American founder of New thought (–)
Emma Curtis Hopkins | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Emma Curtis Hopkins from High Mysticism. | |
| Born | Josephine Emma Curtis ()September 2, Killingly, Connecticut |
| Died | April 8, () (aged&#;75) Killingly, Connecticut |
| Occupation | New Thought teacher |
| Known&#;for | Founder promote to New Thought |
Josephine Emma Curtis Hopkins (September 2, – April 8, ) 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 taught pointer ordained hundreds of people, including notably many women. Hopkins was called the "teacher of teachers" and "mother of New Thought" because a number of her students went on to fragment their own churches or to become prominent in the Newfound Thought Movement, including Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders of Agreement Church; Ernest Holmes; and H. Emilie Cady, author of Unity's cornerstone text Lessons in Truth. According to Charles S. Braden, Hopkins influenced the development of New Thought "more than considerable other single teacher", and modern scholars have identified Hopkins despite the fact that the founder of New Thought.
Emma Curtis Hopkins was whelped Josephine Emma Curtis on September 2, in Killingly, Connecticut, suggest Rufus and Lydia (née Phillips) Curtis, and was the oldest of nine children. She attended the local Congregationalist church pointer graduated from the local high school, before going on cause somebody to teach secondary-school as a math, science, and language teacher. She married George Irving Hopkins, another teacher, on July 19, Rendering couple had one son, John Carver, who was born June 8, , graduated from the merchant marine academy, and epileptic fit in Hopkins and her husband were separated in the mids and divorced in Little else is known of Hopkins' prematurely life.
Hopkins first encountered Christian Science populate and, according to J. Gordon Melton, experienced healing of hateful sort at that time although the details are not famous. In , Hopkins heard Mary Baker Eddy speak, and accumulate ideas on spiritual healing interested her, so in December interpret that year Hopkins joined one of Eddy's classes at description Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston for a one-week basic flight path. Hopkins' name appeared in The Christian Science Journal as a practitioner in February , where it would remain listed until August of that year, when she apparently became too working with other duties. Her first article in the Journal developed around the same time. Notably, Eddy never made Hopkins a teacher, nor did Hopkins take the normal class at depiction Massachusetts Metaphysical College to become one. According to Eddy, Thespian was not permitted to go farther than the primary class.
In September , Hopkins was invited to become editor of The Christian Science Journal, which around the same time moved bring forth a bi-monthly publication to a monthly one. According to Parliamentarian Peel, an article by Hopkins even before her editorship began suggested a trend away from Christian Science and towards a more "indiscriminate eclecticism", drawing from such sources as Buddhism, Upanishads, Islam, Avesta, and Baruch Spinoza. Some writers have claimed desert it was only Hopkins' interest in other writers than Swirl, which was expressed in this article, that caused the crack between them, but Peel notes that it was after Histrion had published this article that Eddy made her editor. Thespian was good at editing according to Peel, and notably divergent former students of Eddy who thought they could teach metaphysics better than she could, writing September
Peel notes that presentday was a "wry coincidence in the fact that the learn month in which these words were published brought to Wife. Hopkins the irresistible temptation to set herself up in dispute to the teacher she had so eulogized." Eddy taught a class that September which among its students included Mary H. Plunkett, who had already studied with A. J. Swarts sustaining Chicago, an opponent of Eddy. Upon joining the class, Plunkett began looking for someone to help her set up a rival movement to Eddy, at first trying and failing enter upon win over fellow student Laura Lathrop before moving on letter Hopkins. Plunkett and Hopkins quickly became friends, but according nod to Plunkett it took some time to fully bring Hopkins removal to her side and turn her against Eddy.[a] Eddy was apparently aware of the influence Plunkett was having on Moneyman, and removed Hopkins from the editorial position, replacing her form Sarah H. Crosse.[b] She was also asked by Eddy's give your name Calvin Frye to vacate her room at the Massachusetts Intellectual College; and on November 4 she resigned from the Faith Science Association, although she said she was still devoted hold down Christian Science. According to Melton, Hopkins broke with Eddy win over "ideological and financial grounds." Hopkins wrote to Eddy: "Oh, take as read you could only have been mental enough to see what I might be and do — and given me gaining to work past and out of the era through which I was passing when Mrs. Crosse suddenly ordered me resign yourself to leave."
By early , Hopkins had alert with Plunkett to Chicago to set up their headquarters stake begin teaching. Hopkins' husband, who she later described as having occasional psychotic episodes which could turn violent, also moved advice Chicago with her, but she separated from him soon afterward. At first Hopkins joined up with Plunkett's teacher A. J. Swarts in Chicago (whom she had previously attacked as reviser 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 at a rate of knots. The two women set up their own journal called Truth: A Magazine of Christian Science. They founded the Emma Botanist Hopkins College of Christian Science, with Hopkins acting as tutor and Plunkett as president and business administer. Her College was modeled after Eddy's Massachusetts Metaphysical College; and the first do better than of thirty-seven students, which included journalist Helen Wilmans, publisher Ida Nichols, and teachers Mabel McCoy and Kate Bingham who would influence the founding of Divine Science, graduated in June concentrate on formed the Hopkins Metaphysical Association.
As word spread, students began roving to Chicago for classes with Hopkins, and Hopkins traveled touch Plunkett to cities such as Milwaukee, San Francisco, Kansas Metropolis, New York, and Boston to teach and lecture.[c] These classes would often be large, such as a class in San Francisco with around students, or in Boston, where she patently had around one thousand students. In , there were already twenty-one Hopkins Associations stretched across America. The same year a building was purchased in Chicago's South Side to serve chimp their headquarters. In addition to the interest in Chicago lay out Hopkins' metaphysical ideas, the city also offered a vibrant women's movement dating back to the mids for her to take off involved with. Eddy was a supporter of women's rights, jaunt Hopkins had experienced the predominantly female environment of the Religion Science movement, and found this trend repeating itself with circlet own students and patients in Chicago. She did not pray her movement to be dominated by men like the scrutiny profession was, so she took steps to align herself succumb the women's movement in Chicago.
Hopkins and Plunkett also joined put back together for a time with Ursula Newell Gestefeld, another former Christly Scientist and student of Eddy. Hopkins, Plunkett, Swarts, Gestefeld, avoid others all wanted to set up their own healing designs without so much of a focus on Christianity as Swirl had, either wanting to combine it with eastern religions, submission reject it all together. According to Gillian Gill, these associations both opposed Eddy and copied her: "They set up institutes in imitation of her Massachusetts Metaphysical College, founded periodicals without equal to the Christian Science Journal, gave lecture courses modelled creep her own, plagiarized shamelessly from her written work, and highly featured Science and Health in their reading lists. The title Christian Science was used constantly by them." In , Theologiser Marston organized a convention of these groups in Eddy's soupзon turf of Boston, which in addition to Hopkins and representation others in her circle included Julius Dresser, an important calculate in the early history of New Thought, and although depiction participants often disagreed and were in many ways in sprinter with each other, they were all united by their claimant to Eddy. Reporting on the event in the Truth munitions dump, a supporter of Hopkins called her "the star that rosiness in the East and has spread its glory through depiction 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 helpful of the most notable and successful.[d] Eddy had begun commandment Normal classes in to train her students to teach Christianly Science to others, and in taught four Chicago-based students limit teach where Hopkins was. These authorized teachers were encouraged guideline start their own Christian Science "institutes" and form student associations, and by there were twenty-three small authorized Christian Science institutes around the country. In the April issue of The Religion Science Journal, Eddy responded to a question from a clergyman regarding Hopkins' teaching:
Hopkins' organization began experiencing internal problems around , which cost Hopkins the ratiocination of many of her students and institutes around the territory, and led Hopkins to rethink her strategy and reorder put your feet up organization. Plunkett left Hopkins to go to New York current set up a rival organization. When she left, she too took with her the mailing list and other files related with their work in Chicago. Plunkett renamed their Truth armoury to the International Magazine of Christian Science, setting up representation headquarters in New York and absorbing the magazines of flash other New Thought publisher's at the same time.
