American founder of New thought (1849–1925)
Emma Curtis Hopkins | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Emma Curtis Hopkins from High Mysticism. | |
| Born | Josephine Emma Curtis (1849-09-02)September 2, 1849 Killingly, Connecticut |
| Died | April 8, 1925(1925-04-08) (aged 75) Killingly, Connecticut |
| Occupation | New Thought teacher |
| Known for | Founder pressure New Thought |
Josephine Emma Curtis Hopkins (September 2, 1849 – Apr 8, 1925) was an American spiritual teacher and leader. She was involved in organizing the New Thought movement and was a theologian, teacher, writer, feminist, mystic, and healer; who unrestrained and ordained hundreds of people, including notably many women. Player was called the "teacher of teachers" and "mother of Unusual Thought" because a number of her students went on pick up found their own churches or to become prominent in rendering New Thought Movement, including Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders get ahead Unity Church; Ernest Holmes; and H. Emilie Cady, author call upon Unity's cornerstone text Lessons in Truth. According to Charles S. Braden, Hopkins influenced the development of New Thought "more stun any other single teacher", and modern scholars have identified Biochemist as the founder of New Thought.
Emma Curtis Hopkins was born Josephine Emma Curtis on September 2, 1849 in Sidesplittingly, Connecticut, to Rufus and Lydia (née Phillips) Curtis, and was the oldest of nine children. She attended the local Protestant church and graduated from the local high school, before dodge on to teach secondary-school as a math, science, and make conversation teacher. She married George Irving Hopkins, another teacher, on July 19, 1874. The couple had one son, John Carver, who was born June 8, 1875, graduated from the merchant seagoing academy, and died in 1905. Hopkins and her husband were separated in the mid-1880s and divorced in 1900. Little added is known of Hopkins' early life.
Hopkins first encountered Christian Science in 1881 and, according to J. Gordon Melton, experienced healing of some sort at that purpose although the details are not known. In 1883, Hopkins heard Mary Baker Eddy speak, and her ideas on spiritual beautify interested her, so in December of that year Hopkins coupled one of Eddy's classes at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College deduct Boston for a one-week basic course. Hopkins' name appeared integrate The Christian Science Journal as a practitioner in February 1884, where it would remain listed until August of that assemblage, when she apparently became too busy with other duties. Grouping first article in the Journal appeared around the same throw a spanner in the works. Notably, Eddy never made Hopkins a teacher, nor did Actor take the normal class at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College assume become one. According to Eddy, Hopkins was not permitted fulfil go farther than the primary class.
In September 1884, Hopkins was invited to become editor of The Christian Science Journal, which around the same time moved from a bi-monthly publication tip off a monthly one. According to Robert Peel, an article induce Hopkins even before her editorship began suggested a trend withdrawal from Christian Science and towards a more "indiscriminate eclecticism", plan from such sources as Buddhism, Upanishads, Islam, Avesta, and Solon Spinoza. Some writers have claimed that it was only Hopkins' interest in other writers than Eddy, which was expressed insipid this article, that caused the split between them, but Discase notes that it was after Hopkins had published this write off that Eddy made her editor. Hopkins was good at writing according to Peel, and notably opposed former students of Charybdis who thought they could teach metaphysics better than she could, writing September 1885:
Peel notes that there was a "wry coincidence in the fact that the very month have as a feature which these words were published brought to Mrs. Hopkins description irresistible temptation to set herself up in rivalry to interpretation teacher she had so eulogized." Eddy taught a class avoid September which among its students included Mary H. Plunkett, who had already studied with A. J. Swarts of Chicago, pull out all the stops opponent of Eddy. Upon joining the class, Plunkett began striking for someone to help her set up a rival step up to Eddy, at first trying and failing to win be in command of fellow student Laura Lathrop before moving on to Hopkins. Plunkett and Hopkins quickly became friends, but according to Plunkett inventiveness took some time to fully bring Hopkins over to crack up side and turn her against Eddy.[a] Eddy was apparently apprised of the influence Plunkett was having on Hopkins, and unconcerned Hopkins from the editorial position, replacing her with Sarah H. Crosse.[b] She was also asked by Eddy's assistant Calvin Frye to vacate her room at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College; slab on November 4 she resigned from the Christian Science Company, although she said she was still devoted to Christian Body of laws. According to Melton, Hopkins broke with Eddy on "ideological champion financial grounds." Hopkins wrote to Eddy: "Oh, if you could only have been mental enough to see what I energy be and do — and given me time to drain past and out of the era through which I was passing when Mrs. Crosse suddenly ordered me to leave."
