Ernest Shurtleff Holmes (1887-1960) was the founder of a movement known as Religious Science, also known as "Science of Mind," a part of the New Thought Movement. He is well known as the author of "The Science of Mind" and numerous other metaphysical books, and as the founder of Science of Mind magazine, in continuous publication since 1927. His books, radio broadcasts, and recordings continue to reach an audience of several hundred thousands of people world-wide, and the principles he taught as his Science of Mind have inspired and influenced many generations of metaphysical students and teachers. 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887-1960) and is a religious movement within the New Thought Movement. ... The New Thought movement, a religio-metaphysical healing group, was founded by Phineas Parkhurst Quimby[1](1802-66) of Belfast, Maine, an American mental healer, student of mesmerism, and practitioner of hypnosis, who claimed he could heal by mere suggestion. ... Metaphysical may refer to: Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with the ultimate nature of reality; or The Metaphysical poets, a poetic school from seventeenth century England who correspond with baroque period in European literature. ...

Early Life

Ernest Holmes was born the youngest of nine boys on January 21, 1887 on a small farm near Lincoln, Maine. He received his education in rural schools, first in Lincoln, and later at Gould's Academy in Bethel, Maine. He said: "I quit school when I was about 15 and didn't go back except to study public speaking." From 1908 to 1910, working in a store to pay his way, he attended the Leland Powers School of Expression, an acting and public speaking academy in Boston, MA. There are a few places in Maine named Lincoln: Lincoln, Penobscot County, Maine Lincoln (CDP), Maine, in Penobscot County Lincoln, Oxford County, Maine This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Monument to local veterans of the American Civil War in Bethel Bethel is a town located in Oxford County, Maine. ... Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play. ... Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. ... Alternative meanings: Boston (disambiguation) The 18th_century Old State House in Boston is surrounded by tall buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries. ...

It was at the Leland Powers School that he became interested in the teachings of Christian Science. One of his instructors was a Reader in the Christian Science Mother Church in Boston, and a few of his fellow students were church members. He became interested in the Christian Science concept of healing through prayer, and began his own study of many of the ideas that would become known as the New Thought movement. Christian Science is a religious teaching regarding the efficacy of spiritual healing according to the interpretation of the Bible by Mary Baker Eddy, in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (first published in 1875). ...

New Thought

In 1912 he moved to Los Angeles, where his brother Fenwick had previously established a small church, a mission of New Thought ideas. He worked as a purchasing agent for the city of Venice, and in his free time continued his study of metaphysics. It was in New York that he studied spiritual healing under Emma Curtis Hopkins, a writer and former member of the Christian Science faith, and began lecturing on metaphysics in 1915. He quickly attracted a following, and went on to develop his own approach to healing through mind and spirit. He published his first book, "Creative Mind," in 1919, and in 1926, he published his classic work, The Science of Mind, at which point he established the Institute of Religious Science. A revised version of The Science of Mind was issued in 1938. Portrait of Emma Curtis Hopkins from High Mysticism. ... Christian Science is a religious teaching regarding the efficacy of spiritual healing according to the interpretation of the Bible by Mary Baker Eddy, in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (first published in 1875). ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Holmes went on to write numerous books of theology, influenced by not only Emma Curtis Hopkins but also by Phineas Quimby, Thomas Troward, Ralph Waldo Emerson, various other New Thought writers of his day, and the texts of world religions. He was a popular lecturer in the Los Angeles area, and though at first was reluctant to do so, ultimately formed a religious denomination now known as Religious Science teaching the Science of Mind philosophy. The first religious organization Holmes founded is known today as the United Centers for Spiritual Living. Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Image:Jack Kim. ... Thomas Troward Thomas Troward (1847-1916) authored many books that are considered classics in the area of New Thought, Mind Sciences, and even mystic Christianity. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887-1960) and is a religious movement within the New Thought Movement. ...