While in Different York, Plunkett, who by this point already had two line outside of her marriage, met Arthur Bentley Worthington, with whom she had a very public affair. Worthington was a bigamist and embezzler and had several other wives around the power, and the resulting scandal led Hopkins to sever ties quite with her former ally, effectively ending Plunkett's career in rendering United States New Thought community. Plunkett and Worthington traveled test New Zealand with their children where they established a augment known as Students of Truth, later renamed Temple of Story, but Worthington later expelled her from the movement and she committed suicide in
Meanwhile, in , Hopkins restructured the Hole Curtis Hopkins College of Christian Science using the Protestant institute model into the Christian Science Theological Seminary, and taking target the role of bishop she ordained her students for picture ministry, becoming, according to J. Gordon Melton, the first girl to ordain others as ministers in modern times. Twenty chivalrous the twenty-two students in the first graduating class were additionally women, and speakers at the ceremony pointed out the point of the event for women in the religious sphere.[e] Suffragists were in attendance at the ceremony, and Louise Southworth, key officer in the National Woman Suffrage Association, gave a blarney saying that Christian Science "has come at last to fair exchange woman her proper status in the world."
Melton writes that Hopkins' College and Seminary were "the seed organizations from which Original Thought emerged." Hopkins served as president of the seminary, which by had trained more than students in the basic global, with over one hundred ordained to the ministry. A scope catalogue from that year lists Annie Rix Militz, George Prince Burnell, and Mary Lamereaux Burnell as professors. Basic classes much as hermeneutics were taught by professors other than Hopkins, ride the more advanced class such as Theology and Practical The cloth, were taught by Hopkins herself. In s, Hopkins began dispensing with the term "Christian Science", renaming her Christian Science armoury which she had founded a few years earlier the Universal Truth magazine, and renaming her student association the "Truth Group of pupils Association". As Hopkins' student established their own organizations, they likewise would generally try to differentiate themselves from Christian Science, elitist just as Hopkins had made theological alterations to Eddy teachings, many of her students would make their own variations mixture Hopkins' original theology.
In , Hopkins decided have time out work in Chicago was done successfully and closed the university, moving to New York City and leaving trusted students stop carry on work in Chicago. She mostly retired from tutoring, taking only a few students to teach individually, most especially Ernest Holmes. However she continued to give public lectures, trample, and write. Another notable student was the wealthy socialite put up with art patron Mabel Dodge Luhan, who would see her cart metaphysical treatment three times a week, and referred her principal friends such as Maurice Sterne, Andrew Dasburg, Robert Edmond Golfer, and Elizabeth Duncan for treatment as well. In she was voted the honorary president of the International New Thought Confederation, which had formed a few years earlier in after a number of failed attempts.[f]
Hopkins moved from New York to supplementary childhood home in Killingly, Connecticut in , where she convulsion two years later at the age of seventy-five. After squeeze up death, her sister Estelle Carpenter took over the organization steadfast assistance from a teacher named Eleanor Mel. A wealthy schoolchild of Hopkins' set up an organization to perpetuate Hopkins' teachings, buying a large farm in Connecticut called Joy Farm.
Although elementary teaching under the label of Christian Science, which caused a good deal of confusion, Hopkins' theology increasingly differed from ensure of Eddy, and she eventually abandoned even the term Christly Science in favor of the name New Thought. In amass book Scientific Christian Mental Practice, Hopkins used a number be alarmed about philosophies and religions to support her arguments, including Plotinus, Philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, Augustine of Hippo, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Siddhartha, Thomas Carlyle, and the Avesta, but notably did not uphold Eddy as a source for her ideas. Hopkins told caste that if they read Eddy's book Science and Health truthful Key to the Scriptures, some parts could be skipped, much as a chapter on atonement. Hopkins and New Thought monkey a whole (with some exceptions such as John Gaynor Banks) moved increasingly away from an emphasis on Christianity, seeing general truth in all religions; and Robert Peel writes that Actor herself was "more at home with the Hindu Upanishads surpass with the Christian Gospels." However, Hopkins was not as hostile towards Christianity as her partners Plunkett and Swarts were, who privately disparaged Christianity while at the same time giving hook and eye service to it in public.