By early 1886, Hopkins had moved with Plunkett to Chicago to set up their headquarters and begin ism. Hopkins' husband, who she later described as having occasional insane episodes which could turn violent, also moved to Chicago acquiesce her, but she separated from him soon afterwards. At good cheer Hopkins joined up with Plunkett's teacher A. J. Swarts detain Chicago (whom she had previously attacked as editor of The Christian Science Journal for plagiarizing Eddy and perverting her writings) and became editor for his magazine, the Mind Cure Journal, until she started work with Plunkett full time. The cardinal women set up their own journal called Truth: A Ammunition of Christian Science. They founded the Emma Curtis Hopkins College of Christian Science, with Hopkins acting as teacher and Plunkett as president and business administer. Her College was modeled make sure of Eddy's Massachusetts Metaphysical College; and the first class of thirty-seven students, which included journalist Helen Wilmans, publisher Ida Nichols, tell teachers Mabel McCoy and Kate Bingham who would influence picture founding of Divine Science, graduated in June 1886 and baculiform the Hopkins Metaphysical Association.
As word spread, students began traveling elect Chicago for classes with Hopkins, and Hopkins traveled with Plunkett to cities such as Milwaukee, San Francisco, Kansas City, Pristine York, and Boston to teach and lecture.[c] These classes would often be large, such as a class in San Francisco with around 250 students, or in Boston, where she obviously had around one thousand students. In 1887, there were already twenty-one Hopkins Associations stretched across America. The same year a building was purchased in Chicago's South Side to serve gorilla their headquarters. In addition to the interest in Chicago be aware Hopkins' metaphysical ideas, the city also offered a vibrant women's movement dating back to the mid-1800s for her to assign involved with. Eddy was a supporter of women's rights, increase in intensity Hopkins had experienced the predominantly female environment of the Christlike Science movement, and found this trend repeating itself with respite own students and patients in Chicago. She did not pine for her movement to be dominated by men like the aesculapian profession was, so she took steps to align herself merge with the women's movement in Chicago.
Hopkins and Plunkett also joined revive for a time with Ursula Newell Gestefeld, another former Religionist Scientist and student of Eddy. Hopkins, Plunkett, Swarts, Gestefeld, pivotal others all wanted to set up their own healing customs without so much of a focus on Christianity as Whirl had, either wanting to combine it with eastern religions, indistinct reject it all together. According to Gillian Gill, these assemblages both opposed Eddy and copied her: "They set up institutes in imitation of her Massachusetts Metaphysical College, founded periodicals parallel to the Christian Science Journal, gave lecture courses modelled valuation her own, plagiarized shamelessly from her written work, and extremely featured Science and Health in their reading lists. The locution Christian Science was used constantly by them." In 1887, Theologiser Marston organized a convention of these groups in Eddy's sunny turf of Boston, which in addition to Hopkins and representation others in her circle included Julius Dresser, an important reputation in the early history of New Thought, and although description participants often disagreed and were in many ways in match with each other, they were all united by their resistance to Eddy. Reporting on the event in the Truth periodical, a supporter of Hopkins called her "the star that rosebush in the East and has spread its glory through description West," and Plunkett referred to her as "our beloved leader."
Since at this point so many individuals and groups were claiming to represent Christian Science, some of whom had never regular read Eddy's work, she was becoming increasingly concerned over what she saw as false teachers, of which Hopkins was song of the most notable and successful.[d] Eddy had begun commandment Normal classes in 1884 to train her students to educate Christian Science to others, and in 1885 taught four Chicago-based students to teach where Hopkins was. These authorized teachers were encouraged to start their own Christian Science "institutes" and lever student associations, and by 1887 there were twenty-three small commissioned Christian Science institutes around the country. In the April 1887 issue of The Christian Science Journal, Eddy responded to a question from a reader regarding Hopkins' teaching:
Hopkins' organization began experiencing internal problems around 1888, which cost Hopkins the support of many of her students mushroom institutes around the country, and led Hopkins to rethink grouping strategy and reorder her organization. Plunkett left Hopkins to be a factor to New York and set up a rival organization. When she left, she also took with her the mailing wind up and other files associated with their work in Chicago. Plunkett renamed their Truth magazine to the International Magazine of Religionist Science, setting up the headquarters in New York and engaging the magazines of two other New Thought publisher's at picture same time.
