Charles Sherlock Fillmore (August 22, 1854 – July 5, 1948) was an American religious leader who founded Unity, a church within the

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a new religious 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 ...

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

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

. Fillmore promoted

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

for three decades of his life.

Biography

Fillmore was born in St. Cloud,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

on August 22, 1854, to Henry G. Fillmore, a trader originally from Buffalo, New York, who did business with local

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

, and Mary Georganna Fillmore (née Stone), who was born in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, then part of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

, in modern day

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. 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 ( 23 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,

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

and Charles Lowell as well as works on

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

, Eastern religions, and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

."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 in the mid-1870s, while working as a railroad clerk. After losing his job there, he moved to Gunnison, Colorado 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 and the county seat of Henry County, Missouri, Henry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,174 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Clinton was laid out in 1836. The city was named for Ne ...

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 of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, where Charles established a real estate business with the brother-in-law of Nona L. Brooks, who later founded the Church of Divine Science.

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, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

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

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

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

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 ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

.''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 writer, as well as an occultist and an American pioneer of the New Thought movement. He is the author of the pseudonymous works attribute ...

. 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 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 t ...

. Myrtle Fillmore died in 1931. Charles remarried in 1933 to Cora G. Dedrick, who was a collaborator on his later writings.

Death

Charles Fillmore died in 1948 in Lee's Summit,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. 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 Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

. In his later years, Fillmore felt so young that he thought that he might be physically immortal, as well as believing that he might be the reincarnation of

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

Vegetarianism

Charles's wife Myrtle became a vegetarian in 1895 for ethical reasons. Charles later became a convert through his wife's influence and made his first public statement about vegetarianism in an article titled "As to Meat Eating", in 1903. The article argued that meat eating is unethical and that a vegetarian diet could accelerate spiritual progress. He advocated lacto-ovo vegetarianism. Charles and his wife operated Unity Inn, a vegetarian restaurant on Tracy Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. It was one of the largest in the world at the time as it accommodated 200 guests. In 1924, Unity published a vegetarian cookbook, ''The Unity Inn Cookbook'' which contains over 300 meatless recipes. Charles authored an essay for the cookbook titled "Relation Between Regeneration and Vegetarianism". After Myrtle's death in 1931, Charles gave up being a vegetarian and added fish to his diet.

Published works

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)

Booklets

* ''The Last Enemy'' (1903) * ''As to Meat Eating'' (1903) * ''Flesh-Eating Metaphysically Considered'' (1911) * ''Unity Statement of Faith'' (1921) * ''Love'' (1903) * ''A Fuller Awakening To the Christ Truth'' (1923) * ''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) * ''What Is It That Heals'' (1924) * ''Obedience To Divine Law'' (1924) * ''Drugs and Microbes'' (1905) * ''What the Eye Represents'' (1905) * ''Get Still'' (1906) * ''First Steps in Regeneration: An Explanatory Lesson given in a Series of Lessons on The development of consciousness'' (1912) * ''Evolution: An Explanatory Lesson given in a Series of Lessons on The development of consciousness'' (1926) * ''Spiritual Consciousness: An Explanatory Lesson given in a Series of Lessons on The Development of Consciousness'' (1923) * ''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) * ''Order Is Heaven's First Law:An Explanatory Lesson given in a Series of Lessons on Divine Law'' (1924) * ''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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillmore, Charles 1854 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Christian mystics 20th-century Christian mystics American Christian mystics American spiritual writers American vegetarianism activists Founders of new religious movements New Thought clergy New Thought mystics New Thought writers People from St. Cloud, Minnesota Unity Church