Emmet Fox
Encyclopedia
Emmet Fox was a New Thought
spiritual leader of the early 20th century, famous for his large Divine Science
church services held in New York City during the Great Depression
.
, a Jesuit secondary school near Stamford Hill
. He became an electrical engineer. However, he early discovered that he had healing power, and from the time of his late teens studied New Thought. He came to know the prominent New Thought writer Thomas Troward
.
Fox attended the London meeting at which the International New Thought Alliance was organized in 1914. He gave his first New Thought talk in Mortimer Hall in London in 1928. Soon he went to the United States
, and in 1931 was selected to become the successor to James Murray as the minister of New York's Divine Science
Church of the Healing Christ. Fox became immensely popular, and spoke to large church audiences during the Depression, holding weekly services for up to 5,500 people at the New York Hippodrome
until 1938 and subsequently at Carnegie Hall
. He was ordained in the Divine Science
branch of New Thought.
Fox's secretary was the mother of one of the men who worked with Alcoholics Anonymous
co-founder Bill W.
, and partly as a result of this connection early AA groups often went to hear Fox. His writing, especially "The Sermon on the Mount," became popular in AA.
, Thomas Troward
, Emma Curtis Hopkins
, H. Emilie Cady
, Malinda Cramer
, Charles Fillmore
, Myrtle Fillmore
, Joel S. Goldsmith
, James Dillet Freeman
, Eric Butterworth, Florence Scovel Shinn.
New Thought
New Thought promotes the ideas that "Infinite Intelligence" or "God" is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.Although New Thought is neither...
spiritual leader of the early 20th century, famous for his large Divine Science
Divine Science
The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was founded originally in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer...
church services held in New York City during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Biography
Fox was born in Ireland. His father, who died before Fox was ten, was a physician and member of Parliament. Fox attended St Ignatius' CollegeSt Ignatius' College
St Ignatius' College is a Catholic secondary school for boys, aged 11–18, located in Enfield, Middlesex. Formerly a grammar school, only accepting boys who had passed their Eleven plus exam, its educational philosophy was originally based upon the Jesuit precept of Ignatius of Loyola:Its current...
, a Jesuit secondary school near Stamford Hill
Stamford Hill
Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish and Adeni Jewish community.Stamford Hill is NNE of Charing Cross.-History:...
. He became an electrical engineer. However, he early discovered that he had healing power, and from the time of his late teens studied New Thought. He came to know the prominent New Thought writer Thomas Troward
Thomas Troward
-Background:Troward was a divisional Judge in British-administered India. His avocation was the study of comparative religion. Influences on his thinking, as well as his later writing, included the teachings of Christ, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism....
.
Fox attended the London meeting at which the International New Thought Alliance was organized in 1914. He gave his first New Thought talk in Mortimer Hall in London in 1928. Soon he went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and in 1931 was selected to become the successor to James Murray as the minister of New York's Divine Science
Divine Science
The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was founded originally in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer...
Church of the Healing Christ. Fox became immensely popular, and spoke to large church audiences during the Depression, holding weekly services for up to 5,500 people at the New York Hippodrome
New York Hippodrome
The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theatre in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of...
until 1938 and subsequently at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. He was ordained in the Divine Science
Divine Science
The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was founded originally in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer...
branch of New Thought.
Fox's secretary was the mother of one of the men who worked with Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
co-founder Bill W.
Bill W.
William Griffith Wilson , also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous , an international mutual aid fellowship with over two million members belonging to 100,800 groups of alcoholics helping other alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety...
, and partly as a result of this connection early AA groups often went to hear Fox. His writing, especially "The Sermon on the Mount," became popular in AA.
See also: other notable New Thought writers
Contemporaneous New Thought writers include Ernest HolmesErnest Holmes
Ernest Shurtleff Holmes was an American writer and spiritual teacher. He was the founder of a Spiritual movement known as Religious Science, a part of the greater New Thought movement, whose spiritual philosophy is known as "The Science of Mind." He was the author of The Science of Mind and...
, Thomas Troward
Thomas Troward
-Background:Troward was a divisional Judge in British-administered India. His avocation was the study of comparative religion. Influences on his thinking, as well as his later writing, included the teachings of Christ, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism....
, Emma Curtis Hopkins
Emma Curtis Hopkins
Emma Curtis Hopkins organized New Thought and was a primary theologian, teacher, writer, feminist, mystic and prophet who ordained women at what she named the Christian Science Theological Seminary of Chicago...
, H. Emilie Cady
H. Emilie Cady
Harriet Emilie Cady was an American homeopathic physician and author of New Thought spiritual writings. Her 1896 book Lessons in Truth, A Course of Twelve Lessons in Practical Christianity is now considered the core text on Unity Church teachings...
, Malinda Cramer
Malinda Cramer
Malinda Elliott Cramer was a founder of the Church of Divine Science, a healer, and an important figure in the early New Thought movement.- Biography :...
, Charles Fillmore
Charles Fillmore (Unity Church)
Charles Sherlock Fillmore , born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, founded Unity, a church within the New Thought movement, with his wife, Myrtle Page Fillmore, in 1889...
, Myrtle Fillmore
Myrtle Fillmore
Mary Caroline "Myrtle" Page Fillmore was co-founder of Unity, a church within the New Thought movement, along with her husband Charles Fillmore. Prior to that time, she worked as a schoolteacher....
, Joel S. Goldsmith
Joel S. Goldsmith
Joel Solomon Goldsmith was a author, teacher, spiritual healer, mystic, and founder of The Infinite Way movement.- Early years :...
, James Dillet Freeman
James Dillet Freeman
James Dillet Freeman was a poet and a minister of the Unity Church, a New Thought denomination. Freeman was born in in Wilmington, Delaware. He was a registered member of the Cherokee tribe...
, Eric Butterworth, Florence Scovel Shinn.
See also
- List of New Thought writers
- Religious ScienceReligious ScienceReligious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was established in 1927 by Ernest Holmes and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical religious movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Science of Mind" applies to the teachings, while the term "Religious Science"...
- Unity ChurchUnity ChurchUnity, known informally as Unity Church, is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication...
- Divine ScienceDivine ScienceThe Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was founded originally in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer...