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84-550: In the early decades of the 20th century, Christian Science churches were founded in communities around the world, though in the last several decades of that century, there was a marked decline in membership, except in Africa, where there has been growth. Headquartered in Boston, the church does not officially report membership, and estimates as to worldwide membership range from under 100,000 to about 400,000. In 2010, there were 1,153 churches in

168-647: A Spiritualist, and to have taken part in séances . She was occasionally entranced, and had received "spirit communications" from her deceased brother Albert. Her first advertisement as a healer appeared in 1868, in the Spiritualist paper The Banner of Light . During these years she carried about with her a copy of one of Quimby's manuscripts giving an abstract of his philosophy. This manuscript she permitted some of her pupils to copy. According to Peel, spiritualists were "eager to claim her as one of their own." After she became well known, reports surfaced that Eddy had been

252-701: A certificate are authorized to teach. Both Primary and Normal classes are based on the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. The Primary class focuses on the chapter "Recapitulation" in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures . This chapter uses the Socratic method of teaching and contains the "Scientific Statement of Being". The "Normal" class focuses on the platform of Christian Science, contained on pages 330-340 of Science and Health . The First Church of Christ, Scientist

336-536: A collection of varied writings that were consolidated posthumously into a book called Prose Works . Eddy was born Mary Morse Baker on July 16, 1821, in a farmhouse in Bow, New Hampshire to farmer Mark Baker (d. 1865) and his wife Abigail Barnard Baker, née Ambrose (d. 1849). Eddy was the youngest of six children: boys Samuel Dow (1808), Albert (1810), and George Sullivan (1812), followed by girls Abigail Barnard (1816), Martha Smith (1819), and Mary Morse (1821). She

420-528: A compromise with the church in October 1993, allowing the church to publish the book without declaring it "authorized literature" and split the bequest with the other two beneficiaries. This was challenged by a Knapp family member who said Bliss Knapp had stipulated there be full compliance with the trust. In addition, a group of church members sought the court to prevent distribution based on the Manual by-law prohibiting

504-494: A controversial and ambitious foray into electronic broadcast media. The first significant effort was to create a weekly half-hour syndicated television program , The Christian Science Monitor Reports. "Monitor Reports" was anchored in its first season by newspaper veteran Rob Nelson . He was replaced in the second by the Christian Science Monitor' s former Moscow correspondent, David Willis . In October 1991, after

588-492: A genealogy tracing Eddy to King David. Eddy eventually requested Field-King cease work on the genealogy and transferred her to London to work on expanding the church there. Since her death, academics have debated the extent of Eddy's relationship with British Israelism with Christian Scientist historian Robert Peel arguing she was "intrigued by the theory for several years," while keeping "it resolutely out of her work and her writing on Christian Science." He acknowledges she uses

672-695: A group of Christian Scientists filed suit against the Board of Directors, alleging a willful disregard for the Manual of The Mother Church in its financial dealings. The suit was thrown out by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in 1997, but a lingering discontent with the church's financial matters persists to this day. The Destiny Of The Mother Church ceased publication in September 2023. In spite of its early meteoric rise, church membership has declined over

756-507: A license. Avoidance of medical care is not a doctrinal obligation and is considered a personal choice. However, during the 1980s and 1990s in the United States, a number of Christian Scientist parents whose children died for lack of access to medical treatment were the subject of considerable controversy and were charged with manslaughter or even murder, but the outcomes of the cases were inconsistent. The lack of consensus regarding medical care

840-562: A medium years earlier in Boston and St. Louis. However, at the time when she was said to be a medium there, she lived some distance away in North Groton, where she was bedridden. According to Gill, Eddy knew spiritualists and took part in some of their activities, but was never a convinced believer. For example, she visited her friend Sarah Crosby in 1864, who believed in Spiritualism. According to Sibyl Wilbur , Eddy attempted to show Crosby

