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34-646: The Christian Science Quarterly (Bible Lessons) is a publication of the Christian Science Publishing Society that sets out the Bible lessons for all students of Christian Science . Each lesson serves as the Sunday sermon in church and is studied for the week preceding the Sunday on which it is read as the sermon. Called the Lesson-Sermon, each week's Bible lesson is read in daily individual study during

68-736: A Presbyterian from Scotland emigrated to the United States after the American Revolutionary War and bought land in Penns Valley in Pennsylvania . He served in the War of 1812 and was in a battle that was part of the Battle of Lake Erie . He married a daughter of James Cook, a Federalist once described as "a tall, dignified gentleman ... a man of large means." Hanna's father, Samuel Cook Hanna,

102-436: A Christian Science lecturer. Hanna's lectures were compared to legal arguments and to a judge's charge to a jury. He remained on the lecture circuit until 1914, lecturing in the United States, British Isles, and Canada. In 1907, at Eddy's request, Hanna taught the " normal class", the course that trains new teachers of Christian Science. Hanna was the third person to teach the course, aside from Eddy herself. Aside from

136-519: A daughter of a prominent citizen there. He began his law practice in Council Bluffs as part of the firm Sapp, Lyman, and Hanna. At the end of his first year, when he was 23, he was appointed judge of the County Court, then in Council Bluffs. He held the office one and a half years and later served as city attorney for several years. He also served as deputy United States district attorney. In 1872,

170-583: A farmer, was born in 1808 in Centre County, Pennsylvania , and spent his boyhood there. His father was an active member of the Methodist church and served as superintendent of the Sunday school. A history of the Spring Mills Sunday School noted about him, "His words were few and always spoken with gentleness, but his life had a power whose influence was deep and abiding." His mother, Susanna Miles,

204-611: A lecture given in Malden, Massachusetts , Hanna said, "I can truthfully say that intellectually she is one of the most alert persons I have ever known; that she labors incessantly and unselfishly for the cause to which she has devoted her life, and that, notwithstanding her years, she performs an amount of labor each day which if known would seem incredible, even if done by one yet in the adolescence of life." The Hannas worked in Scranton until autumn 1892, when Eddy appointed Septimus Hanna editor of

238-581: A member of the Board of Lectureship at Eddy's request. His assigned region being in the western United States and a new church by-law setting a three-year term to the First Reader, Hanna resigned his other positions in June. His wife resigned as well. The Hannas decided to leave Boston and return to the west, moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado , which they thought would be a good central location for them in his work as

272-430: A number of languages. The Quarterly contains the Bible lessons used as sermons in Sunday services in all Christian Science churches around the world. They also publish biographies of Eddy and other books and study materials on Christian Science. There is also an international weekly newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor , which has won several Pulitzer Prizes . The Monitor is a secular newspaper; however, there

306-449: A time-saving monthly booklet that reprints all the citations. Lesson-sermons from 1904-1922 are in the public domain . Christian Science Publishing Society The Christian Science Publishing Society was established in 1898 by Mary Baker Eddy and is the publishing arm of The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston , Massachusetts. The Christian Science Publishing Society and

340-536: A varying number of sections, from as few as five to as many as eleven. The Sunday services, which in addition to the sermon, include three hymns, silent and audible prayer, a solo, announcements and a collection, are conducted by the First Reader. During the sermon portion of the service, the Second Reader begins reading the Bible citations, followed by the First Reader who reads the correlative passages from Science and Health for that section, alternating until each of

374-920: Is one religious article in each issue. The Publishing Society is managed by a three-person Board of Trustees under the authority of the Christian Science Board of Directors. It is located, along with the Mary Baker Eddy Library, in the Publishing Society building at the Christian Science Center in Boston's Back Bay. It is the primary publisher of the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and other Christian Science literature. 42°20′42.4″N 71°5′9.3″W  /  42.345111°N 71.085917°W  / 42.345111; -71.085917 Septimus J. Hanna Hanna's grandfather, Andrew Hanna,

