Misplaced Pages

Charles Fillmore (Unity Church): Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 01:46, 15 February 2008 edit71.247.78.33 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit Latest revision as of 07:45, 14 October 2024 edit undo203.219.184.152 (talk) →External links 
(201 intermediate revisions by 92 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American mystic, co-founder of Unity Church}}
'''Charles Fillmore''' (], ] – ], ]), born in ], founded ] with his wife, ], in ]. He became known as an American ] for his contributions to ] interpretations of ] ].
{{Infobox person
| name = Charles Sherlock Fillmore
| image = Charles Fillmore (Unity Church).jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1854|8|22}}
| birth_place = ], ], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1948|8|5|1854|8|22}}
| death_place = ], U.S.
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|]|1881|1931}}
* {{marriage|Cora G. Dedrick|1933|1948}}
}}
| partner =
}}
{{NewThought}}


'''Charles Sherlock Fillmore''' (August 22, 1854 – July 5, 1948) was an American religious leader who founded ], a church within the ] movement, with his wife, ], in 1889. He became known as an American ] for his contributions to spiritual interpretations of ] ]. Fillmore promoted ] for three decades of his life.
At the age of ten, an ] accident dislocated his hip and left him with a withered leg - this event had a profound effect on his later life. As a printer's ], he studied ], ], ] and ]. He later worked as a mule-team driver and assayer before going into ]. After marrying his wife, Myrtle and the births of their first two sons, he moved to ]. In ], Charles and Myrtle attended ] classes held by Dr. ]. These classes were influential because they proved useful in helping Myrtle with ] her ].


==Biography==
When Charles saw the effect that Myrtle's tuberculosis was healed -- which she attributed to her prayer -- he began to deal with ] via her philosophy and his own terminology, and he began to heal from his childhood accident. Charles studied ] and ] and soon had a vision of his work in Kansas City.
Fillmore was born in ], ] on August 22, 1854, to Henry G. Fillmore, a trader originally from ], ], who ] with local ], and Mary Georganna Fillmore (née Stone), who was born in ], then part of ], in modern day ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Anker |first=Roy M. |title=Self-Help and Popular Religion in Early American Culture: An Interpretative Guide |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1999}}</ref>


An ice skating accident when he was ten broke Fillmore's hip and left him with lifelong disabilities.<ref>Vahle, Neal (2002) ''The Unity movement: its evolution and spiritual teachings'', Templeton Foundation Press, pp. 33–34.</ref> In his early years, despite little formal education, he studied ], ], ] and ] as well as works on ], ], and ].<ref name="OnP">"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.</ref><ref name="Unity History">" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016170113/http://unity.org/aboutunity/whoweare/unityhistory.html |date=2011-10-16 }}", Association of Unity Churches, accessed September 2009.</ref>
In ], Charles left his business to focus entirely on a prayer group that would later be called 'Silent Unity'. It was named this because of a legal conflict with ] over the use of the title ]. That same year he began publication of a new periodical, 'Modern Thought', notable among other things as the first house to accept for publication the writings of the then 27-year-old ] pioneer ].


He met his future wife, ], in ] in the mid-1870s, while working as a railroad clerk. After losing his job there, he moved to ] where he worked in mining and real estate.<ref name="Gale">Gale Publishing Group, "Charles Fillmore" in ''Religious Leaders of America'', 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in , accessed September 2009.</ref>
In ], Fillmore's 'Unity' magazine was first published. Dr. ] published 'Lessons in Truth' in the new magazine. This material later were compiled and published in a book by the same name, which is a seminal work of the ].


He married Myrtle in ] on March 29, 1881. The newlyweds moved to ], where Charles established a real estate business with the brother-in-law of ], who later founded the ].<ref name="Gale"/>
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 ]. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore operated the Unity organization from a campus near downtown Kansas City. The Unity Inn (Opened in ]) was a popular feature; it was a cafeteria that was open to the public. The Unity Inn was a ] eatery in accordance with the dietary habits of the Fillmores themselves.