924-617: A new religion did make her identify with the apocalyptic woman's "travailing in birth", the dragon's persecution of the woman and other symbolism in the chapter. Knapp published Destiny privately in 1947 and sent a book draft of Destiny to the Christian Science Board of Directors requesting that the church publish it as authorized literature. In a six-page reply in February 1948, they cited numerous points they regarded as departures from Eddy's teaching and said they could not publish

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1008-464: A series of conflicts over the boundaries between Christian Science teachings and his journalistic independence, John Hart resigned. The hundreds of millions lost on broadcasting brought the church to the brink of bankruptcy. However, with the 1991 publication of The Destiny of The Mother Church by the late Bliss Knapp , the church secured a $ 90 million bequest from the Knapp trust. The trust dictated that

1092-454: A spiritualist medium and was convinced by the messages. According to Gardner, Eddy's mediumship converted Crosby to Spiritualism. In one of her spiritualist trances to Crosby, Eddy gave a message that was supportive of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby , stating "P. Quimby of Portland has the spiritual truth of diseases. You must imbibe it to be healed. Go to him again and lean on no material or spiritual medium." The paragraph that included this quote

1176-488: A very critical condition. When Georgine Milmine interviewed Dr. Cushing forty years later, he stated that his records from the time documented that Eddy was in a "semi-hysterical" intense emotional state which subsided after she was given a small amount of morphine. On February 14, 1866, the day after Eddy finished her care with Dr. Cushing, Eddy wrote to Julius Dresser, another patient of Phineas Quimby, claiming that her injury and her subsequent medical care had undone all of

1260-450: A volatile relationship. Ernest Sutherland Bates and John V. Dittemore wrote in 1932 that Baker sought to break Eddy's will with harsh punishment, although her mother often intervened; in contrast to the strict religiosity of her father, Eddy's mother was described as devout, quiet, light-hearted and nurturing, and a benevolent spiritual influence on Eddy in her formative years. Eddy experienced periods of sudden illness. Those who knew

1344-494: A weapon. Animal magnetism became one of the most controversial aspects of Eddy's life. The McClure's biography spends a significant amount of time on malicious animal magnetism, which it uses to make the case that Eddy had paranoia. During the Next Friends lawsuit, it was used to charge Eddy with incompetence and "general insanity". According to Gillian Gill, Eddy's experience with Richard Kennedy, one of her early students,

1428-610: Is reflected in the laws of various U.S. states, which have also been inconsistent regarding religious exemptions from medical care. Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (nee Baker; July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader, Christian healer, and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist , the Mother Church of the Christian Science movement. She also founded The Christian Science Monitor in 1908, and three religious magazines:

1512-527: Is the legal title of The Mother Church and administrative headquarters of the Christian Science Church. The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity is housed in an 11-story structure originally built for The Christian Science Publishing Society. An international newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor , founded by Eddy in 1908 and winner of seven Pulitzer prizes , is published by

1596-469: Is what Catherine Albanese called "a Calvinist devil lurking beneath the metaphysical surface". As there is no personal devil or evil in Christian Science, M.A.M. or mesmerism became the explanation for the problem of evil. Eddy was concerned that a new practitioner could inadvertently harm a patient through unenlightened use of their mental powers, and that less scrupulous individuals could use them as

1680-640: The Christian Science Journal , Christian Science Sentinel , and Herald of Christian Science ; verifiers say that they witnessed the healing or know the testifier well enough to vouch for them. A Christian Science practitioner is someone who devotes their full time to prayer for others, but they do not use drugs or make medical diagnoses. Christian Scientists may take an intensive two-week "Primary" class from an authorized Christian Science teacher. Those who wish to become " Journal -listed" (accredited) practitioners, devoting themselves full-time to

1764-666: The Christian Science Sentinel , The Christian Science Journal , and The Herald of Christian Science . Eddy wrote numerous books and articles, most notably the 1875 book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , selected as one of the "75 Books By Women Whose Words Have Changed The World" by the Women's National Book Association . She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1995. Other works Eddy authored include Manual of The Mother Church , and

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1848-590: The Christian Science Sentinel , a weekly religious periodical written for a more general audience, and the Herald of Christian Science , a religious magazine with editions in many languages. The opposite of Christian Science mental healing was the use of mental powers for destructive or selfish reasons – for which Eddy used terms such as animal magnetism , hypnotism, or mesmerism interchangeably. "Malicious animal magnetism", sometimes abbreviated as M.A.M.,

1932-401: The water cure at Dr. Vail's Hydropathic Institute, but her health deteriorated even further. A year later, in October 1862, Eddy first visited Quimby. She improved considerably, and publicly declared that she had been able to walk up 182 steps to the dome of city hall after a week of treatment. The cures were temporary, however, and Eddy suffered relapses. Despite the temporary nature of

2016-738: The "Quimby manuscripts" that were published later and attributed to him. Furthering the case that Eddy had likely written large portions of Quimby's manuscripts, Quimby was notably "illiterate" and would never have had the ability to write his ideas down himself. Despite Quimby not being especially religious, he embraced the religious connotations Eddy was bringing to his work since he knew his more religious patients would appreciate it. Phineas Quimby died on January 16, 1866, shortly after Eddy's father. J. Gordon Melton has argued "certainly Eddy shared some ideas with Quimby. She differed with him in some key areas, however, such as specific healing techniques. Moreover, she did not share Quimby's hostility toward

2100-537: The "cure", she attached religious significance to it, which Quimby did not. Eddy believed that it was the same type of healing performed by Christ Jesus, who, unlike Quimby, administered no medicine or material means in his healings. From 1862 to 1865, Quimby and Eddy engaged in lengthy discussions about healing methods like hydropathy practiced by Quimby and others. She took notes on her own views of healing, as well as writing dictations from him and "correcting" them with her own ideas, some of which possibly ended up in

2184-493: The Bible and Science and Health as the pastor. Eddy founded The Christian Science Publishing Society in 1898, which became the publishing home for numerous publications launched by her and her followers. In 1908, at the age of 87, she founded The Christian Science Monitor , a daily newspaper. She also founded the Christian Science Journal in 1883, a monthly magazine aimed at the church's members and, in 1898,

2268-564: The Bible and Christianity." Biographer Gillian Gill has disagreed with other scholars arguing they "have flouted the evidence and shown willful bias in accusing Mrs. Eddy of owing her theory of healing to Quimby and of plagiarizing his unpublished work." On February 1, 1866, while living in Lynn, Massachusetts, Eddy slipped and fell on a patch of ice. A contemporary account by the Lynn Reporter stated: Mrs. Mary Patterson of Swampscott fell upon

2352-511: The Christian Science movement and to handle animal magnetism which arose. Gill writes that Eddy got the term from the New Testament account of the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus chastises his disciples for being unable to "watch" even for a short time; and that Eddy used it to refer to "a particularly vigilant and active form of prayer, a set period of time when specific people would put their thoughts toward God, review questions and problems of

2436-506: The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, where she taught approximately 800 students between the years 1882 and 1889, when she closed it. Eddy charged her students $ 300 each for tuition, a large sum for the time. In 1892, at Eddy's direction, the church reorganized as The First Church of Christ, Scientist. In 1894, an edifice for The First Church of Christ, Scientist was completed in Boston. Her students spread across

2520-499: The Publishing Society announced that it considered "books" to be a separate category from "literature," and that although Destiny was not considered "literature," it qualified as a "book" as well as "authorized literature." In order to fulfill the terms of the trust, the book was to be designated "authorized literature" and prominently displayed in "substantially all" Christian Science reading rooms . The Knapp estate reached

2604-491: The United States. The church was incorporated by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879, following a claimed personal healing in 1866, which she said resulted from reading the Bible . The Bible and Eddy's textbook on Christian healing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , are together the church's key doctrinal sources and have been ordained as the church's "dual impersonal pastor ". The First Church of Christ, Scientist publishes

