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PUBLISHED MONTHLY. PRICE, 2.00 PER ANNUM. SINGLE COPIES, 20 CENTS.
VOL. XI. JUNE, 1893. NO. 3.
THE
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE
JOURNAL.
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
NATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS' ASSOCIATION.
FOUNDED APRIL, 1883, by the Author of SCIENCE AND HEALTH,
TH E REV. MARY BAKER G. EDDY.
PUBLISHED BY
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY,
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REVEREND MARY BAKER G. EDDY.
TH E Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy , discoverer and founder
of Chr istian Science, was born in the town of Bow,
New Hampshire . Her parent s were Mark and Abi
gail B . Baker. Among her ancestors may be mentioned,
Gen. John Macneil and Gen. Henry Knox. The family lineage goes back to Scotland, and among the more remote
ancest ry was Sir John Macneil, a Scottish kni gh t who
attained to much prominence in his day and generation as a
statesman and diplomat.
He r great grandmother on the paternal side was Marion
Moor, whose family were said to have belonged to the origi
nal stock from whom was descended Hannah More, "the
pious and popular English authoress."
Among her relations of the present day who have attained
to prominence in law and politics, are Hon. Hoke Smith ,
President Cleveland's Secretary of the Interior, and Gen. H.
M. Baker, now a member of Congress .
Her brother Albert Baker, was a lawyer of unusual bril
liancy and abili ty and at the early age of th ir ty years had
won high dist inction a t the bar. He had been elected to
Congress, but was prevented by death from taking his seat.
In her work Retrospection and Introspection, Mrs. Eddythus refers to her parents:
" My father possessed a strong intellect and an iron will.
Of my mother I cannot speak as I would, for memory recalls
qual ities to which the pen can never do just ice. The follow
ing is a brief extract from the eulogy of Rev. Richard S.
Ru st D. D., who for many years had resided in T ilton, and
knew my sainted mother in all the walks of life."
The character of Mrs. Abigail Ambrose Baker was distinguished fornumerous excellencies. She possessed a strong intellect, a sympathizinghear t, and a placid spirit. Her presence, like the gentle dew and cheer
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102 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE JOURNAL.
the tone of conversation in the circles in which she moved, and directed
attention to themes at once pleasing and profitable.
As a mother , she was untiring in her efforts t o secure the happiness
of her family. She ever enterta ined a live ly sense of the parental obli
gation, especially in regard to the education of her children. The oft-
repeated impressions of that sainted spirit, on the hearts of those
especially entrusted to her watch-care, can never be effaced, and can
hardly fail to induce them to follow her to the brighter world. Her life
was a living illustration of Christian faith.
The religious element was strongly marked in Mrs. Eddy's
character from her earlies t chi ldhood. She early imbibedhigh conceptions of the office of divine Love. She was un
able to reconcile the doctrine of eternal punishment with the
Biblical teaching th at God is Love, and that he is infinite.
She could th ink of no place within the infinite where God 's
love was inefficacious, much less, a place where it could be
transformed into eterna l hate. These reflections, and her
Scr iptu ral studies , led her at the ear ly age of twelve years
to begin " disputing with the doctors " upon this and kindred
subjects . She avowed her inabi lity to accept the Calvinistic
doctr ine of election, or foreordination and predestination.
But notwithstanding these reservations, she was admitted to
membership in the Congregational church of her native place.
She maintained her connection with this church until she or
ganized her own Christian Science Church in Boston.
At the age of sixteen she had formed such literary habits
that she became a valued contributor to the press and periodi
cals. Her literary tastes took the form of poetry as well as
prose, although but few of her poems have been published.
But it is not as much of her early life and writings that
we wish to speak, as of her " greater works " since she became
imbued with that spirit of Truth which led her to the
investigations a nd labors re sulting in giving to the world
t ha t wonde r f u l book S C I E N C E A N D H E A L T H , W I T H K E Y T O
THE SCRIPTURES.
SCIENCE AND HEALTH is unique in liter ature. It is the
first book to announce the fact tha t, as a system, " Christian ity must be Science, and Science must be Chris tiani ty,
l h h i f l d l " i i i
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REVEREND MARY BAKER G. EDDY. 103
ble, according to the system enunciated by this book, to be atrue Christian withou t leading a tru ly Scientific life; and it
is impossible to be a true Scientist without leading a truly
Christian life.
The author draws the line sharply between pseudo-science
and Science. T ha t is, between those systems of human
speculation and hypotheses which assume to be science, bu t
which are lacking the element of s tabil ity and are ever-
changing, and tha t unchanging T ru th which is absolute and
eternal in its method and operation. T he former is of man ;the latt er is of God. And the more nearly the human mind
lives in at-one-ment with the divine Mind, the more nearly i t
approaches to an understanding of the one absolute Science.