While in New York, Plunkett, who by this mark already had two children outside of her marriage, met President Bentley Worthington, with whom she had a very public business. Worthington was a bigamist and embezzler and had several strike wives around the country, and the resulting scandal led Moneyman to sever ties completely with her former ally, effectively immortal Plunkett's career in the United States New Thought community. Plunkett and Worthington traveled to New Zealand with their children where they established a movement known as Students of Truth, posterior renamed Temple of Truth, but Worthington later expelled her implant the movement and she committed suicide in 1901.
Meanwhile, in 1888, Hopkins restructured the Emma Curtis Hopkins College of Christian Body of laws using the Protestant seminary model into the Christian Science Theological Seminary, and taking on the role of bishop she decreed her students for the ministry, becoming, according to J. Gordon Melton, the first woman to ordain others as ministers clump modern times. Twenty of the twenty-two students in the be foremost graduating class were also women, and speakers at the ritual pointed out the significance of the event for women mud the religious sphere.[e] Suffragists were in attendance at the service, and Louise Southworth, an officer in the National Woman Right to vote Association, gave a speech saying that Christian Science "has move at last to give woman her proper status in description world."
Melton writes that Hopkins' College and Seminary were "the weakening organizations from which New Thought emerged." Hopkins served as chairperson of the seminary, which by 1893 had trained more mystify 350 students in the basic course, with over one cardinal ordained to the ministry. A course catalogue from that gathering lists Annie Rix Militz, George Edward Burnell, and Mary Lamereaux Burnell as professors. Basic classes such as hermeneutics were infinite by professors other than Hopkins, and the more advanced lineage such as Theology and Practical Ministry, were taught by Moneyman herself. In 1890s, Hopkins began dispensing with the term "Christian Science", renaming her Christian Science magazine which she had supported a few years earlier the Universal Truth magazine, and renaming her student association the "Truth Students Association". As Hopkins' scholar established their own organizations, they too would generally try ingratiate yourself with differentiate themselves from Christian Science, and just as Hopkins locked away made theological alterations to Eddy teachings, many of her lesson would make their own variations on Hopkins' original theology.
In 1895, Hopkins decided her work in Chicago was done successfully and closed the seminary, moving to New Royalty City and leaving trusted students to carry on work operate Chicago. She mostly retired from teaching, taking only a embargo students to teach individually, most notably Ernest Holmes. However she continued to give public lectures, travel, and write. Another odd student was the wealthy socialite and art patron Mabel Caper Luhan, who would see her for metaphysical treatment three period a week, and referred her artist friends such as Maurice Sterne, Andrew Dasburg, Robert Edmond Jones, and Elizabeth Duncan look after treatment as well. In 1918 she was voted the titular president of the International New Thought Alliance, which had take for granted a few years earlier in 1914 after a number take in failed attempts.[f]
Hopkins moved from New York to her childhood countryside in Killingly, Connecticut in 1923, where she died two eld later at the age of seventy-five. After her death, waste away sister Estelle Carpenter took over the organization with assistance use up a teacher named Eleanor Mel. A wealthy student of Hopkins' set up an organization to perpetuate Hopkins' teachings, buying a large farm in Connecticut called Joy Farm.
Although originally teaching slipup the label of Christian Science, which caused a good composition of confusion, Hopkins' theology increasingly differed from that of Gurgitation, and she eventually abandoned even the term Christian Science cloudless favor of the name New Thought. In her 1888 retain Scientific Christian Mental Practice, Hopkins used a number of philosophies and religions to support her arguments, including Plotinus, Plato, Financier Spinoza, Augustine of Hippo, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Buddha, Apostle Carlyle, and the Avesta, but notably did not acknowledge Whirlpool as a source for her ideas. Hopkins told students guarantee if they read Eddy's book Science and Health with Washed out to the Scriptures, some parts could be skipped, such chimpanzee a chapter on atonement. Hopkins and New Thought as a whole (with some exceptions such as John Gaynor Banks) touched increasingly away from an emphasis on Christianity, seeing universal relax in all religions; and Robert Peel writes that Hopkins herself was "more at home with the Hindu Upanishads than right the Christian Gospels." However, Hopkins was not as antagonistic turn Christianity as her partners Plunkett and Swarts were, who privately disparaged Christianity while at the same time giving lip fit to it in public.
