Joseph Sieber Benner

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Joseph Sieber Benner
Born Joseph Sieber Benner
Jan. 3, 1872
Akron, Summit County, Ohio, USA
Died 1941[1]
Akron, Ohio, USA
Resting place
 Glendale Cemetery, Akron, Ohio
Residence 270 Chesterton Ave, Akron, Ohio
Known for Publisher, Author.
Home town Akron, Ohio
Religion Lutheran Church
Spouse(s) Nillie E. Stuver (m. 1894)
Children 1 daughter: Mary Joyce Benner McGrath
Parents John Benner , Mary Sieber

Joseph Sieber Benner (1872–1941) was an American author and spiritual automatic writer who used the pen name "anonymous". His most famous books are The Impersonal Life and The Way Out.

Early life

Benner was born in Akron, Ohio, USA on Jan. 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.

Benner married Nillie E. Stuver in 1894. Both were members of the Lutheran Church. They had one child, Mary Joyce Benner McGrath.[2][3][4][5]

Elvis Presley – a fan of Benner's writing.

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."[6] 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. Brenner 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.[7]

Benner died in 1941. 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 1970s Elvis Presley was introduced to Benner's work by his hairdresser-turned-guru, Larry Geller.[8] 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.[9]

Books

  • The Impersonal Life
  • The Way Out
  • The Way Beyond
  • The Way to the Kingdom
  • The Teacher
  • Brotherhood
  • Wealth
  • Good and Evil (out of print)
  • Receiving and Giving (out of print)
  • The Great White Brotherhood (out of print)

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Melton, J. Gordon (1996). Encyclopedia of American Religions. Gale Research. p. 775. ISBN 0-8103-7714-4. 
  2. ↑ Progressive Men of Northern Ohio 1906
  3. ↑ Source: Centennial History of Summit County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, published by Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Ill - 1908 p. 406)
  4. ↑ Walden's Stationer and Printer. V. 21-22, Jan 1904 - Jan 1905 (p.12)
  5. ↑ The American Printer and Lithographer V. 39 Sept 1904 - Feb 1905 (p.143)
  6. ↑ Jon Klimo (17 April 1998). Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources, Second Edition. North Atlantic Books. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-55643-248-4. Retrieved 2 February 2013. 
  7. ↑ James R. Lewis (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. pp. 705–. ISBN 978-1-61592-738-8. Retrieved 3 February 2013. 
  8. ↑ Wilson, Charles Reagan (2006). "'Just a Little Talk with Jesus': Elvis Presley, Religious Music, and Southern Spirituality". Southern Cultures 12 (4): 74. doi:10.1353/scu.2006.0059. 
  9. ↑ Biographer Albert Goldman in the History of Elvis 1964

External links

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