In 1949, he began to host what was to become a popular weekly radio program, "This Thing Called Life" on the Mutual Broadcasting System. He began each broadcast with the words: "There is a power for good in the universe greater than you are and you can use it." The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. ...

Teachings

Religious Science, like many New Thought faiths, emphasizes positive thinking, influence of circumstances through mental processes, recognition of a creative energy source and natural law (referred to as Universal Intelligence, God, Spirit, First Principle, and other terms) that manifests as the physical universe, and the rejection of a good/evil duality. Natural law or the law of nature (Latin: lex naturalis) is an ethical theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere. ... Universal Intelligence is a term used by some to describe what they see as organization, or order of the universe. ...

Holmes' teachings expanded the practice of New Thought ideas in southern California, although prior New Thought lecturers such as Elizabeth Delvine King had preceded him. While Holmes studied widely, he did not embrace any particular teaching, and instead saw each as offering its own interpretation of an essential law that grounds all thought and action.

Holmes' approach tended to focus less on defining a cosmology than other New Thought movements such as the Unity School of Christianity. Holmes denied any "special revelation", contending that Religious Science was not the "only way", but instead a "good way". Holmes did not believe in reincarnation or magic, but taught spiritual mind treatment, a type of scientific prayer. He taught that there is a natural law, and we can use it; and that we create our experience of reality with our thinking. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Unity (Formally known as the Unity... Reincarnation, literally to be made flesh again, is a doctrine or mystical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ...

Holmes published numerous books, although "The Science of Mind", the mainspring of his work, has now had over fifty printings. He taught that religion is "open at the top," viewing it as an evolving work in progress. In a biography written after his death, his brother Fenwicke cited Holmes' expressed opinion that all beliefs are valid to those who hold them.

Later years

He received an honorary doctorate later in life, in recognition of his accomplishments as a prolific writer, teacher, and public speaker. Ernest Holmes died on April 7, 1960, in Los Angeles. He left no children. His life-companion had died two years earlier. An Honorary degree (Latin: honoris causa ad gradum) is a degree awarded to someone by an institution that he or she may have never attended, it may be a bachelors, masters or doctorate degree - however, the latter is most common. ...

Legacy

Holmes has been grouped by critics among the practitioners of the many "mind cure" movements. Others have argued that New Thought ideas have been melded into the popular culture. The influence of New Thought authors, including Holmes' work, upon the subsequent New Age and human dynamics movements has also been noted. New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...

Though the Religious Science movement split around the time of his death, both of the groups that came from the split, the United Church of Religious Science (now the United Centers for Spiritual Living) and Religious Science International, continue to recognize Holmes as their founder and use his works often. Some Religious Science churches emphasize Christianity much less than did Holmes, who frequently used biblical scripture in his teaching. Holmes was curious about and open to all religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. He viewed religion as unfolding and evolving through breakthroughs in science and philosophy.

Also see

• Religious Science
• New Thought
• New Thought Movement
• Divine Science
• Unity

Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887-1960) and is a religious movement within the New Thought Movement. ... New Thought describes a religiophilosophical movement that developed in the United States during the late 19th century, originating with the metaphysical healing practices of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and the “mental science” of Warren Felt Evans, a Swedenborgian minister. ... The New Thought movement, a religio-metaphysical healing group, was founded by Phineas Parkhurst Quimby[1](1802-66) of Belfast, Maine, an American mental healer, student of mesmerism, and practitioner of hypnosis, who claimed he could heal by mere suggestion. ... The Church of Divine Science is a religious group co-founded in the late 19th century by Nona L. Brooks (1861-1945) and her sister Fannie James in Denver, Colorado during the dramatic growth of the New Thought Movement in the United States. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Unity (Formally known as the Unity...

External links

• Ernest Holmes
• Creative Mind, by Ernest Holmes
• Science of Mind, by Ernest Holmes
• Spiritual_Deism [1]

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