Christian Daa Larson (1874–1954) was an American New Thought leader and teacher, as well as a prolific author of metaphysical and New Thought books. He is credited by

Horatio Dresser Horatio Willis Dresser (January 15, 1866 – March 30, 1954) was a New Thought religious leader and author in the United States. In 1919 he became a minister of General Convention of the Church of the New Jerusalem, and served briefly at a Swede ...

as being a founder in the New Thought movement. Many of Larson's books remain in print today, more than 100 years after they were first published, and his writings influenced notable New Thought authors and leaders, including

Religious Science The Religious Science movement, or Science of Mind, was established in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887–1960) and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical religious movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Scie ...

founder

Ernest Holmes Ernest Shurtleff Holmes (January 21, 1887 – April 7, 1960) was an American New Thought writer, teacher, and leader. He was the founder of a spiritual movement known as Religious Science, part of the greater New Thought movement, whose spiri ...

. Larson was born near Forrest City, Iowa, of Norwegian descent. He attended

Iowa State College Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

and Meadville Theological School, a Unitarian theological school in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In his early twenties he became interested in the Mental Science teachings of Helen Wilmans,

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...

, Charles Brodie Patterson et al. In 1898 Larson relocated to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. In January 1901, he organized the New Thought Temple at his residence at 947 West 17th St. In September 1901 he began to publish '' Eternal Progress'', for several years one of the leading New Thought periodicals, building it to a circulation of over a quarter of a million. Meanwhile, he began his prolific book writing career. Larson relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, around 1911. He married wife Georgea L DuBois on February 14, 1918. They had two children, Louise DuBois Larson (born 1920) and Christian D. Larson Jr. (born 1924). The family lived in Beverly Hills for many years. Larson later became honorary president of the

International New Thought Alliance The International New Thought Alliance (INTA) is an umbrella organization for New Thought adherents "dedicated to serving the New Thought Movement’s various branches, organizations and individuals".

and lectured extensively during the 1920s and 1930s. He was a colleague of such notables as

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 ...

, Charles Brodie Patterson, and Home of Truth founder

Annie Rix Militz Annie Rix Militz (1856–1924) was an American author and spiritual leader. An early organizer of the New Thought Movement, she is best known as the founder of Home of Truth. With her sister Harriet Hale Rix, Annie Rix Militz was a founder ...

. Early in the career of

, Larson's writings so impressed him that he abandoned

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning se ...

's Christian Science textbook '' Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures'' for them. Ernest and his brother

Fenwicke Holmes Fenwicke Lindsay Holmes (1883–1973) was an American author, former Congregational minister, and Religious Science leader. The brother of Ernest Holmes, Fenwicke is widely recognized for being an important factor in the establishment of Religio ...

took a correspondence course with Larson, and in his biography of his brother, '' Ernest Holmes: His Life and Times'', Fenwicke elaborates on the influence of Larson's thought on Ernest, ranking Larson's '' The Ideal Made Real'' (1912) with Ralph Waldo Trine's '' In Tune with the Infinite'' in its influence over him. In 1918, Larson joined the staff of Science of Mind Magazine as an associate editor and frequent contributor. He was on the permanent faculty of Ernest Holmes' Institute of Religious Science as a teacher. In 1912 Larson published a poem that eventually became the Optimist Creed, which in 1922 was adopted by

Optimist International Optimist International is an international service club organization with almost 3,000 clubs and over 80,000 members in more than 20 countries. The international headquarters is located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Optimist Internation ...

, better known as the Optimist Clubs.History of Optimist International
, accessed September 2008.

Books

*''The Great Within'' (1907) *''Mastery of Fate'' (1907) *''How To Stay Young'' (1908) *''On the Heights'' (1908) *''The Ideal Made Real or Applied Metaphysics for Beginners'' (1909) *''Perfect Health'' (1910) *''Your Forces and How to Use Them'' (1910) *''Business Psychology'' (1912) *''How to remain well'' (1912) *''Just be Glad'' (1912) *''Mastery of Self'' (1912) *''The Mind Cure'' (1912) *''Thinking for Results'' (1912) *''What is Truth'' (1912) *''How the mind works'' (1912) *''The Pathway of Roses'' (1913) *''Brains and How to Get Them'' (1913) *''Nothing Succeeds Like Success'' (1916) *''What Right Thinking Will Do'' (1916) *''Healing Yourself'' (1918) *''Concentration'' (1920)

References

External links

Christian D. Larson e-books page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Christian D. 1954 deaths 1874 births American religious writers American spiritual writers American Christian writers New Thought writers Year of birth unknown 20th-century American writers