Charles Sherlock Fillmore (August 22, 1854 – July 5, 1948) founded

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

, a church within the

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

movement, with his wife, Myrtle Page Fillmore, in 1889. He became known as an American mystic for his contributions to spiritualist interpretations of

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

Biography

Fillmore was born in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

on August 22, 1854. An ice skating accident when he was ten broke Fillmore's hip and left him with lifelong disabilities. In his early years, despite little formal education, he studied

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Go ...

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

and Charles Lowell as well as works on

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

, Eastern religions, and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

."Charles Sherlock Fillmore" in ''Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology'', 5th ed. Gale Group, 2001. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009, accessed September 2009.A Timeline of Unity History
", Association of Unity Churches, accessed September 2009. He met his future wife, Mary Caroline "Myrtle" Page, in

Denison, Texas Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, Grayson County, Texas, United States. It is south of the Texas–Oklahoma border. The population was 22,682 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Denison is part of the Texoma region and is one ...

in the mid-1870s. After losing his job there, he moved to

Gunnison, Colorado Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. Gunnison was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a Uni ...

where he worked in mining and real estate.Gale Publishing Group, "Charles Fillmore" in ''Religious Leaders of America'', 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced i
Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
accessed September 2009. He married Myrtle in

Clinton, Missouri Clinton is a city in Henry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,792 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Henry County. History Clinton was laid out in 1836. The city was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton ...

on March 29, 1881. The newlyweds moved to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...

, where Charles established a real estate business with the brother-in-law of

Nona L. Brooks Nona Lovell Brooks (March 22, 1861 – March 14, 1945), described as a "prophet of modern mystical Christianity", was a leader in the New Thought movement and a founder of the Church of Divine Science. Biography Brooks was born on March 22, 1861 ...

, who later founded the

Church of Divine Science The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was formalized in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer. "In March 1888 Cramer and her husband Frank chartered the 'Home College of Sp ...

Introduction to New Thought

After the births of their first two sons, Lowell Page Fillmore and Waldo Rickert Fillmore, the family moved to

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. Two years later, in 1886, Charles and Myrtle attended

classes held by E. B. Weeks. Myrtle subsequently recovered from chronic

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and attributed her recovery to her use of prayer and other methods learned in Weeks's classes. Subsequently, Charles began to heal from his childhood accident, a development which he too attributed to following this philosophy. Charles Fillmore became a devoted student of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

.''Dictionary of American Biography'', Supplement 4: 1946–1950. American Council of Learned Societies, 1974, reproduced i
Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
accessed September 2009. In 1889, Charles and Myrtle began publication of a new periodical, ''Modern Thought'', notable among other things as the first publication to accept for publication the writings of the then 27-year-old New Thought pioneer

William Walker Atkinson William Walker Atkinson (December 5, 1862 – November 22, 1932) was an attorney, merchant, publisher, and author, as well as an occultist and an American pioneer of the New Thought movement. He is the author of the pseudonymous works attribut ...

. In 1890, they announced a prayer group that was later called 'Silent Unity'. In 1891, Fillmore's ''Unity'' magazine was first published.

H. Emilie Cady Harriet Emilie Cady (July 12, 1848 – January 3, 1941) was an American homeopathic physician and author of New Thought spiritual writings.Vahle(2002), p71 Her 1896 book ''Lessons in Truth, A Course of Twelve Lessons in Practical Christianity'' i ...

published "Lessons in Truth" in the new magazine. This material was later compiled and published in a book by the same name, which served as a seminal work of the Unity Church. Although Charles had no intention of making Unity into a denomination, his students wanted a more organized group. He and his wife were among the first ordained Unity ministers in 1906. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore operated the Unity organizations from a campus near downtown

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Death

Myrtle Fillmore died in 1931. Charles remarried in 1933 to Cora G. Dedrick, who was a collaborator on his later writings. Charles Fillmore died in 1948. Unity continued, growing into a worldwide movement. Unity World Headquarters at Unity Village and Unity Worldwide Ministries are the organizations of the movement.

Tenets and beliefs

In a pamphlet called "Answers to Your Questions About Unity", poet James Dillet Freeman says that Charles and Myrtle both had health problems and turned to some new ideas which they believed helped to improve these problems. Their beliefs are centered on two basic propositions: (1) God is good. (2) God is available; in fact, God is in you. The pamphlet goes on to say that:

About a year after the Fillmores started the magazine Modern Thought, they had the inspiration that if God is what they thought – the principle of love and intelligence, the source of all good – God is wherever needed. It was not necessary for people to be in the same room with them in order for them to unite in thought and prayer.

The Fillmores taught

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

. In his later years, Fillmore felt so young that he thought that he might be physically

immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

, as well as believing that he might be the reincarnation of

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore were vegetarians. Charles Fillmore wrote ”The master on the spiritual plane is not a slave driver…He must love every creature…His love must flow forth in protecting streams when any creature is in danger of violence or destruction. He must recognize all life as God’s life…Thus he cannot in any way sanction the killing of animals for food, nor can he give passive assent by eating the flesh of those slain by the hands of ignorant man.”

Books

*''Christian Healing'' (1909) *''Talks on Truth'' (1922) *'' The Twelve Powers of Man'' (1930) *''Metaphysical Bible Dictionary'' (1931) *''Mysteries of Genesis'' (1936) *''Prosperity'' (1936) *''Jesus Christ Heals'' (1939) *''Teach Us to Pray'' with Cora Fillmore (1941) *''Mysteries of John'' (1946) *''Atom-Smashing Power of Mind'' (1949) *''Keep a True Lent'' (1953) *''The Revealing Word'' (1959 Booklet * ''The Last Enemy.'' (1903) * ''As to Meat Eating.'' (1903) * ''Unity Statement of Faith.'' (1921) * ''Love.'' (1903) * ''Thought and Mind.'' (1902) * ''Metaphysical Law of I AM.'' (1918) * ''The Great Supper.'' (1901) * ''Paul is Now Here.'' (1924) * ''The Mystical Power of Love.'' (1903) * ''The Prosperity Thought.'' (1905) * ''Prosperity Treatment.'' (1904) * ''Drugs and Microbes.'' (1905) * ''What the Eye Represents.'' (1905) * ''Get Still.'' (1906) * ''The Church of Christ.'' (1906) * ''The Unity of Religion and Therapeutics in the New Thought.'' (1904) * ''John the Baptist States of Mind.'' (1906) * ''The Real and the Unreal.'' (1906) * ''In the Name of the Lord.'' (1906) * ''The Invisible Resource.'' (1906) * ''Spiritual Obedience.'' (1906) * ''The idea God and the True God.'' (1906) * ''Thee Dawn of a new Day.'' (1906) * ''The Changeless Substance.'' (1907) * ''The Power of Jesus’ Words.'' (1907) * ''Practical Christianity:An Explanatory Lesson given in a Series of Lessons on The Science of Being and Christian Healing''. (1907) * ''Continuance in the Word. (1908)'' * ''The Real meaning of Easter.'' (1908) * ''The Resurrection.'' (1908) :

References

External links

Charles Fillmore's works online

Charles Fillmore

Read some of Charles Fillmore's books in an easy-to-view format
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillmore, Charles New Thought clergy New Thought mystics New Thought writers American Christian mystics American spiritual writers 1854 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Christian mystics 20th-century Christian mystics Founders of new religious movements Unity Church People from St. Cloud, Minnesota