From this standpo int of God and man, therefore, the
author very natu rally and very wisely adopted as a name by
which to designate the system thus revealed to her, the
words, Christian Science. Nor did she inte nd that this
name should be applied alone to designate a parti cula r sect
or class of people . I t will be seen by the careful reader , that
whatever partakes of eterna l T ru th (which she often refers
to as Ch rist -T ru th ) is Christian Science, so far as it does so
par take , and so far as it is demonstrated to be T ru th .
T he highest conception of T ru th is Christ-knowledge, or
knowledge of the Christ. This knowledge includes the
teach ings of the Bible as a whole. " Jesus the man was the
fleshly embodiment or representative of the Christ-Truth
upon this earth," and hence SCIENCE AND HE AL T H refers tohim as " the greatest Christian Scientist the world has ever
known." W h y ? Because he had the grea test knowledge of
God, and " reflected more of the divine charac ter than any
one else who appeared in the flesh." He was therefore more
Christianly Scientific than any one else.
T he name selected for this book is not less unique than
the name its author has given to religion or Chris tianity.
Science and He al th ! Science (knowl edge) and Health
(wholeness) ! Knowledge of God is wholeness, and there isno wholeness apart from this knowledge , this Science.
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104 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE JOURNAL.
healing, conspicuous as that is in this system, and importantas it is to hum anity. I t also is th at " he a l th " which
includes universal harmony , spiritua l wholeness, the full-
grown man, the spi ritual idea of God. This is the hea lth to
be attained throug h right-liv ing and earnest Christian
striv ing. To show mankind how to reach th is goal upon
its immortal Principle or pure ly spiritual basis is the grand
purpose of SCIENCE AND HEALTH. It unfolds the Scriptures
in such a way as to lead to clearer and bet ter conceptions of
God, and the universe including man. I t opens to humanvision a new view of life and its purposes, of man and his
capabilities and possibilities. I t lifts the sorrowing and de
pressed out of the mortal "s loug h of d es po nd " into which
they have fallen as the result of wrong conditions and
systems, and points them with unerring certainty to the
consolations, hopes and aspirations of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Its results, as testified to by thousands who have been up
lifted by its teachings, warrant the claim that it is that " Spirit
of T ru th " and that " Comfort er" which Jesus said should
come after him.
I t is not a commentary of or upon the B I B L E . It is an
interpre tation of it in its ent ire ty. I t teaches no doctr ine of
man, bu t the law of God. I t does not select fragmentary or
isolated passages of Scripture and endeavor to conform them
to preconceived opinions or hypotheses. I t touches that
mighty book at all sides, and brings its infinite meaning downto hum an comprehension. Those who have for years been
studying it in connection with the B I B L E , are more and more
deeply impressed with its far-reaching interpretation, and the
marvelous manner in which it clears up otherwise obscure,
perplexing, and often apparently contradictory statements.
It is the uniform testimony of its oldest and most painstaking
students that they have never yet found a statement of
SCIENCE AND HEA LT H which has not its basis in the B I B L E .
This is not a hasty or biased conclusion, but is the resu lt ofclose application and s tudy by persons, many of whom had
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REVEREND MARY BAKER G. EDDY. 105
old interpretations , for many years. I t is not too much then,to claim for the authorship of this book the distinction of
inspiration, as that term is properly used.
The intelligent reading of this book, according to their
unsought testimony, has healed hundreds of persons of dis
eases and complications of diseases, which had baffled the
best skill of all the schools of medicine, as well as all other
known means ; and while healing them physically, it has up
lifted them spiritually in such manner that they have come
into this temple of the bet ter unders tanding of divine law,literally "l eap ing and shouting and praising God." I t has
already passed to its seventy-fifth edition, and the demand
for it exceeds present ability to meet it.
I t has found its way into almost all parts of the world.
Among othe r notable places where it has been received and
read, is the Academy of Greece. T he earnest Science worker
through whose good offices it was presented to this Academy
thus speaks of the manner of its introduction there :
" T h e conditions unde r which the book, SCIENCE AND
H E A L T H , was presented to the Academy of Greece were very
suggestive. The Board of P hilosophers were scattered all
over the world trying to find the solution of the great question,
' Wha t is life ? ' I told the director of the Musee tha t I had
a book which gave the solution of this great problem, and I
should take great pleasure in presenting their Library with a
copy, and requested him to call the attention of their philos
ophers to it when they returned . He promised to do so.About six months after my re tu rn I received the certificate
of its reception in their Library, and of its being given a place
ther e. As this is the one educational institution of Greece,
I th ink this book will be read, and will do its own work . I
was pleased to hear from the book many months after, and it
appears it was not overlooked."
The author has similar certificates from all the chief classi
cal sources in Europe, America and Russia.
Mrs. Eddy refers to the motives by which she was governedin entering upon her great undertaking in the following ten
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106 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE JOURNAL.
I saw before me the sick, wearing out years ofservitude to an unrealmaster, in the belief that the body governed them, rather than Mind.The lame, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the sick, the sensual, the sinner,I wished to save from the slavery oftheir own beliefs, and from the educational systems of the Pharaohs who to-day hold the children ofIsraelin bondage. I saw before me the awful conflict, the Red Sea, and thewilderness; but I pressed on, through faith in God, trusting Truth, thestrong deliverer, to guide me into the land of Christian Science, wherefetters fall, and the rights of man to freedom are fully known and ac-knowledged.
She again writes:
When apparently near the confines ofmortal existence, standing alreadywithin the shadow of the death-valley, I learned these truths in DivineScience: that all real Being is in the divine Mind and idea; that Life,Truth, and Love are all-powerful and ever-present; that the opposite ofTruth called error, sin, sickness, disease, deathis the false testimonyof false material sense; that this false sense evolves, in belief, a subjective state ofmortal mind, which this same mind calls matter, therebyshutting out the true sense ofSpirit.
Speaking of her experiments along the line of homeopathic
treatment of cases she writes:
The drug was attenuated to such a degree that not a vestige of itremained; and from this fact I learned that it was not the drug whichcured, or changed the symptoms. I have attenuated Natrum muriaticum(common table salt) until there was not a single saline property left." The salt had lost its savor;" and yet with one drop ofthat attenuationin a goblet of water, and a teaspoonful of the water administered atintervals ofthree hours, I have cured a patient sinking in the last stageof typhoid fever.
As the result of such experiments she very naturally
arrived at the conclusion tha t " the highest attenuation of
homeopathy, and the most potent, steps out of matter into
Mind ; and thus it should seem that Mind is the healer, or
metaphysics, and that there is no efficacy in the drug ."
By this teaching, the divine Principle of Jesus ' healing is
rendered humanly practical, and a definite rule taught , upon
which could be founded a system of healing for all . The
great fact is found demonstrable, that "all causation is Mind,
and that divine Mind is at once supreme and infinite Intelligence, and is the living Principle or omnipresent and omnip
t t Lif f th i " Al th t " thi ll di
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REVEREND MARY BAKER G. EDDY. 107
Intelligence is absolute Good, containing no admixtur e oradulteration of evil, and knowing not evil, because Good
is itself omnipotent and infinite, leaving no room for the
presence of evil as a fact of the univer se. " I t has only such
reality or existence as depraved mortal conceptions have
given it.
Mrs. Edd y's other writings consist of " Un ity of Good,"
" Retrospection and Introspection ," " No and Yes," " Rudi
ments and Rules of Divine Science," " Christian Heal ing ,"
"Pe opl e's idea of God," " P o n d and Purpos e," and many
articles which have at different times been publ ished in this
J O U R N A L .
These smaller works are, of course, based on SCIENCE AND
H E A L T H , but many of them are intended to, and do answer,
in concise form, the questions which are most frequently
asked concerning Christian Science, its aims, and underlying
principles. As helps to the study of SCIENCE AND HEA LT H,
they are most valuable.We have the pleasure, through the kindness and generosity
of Mr. S. A. Bowers, a leading photographer of Concord,
New Hampshire, of presenting to our readers as a frontis
piece in this issue a very correct view of " Pleasant Vi ew,"
the count ry home of Mrs. Edd y. An inte rest ing feature of
this picture is the pond, the contributions for ma king which,
brought forth from Mrs. Eddy' s pen, that remarkable pro
duction, " Pond and Purpose." E D I T O R .
NOTICE.
The article in May JOURNAL in relation to the use of Church
Rules by other churches of Christ, Scientist, was not designed to
give them the right to publish and print said Rules, but to give
notice that they would be supplied by the Christian Science
Board of Directors, who hold the copyright of said Tenets and
Rules. All communications to be addressed to Wm . B. Johnson,41 G St., So. Boston, Mass.
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Mary Baker Eddy
New England in the first quarter of the nineteenth century was little
different from what it had been at the time of the revolution. Life was
relatively simple; the dark satanic mills had not yet marred the charms
of the rural landscape, as they were to do as the century progressed.
Traditional Calvinist belief still probably dominated much of the thinkingalthough challenged by Unitarianism and Transcendentalism.
The village of Bow in New Hampshire could readily serve as the
model community for later writers seeking to evoke, in a more worldly
age, the charms of the simple life. The orthodoxy of religious thought
determined the moral character of the community, but the relative
rigidity of belief was leavened by the ideas of progress and democracy.