===Introduction to New Thought===
In addition to the Unity magazine, Unity also produced a weekly magazine (run by son Lowell Fillmore), a children's magazine ('Wee Wisdom' - discontinued in ]), and a business magazine - and ran a radio station (WOQ). Unity's best-known publication made its debut in ] - 'Daily Word' -- which features daily devotionals.
After the births of their first two sons, Lowell Page Fillmore and Waldo Rickert Fillmore, the family moved to ]. Two years later, in 1886, Charles and Myrtle attended ] classes held by ]. Myrtle subsequently recovered from chronic ] 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 ] and ].<ref name="DAB">''Dictionary of American Biography'', Supplement 4: 1946–1950. American Council of Learned Societies, 1974, reproduced in , accessed September 2009.</ref><ref name=":0" />


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 ]. In 1890, they announced a prayer group that was later called 'Silent Unity'. In 1891, Fillmore's ''Unity'' magazine was first published. ] 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 ], 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 ].<ref name="Unity History"/>
In ], Charles Fillmore made plans for moving to a farm adjacent to nearby ]. Unity Farm would be the name of the new center. He also made plans to build a new church at ] - the nation's first suburban shopping center. The iconic Silent Unity tower and complex were completed in ] but development slowed during the ].


Myrtle Fillmore died in ]. Charles remarried in ] to ]; she was a collaborator on his writings in his later years. Fillmore trained many disciples, including the Unity teacher Rev. Dr. ]. Myrtle Fillmore died in 1931. Charles remarried in 1933 to Cora G. Dedrick, who was a collaborator on his later writings.<ref name="Gale" />


===Death===
Fillmore had one of the earliest radio shows in Kansas City.
Charles Fillmore died in 1948 in ], ].<ref name=":0" /> Unity continued, growing into a worldwide movement. Unity World Headquarters at Unity Village and Unity Worldwide Ministries are the organizations of the movement.<ref>See, e.g., Ferm, Vergilius (ed). ''An Encyclopedia of Religion''; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (1976; 1st ed. pub. 1945 by Philosophical Library); pg. 805.</ref>


==Tenets and beliefs==
Charles Fillmore died in ], but the Unity School and Association of Unity Churches (founded as the Unity Ministers Association in ]) continued after his death and grew into a worldwide movement.
]
In a pamphlet called "Answers to Your Questions About Unity", poet ] 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:<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513135752/http://www.unityspokane.org/newunity/national.htm |date=2008-05-13 }} James Dillet Freeman, Unity School of Christianity, Unity Village, MO.</ref>
<blockquote>
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.
</blockquote>


The Fillmores taught ]. In his later years, Fillmore felt so young that he thought that he might be physically ], as well as believing that he might be the reincarnation of ].<ref>Charles S. Braden. ''Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought'', p. 260.</ref>
== Tenets and philosophical excerpts==


===Vegetarianism===
Fillmore saw a fundamental flaw in the singular worship of the man ] as ]. He divided Jesus into four aspects:


Charles's wife Myrtle became a vegetarian in 1895 for ethical reasons.<ref name="Rapport 2009">{{cite journal|author=Rapport, Jeremy|year=2009|title=Eating for Unity: Vegetarianism in the Early Unity School of Christianity|journal=Gastronomica|volume=9|issue=2|pages=35–44|doi=10.1525/gfc.2009.9.2.35}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rapport 2009"/> The article argued that meat eating is unethical and that a vegetarian diet could accelerate spiritual progress. He advocated ].<ref name="Rapport 2009"/>
*"]", the man who lived 2,000 years ago and was a great healer and teacher
*"]", the divine idea of God manifested individually in all people
*"Jesus the Christ" or "Jesus Christ", the fully-embraced oneness with God that Jesus demonstrated
*"Christ Jesus", the current state of the physical man that was Jesus after the ]. Fillmore believed that the atoms of His body dispersed across the world and elevated the consciousness of all to another level.


Charles and his wife operated Unity Inn, a vegetarian restaurant on Tracy Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.<ref name="Rapport 2009"/> 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".<ref name="Rapport 2009"/> After Myrtle's death in 1931, Charles gave up being a vegetarian and added ].<ref name="Rapport 2009"/>
Fillmore disagreed with the Christian orthodoxy that the multiple references to "I Am" in the ] referred to Jesus himself, but rather to "]", which literally means "I Am" in all its conjugations, which most Bibles substitute with "LORD" after the first reference to "I Am" in ] 3:13. The term "]" has begun to fall out of favor in the Unity movement for this reason, given the word's connotations of oppression.


