Article 3 in a series about New Thought
Forefathers and Mothers of an Ongoing Movement
Emma Curtis Hopkins
Emma Curtis Hopkins played a major role in creating a path for New Thought pioneers to flourish, many of them having been trained by Hopkins herself in her school and seminary. She is sometimes referred to as the founder of the New Thought Movement.
There is no New Thought religion, but there are formal and informal groups that claim their foundation in a philosophy that has its roots in the teachings of Emma Curtis Hopkins. That’s why she is regarded at the “Teacher of Teachers.”
Mentioning Emma Curtis Hopkins first is not starting at the beginning of the movement that eventually opened up because of her. There are men and women who preceded Hopkins whose writings and teachings have been retroactively included under the New Thought umbrella. So we have to go back even further to the early years of the 19th century to give credit to writers and thinkers who were mentors of Hopkins, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802–1866), Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), and the Dressers, Julius (1838–1893) and Annetta (1843–1935).
The work and teaching of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby is centered in healing. He originally studied mesmerism and practiced hypnosis. Quimby believed that illness originated in the mind and was created by erroneous thinking and beliefs. He had definite ideas about the cause of all illness as being in the mind, and the mind as being the source of all healing.
Quimby laid the groundwork for mental healing apart from the Bible or any religious connection. He was scientific in his teachings; they were based on observation, experiment and reflection. He had few students, taught them informally, and did not publish his writing himself.
Quimby taught and healed Mary Baker Eddy and the Dressers, Julius and his wife Annetta. All became healers and teachers using Quimby’s methods. In fact, Mary Baker Eddy sought healing from the Dressers after the death of Quimby.
In the 1860s the Dressers and Eddy both were teaching and healing in Boston. The Dressers took exception to Eddy’s claim to being the discoverer of Christian Science herself through divine intervention, rather than giving Quimby credit for teaching her and them. This led Eddy to deny Quimby’s influence upon her teachings.
This now brings us to Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925), who was a devoted student of Mary Baker Eddy until Eddy fired her out of jealousy and exclusivity. Although Eddy’s influence upon the eventual development of New Thought through Hopkins is significant, Mary Baker Eddy is not considered a true New Thought pioneer, nor would today’s members of the Christian Science religion (Church of Christ, Scientist) call themselves or their foundress New Thought thinkers or discoverers. Yet, there truly is a connection because Hopkins (and others) studied under Eddy and then moved on to teach, train and heal.
I don’t know if Emma Curtis Hopkins ever read the transcendentalist Emerson or heard of him. Yet, Emerson plays as important a role in the development of New Thought as Hopkins did because the students of Hopkins read Emerson and incorporated the teachings of both Emerson and Hopkins into their own organizations, churches, and independent movements.
The following description of the life of Hopkins is taken from the About the Author section of Hopkins’ book, Self Treatments Including the Radiant I Am on Amazon. The information on the website was adapted from Class Lessons 1888 Introduction.
Like so many others among the teachers and students of the new spiritual teaching, she sought freedom from illness in Christian Science, then in its infancy. Emma Curtis Hopkins studied with Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy for two years. Then going out as an independent teacher, she taught in many cities — New York, Chicago, Kansas City, San Francisco, with large classes wherever she went.
Emma Curtis Hopkins had a broad education and was familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, the Vedas, the Bhagavad-Gita and other sacred writings of India. She also studied the philosophy and mysteries of the Greeks, such as Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Plotinus. Having learned Greek at an early age, she read many of these in the original language. She had an exhaustive knowledge of the histories of all nations and peoples of all times. Her Biblical interpretations are masterpieces.
Returning to Chicago, she established a school for the teaching of the philosophy now called Spiritual Science, Divine Science, and New Thought.
In 1888, Mrs. Hopkins founded a seminary in Chicago, which she called: The Christian Science Theological Seminary. It was a regular incorporated school and the graduates were ordained ministers and so recognized by the State of Illinois. It was in operation until 1893.
Many movements, each having its own distinctive expression, sprang from its roots. To name a few: Unity School of Christianity, Home of Truth Movement, Divine Science, and Religious Science.
Among the 50,000 students of Hopkins we find Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders of the Unity School of Christianity; H. Emilie Cady, author of the Unity textbook “Lessons in Truth”; Annie Rix-Militz and Paul Militz, founders of Homes of Truth; Ella Wheeler Wilcox, New Thought poet; Elizabeth Towne, founder of Nautilus magazine; and Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science. Other well-known New Thought writers, teachers, and healers were brought to New Thought through students of Hopkins, such as Mrs. Bingham who healed and taught Nona Brooks and Fannie Brooks, co-founders of Divine Science.
Many movements, each having its own distinctive expression, sprang from the teaching of Emma Curtis Hopkins: Unity School of Christianity, Home of Truth Movement, Divine Science, and Religious Science.
Anyone interested in the history of the New Thought Movement will find dozens of thinkers, ministers, writers, preachers, philosophers, and healers who at some point in their development connect with or trace their roots to Emma Curtis Hopkins.
I am most grateful to Mark Hicks for his publication, Background of New Thought (2013), which can be downloaded for free from www.TruthUnity.net. Mark has generously shared his own research of New Thought through Creative Commons and his website.
For in-depth reading on the life of Emma Curtis Hopkins I recommend Gail M. Harley’s book, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Forgotten Founder of New Thought, Syracuse University Press, 2002.