The Yankee denizens with such concepts could readily regard
themselves as the beau idal citizens of the republic.
Mary Morse Baker was born in 1821. She was the sixth andyoungest child of Noah and Abigail Baker. (Eddy, which is the name
most commonly associated with her she assumed upon marriage to
her third husband.) As a child Mary Baker was somewhat frail, but
her ailments were never precisely defined. Her general malaise was
such that she was indulged by her parents and brothers and sisters.
Her attendance at school was irregular, but her second brother, Albert,
took it upon himself to encourage her general reading. He introduced
her to such compilations as The English Reader, which ensured thatshe became acquainted with the accepted best prose and poetry of
the day.
Like many of her contemporaries in the 1830s and 1840s, she
amused herself in writing poetry or what passed for poetry. These
literary effusions, of no great merit, were decidedly typical of the
period. One brief example will serve to illustrate this fact.
Love, Lady Love
There is a joy in lovingBut sigh not when you find
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Takes wings through beautys bowers
And knows not where to choose
Among so many flowers
Love, Lady Love
Laetitia Elizabeth Landon or Marguerite Blessington would have
appreciated such sentiments and written in a not dissimilar fashion.
Although she was accepted as a full member of the Sanbornton
Congregational Church the family had acquired a new home in
Sanbornton when she was fifteen she was somewhat unorthodox in
her personal beliefs. She declined to accept the generally assumed
Calvinism, and found it impossible to believe that salvation was the
privilege of the few. It was not the stern judgemental Jehovah butrather the loving Father that appealed to her.
When she was twenty-two she married George Glover. The latter,
although born in New Hampshire, had business interests in South
Carolina. Glover, according to report, was friendly and gregarious
with a positive and optimistic outlook on life. Mary Baker knew that
her new life would be very different from that previously experienced.
Following their marriage the young couple made their home in
Wilmington, North Carolina. The brides health improved, and goodprospects for the future seemed to be assured. Sadly, such was not to
be the case. Glovers business interests fell into difficulties, but far
worse the young man caught yellow fever and expired. He died in
June 1844 after only six months of marriage. His widow was left
virtually penniless, and, moreover, she was pregnant. The obvious
solution was for her to return to New Hampshire where she could
expect to be supported by her family.
Mary Glovers child was born on 12 September 1844. He was
christened George Washington Glover after his late father. The infantwas put into the care of Mabola Sanborn since his mother was too
frail to care for him properly. The subsequent story of George
Washington Glover is a somewhat melancholy one. Mary Glover was
not really a maternal person. The boy was farmed out for much of
the next decade. When he was aged eleven it was decided that he
should accompany his foster parents when they moved to one of the
western states.
Although in later years Mary Baker Eddy seems to have convincedherself that she had been duped by others into agreeing to this
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decades.
Mary Glovers own life took a turn for the better when she met
Daniel Patterson. He was handsome, gregarious and appeared
reasonably prosperous. He was a dentist with a decent practice, and
marriage to him would ensure a happy and secure future. His financial
situation was, however, not what it seemed, and under a faade of
respectability the newly married couple were very impoverished. Since
she was unable to participate as an equal in the local society, she
became something of a recluse. To occupy her time she entertained
herself reading the Bible and she, like the mediaeval contemplatives,
fixed her mind on other-worldly matters to escape from the miseries
of her present situation.
Whatever the exigencies of her existence she experienced at thistime, she seems to have retained a generally orthodox theology. She
had no doubts about the eternal life in the hereafter being convinced
that she would rejoin her deceased mother and favourite brother. She
was not attracted to spiritualism, but she was uncritical about the Fox
sisters. At no time was she tempted to attempt contact with the
other side, and later, in fact, she was to reject spiritualism totally.
In September 1859, the fortunes of the Pattersons reached their
nadir, their furniture went to auction and their property was sold. Theywere reduced to the indignity of boarding house life. In an attempt to
alleviate the situation, Mary Patterson made modest contributions to
various newspapers. Her endeavours had some success and she
received a little money for her efforts.
The outbreak of the Civil War brought her in contact with her son.
She had heard nothing from him for a decade. He wrote that he had
joined an infantry regiment in Wisconsin. She seems to have been
relatively pleased to have news of him, but was not overly encouraging
and did little more than to acknowledge receipt of his letter.She continued to be a semi-invalid and, in an attempt to find a cure,
took an interest in homeopathic medicine of various sorts. One form
of treatment that she tried was to place herself in the care of a
hydropathic practitioner. His efforts on her behalf were not particularly
successful. While experiencing the hydropathic treatment, she learned
about the work of Phineas Quimby who, according to what she read,
seemed to have almost miraculous powers.