==Published works==
Jesus referred to himself as "Son of God," but in doing so, he invoked the 82nd ], and never applied it exclusively to himself.
=== Books ===
*''Christian Healing'' (1909)
*''Talks on Truth'' (1922)
*'']'' (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===
Fillmore's "Statement of Faith" pamphlet included beliefs in the equality of women, that the eating of meat was directly related to a mentality that allows for warfare, and belief in ]. Although this is published by Unity, it is intended to represent Fillmore's personal beliefs, and not Unity's teachings, which do not address these beliefs and leave them up to an individual.
* ''The Last Enemy'' (1903)
* ''As to Meat Eating'' (1903)
* ''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)


==See also==
In his later years, Fillmore felt so young that he thought that he might be physically ], as well as believing that he might be the reincarnation of ].<ref>Charles S. Braden. ''Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought'', p. 260.</ref>
* ]

* ]
== Books ==
* ]
Fillmore believed that his knowledge should be free to all, thus he never sought copyright on any of his books, and ] has been able to offer them in ] at ] prices.
* ]

* ]
*'']'' (1949)
* ]
*'']''
*'']''
*'']'' (1936)
*'']''
*'']''
*'']''
*'']''
*'']''
*'']''
*'']'' (1922)
*'']''
*'']''


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Unity Church |url=//www.unityvillagechapel.org/uploads/1/0/3/5/10350251/unity_chronology.pdf}}</ref>
<references/>


==See also== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Charles Fillmore}}
*]
*]
*]
*]


*
==External links==
*
* *
*



{{Unity footer}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillmore, Charles}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fillmore, Charles}}

]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]

]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 07:45, 14 October 2024

American mystic, co-founder of Unity Church
Charles Sherlock Fillmore
Born(1854-08-22)August 22, 1854
St. Cloud, Minnesota Territory, U.S.
DiedAugust 5, 1948(1948-08-05) (aged 93)
Lee's Summit, Missouri, U.S.
Spouses
Myrtle Page ​(m. 1881⁠–⁠1931)​
Cora G. Dedrick ​ ​(m. 1933⁠–⁠1948)​
Part of a series of articles on
New Thought
Beliefs
Movement
Denominations
Churches
Schools
Other groups
People
Historical
Modern
Related ideas
Categories

Charles Sherlock Fillmore (August 22, 1854 – July 5, 1948) was an American religious leader who founded Unity, a church within the New Thought movement, with his wife, Myrtle Page Fillmore, in 1889. He became known as an American mystic for his contributions to spiritual interpretations of Biblical Scripture. Fillmore promoted vegetarianism for three decades of his life.

Biography

Fillmore was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota on August 22, 1854, to Henry G. Fillmore, a trader originally from Buffalo, New York, who did business with local Ojibwe, and Mary Georganna Fillmore (née Stone), who was born in New Brunswick, then part of British North America, in modern day Canada.

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, Lord Tennyson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Lowell as well as works on spiritualism, Eastern religions, and metaphysics.

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.

He married Myrtle in Clinton, Missouri on March 29, 1881. The newlyweds moved to Pueblo, Colorado, 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. Two years later, in 1886, Charles and Myrtle attended New Thought classes held by E. B. Weeks. Myrtle subsequently recovered from chronic tuberculosis 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 and religion.

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. 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.

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. 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

Fillmore's vegetarian restaurant Unity Inn, in 1924

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. 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.

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)
  • 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)

See also

References

  1. ^ Anker, Roy M. (1999). Self-Help and Popular Religion in Early American Culture: An Interpretative Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group.
  2. Vahle, Neal (2002) The Unity movement: its evolution and spiritual teachings, Templeton Foundation Press, pp. 33–34.
  3. "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.
  4. ^ "A Timeline of Unity History Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine", Association of Unity Churches, accessed September 2009.
  5. ^ Gale Publishing Group, "Charles Fillmore" in Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008., accessed September 2009.
  6. Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 4: 1946–1950. American Council of Learned Societies, 1974, reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008., accessed September 2009.
  7. See, e.g., Ferm, Vergilius (ed). An Encyclopedia of Religion; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (1976; 1st ed. pub. 1945 by Philosophical Library); pg. 805.
  8. Answers to Your Questions About Unity Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine James Dillet Freeman, Unity School of Christianity, Unity Village, MO.
  9. Charles S. Braden. Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought, p. 260.
  10. ^ Rapport, Jeremy (2009). "Eating for Unity: Vegetarianism in the Early Unity School of Christianity". Gastronomica. 9 (2): 35–44. doi:10.1525/gfc.2009.9.2.35.

External links


Unity Church
Founders
People
Background
Other
  1. "Timeline of Unity Church" (PDF).
Categories: