Emmet Fox (1886-1951) was a New Thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century, famous for his large Divine Science church services held in New York City during the Great Depression.
Fox was born on July 30, 1886 in Ireland. His father, who died before Fox was ten, was a physician and member of Parliament. Fox attended St. Ignatius' College, a Jesuit secondary school near Stamford Hill. He became an electrical engineer, but discovered early that he had healing power, and from the time of his late teens studied New Thought. He came to know the prominent New Thought writer Thomas Troward.
Fox attended the London meeting at which the International New Thought Alliance was organized in 1914. He gave his first New Thought talk in Mortimer Hall in London in 1928. Soon he went to the United States, and in 1931 was selected to become the successor to James Murray as the minister of New York's Divine Science Church of the Healing Christ. Fox became immensely popular, and spoke to large church audiences during the Depression, holding weekly services for up to 5,500 people at the New York Hippodrome until 1938 and subsequently at Carnegie Hall. He was ordained in the Divine Science branch of New Thought.
Fox's secretary was the mother of one of the men who worked with Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill W., and partly as a result of this connection early AA groups often went to hear Fox. His writing, especially "The Sermon on the Mount," became popular in AA. Several pamphlets "The Golden Key," and "The Seven Main Aspects of God" are also widely read. Fox combined a precision of mind with a knowledge of the spirit.
He published a number of books, including Around the Year with Emmet Fox: A Book of Daily Readings (1931), The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Life (1934), Make Your Life Worthwhile (1942), Alter Your Life (1950) and The Ten Commandments (1953).
Fox passed away on August 13, 1951 at the age of 65.