What was Quimbys method exactly? He asserted that patientswere not cured by drugs or any medicines but through something
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effected through mesmerism, and that his patients would need to be
hypnotised, but ultimately he rejected this idea. Rather he used
suggestion and a sort of physical manipulation which embodied what
he called animal magnetism. Apparently a force passed from
Quimby to the patient, and that in consequence he could explain the
nature of the illness. By so doing he could effect a cure by ensuring
the patient knew the truth of the particular malaise. A later writer
noted that Quimby seems to have cured disease through the mind. To
be effective the patient had to have implicit faith, and to believe there
was no pain. Quimby was to play a special role in the ultimate teachings
of Mary Baker Eddy.
It appeared as if Quimby were able to bring about an improvement
in Mary Pattersons health after she had visited him in Portland, Maine.She had no doubts of the effectiveness of his method. She collected
Quimbys ephemeral writings, and enthusiastically wrote and even
delivered some lectures to popularise his activities. She even attempted
to use his so-called transference practice herself on some friends
and acquaintances with considerable success. She did not feel totally
secure in these activities, and was in constant contact with Quimby
to ensure that somehow she herself did not fall into ill health. This
relationship came to an end when he died in January 1866 and shefelt very bereft indeed.
However, a month later an event occurred which was to change
her life. She had a serious accident, and fears were expressed that
she would die. She did not die, but apparently experienced something
very unusual for it was from this time forward one can date her special
mission. She now believed that fear, pain and death were irrelevant
and that this life being the sole reality of existence and that everything
in it being spiritual, divine, immortal and wholly good.
Her domestic life did not reflect her renewed vigour. Pattersonwas notoriously unfaithful, and she finally informed him they would
have to part. He agreed to the separation possibly in the belief that it
was only temporary but he was wrong, and they were divorced seven
years later. He lived until 1896 and made nothing of his life. His wifes
decision was perhaps somewhat unforgiving, but she gained a freedom
without which she could never have undertaken the great mission for
which she became so famous.
With no husband and no further contact with her son, MaryPatterson was able to occupy herself as she chose. She began to put
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the healer; that it was a divine principle not a human one. Man, she
said, was made in Gods image, a spiritual idea that is perfect and that
in his likeness of God wholly good and wholly spirit.
Her first convert was Hiram Cofts. He and his wife were impressed
by her seeming healing powers, and he asked to become her pupil.
Initially she was reluctant to accept him, but in due course she did so.
He became a professional healer. The agreeable relationship between
teacher and student did not long continue. The two parted in an
acrimonious fashion.
After moving to Amesbury Mary Glover, as she now called herself,
was to acquire two new disciples. One, Sarah Bingley, was to practice
as a healer using her teachers method for some three decades. The
other was Richard Kennedy. He was to be the first of a series ofyouthful male protgs, almost all of whom were to have disagreements
with their mentor. Richard Kennedy became an accomplished healer,
and his success brought her to the attention of other potential pupils.
Inevitably, not all were satisfied with her tuition. For example, Wallace
Wright, initially a success, had doubts of the efficacy of her instruction
and when reproved by her he became angry. The upshot was that he
wrote a letter to The Lynn Transcript declaring that her so-called
moral science was but a form of mesmerism. The matter mighthave ended there she totally rejected his remarks but Richard
Kennedy himself agreed with Wright and therefore all contact between
Mary Glover and her erstwhile protg ended. Such schisms were to
become part and parcel of the whole development of Christian
Science. Mary Glover was to require a total commitment to her
teachings, any deviation meant disloyalty and ultimately expulsion.
The one positive result of the quarrel was that she was able to cast
aside permanently any influence Quimby might have had on her
formerly, magnetism and mesmerism were to be replaced by her ownvery personal religious beliefs. It was obvious that some sort of corpus
evolve for the future. She began to write what was to be her major
opus under the title Science and Health. It was published in October
1875. By then she had bought a house in Lynn, Massachusetts, had
some real adherents and had received a form of approbation from
Bronson Alcott. The reviewers in general seem to have greeted her
book in a favourable fashion. She could congratulate herself on her
modest successes.What was she like? She was in her early fifties having retained her
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generally associated with middle-aged females; rather she selected
blues, mauves, pinks and shades of green. Her dresses were not plain
and severe but embellished with bows and flounces with touches of
lace at the neck and wrists. Her hair was not yet grey but a light
brown in colour and always handsomely coiffed. Middle-aged women,
particularly if they have good looks and intelligence, are very attractive
to younger men. Mary Glover was to be no exception.
At this juncture, three relatively youthful admirers entered her life.
