Mary Baker Eddy
Did you know that Mary Baker Eddy had a telephone installed in her coffin so that she could call the church when she was resurrected? (Lectures) Christian Science followers don’t believe in doctors or medicine and they worship Mary Baker Eddy. These are a few of the rumors that have been propagated by ignorant people that never took the time to research what Christian Science is about. I was one of these people prior to this class. In the following pages we will take a look at the truth behind Mary Baker Eddy, her life and how this has affected my spiritual growth.
First of all I would like to talk about how I came to pick Mary Baker Eddy as my choice of topics for my final paper. I was first introduced to Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy when I was around ten years old. My grandmother was involved in the church and I remember attending Sunday school and reading the Bible. The only other thing I remember from that time is that they sung old boring hymns and it was confusing because the Bible they read from had a lot of thee and thou references. There were pictures on the wall of Jesus, a church, and a picture of a lady that turned out to be Mary Baker Eddy.
Throughout my life I witnessed my grandmother praying or reading out of the Bible. She never explained to me why she was doing this or I was just to self absorbed in my own life to show any interest. What stands out most to me is when my grandmother found out she had cancer and wouldn’t except any help from the doctors.
We received a call from the police or the hospital saying that my grandmother had been in a bad car accident and was taken to the hospital. My step grandfather had a broken hip and my grandmother sustained only minor injuries. During the examination the doctor discovered that my grandmother, whose name was also Mary, had cancer. They stated that they could remove the cancer but she refused and said that God would heal her. They tried again, informing her that they were pretty sure they could remove it entirely but again she stated that God would heal her. I think it was at this time I heard that Christian Scientist did not believe in conventional medicine or drugs. Later, I would find out that this belief was unfounded and wrong. During this time I lived with my grandparents and I remember her locking herself in the bathroom and crying out in pain every night. She thought no one could hear her but my bedroom wall separated me from the bathroom. It was at that point that I feel my resentment began towards God and Christian Science. After all, how could a loving God let this happen to the most generous, loving, and devoted Christian that I have ever known. It took years of facing my own struggles with addiction and recovery to come look at things from a new prospective. I believe now that God made it possible for physicians to help others and she had her opportunity to be healed, but refused. This reminds me of a story of the guy who is stranded on the roof of his home during a flood and prays for God to save him. God sends a boat, a plane, and a helicopter. The man dies and goes before God and he asks, “Why didn’t you save me?” God replies, “What more did you want? I sent you a boat, a plane, and a helicopter and you turned them all away.” This story gave me some comfort and helped me come to look at Christian Science from a different prospective. It softened my heart to become open and willing to taking a closer look at Christian Science. Today I believe that my grandmother had a hand in bringing me to this realization. So, what about Mary Baker Eddy? Who was she? Mary Baker Eddy born 1821 died 1910. Mary Baker Eddy was an author, a teacher and a religious leader who was known for her ideas on spirituality and health, both physically and mentally. Her major written work was entitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures which was first published in 1875. She named her new idea as Christian Science.
Mary was the youngest of six children, born in Bow New Hampshire on the family farm. As a child Mary struggled with periods of sickness which often would keep her from attending school. She did not let these things stop her from educating herself at home. She spent many hours reading and writing, especially poetry from an early age. Mary had some experiences where she would hear someone calling her name. She would often go into the room where her mother was and ask her what she wanted. To Mary’s surprise it was not her mother. Eventually she realized that it was God that was calling her name (Wilbur). By today’s standards some physicians would call what she was experiencing were symptoms of schizophrenia. Unfortunately people that have no faith cannot have an open mind to the possibility of God speaking to someone. Reading this was interesting because I personally have had a few experiences where the Holy Spirit has spoken to me. I would not call it an audible voice but something like what is termed, “the inner voice” or “conscience.” Foe me these experiences changed my life.
Her parents sought out help for her afflictions from physicians by their treatments were temporary at best. Mary enjoyed reading the Bible and found comfort in its pages. Her family was very religious and believed in the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, but Mary never bought into that belief.
Mary Baker was married three times in her life. Her first husband, George Washington Glover was a promising building contractor. He died in June of 1844, while Mary was three months pregnant with their son. Unable to support herself she returned home to live with her mother until her death in 1849. Eventually she was unable to care for George (son), due to her ongoing illness and had to leave him in the care of the family’s former nurse and her husband (The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, Inc.).