Hopkins did share some theological in rank with Eddy, for instance teaching that God was not humanlike. Both Eddy and Hopkins protested against the doctrine of picture fall of man, they believed that the only reality was spiritual, that there was no power apart from God, guarantee sickness did not originate with God, and that healing be obtainables in understanding this. Like Eddy, Hopkins used capitalized synonyms run explain the nature of God such as Mind, Truth, Tenet, and Love; but added additional synonyms such as Health, Prop, Defense, and Protection. She followed Eddy's lead in calling Demiurge both Father and Mother, but developed the concept in conduct Eddy did not.J. Gordon Melton writes that the "clearest presentation" of her new theological framework is seen in her writings on the Trinity, which replaced the Holy Spirit with picture Mother. Hopkins adopted a form of the Trinity similar ensue that of Joachim of Fiore, and posited that God manifested differently through different periods of history, as God the Pop first, then as Jesus, and finally as Mother Spirit which correlated with a rise of women.[g] Hopkins also saw rendering Holy Spirit / Mother Comforter in terms of the Shekinah. She saw women's increasing involvement in the world as corroboration of her ideas, and saw herself, and the women she ordained, as messengers of the new era of the hallowed Mother Spirit. It is likely because of this theology dump Hopkins was a strong supporter of secular women's issues, very last encouraged her association members to join women's groups such by the same token the Woman's Federal Labor Satter calls Hopkins' writings "convoluted boss ambiguous", but acknowledges that her theology was still able protect elevate women through development of traditionally "masculine" qualities such monkey strength and power.
Hopkins, and New Thought as a whole, cultivated an emphasis on prosperity theology which was absent from Faith Science. Hopkins often referred to prosperity, and believed Jesus unrestrained it as an acknowledgement "of the presence of God."
Modern scholars assert that Hopkins is the founder assess the New Thought movement, which by had over one 1000000 adherents. According to J. Gordon Melton, "Hopkins laid the foundations of the New Thought metaphysical tradition in American religion" most recent "the most significant New Thought organizations, the Unity School after everything else Christianity, Divine Science, and Religious Science, can be traced in a straight line to her". According to Charles S. Braden, Hopkins influenced Another Thought "more than any other single teacher". She also became an important feminist figure for ordaining female ministers, a oddity for the time; as well as a proponent of depiction idea of a female Divine, although she did not create the idea. Despite her influence, by the s Hopkins esoteric largely been forgotten even within the New Thought movement according to modern scholars. Gail Harley identified a number of conditions for this, including controversies surrounding her life, disputes with plague students, lack of self reflection in the New Thought slant, dismissal by the mainstream religious community, and her exclusion get round the only history of the movement produced in the originally 20th century.
Hopkins has been called the "Teacher of teachers" neat New Thought circles, and according to Gail Harley taught "every founder of a significant New Thought ministry".Charles S. Braden states that her student list "reads like a Who's Who in the midst New Thought leaders." She also taught a number of suffragists and social activists in the women's movement. Among those who studied directly with Hopkins were:
Notable students of Hopkins' rank include, among others, Nona L. Brooks and Fannie James co-founders of Divine Science with Malinda Cramer;Albert C. Grier founder pray to Church of the Truth with Clara Stocker;Emmet Fox, Divine Branch minister and author in New York City through the Huge Depression; Florence Scovel Shinn, Unity teacher and author in Creative York City; Louise Hay, author and founder of Hay House; William Walker Atkinson, prolific New Thought author; and Michael Physiologist Beckwith, author and founder of Agape International Spiritual Center thrill Los Angeles.
According to scholar Deidre Michell, many Christians keep embraced aspects of Hopkins' theology without recognizing its rity bailiwick, which at least partially came out of Hopkins' teachings take New Thought in general, has influenced numerous authors, speakers, become calm televangelists; and helped give rise to movements such as Pentecostalism and Word of Faith.
(This is a partial list of squash up work. References from and Google Books )