The first was Daniel Spofford who ultimately became a most successful
healer. He was to fall in love with her, and would have liked to marry
her if he had been able to divorce his wife, which he could not do.
The second was George Barry who unlike Spofford was content to
exist in the role of son. He appears to have been useful acting asan amanuensis, and coping with domestic affairs. He always addressed
Mary Glover as Mother. The third individual was Asa Gilbert Eddy,
and he was to have a role much more important than the other two.
In March 1876 Asa Gilbert Eddy enrolled in one of her classes. He
quickly became totally committed to a belief in Christian Science.
Indeed, on a later occasion, Mary Glover was to say that he was the
first person other than herself to designate himself as such. He was
apparently a thoroughly nice person with an endearing character. Hecould under no circumstances be thought scintillating, but he was
sociable and kind. He proposed to her and she accepted, and they
were married on 1 January 1877 in a quiet and unostentatious fashion.
The reaction of the other two swains was mixed. Barry was quietly
accepting while Spofford was deeply wounded. While Barrys position
in the domestic life of the household was necessarily lessened, Spofford
continued, despite his jealousy, to be in favour, and he was charged
with the responsibility of the publication and sales of Science and
Health. Financial difficulties ensued and the anticipated new editiondid not appear. On 20 December 1877 he was formally expelled from
the Christian Science Association. He was given a month to submit to
direction and to admit error, but he declined to do so. A second vote
was taken which re-affirmed the first, he was officially expelled for
what was called immorality. This word in the vocabulary of Mary
Baker Eddy meant immorality of belief. Attempts were made by
friends of both parties to patch up the quarrel, but without success.
In the summer of 1879 Mary Baker Eddy formally established theChurch of Christ Scientist. The basic tenets of the church can be
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Secondly, All is infinite mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is
all in all. Thirdly, Spirit is immortal truth; matter is mortal error.
Fourthly, Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and
temporal. Fifthly, Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness.
Lastly, Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual. She was to
write, erring finite human mind has an absolute need of something
beyond itself for its redemption and healing. This healing is from
sin primarily and disease secondary; healing is not just a bodily change
but an aspect of full salvation from the flesh as well. She rejected the
idea that healing was an end in itself, healing was one essential aspect
of salvation.
Certain words, which she used in her correspondence and writings,
served to express ideas in a sort of shorthand form. The first waschemicalise, which meant an individuals behaviour was irritating,
obdurate and tactless, and it required admonishment. The second was
immorality, which implied opposition to the ideas and leadership of
Mary Baker Eddy. Individuals who were deviationists were expelled
from the society under the term immorality. The third word was
malpractice. This was a sort of mesmeric or animal magnetism
expressed and directed to another to cause acute distress. Mary Baker
Eddy was to aver that malpractice was the cause of her husbandsdeath.
In June 1882 her husband Gilbert Eddy died. It was a devastating
blow; she was convinced that he was the victim of mesmerism and
malicious malpractice all emanating from the machinations of those
who opposed her leadership. A medical practitioner, Rufus King
Noyes, one who was not opposed to the idea of metaphysical healing,
was convinced rather that Gilbert Eddy had succumbed to a fatal
heart attack. She rejected Noyess opinion completely. She believed
that mesmeric poison had murdered her husband.After a brief sojourn away from Boston, she returned, determined
to continue her teachings. She had asked her son to come and stay
they had met again a few years previously though the encounter was
only marginally successful but he declined to accept her invitation.
The orthodox religious bodies initially had paid scant attention to her
teachings, but with success, criticism and attacks became more
common. One critics comment annoyed her particularly in that he
associated her with Madame Blavatsky. As a result, she gave a publiclecture in Boston in which she firmly rejected such an idea. To promote
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The potential teachers were carefully selected by Mary Baker Eddy
herself, and were to be the recipients of the message in twelve lessons.
The neophytes were to study the writings of the leader and to heal
since they had experienced truth and could set others free. Mary
Baker Eddy inspired her pupils, as a mentor she praised and
admonished. Of course, there were those who failed, who fell into
malicious mesmerism or malpractice and per force became
separated from her society. Her Journal of Christian Science
became the principal source for the dissemination of her ideas and
precepts. Her close assistant and editor was James Harvey Wiggin
who never himself became a Christian Scientist, but he was able to
revise her writings in a professional fashion, thereby to ensure that
her ideas were expressed in a more cogent manner.Although George Washington Glover had rejected his mothers
request to come to Boston when his stepfather Gilbert Eddy died, he
and his wife and children came for a lengthy sojourn in 1887. Like the
earlier visit, this present one was not overly happy, and he and his
family were easily persuaded after some six months to return to South
Dakota. His mother provided the funds for the journey; indeed, over
the years she continued to augment the resources of her son, which
enabled him to live comfortably. However, after this visit contactsbetween Mary Baker Eddy and George Washington Glover continued
but in a restrained fashion.