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2688-551: The age of eighty six, she read the ordinary magazine type without glasses. Towards the end of her life she was frequently attended by physicians. The Destiny of The Mother Church The Destiny of The Mother Church is a book about Christian Science written by Bliss Knapp , published privately by him in 1947, and publicly in 1991 by Christian Science Publishing Society . Knapp and his parents, Ira O. and Flavia Stickney Knapp, all knew Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy . His parents were students of hers and his father

2772-494: The annual meeting of church members held in Boston, Al M. Carnesciali, manager of the Publishing Society, spoke of "Christian Science literature" as opposed to "authorized literature", a term which signified that which the church endorsed as being consonant with official church teachings. Carnesciali made a distinction between "Christian Science literature" consonant with official church teachings and "authorized literature", which did not have to be doctrinally "correct". Additionally,

2856-411: The book be published as "Authorized Literature", with neither modification nor comment. Historically, the church had censured Knapp for deviating at several points from Eddy's teaching, and had refused to publish the work. The church's archivist, fired in anticipation of the book's publication, wrote to branch churches to inform them of the book's history. Many Christian Scientists thought the book violated

2940-409: The book without those points being corrected. Knapp did not revise the book as they proposed, but left a trust with approximately $ 100 million in 1990s dollars to revert to the Christian Science church if it published his work as "authorized literature", an official designation that identifies a work as being in consonance with Christian Science teaching. The trust set up a 20-year time limitation; with

3024-581: The church from publishing "incorrect literature." In addition, many reading rooms refused to carry the book, though precise figures are difficult to establish. The court challenges failed and the money was eventually distributed three ways, with the church getting 53% and Stanford University and the Los Angeles County Art Museum splitting the rest. Acknowledging their earlier mistake, the Christian Science Board of Directors, with

3108-671: The church had published anything new about her in years. A church spokesman defended the decision to publish saying that, since Knapp had known Eddy personally, his book was historically valuable and the decision had nothing to do with the bequest. The church treasurer, however, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the church's board of directors would have been "fiscally irresponsible" not to have discussed publishing Destiny . The church had lost substantial sums of money in its television venture , begun in 1986, reallocating funds from its newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor , to

3192-481: The church if the book were to be published. The wills set a time limit of 20 years for the book to be published, otherwise the bequests were to be divided between Stanford University and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art , and the church would receive nothing. The 1973 death of Knapp's wife set the date of the time limit to May 1993. Both of Bliss Knapp's parents were students of Eddy, and Ira O. Knapp

3276-607: The church through the Christian Science Publishing Society . The Christian Science Board of Directors is a five-person executive entity created by Mary Baker Eddy to conduct the business of the Christian Science Church under the terms defined in the by-laws of the Church Manual . Its functions and restrictions are defined by the Manual . Beginning in the mid-1980s, church executives undertook

3360-410: The church was considering consolidating Boston operations into fewer buildings and leasing out space in buildings it owned. Church official Philip G. Davis noted that the administration and Colonnade buildings had not been fully used for many years and that vacancy increased after staff reductions in 2004. The church posted an $ 8 million financial loss in fiscal 2003, and in 2004 cut 125 jobs, a quarter of

3444-437: The church's by-laws , and the editors of the church's religious periodicals and several other church employees resigned in protest. Alternate beneficiaries subsequently sued to contest the church's claim it had complied fully with the will's terms, and the church ultimately received only half of the original sum. The fallout of the broadcasting debacle also sparked a minor revolt among some prominent church members. In late 1993,

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3528-399: The church, including several resignations of prominent church employees. Critics claimed that the failure of the church's then-recent television venture, which had cost the church several hundred million dollars, had motivated the Board's reversal on publishing Knapp's book. Knapp, his wife and her sister left wills that granted bequests totalling over $ 100 million (in 1990s dollars) promised to

3612-451: The country practicing healing, and instructing others. Eddy authorized these students to list themselves as Christian Science Practitioners in the church's The Christian Science Journal . She also founded the Christian Science Sentinel , a weekly magazine with articles about how to heal and testimonies of healing. When the church re-organized in 1892, Eddy was made the leader of the church as "Pastor Emeritus". In 1895, she ordained

3696-524: The day, and seek spiritual understanding." Critics such as Georgine Milmine in Mclure's , Edwin Dakin, and John Dittemore, all claimed this was evidence that Eddy had a great fear of malicious animal magnetism; although Gilbert Carpenter, one of Eddy's staff at the time, insisted she was not fearful of it, and that she was simply being vigilant. As time went on, Eddy tried to lessen the focus on animal magnetism within

3780-405: The death of Knapp's wife in 1973, that date became May 1993. In September 1991, the Christian Science Board of Directors decided to publish The Destiny of The Mother Church , despite charges of blasphemy and protests that doing so violated the Manual of The Mother Church , which governs the church, including its publishing arm. It created a 15-book series of biographies of Eddy, the first time

3864-436: The extent that its editor, Kay Fanning and others resigned in protest, then borrowing $ 41.5 million from its pension fund, $ 20 million from a restricted endowment fund and another $ 5 million from money left to the church by Eddy. In 1992, the church estimated it had lost $ 327.5 million. In addition, membership had been in decline, reducing income. The third printing of the book was marked "authorized literature". In 1992, at

3948-569: The family described her as suddenly falling to the floor, writhing and screaming, or silent and apparently unconscious, sometimes for hours. Historian Robert Peel wrote that these fits would require the family to send Eddy to the village doctor. The cause for Eddy's illness was unclear, but biographer Caroline Fraser wrote she believed the cause was most likely psychogenic in nature. According to psychoanalyst Julius Silberger, Eddy may have been motivated to have these fits in an effort to control her father's attitude toward her. Fraser attributed

4032-668: The family first moved there but was required instead to start at the district school (in the same building) with the youngest girls. She withdrew after a month because of poor health, then received private tuition from the Reverend Enoch Corser. She entered Sanbornton Academy in 1842. She was received into the Congregational church in Tilton on July 26, 1838, when she was 17, according to church records published by Cather and Milmine. Eddy had written in her autobiography in 1891 that she

4116-488: The farm when Joseph Jr. died in 1816. A staunch Calvinist , Mark Baker was an active member of the Tilton Congregationalist Church . McClure's reported he had a reputation for holding strong opinions and quarreling with those he disagreed with; one neighbor described him as "[a] tiger for a temper and always in a row." They also claimed he was an ardent supporter of slavery and a Copperhead who

4200-449: The folly of it by pretending to channel Eddy's dead brother Albert and writing letters which she attributed to him. In regard to the deception, biographer Hugh Evelyn Wortham stated "Mrs. Eddy's followers explain it all as a pleasantry on her part to cure Mrs. Crosby of her credulous belief in spiritualism." However, Martin Gardner has argued against this, stating that Eddy was working as

4284-547: The healing that Quimby had done before, and requested that he heal her. Dresser refused, stating that he was not enough to take on the burden of healing, and urged Eddy to instead spread Quimby's teachings further. Eddy would later credit her accident as her moment of spiritual revelation and the "falling apple" that led to her discovery of Christian Science . She claimed that after rejecting the medicines offered to her by her doctor, she opened her Bible three days after her fall and returned to full health after reading of Jesus healing

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4368-507: The ice near the corner of Market and Oxford Streets on Thursday evening and was severely injured. She was taken up in an insensible condition and carried into the residence of S. M. Bubier, Esq., near by, where she was kindly cared for during the night. Dr. Cushing, who was called, found her injuries to be internal and of a severe nature, inducing spasms and internal suffering. She was removed to her home in Swampscott yesterday afternoon, though in

4452-421: The illness likely to a combination of hypochondria and histrionics as well. In 1836, when Eddy was about 14 to 15 years old, she moved with her family to the town of Sanbornton Bridge, New Hampshire , approximately twenty miles (32 km) north of Bow. Sanbornton Bridge was renamed in 1869 as Tilton, New Hampshire. Ernest Bates and John Dittemore write that Eddy was not able to attend Sanbornton Academy when

