Emma Curtis Hopkins
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Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925) was a New Thought faith healer, theologian, teacher, writer, and feminist who actively ordained women for ministerial positions through her theological seminary, which came to be known as the Theological Seminary of Chicago. Emma Curtis Hopkins was called the "teacher of teachers" because a number of her students went on to found their own churches or to become prominent in the New Thought Movement.
Hopkins was inspired by Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), who claimed to have found by interpreting the Christian Bible a "science" behind the healing miracles of Jesus which was available to everyone. Emma Curtis Hopkins left Christian Science to develop her own more eclectic form of metaphysical idealism known as New Thought.
Following Eddy's lead in speaking of God as both Mother and Father, Hopkins conceptualized the Trinity as three aspects of divinity, each playing a role in different historical epochs: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Mother-Spirit. Hopkins believed that the changing roles of women indicated the beginning of a new epoch—the reign of the Mother aspect of God.
Although some nominate Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, others name Emma Curtis Hopkins as the founder of the New Thought movement. She was the author of High Mysticism and Scientific Christian Mental Practice (1888).
Life
Emma Curtis Hopkins was born Josephine Emma Curtis in Killingly, Connecticut, in 1849 to Rufus Curtis and Lydia Phillips Curtis. She married George Irving Hopkins on July 19, 1874. Their son, John Carver, was born in 1875 and died in 1905.Very little else is known of Hopkins before she met Mary Baker Eddy in October 1883. Emma Hopkins and Mary Baker Eddy met at the home of a Mary F. Berry in Manchester, New Hampshire. Between that first meeting and the following December, Mary Berry cured Emma Hopkins of invalidism.
As a consequence of her cure, Hopkins wanted to learn more of this "science", and in December 1883 she wrote to Mary Baker Eddy asking how she could become involved in Eddy's work. Eddy replied, and fifteen days after her letter, Hopkins journeyed to Boston to take a class on healing from Eddy. She enroled in Eddy's Massachusetts Metaphysical College course held on December 27, 1883.
Although she never took the advanced classes, Hopkins quickly became prominent in the Christian Science movement. In April 1884 she wrote an article for the Christian Science Journal called "God's Omnipresence", and by that September she became editor of the journal, the only previous editor having been Eddy herself.
By 1887, however, Emma Hopkins was excommunicated by Mrs. Eddy. Suggested explanations range from financial to ideological. Biographer Gail M. Harley suggests that Emma Hopkins found Christian Science, and Eddy's leadership, too restrictive. She could not accept the exclusive Christian nature of Eddy's teaching, but discovered much value in Eastern religions as well. Emma Hopkins wanted to do her own writing, to develop her own healing techniques, and to teach and practice as a healer on her own.
After her dismissal Hopkins relocated to Chicago, where she worked as an independent Christian Science practitioner. In Chicago Hopkins edited the Mind Cure Journal, a publication she had previously denounced in February 1885 while working as editor of the Christian Science Journal. Hopkins also started her own Christian Science Theological Seminary. At that time, the teachings later to become New Thought were still called Christian Science. It was not until Mrs. Baker Eddy claimed exclusive use of Christian Science that the term New Thought became necessary.
This independence allowed Hopkins to draw upon the Bible, non-Christian religions, and various philosophies to develop her own eclectic form of metaphysical idealism.
Teaching
Influence
Among those influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins were:
- Melinda Cramer and Nona Books, co-founders of Divine Science;
- Charles Fillmore and Myrtle Fillmore, co-founders of the Unity School of Christianity;
- Harriet Emilie Cady, author of Lessons in Truth;
- Annie Rix Militz, founder of The Home of Truth; and
- Ernest Holmes, founder of the Church of Religious Science.
See also
External References
Gail M. Harley, Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought. ISBN 0815629338, 2002.
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