New Thinking, New Thought, New Age: The Theology and Influence of Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925)

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 2005

Priscilla Papers, 2016

Since the beginning of the feminist movement over a century ago, historians have debated the role religion played in the lives of the great British women’s rights leaders. Olive Anderson dismissed any agency religious experience gave to these women, contending that it “contributed nothing to the spread of feminist ideas.” Gail Malmgreen described their spirituality as a “central paradox” that historians struggle to keep in context while discussing their subjects’ lives and work. She went on to point out that religion is a neglected part of feminist history, yet historically there is a direct connection between faith and political activism within the feminist movement. In response to these works and others, Helen Mathers made a simple yet profound point: many of the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century feminist leaders were devout Christians who drew upon faith as their main source of inspiration and strength, so a study of their beliefs is crucial to understanding their lives. Josephine Butler was one of these leaders.

Methodist History, 2000

Early Methodism was comprised of many small communities of women. The preponderance of women in the Wesleyan Revival as a whole only illustrates quantitatively a much larger reality, yet to be fully explored. From time to time these women drew themselves together into intentional communities in which the rhythms of mutual accountability and active social service modeled vital Christianity to the world around them. What is of particular interest were communities of women that involved a common life in the sense of actually living together and experiencing Christian community in a cenobitic or semi-monastic style of life. Mary Bosanquet was the center of one such community, the influence and legacy of which were critical to the history of early Methodism.' In 1763 a property near her place of birth in Leytonstone, known locally as ''The Cedars," became vacant. Mary and Sarah Ryan (the friend whom John Wesley would later describe as her "twin soul") moved there on March 24 with the intention of establishing an orphanage and school on the basis of Wesley's own prototype at Kingswood. 2 John Wesley kept this model Christian community, combining vibrant personal piety and active social service, under his personal surveillance. On December 1, .17 64 he expressed his optimism and great expectations concerning its progress: "M[ary] B[osanquetJ gave me a further account of their affairs at Leyton'"" stone. It is exactly Pietas Hallensis in miniature. What it will be does not 1 The standard biographical account of Mary, without any question one of the most prominent figures in Wesley's Methodism, is that of Henry Moore, The Life of Mrs. Mary Fletcher, 6th ed. (London: J. Kershaw, 1824), which passed through numerous editions on both sides of the Atlantic during the 19th century. Perhaps no life was so well known to the women of early Methodism as that of Mary. A number of her publications, including heFaQle defense of women's preaching, A Letter to the Rev. John Wesley (1764), a catechetical writing entitled An Aunt's Advice to Her Niece (1780), and her Thoughts on Communion with Happy Spirits were widely circulated and extremely influential both during and after her lifetime.

Academia Letters, 2021

In the 1800s, the movement known as New Theology rose to prominence in the New England area. This so-called New Theology developed in two distinct phases: first, the New Divinity and then, the New Haven Theology. This particularly American strand of theological thought faded from popularity almost as quickly as it came to the forefront; though its roots are found in the tail end of the Eighteenth century, its adherents were virtually extinct by the end of the Nineteenth. The sect is primarily recognized for its attempt to adjust traditional Calvinist teachings to the changing intellectual landscape of America, as well as for its early voice in the American abolitionist movement. The New Theology began germinating almost as soon as the First Great Awakening ended (ca. 1735-1743). The movement originated with Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790) and Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), both of whom were students of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). Though there is some debate over which man was more influential, there is no doubt that each of them continued to develop the theology of Edwards in similar ways, shaping the next generation of pastors and theologians. Hopkins voiced an early concern over the slave trade in America, going so far as to challenge the Declaration of Independence on the grounds that the colonists participated in the African slave trade (Noll 1992, 109, 139). Bellamy, taking points from James Davenport, began to articulate the Reformed doctrines of grace using legal terminology in a way that had not been common in the colonies (Valeri 1994, 42). It was these types of developments which prompted Bellamy and Hopkins to treat God in highly politicized terms, espousing a governmental view of the atonement that was modeled on the human legal system: individuals were punished for only the sins they committed, God's justice required the crucifixion (not the wrath of God over sin), and these doctrines were applicable to all men, including the non-elect (Noll 2001, 826). Though Hopkins and Bellamy held fast to orthodox theology, the Enlightenment ideas that man possessed certain inalienable rights, and that

The firstmost book of Mary Baker Eddy after Science & Health, explaining the history of Christian Science. Here she mentions her view of the afterlife to be purely spiritual, obviously not considering reincarnation, leading to a number of confusing terms about how life is not in matter, and that spirit is the only thing that truly exists. She details her life story, and the unfolding of her Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and the coursework for the large sum of $300 over a mere 2 months. The inferiour mortal life is rebuked, with scant reference to the divine immortal superiority. Poetry is recited. Also some anxiety is expressed about the prospect of secret lovers being used to heal people, in the name of Christianity. Clearly she is in pretty deep with a combination of spiritual Christian dogmas and both physical and mental health practices based on secret lovers. Again her doctrines appear to somewhat resemble advanced Pythagorean teachings that summarize things in a few words.