Emma Curtis Hopkins

Emma Curtis Hopkins, more than any other single teacher, influenced New Thought. She was born in Connecticut in 1853 and was educated at Woodstock Academy where she remained for a time as an instructor.

In 1882, she went to Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science) because she was ill. She was healed and subsequently devoted herself to the study and growth of the Christian Science approach. She became a practitioner and served as editor (1884-85) of the Christian Science Journal. Within another year, her independent quest for spiritual truth created an impossible situation between the two religious thinkers and she began to explore other metaphysical writings.

In 1886 she left Mrs. Eddy and moved to Chicago where in 1887, she established the Christian Science Theological Seminary, an institution founded to promote teachings similar to those of her mentor. She quickly won a following. She branched out and taught classes in New York, San Francisco, Kansas City, Boston and elsewhere. Among those influenced by these lectures were:

• Melinda Cramer and Nona Books, co-founders of Divine Science
• Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders of the Unity School of Christianity
• Harriet Emilie Cady, author of Lessons in Truth
• Annie Rix Militz, founder of The Home of Truth
• Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science

Because her influence was so pervasive in these New Thought organizations Emma Curtis Hopkins came to be called the “Teacher of Teachers.”

Unity, Divine Science and Religious Science are the three largest organizations within the present-day International New Thought Alliance (INTA).

Emma Curtis Hopkins was a genuine mystic. She emphasized this element in all her teachings and writing. She drew upon the Bible, the non-Christian scriptures, and the works of the world’s great philosophers and saints in her teaching. Her mysticism was a very potent influence upon Ernest Holmes.

She spent time in London, where she had contact with Thomas Troward and other British leaders of the New Thought movement. She eventually ceased using the name Christian Science and began teaching privately.

Suggested Reading

Hopkins’ Scientific Christian Mental Practice is a powerful treatise on mental healing.

Ernest Holmes and Hopkins

Ernest Holmes studied with Emma Curtis Hopkins in her later years when she was teaching only individuals. He felt she was among the greatest of the mystics.