Ernest Holmes
1887 -1960
About Ernest Holmes
Ernest Holmes was born in
Maine, the youngest of nine boys. His parents were William and Anna Heath
Holmes. Ernest was
raised by a mother who refused to have fear taught in her children. She was a
wise woman and she was determined that her children should never be taught there
was anything to be afraid of.
At an early age,
Ernest Holmes discovered the writings of Ralph
Waldo Emerson and then Mary Baker Eddy He later studied
the writings of Horatio Dresser and Phineas Quimby. At the age of twenty
five he moved to California and began following the teaching of Thomas Troward
and began to lecture on the teachings of Troward.
In 1917 He and his brother Fenwicke joined forces to found the metaphysical institute and to launch themselves as full time teachers of their individual interpretation of mental science. During this time, Ernest was speaking to thousands of people a week in Los Angeles. In 1919, they merged with the Truth Magazine published by A. C. Grier of the Church of Truth. The ministry of Ernest Holmes began and with a sizable following. He taught spiritual mind treatment. He was a student of healing under Emma Curtis Hopkins and then focused on the teachings of Divine Science. Ernest Holmes was ordained into the Divine Science Ministry. He continued to lecture to growing crowds, during which time he penned The Science of Mind textbook which was published in 1926. At the time the book was published, his many enthusiastic students urged him to set up an incorporated organization. He refused at first, but eventually agreed, and the Institute of Religious Science and the School of Philosophy was incorporated in 1927. That same year he married Hazel Gillen. His many books and his magazine influenced millions of people.
In 1949, he began a popular radio program at 4 p.m. each Sunday . It was titled: "This Thing Called Life." Each Sunday his opening words were: "There is a power for good in the universe greater than you are and you can use it." Millions heard him; millions heeded him. His books include: Creative Mind - Creative Mind and Success - The Science of Mind - It's Up To You and This Thing Called You.
Ernest Holmes made his transition to the next
experience on April 7, 1960, in Los Angeles. Dr. Holmes left
all humankind an enduring legacy: the way of life he called Religious Science.