In 1889, she closed the Massachusetts College of Metaphysical
Science, which she had established a few years previously. She also
officially dissolved the Christian Science Association, and declared
that she had ceased all pastoral duties. She announced that she was
retiring from Boston. Had her critics triumphed and driven her into
exile? The crucial clue to the future had they but known where to
look was the fact that she had acquired land in that part of Bostonknown as Back Bay where in the fullness of time she was to build
the great edifice, The Mother Church.
She moved to Concord in New Hampshire establishing herself in a
pleasant rural situation. She was now 68 years of age, still attractive
and stylish in dress. Her special air of serenity made her most agreeable
company. She proceeded to produce a new and revised text ofScience
and Health. This was to become the authoritative version. Her life
was comfortable, friends ensured that she had an adequate incomeand the household consisted of Calvin Frye, her secretary, a cook, a
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This young man had followed another protg, William Gill, in her
affections. Gill was essentially a person of little real understanding
and after the most inevitable quarrel was expelled from the Society
for the usual reasons. Benny Eddy regarded Mary Baker Eddy
Mother as he called her with obvious affection. Initially the
relationship was a happy one, but almost inevitably there was to be
friction between the two of them. He began to act as if he were the
anointed successor, and implied that Mother was a fragile being,
mildly senile who required his directing hand. In fact, she allowed him
little real power, real authority other than her own was vested in the
three associates or trustees in Boston.
At the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893, there was a world
congress of Christian Scientists. Some four thousand people attended.She did not personally address the assembly preferring to have a
chosen friend, Judge Septimus Hannon, deliver the speech which she
had written. The Christian Science congress was part of a larger
body, the Parliament of Religions, which was convened at the same
time. The significance of this joint assembly assured that Christian
Science could be seen as part of a global movement; it was no longer
an isolated and obscure sect.
The decision to erect what was The Mother Church was takenearly the next year. Forty friends students, teachers and believers
each contributed one thousand dollars to defray expenses. The building
was completed by late December of that year and the first service
was held on the thirtieth of the month. She, herself, was not present,
and on the formal dedication she was again absent. The speech which
she had written for this occasion was read on her behalf by Henrietta
Clark, a professional elocutionist. Her adopted son was much
displeased by this procedure as he had hoped to be the centre of
attention himself. By excluding him in this fashion Mother knewprecisely what she was doing and why.
Her initial visit occurred in April and it was a moment of triumph.
The huge building was the visible proof of her success. On this occasion
she conducted a form of service incorporating a favourite hymn and
the ninety-first psalm. To add to the sense of occasion she actually
arranged to sleep in one of the side rooms in the church. Two months
later on a second visit she delivered a short homily. The topic of the
discourse was not one of self-congratulation, but rather on repentanceand sin. There never seems to have been much humour or lightness
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observed the purpose of Christian Science was not to give the
neighbours sleepless nights.
In the midst of these triumphs the relationship between Foster Eddy
Benny and herself was to end. Initially she tried to keep
something of the earliest affection for him, but finally recognised that
he did not have the necessary capacity to sustain any real position in
the church or in her life. She banished him from Concord and observed,
Flattery and pleasure seeking. He ceased to be regarded as a son,
and only emerged from the shadows a few years later and in a
somewhat despicable fashion. Each protg, and they were inevitably
younger men, brought to her a sense of renewal, each must owe
everything to her and if the individual attempted any form of
independence for whatever reason, he was cast into outer darkness.The fall of Lucifer could not have been more complete.
Christian Science was no longer just a North American phenomenon.
In 1897, a church was formally inaugurated in England and soon after
in Australia and New Zealand. Branches were to be found also in
France and Germany. In the latter, a somewhat nationalistic
organisation was to develop which was not entirely in keeping with
the announced precepts of The Mother Church. There were few
inroads made in the Latin countries as the Roman Catholic hierarchyregarded Christian Science as a most dangerous heresy.
Success brought more critics inevitably. One of her most famous
opponents was Mark Twain. His hostility arose in no small part because
he had hoped that through Christian Science he might find a cure for
his daughters infirmities. Sadly this did not occur. In his anger, he
felt that Mary Baker Eddy had traded on hope for her own nefarious
purposes. He decided she was a charlatan who had acquired wealth
and power through devious means. He felt it was hypocritical that
she allowed herself to be addressed as Mother thereby usurpingthe Virgin Mary herself. He regarded her as being intellectually
pretentious, her writings superficial and he observed, She has no
more intellect than a tadpole, until she comes to business she is a
marvel.