4536-598: The influence of Hinduism on Eddy and her work. The 1930 work Hinduism Invades America argues Eddy referenced the Bhagavad-Gita in the 33rd edition of Science and Health . Gillian Gill argued that that her editor, Reverend James Henry Wiggin , had introduced the references, and Eddy removed from the 1891 revision all the references to Eastern religions . Christian Scientist church member and historian Stephen Gottschalk argued that Eddy consciously distinguished Christian Science from Eastern religions starting in

4620-443: The law of the state, he should have her grandchildren vaccinated. She also paid for a mastectomy for her sister-in-law. Eddy used glasses for several years for very fine print, but later dispensed with them almost entirely, claiming she could read fine print with ease. In 1907, Arthur Brisbane interviewed Eddy. At one point he picked up a periodical, selected at random a paragraph, and asked Eddy to read it. According to Brisbane, at

4704-434: The main difference was that Eddy came to believe, after she founded Christian Science, that spirit manifestations had never really had bodies to begin with, because matter is unreal and that all that really exists is spirit, before and after death. In the fiftieth edition of her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , published in 1891, Eddy added the chapter, Christian Science and Spiritualism . This chapter

4788-413: The mid-1880s. Damodar Singhal noted that whether or not Eddy was directly influenced by Hindu philosophy, "the echoes of Vedanta in [her] literature are often striking." Eddy was introduced to British Israelism by Julia Field-King, who herself was introduced by the writings of C. A. L. Totten . Totten alleged to have traced Queen Victoria 's genealogy to King David and Field-King offered to create

4872-399: The movement, and she worked to clearly define it as unreality which only had power if one conceded to it. Though, it continued to play an important role in the teaching of Christian Science. The belief in malicious animal magnetism remains a part of Christian Science doctrine. Christian Scientists use it as a specific term for a hypnotic belief in a power apart from God. Scholars debate

4956-596: The new marital home. Eddy married Dr. Daniel Patterson, a dentist, in 1853. Mesmerism had become popular in New England; and on October 14, 1861, Patterson, wrote to mesmerist Phineas Parkhurst Quimby , who reportedly cured people without medicine, asking if he could cure his wife. Quimby replied that he had too much work in Portland, Maine and that he could not visit her, but if Patterson brought his wife to him he would treat her. Eddy did not immediately go, instead trying

5040-464: The past eight decades, according to the church's former treasurer, J. Edward Odegaard. Though the Church is prohibited by the Manual from publishing membership figures, the number of branch churches in the United States has fallen steadily since World War II . In 2009, for the first time in church history, more new members came from Africa than the United States. In 2005, The Boston Globe reported that

5124-407: The practice of healing, must first have Primary class instruction. When they have what the church regards as a record of healing, they may submit their names for publication in the directory of practitioners and teachers in the Christian Science Journal . A practitioner who has been listed for at least three years may apply for "Normal" class instruction, given once every three years. Those who receive

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5208-472: The rest of her life to the establishment of the church, writing its bylaws, The Manual of The Mother Church , and revising Science and Health . By the 1870s, she was telling her students, "Some day I will have a church of my own." In 1879, she and her students established the Church of Christ, Scientist, "to commemorate the word and works of our Master [Jesus], which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." In 1881, she founded

5292-579: The science of "primitive Christianity" and the "lost art of healing" to at least 800 people. Many of her students became healers themselves. The last 100 pages of Science and Health (chapter entitled "Fruitage") contains testimonies of people who affirm to have been healed by reading her book. She made numerous revisions to her book from the time of its first publication until shortly before her death. In January 1877, Eddy spurned an approach from one of her students, Daniel Spofford. She then married another student of hers, Asa Gilbert Eddy. On January 1, 1877,

5376-493: The sick. Eddy separated from her second husband Daniel Patterson in 1866, after which she boarded for four years with several families in Lynn, Massachusetts and elsewhere. Frank Podmore wrote: But she was never able to stay long in one family. She quarrelled successively with all her hostesses, and her departure from the house was heralded on two or three occasions by a violent scene. Her friends during these years were generally Spiritualists; she seems to have professed herself

5460-544: The staff, at the Christian Science Monitor . Conversely, Davis noted that "the financial situation right now is excellent" and stated that the church was not facing financial problems. The use of prayer, often in place of medical treatment, has been an area of controversy since the founding of the church; and the legality of practicing Christian Science was raised as early as 1887, when some Christian Science practitioners were charged with practicing medicine without

5544-605: The term "Anglo-Israel" in one poem, but argues the meaning is "metaphorical" instead of "ethnic or historical." Political Scientist Michael Barkun argued that "Eddy continued to maintain an interest in British-Israelism, although she kept it out of her doctrinal writings" and noted that a "schismatic offshoot" organized by Annie Cecelia Bill in England after Eddy's death centered on British-Israelism. Professor of religious studies John K. Simmons, citing Peel, argued that Eddy "gave

5628-481: The theory no real credence, at least in verifiable written form," but acknowledged British-Israelism "seemed to attract the turn-of-the-century metaphysical crowd." There is controversy about how much Eddy used morphine. Biographers Ernest Sutherland Bates and Edwin Franden Dakin described Eddy as a morphine addict. Miranda Rice, a friend and close student of Eddy, told a newspaper in 1906: "I know that Mrs. Eddy

5712-563: The two were wed, and she became Mary Baker Eddy in a small ceremony presided over by a Unitarian minister. In 1881, Mary Baker Eddy started the Massachusetts Metaphysical College with a charter from the state which allowed her to grant degrees. In Spring 1882, the Eddys moved to Boston to Massachusetts Metaphysical College. Gilbert Eddy's health began to decline around this time, and he died June 3 that year. Eddy devoted

5796-512: The weekly newspaper The Christian Science Monitor in print and online. Christian Scientists believe that prayer is effective for healing diseases. The Church has collected over 50,000 testimonies of incidents that it considers healing through Christian Science treatment alone. While most of these testimonies represent ailments neither diagnosed nor treated by medical professionals , the Church requires three other people to vouch for any testimony published in any of its official organs, including

5880-464: Was Abraham Lincoln . According to eyewitness reports cited by Cather and Milmine, Eddy was still attending séances as late as 1872. In these later séances, Eddy would attempt to convert her audience into accepting Christian Science. Eddy showed extensive familiarity with Spiritualist practice, but she denounced it in later Christian Science writings. Historian Ann Braude wrote that there were similarities between Spiritualism and Christian Science, but

5964-939: Was 12 when this happened, and that she had discussed the idea of predestination with the pastor during the examination for her membership; this may have been an attempt to mirror the story of a 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple . Eddy was badly affected by four deaths in the 1840s. She regarded her brother Albert as a teacher and mentor, but he died in 1841. In 1844, her first husband George Washington Glover (a friend of her brother Samuel) died after six months of marriage. They had married in December 1843 and set up home in Charleston, South Carolina, where Glover had business, but he died of yellow fever in June 1844 while living in Wilmington, North Carolina. Eddy

6048-413: Was Eddy's insistence that Kennedy stop "rubbing" his patient's head and solar plexus, which she saw as harmful since, as Gill states, "traditionally in mesmerism or hypnosis the head and abdomen were manipulated so that the subject would be prepared to enter into trance." Kennedy clearly did believe in clairvoyance, mind reading, and absent mesmeric treatment; and after their split Eddy believed that Kennedy

6132-469: Was addicted to morphine in the seventies." A diary kept by Calvin Frye, Eddy's personal secretary, suggests that Eddy occasionally reverted to "the old morphine habit" when she was in pain. Gill writes that the prescription of morphine was normal medical practice at the time, and that "I remain convinced that Mary Baker Eddy was never addicted to morphine." Eddy recommended to her son that, rather than go against

