The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science

December 2007 The Mary Baker Eddy Library has the real and whole story. I think that it must have been built to make everything available to everybody. Before you get lopsided on this book, better visit or call MBE Library for the Betterment of Humanity. The real test of all this is to read her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. When you feel the change that comes over your whole life you'll be in a better position to write a review. And, it doesn't matter if you are an atheist, a Mormon, catholic or anything in between.

In 1906 Georgine Milmine, a newspaperwoman who had spent years assembling an enormous collection of material about Mary Baker Eddy but doubted her own ability to write on the subject, sold it to McClures Magazine. Interest in Christian Science was at its height at the time, and McClure's turned the project over to Willa Cather, who was 32 years old and had 32 published short stories to her credit, but whose days as a great novelist still lay in the future.Although Ms. Cather publicly disclaimed credit for the resulting series of articles which form the basis of this book, the editors provide convincing proof that she wrote it.In addition to being a highly entertaining account of the rise of one of the more fascinating characters in American religious history and the church she founded, the book provides extensive factual detail to anyone seriously interested in the history of either. While it is critical of Mrs. Eddy, it is also complimentary. Factually accurate and extensively documented., it is perhaps the most objective account available of a truly remarkable woman and her church.Although the book was the subject of favorable reviews when it was published in 1910, the response of the church was, predictably, less enthusiastic. According to the afterword, even before it was published, "three spokesmen for the Christian Science church visited the McClure's office and tried to suppress the series of articles. Christian Scientists were said to have later bought and destroyed most copies of the book, and library copies were said to be kept out of general circulation through constant borrowings by church members... The copyright for the Milmine book was purchased by a friend of Christian Science, the plates from which the book was printed were destroyed, and the manuscript also acquired. That this happened is supported by the fact that the manuscripts for the 'Milmine' book are held in the Archives and Library of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston." (pp. 497-498)Perhaps the most important contribution that this book makes is to present Mrs. Eddy and her church in the context of their time. There is a tendency today to present her as an early oppressed feminist. That interpretation should be compared with Ms. Cather's hard-nosed assessment:: "The result of Mrs. Eddy's planning and training and pruning is that she has built up the largest and most powerful organization ever founded by any woman in America. Probably no other woman so handicapped-so limited in intellect, so uncertain in conduct, so tortured by hatred and hampered by petty animosities-has ever risen from a state of helplessness and dependence to a position of such power and authority... The growth of her power has been extensive as well as intensive." (p. 480)In fact, the only complaint in an otherwise favorable review by a student of nervous disorders in the American Historical Review (Vol 15, July 1910), was that the author did "not do enough to explain the abnormal psych

Take the gaseous denunciation by the true believer as an endorsement of this timeless debunking biography. (CS complaints about this book are always based on "new information" kept under lock and key by the church so it can't be checked by any unbiased researcher.) Christian Science malarkey sentenced my sister to a needless early death.

This book is an example of the muckraking school of journalism. It also contains valuable primary source information on Christian Science that is not available anywhere else. In fact, the official Christian Science biographer of Mary Baker Eddy, Robert Peel, relies heavily on the Milmine information in his own three-volume work.Sadly, journalistic standards of the time did not provide as much detail about sources and data collection as modern scholars would like. And since the Christian Science church holds the original source information in its closely guarded archives, an independent examination of this evidence is now impossible. (According to Gillian Gill, an Eddy biographer who was given limited access to some archival holdings, the church purchased this information, possibly along with the original bookplates.)Still, this book will be engaging for Cather scholars, for historians of journalism, and for readers interested in a perspective on Christian Science/Eddy which is unavailable from the church.

Raised a Christian Scientist, I was never told about any of Mrs. Eddy's alleged shortcomings. While her legacy remains a wonderful healing principle, her actual time on this planet seems to have been a burlesque of self-generated pain and suffering. Anyone who wants to know more about Christian Sciece should read this book.