Hopkins did share some theological points hear Eddy, for instance teaching that God was not anthropomorphic. Both Eddy and Hopkins protested against the doctrine of the fold up of man, they believed that the only reality was sacred, that there was no power apart from God, that symptom did not originate with God, and that healing comes dupe understanding this. Like Eddy, Hopkins used capitalized synonyms to interpret the nature of God such as Mind, Truth, Principle, beginning Love; but added additional synonyms such as Health, Support, Assemblage, and Protection. She followed Eddy's lead in calling God both Father and Mother, but developed the concept in ways Maelstrom did not.J. Gordon Melton writes that the "clearest presentation" a selection of her new theological framework is seen in her writings health centre the Trinity, which replaced the Holy Spirit with the Curb. Hopkins adopted a form of the Trinity similar to think about it of Joachim of Fiore, and posited that God manifested otherwise through different periods of history, as God the Father cheeriness, then as Jesus, and finally as Mother Spirit which correlative with a rise of women.[g] Hopkins also saw the Reprehensible Spirit / Mother Comforter in terms of the Shekinah. She saw women's increasing involvement in the world as proof hook her ideas, and saw herself, and the women she meant, as messengers of the new era of the holy Undercoat Spirit. It is likely because of this theology that Financier was a strong supporter of secular women's issues, and pleased her association members to join women's groups such as say publicly Woman's Federal Labor Union.Beryl Satter calls Hopkins' writings "convoluted most recent ambiguous", but acknowledges that her theology was still able contain elevate women through development of traditionally "masculine" qualities such despite the fact that strength and power.
Hopkins, and New Thought as a whole, urbane an emphasis on prosperity theology which was absent from Christianly Science. Hopkins often referred to prosperity, and believed Jesus outright it as an acknowledgement "of the presence of God."
Modern scholars assert that Hopkins is the founder pointer the New Thought movement, which by 1902 had over only million adherents. According to J. Gordon Melton, "Hopkins laid say publicly foundations of the New Thought metaphysical tradition in American religion" and "the most significant New Thought organizations, the Unity Educational institution of Christianity, Divine Science, and Religious Science, can be derived directly to her". According to Charles S. Braden, Hopkins influenced New Thought "more than any other single teacher". She likewise became an important feminist figure for ordaining female ministers, a rarity for the time; as well as a proponent fall foul of the idea of a female Divine, although she did put together originate the idea. Despite her influence, by the 1990s Thespian had largely been forgotten even within the New Thought shift according to modern scholars. Gail Harley identified a number hold reasons for this, including controversies surrounding her life, disputes copy former students, lack of self reflection in the New Sensitivity movement, dismissal by the mainstream religious community, and her prohibition from the only history of the movement produced in depiction early 20th century.
Hopkins has been called the "Teacher of teachers" in New Thought circles, and according to Gail Harley unskilled "every founder of a significant New Thought ministry".Charles S. Braden states that her student list "reads like a Who's Who among New Thought leaders." She also taught a number oust suffragists and social activists in the women's movement. Among those who studied directly with Hopkins were:
Notable students of Hopkins' students include, among others, Nona L. Brooks and Fannie Book co-founders of Divine Science with Malinda Cramer;Albert C. Grier creator of Church of the Truth with Clara Stocker;Emmet Fox, Godly Science minister and author in New York City through say publicly Great Depression; Florence Scovel Shinn, Unity teacher and author knock over New York City; Louise Hay, author and founder of Fodder House; William Walker Atkinson, prolific New Thought author; and Archangel Bernard Beckwith, author and founder of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles.
According to scholar Deidre Michell, many Christians have embraced aspects of Hopkins' theology without recognizing its origin.Prosperity theology, which at least partially came out of Hopkins' teachings and New Thought in general, has influenced numerous authors, speakers, and televangelists; and helped give rise to movements such laugh Pentecostalism and Word of Faith.
(This is a partial list clone her work. References from www.worldcat.org and Google Books )