6216-467: Was far superior to spirit teachings." Clark's son George tried to convince Eddy to take up Spiritualism, but he said that she abhorred the idea. According to Cather and Milmine, Richard Hazeltine attended seances at Clark's home, and Eddy had acted as a trance medium , claiming to channel the spirits of the Apostles . Mary Gould, a Spiritualist from Lynn, claimed that one of the spirits that Eddy channeled

6300-409: Was later omitted from an official sanctioned biography of Eddy. Between 1866 and 1870, Eddy boarded at the home of Brene Paine Clark who was interested in Spiritualism. Seances were often conducted there, but Eddy and Clark engaged in vigorous, good-natured arguments about them. Eddy's arguments against Spiritualism convinced at least one other who was there at the time—Hiram Crafts—that "her science

6384-553: Was nursed by a local woman while Eddy herself was cared for by a household servant. Eddy's mother died in November 1849. Her mother's death was then followed three weeks later by the death of Eddy's fiancé, lawyer John Bartlett. Eddy's father Mark Baker remarried in 1850; his second wife Elizabeth Patterson Duncan (d. June 6, 1875) had been widowed twice, and had some property and income from her second marriage. Baker apparently made clear to Eddy that her son would not be welcome in

6468-545: Was one of her students who believed her to be the "woman of prophecy", a view also held by his son. In 1925, the younger Knapp wrote a book about his parents, which he later expanded to include chapters on his view of Eddy's identity as the " woman clothed with the sun " described in Revelation 12:1 . Eddy herself taught that the woman "symbolizes generic man, the spiritual idea of God". She strongly rejected any comparison to Jesus. Nonetheless, her own difficulties establishing

6552-418: Was one of the original members of the Board of Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist ("The Mother Church"). Until 1991, the book was repeatedly rejected for publication by the church's Board of Directors because of its depiction of Eddy as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and equating her with Jesus , a position which Eddy considered blasphemous. Destiny's publication caused divisions within

6636-490: Was renamed in 1910 to Christian Science versus Spiritualism . Eddy divorced Daniel Patterson for adultery in 1873. She published her work in 1875 in a book entitled Science and Health (years later retitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures ) which she called the textbook of Christian Science, after several years of offering her healing method. The first publication run was 1,000 copies, which she self-published. During these years, she taught what she considered

6720-472: Was reportedly pleased to hear about Abraham Lincoln 's death . Despite trying to oust his Republican pastor during the war alongside a faction of his church, he refused to leave the church alongside other members of the faction when they failed. Instead, he continued to attend services, but would storm out at the mention of the American Civil War during a service. Eddy and her father reportedly had

6804-529: Was the cousin of U.S. Representative Henry M. Baker . She was the sixth generation of her family born in the United States. The farmhouse she was born in was built by her grandfather, Joseph Baker Jr., on a tract of land his maternal grandfather, Captain John Lovewell, had been given for service in the American Revolutionary War . Eddy's father Mark inherited, alongside his elder brother James,

6888-475: Was using his mesmeric abilities to try to harm her and her movement. In 1882, Eddy publicly claimed that her last husband, Asa Gilbert Eddy, had died of "mental assassination". Daniel Spofford was another Christian Scientist expelled by Eddy after she accused him of practicing malicious animal magnetism. This gained notoriety in a case irreverently dubbed the " Second Salem Witch Trial ". Later, Eddy set up "watches" for her staff to pray about challenges facing

6972-425: Was what led her to began her examination of malicious animal magnetism. Eddy had agreed to form a partnership with Kennedy in 1870, in which she would teach him how to heal, and he would take patients. The partnership was rather successful at first, but by 1872 Kennedy had fallen out with his teacher and torn up their contract. Although there were multiple issues raised, the main reason for the break according to Gill

7056-428: Was with him in Wilmington, six months pregnant. She had to make her way back to New Hampshire, 1,400 miles (2,300 km) by train and steamboat, where her only child George Washington Glover II was born on September 12 in her father's home. Her husband's death, the journey back, and the birth left her physically and mentally exhausted, and she ended up bedridden for months. As Eddy was unable to care for him, her son

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