Known for Publisher, Author. Home town Akron Role Author | Name Joseph Benner Religion Lutheran Church | |
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Full Name Joseph Sieber Benner Born Jan. 3, 1872 Akron, Summit County, Ohio, USA Resting place Glendale Cemetery, Akron, Ohio Residence 270 Chesterton Ave, Akron, Ohio Spouse(s) Nillie E. Stuver (m. 1894) Children 1 daughter: Mary Joyce Benner McGrath Died 1941, Akron, Ohio, United States Books The Impersonal Life, The Way to the Kingdom, The Way Out: New Edition, The Way Out!, La Vida Impersonal | ||
The Impersonal Life Audiobook by Joseph Benner
Joseph Sieber Benner (January 3, 1872 – September 24, 1938) was an American author, New Thought writer and Representative of the Brotherhood of Christ who used the pen name "Anonymous". He was the first to introduce the Knowledge and Teachings of Impersonal Life (also known as the "I AM" Teaching) to the world in his first book, The Impersonal Life published in 1914. His other works were The Way Out, The Way Beyond, Wealth, Teacher, Brotherhood, The Way to the Kingdom, Papers (65 Lessons), etc.
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Early life
Benner was born in Akron, Ohio, USA on January 3, 1872. His father John W. Benner was a businessman. Benner attended public schools and held positions at J.F. Sieberling & Co., People's Savings Bank Company, Central Savings Bank Company, and Akron Trust Company. He was chief owner of the Akron Printing Company. Benner was also on the boards of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Akron People's Telephone Company, Akron Coal Company, Globe Sign and Poster Company, Hower Building Company, Permanent Savings and Loan Company, Bannock Coal Company, and the Young Men's Christian Association. He remained an officer of the Central Savings and Trust Company for the rest of his career.
In the 1890s, while Secretary of the local YMCA, Benner was also listed as Gymnasium Director of Buchtel College in Akron, and he contributed at least one macabre illustration, titled "Murder", to The Lotus, an Intercollegiate journal published in Kansas City.
Benner married Nillie E. Stuver in 1894. Both were members of the Lutheran Church. They had one child, Mary Joyce Benner McGrath.
Spiritual writer
According to author Jon Klimo, "by 1916, Benner said he felt he could no longer resist the growing inclination to give himself over as a vehicle to a larger presence, to let his mind be subsumed by (or co-creatively interact with) a larger Mind or Being." His book The Impersonal Life contained words Benner believed were recorded directly from God, and was first published in July 1914. Benner taught that Christ's proclaiming "I AM" indicated "the true spirit that resides in every human being." The "SUN center" was an Ohio group formed in 1920 around Benner's teachings. One of the group's practices was to "enter into the silence, stillness and peace" each day at noon. Benner also made a series of lessons called the "The Inner Life Courses" he intended to develop discipline in life, discernment and the awakening of the Christ within the soul.
Benner died in 1938. According to his daughter, letters were found after his death in which he expressed devotion to God and his belief that God had chosen him as a medium.
In the 1960s Elvis Presley was introduced to Benner's work by his hairdresser-turned-guru, Larry Geller. In the last 13 years of his life, Presley gave away hundreds of copies of the book. A copy was allegedly with him on the night he died.