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408-709: The Christian Science Journal , and his wife assistant editor. A move to Boston followed. During the years the Hannas were in Boston, the church organization was taking shape and Hanna served in several key positions. In early 1893, in addition to editing the Journal , Hanna was called to become pastor of The Mother Church . He was also chosen by Eddy to read her address to the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In 1894,

442-598: The Republican Party , then a young political party. Hanna and his wife first heard of Christian Science in Leadville in 1885 when two of her friends in Council Bluffs said they were healed by it. His wife, then a semi-invalid, began to look into the new religion. In 1886, she received a copy of the Christian Science textbook, which she studied and saw her health restored. This led Hanna to begin his own investigation of

476-550: The Sentinel , as were those of his wife. Also, in 1898, Hanna was made vice-president of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College , when Eddy established a Board of Education to continue the work of the closed institution. When she taught her last class that same year, Hanna and his wife were invited to attend; both received "the degree of C.S.D." by Eddy. He continued in these positions until 1902, when he became

510-504: The lay First Reader and the congregation. The body of the lesson is divided into several sections, which further develop different aspects of the subject. Bible verses are read first in each section, followed by passages from Science and Health which correlate to the Bible verses selected. For over 100 years, lesson-sermons always had six sections, except for the Thanksgiving lesson, which had four sections, but since 2006, there have been

544-527: The Bible and the Christian Science textbook were ordained as the "impersonal pastor"; with changes in the church service, Hanna became First Reader . In 1895, around the time the Manual of The Mother Church was published, Eddy wrote a letter to Hanna describing the work of establishing the by-laws that would govern the church, a portion of which was later published in her book Miscellaneous Writings and in

578-454: The Board of Trustees that manage it were established by Mary Baker Eddy in a deed of trust on January 25, 1898, under the auspices of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Although she had not wanted to create a separate trust to handle the church's publications, legal considerations made it necessary. Written in the deed is Eddy's express intent for the Publishing Society, that it is "for the purpose of more effectually promoting and extending

612-612: The Only Cause and Creator; God the Preserver of Man; Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?; and Christian Science . The sequence of 26 subjects is studied twice each year, though the passages change from week to week, making each week's lesson different. There is no special Christmas or Easter lesson, however there is an additional lesson for Thanksgiving , read in the United States on Thanksgiving Day . For countries other than

646-535: The U.S., the Thanksgiving service is optional. When there are 53 Sundays in a year, the subject Christ Jesus is added a second time. The lesson begins with the "Golden Text", a short passage from the Bible related to that week's subject. It is followed by the "Responsive Reading", Bible verses which expound on the focus set by the Golden Text. During the Sunday service, the reading of these verses alternates between

680-589: The age of eighteen, Hanna enlisted as Stephen J. Hanna in Company H, 138th Illinois Volunteer Infantry , composed largely of soldiers of his own age. He was unanimously elected its captain during the last year of the Civil War. Hanna resumed his education after the war, studying law. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1866. Later, he moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa , where on September 21, 1869, he married Camilla Turley,

714-479: The church and would cause misrepresentations of her teachings, both within and outside the church. In addition to Mary Baker Eddy’s works, they publish a number of periodicals, including the monthly The Christian Science Journal , the weekly Christian Science Sentinel , The Herald of Christian Science published in a number of languages; and the Christian Science Quarterly , also published in

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748-570: The church in 1879. The citations for each lesson are selected by the Bible Lesson Committee in Boston , Massachusetts. The subjects are (in order): God; Sacrament; Life; Truth; Love; Spirit; Soul; Mind; Christ Jesus; Man; Substance; Matter; Reality; Unreality; Are Sin, Disease and Death Real?; Doctrine of Atonement; Probation After Death; Everlasting Punishment; Adam and Fallen Man; Mortals and Immortals; Soul and Body; Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced; God

782-558: The few pupils he had taught in Scranton before moving to Boston, Hanna had not taught Christian Science and was surprised by the request and was initially uncertain about accepting the invitation. His own first primary class was held the following year, in August 1908. When Eddy died in 1910, Hanna, became president of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College. He was the only person to serve as president other than Eddy and

