connect “american spiritualist and New Thought author” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3187457. VIAF identifies the subject as 59209239. The Library of Congress control number is n80005706. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1892, 1964, 1891 and 1915.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Joel S. Goldsmith”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Joel S. Goldsmith primary sources, Joel S. Goldsmith archive and Joel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joel S. Goldsmith”?
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  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Joel S. Goldsmith” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.