The turn of the century saw the First Church of Christ Scientist in
a situation of almost euphoric prosperity. The Church did not however
participate in social, cultural or philanthropic activities, the membership
were to be active in such matters as individuals not as the Churchitself. She herself was relatively generous with donations to selected
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did, however, allow the French government to name her as an officier
dAcadmie.
Public admiration brought her to the attention of the gutter press.
Articles that appeared in The New York Worldimplied that she was
either senile or worse, that the person who purported to be the Concord
Saint was an impostor. She actually allowed herself to be interviewed,
but when the reporters were received, they were very chagrined to
find her very much in charge of herself and the church. McClures
Journal, a well-known muck-raking periodical, also published some
very negative commentary. These articles were written by the author
Willa Cather and ultimately appeared in a book. The church in due
course acquired the manuscript and arranged also that a number of
copies ofThe Life of Mary Baker Eddy and the History of ChristianScience were deliberately destroyed.
A further attack on Mary Baker Eddy was conjured up by William
Chandler, who declared she was incompetent to handle her own
affairs. He enlisted the support of George Washington Glover.
Ebenezer Foster Eddy also joined this camarilla. A judicial suit ensued.
The court-appointed witnesses reported that she was totally sane and
totally able to manage her own affairs. Chandler, Glover and Eddy
gained nothing, and were regarded by the public at large as villainousschemers preying on an old woman. They also had to pay all of the
court costs.
Mary Baker Eddy surprisingly forgave George Glover and Ebenezer
Foster Eddy. To the former she gave nearly a quarter of a million
dollars and to the latter some fifty thousand. Both had to agree that
neither would contest her will. Sensibly, they accepted her proposition.
George Washington Glover returned to South Dakota, Foster Eddy
retired to rural Vermont. Neither played any further role in her life
and both were extremely lucky to receive anything from her,considering their behaviour.
After the conclusion of the case, she abandoned her home in
Concord and bought a mansion in Boston. At the same time she decided
to become the publisher of a newspaper that was to cover international
affairs and intellectual and cultural matters. The Christian Science
Monitor, as the newspaper was called, was to become one of the
most respected in the United States. The editorial board over the
years were to maintain the highest standards, and the paper wasrecognised as being intellectually stimulating.
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Eddy I am the weakest of mortals, but as the Discoverer and Founder
of Christian Science I am the bone and sinew of the world. She
retained to the last her stylish outward appearance. Death per se
meant nothing to her, she was totally serene. She died on 3 December
1910 and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Her detractors asserted that in her tomb was a
telephone so that she could communicate with the world on some
occasion upon her return.
Mary Baker Eddy was a curious individual. She had what might be
described as a sort of divine madness. That she was paranoid cannot
be denied; that she was despotic and autocratic can be seen in her
treatment of her church and her protgs. Disobedience to the orders
of the leader was followed by instant punishment, the ultimate beingbanishment from her presence. Her role as Mother allowed her to
express herself in the pretence of moral and intellectual justification.
She was able to disguise personal hostility in the guise of mentor. She
frequently was purely whimsical in her metaphysical pronouncements
and the logicality of her commentary quite lacking. She used the
language of the philosopher or the scientist but tended to put her own
gloss on whatever she wrote. Science and Health contained all that
one needed to know; through its authors writings one became awareof the truth.
At the time of her demise there were some 50,000 members of the
Church, a quarter of a century earlier there had been about 60. The
Church came to be regarded as a comfortable billet of the middle
classes but how does one account for Lady Astor, the actress Joyce
Grenfell, Lord Lothian, sometime British ambassador to the United
States, and Sir James Butler, an eminent Cambridge historian?
Christian Science has a minor role in feminist history. Activity in
the church is one in which women have taken a major role. MaryBaker Eddy was often commended in her own day for her brilliant
organisational skills which were generally assumed to be masculine
attributes. Her successes were not due to sweetness and light.
Revolutionaries, and she was a revolutionary, do not object to destroy
the deviant in the name of the cause. The latter is more important
than any individual, except perhaps for the leader, and she was always
the leader.
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future, but the here and now, and our challenge is to become aware of the reign of
God through the awakening of the spiritual sense and to prove this by healing.121
The theologies of Julian of Norwich and Mary Baker Eddy are not only
transformative and healing, but relevant to contemporary issues, particularly
considering the resistance to feminine images of God, and the need for a strongtradition of women in Christianity. I believe that theologians and those involved in
pastoral education need to give more attention to these women and their work than
is the current situation.
121 Gottschalk, 97.
220 COLLOQUIUM 32/2 (2000) 220
future, but the here an
God through the awa
The theologies o
transformative and h
considering the resisttradition of women in
pastoral education nee
is the current situation
121 Gottschalk, 97.
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