816-714: The front of the Manual , before the table of contents. Eddy was reported to have called him "morally statuesque" and in a letter to him, she called him "a born editor". In a letter to her just over two months later in April 1896, he questioned a proposed raise in his salary, fearing the increase could be a corrupting influence on his character. When a weekly periodical, the Christian Science Sentinel began publication in September 1898, Hanna's editorial duties were extended to include

850-569: The offer of a partnership brought Hanna to Chicago, where he practiced law until late 1879, when failing health caused him to move to Colorado. Settling in the town of Leadville , he worked as a lawyer and register in the U.S. land office. He was register of the United States Land Office in Leadville from 1882 to 1886, after which he practiced law from 1886 to 1890. While in Iowa and Colorado, Hanna took an active interest in politics, supporting

884-420: The religion of Christian Science as taught by me." Always concerned about the purity of the teaching, she was reported by her student Septimus J. Hanna to have said just days before signing the deed, that she wanted "to protect and preserve the literature of [Christian Science] in its purity". She wanted to protect her teachings from "aggressive attempts" to adulterate them, which she felt would wreak havoc within

918-634: The religion's textbook. In 1890, after studying Christian Science about four years, Hanna left his legal practice to devote himself to "the Cause of Christian Science", although he had no plan of how to proceed. In May 1890, there was a three-day meeting of Mary Baker Eddy's students held in New York City , the fifth annual meeting of the National Christian Science Association and the Hannas decided to attend. While there, Septimus Hanna

952-471: The religion. His reading left him impressed with what he saw as its logic, but he was unable to grasp the book's meaning in its entirety. Although the drier Colorado climate had alleviated some of his health problems, he was not completely recovered. A woman living in New Hampshire helped him in Christian Science and he recovered, becoming so impressed with the experience, that he began a "systematic study" of

986-502: The sections have been read. The Sunday service is one hour long. The Christian Science Bible Lessons are available in 13 languages and several editions, including audio and digital. The original format, now called the Citation Edition, was designed to be an outline of passages (see example lesson at right) that would promote individual study of the Bible and Christian Science textbook, but in recent years, has been largely supplanted by

1020-514: The week, and as the Sunday sermon in Christian Science church services around the world. It is composed of a series of references from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , written by Mary Baker Eddy . The particular topic for each week's lesson follows one of twenty-six subjects chosen by Eddy, who "discovered" Christian Science in 1866 and founded

1054-723: Was born one of ten children, to Susanna (née Miles) and Samuel Cook Hanna in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania on July 29, 1845. The family moved from Center County to Cochranton in Crawford County in western Pennsylvania. His parents were of different religious backgrounds, Scottish-Presbyterian (his father) and Baptist (his mother). Together, they joined the Methodist Episcopal church, where they were active members. He attended public school there and later, went to Meadville Academy. The onset of war prevented his further education. At

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1088-555: Was descended from a Baptist family who came from Radnor, Wales, with William Penn in "Ye Good Shippe Welcome" to become among the earliest settlers of Philadelphia and was related to Samuel Miles , a militia general in the Revolutionary War, one of Philadelphia's early mayors and a judge of the High Court of Errors and Appeals. His brother, Richard, a captain in the Revolutionary War, was Hanna' s grandfather. Septimus J. Hanna

1122-508: Was invited to take charge of a society of Christian Scientists in Scranton, Pennsylvania . After visiting Scranton, he accepted the invitation, marking the beginning of his career in Christian Science. During this period, Hanna and his wife were invited to meet Eddy, then living in the Boston neighborhood of Roslindale . He was deeply impressed by her vitality and her spirituality, as well as her interest in world affairs. Speaking of her later in

1156-399: Was re-appointed president every year for the rest of his life. In autumn 1911, they moved to Pasadena, California and built a house on the corner of Oakland Avenue and Fillmore Street. In 1914, Hanna resigned from the Board of Lectureship; he continued to conduct his annual primary class instruction and association meeting until his death in 1921. For many years, Judge Hanna was a member of

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