She married her second husband in 1853. His name was Daniel Patterson. He was a dentist who was also unreliable and unfaithful to her and after thirteen years of marriage he abandoned her. Mary finally divorced him in 1873.
In the following years Mary Patterson spent her time trying to find relief from her illnesses. She chose to stay away from conventional medicine due to its unpleasant side effects. Mary turned towards alternative medicine. She tried different diets, studied homeopathy and even tried hydrotherapy. At one point in her research she worked with what we call placebos and concluded that a patients belief plays a huge part in the healing process. In deducing this she began to look at the relationship between prayer and especially the healing teachings of Jesus Christ out of the Bible. This would be her main focus for healing. She knew that if she could discover the secret that Jesus taught his disciples, which is in the New Testament, she could heal others just as Jesus’ disciples and followers did in the Bible. She believed that the same healing miracles could be performed today just as they were then if one had enough faith that they would.
Her life took a turn in 1866 when she took a serious fall when she slipped on some ice and hit her head on the sidewalk. She was bed ridden in critical condition. She began reading the Bible and in one chapter she read of an account of Jesus’ healing and while reading this account she found herself suddenly better. She talked about this incident as the moment she discovered Christian Science. This healing convicted her and she continued to have proof of spiritual healing. Before her healing she prayed to her heavenly Father that if he would restore her, she would devote her remaining years to helping the sick and suffering humanity. Her prayer was heard, she was healed and she kept her vow until she left this a Earth. Mary spent nine years studying the scriptures and in turn resulted in her writing her most known work, Science and Health, with key to the scriptures that was first published in 1875. Mary asked this question, “How did Jesus heal? Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that ever trod the globe. He plunged beneath the material surface of things and found the spiritual cause.” (Eddy)
During the years that followed Mary taught her system of healing to hundreds of women and men who established practices across the US and abroad (The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, Inc.). Mary Baker Patterson married one of her students and took the name that she is most known as. His name was Asa Gilbert Eddy, he passed in 1882. Mary Baker Eddy did not give up. She struggled with trying to get the church to embrace her discovery, so in 1879 she started her own and named it Church of Christ, Scientist. She believed that the church needed to return to early days of Christianity and its lost element of healing.

It is of note that Mary Baker Eddy made her discovery of Christian Science mid-way through her long life, at a time when women could not vote and were generally barred from pulpits, seminaries, and the medical profession. She continued her work until her last days. It was at age 87, responding to “yellow” journalism (the tabloid news of her day), that she started The Christian Science Monitor, designed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” (The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, Inc.)
Mary Baker Eddy passed away on December 3, 1910. Her funeral was on December 8, 1910. Unfortunately it was the middle of winter and the ground was too hard to bury her so she was placed in a receiving tomb until the end of January 1911. Guards were posted in the tomb to watch out for problems or vandalism. They requested a phone be installed so they could call for help if they needed. This is where the rumor started that Mary had a phone installed in her coffin so she could call the church when she was resurrected (Lectures).
.I also read Mary Farrell Bednarowski’s book, New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America and I found it interesting that she talks about Christian Science as a new religion (Bednarowski). Mary Baker Eddy, in my opinion was just re-visiting the original teachings of Jesus that had been forgotten or passed over as happening in the past. One of the other rumors I heard and believed until recently was that Christian Scientist did not believe in doctors or conventional medicine. This is just another rumor. Christian Scientist believe in the power of prayer but also are ok with seeking out help from medical doctors if needed. This makes me wonder about what my grandmother was taught. Some religions teach things that don’t line up with doctrine but are taken out of context and perpetuated to keep followers in fear. This is not from God but from man.

All in all I think Mary Baker Eddy was ahead (or behind, depending on your view) the times. I believe she was trying to bring back the teachings and healing methods of Jesus. I have had trouble understanding why they consider Christian Science as a cult. Who are they? This goes back to all of the readings in our books that talk about how the men of this world have tried to keep women from changing the world. Sorry guys, it’s to late.
Upon Mary Baker Eddy’s death, The Boston Globe printed this statement: “Whatever one’s view of religion may be, few will care to deny that Mrs. Eddy’s influence has been directed toward the betterment of those that she intimately touched…..” (The Boston Globe)
Bibliography
Bednarowski, Mary Farrell. New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America. Indiana University Press, 1989. Electronic book.
Eddy, Mary Baker. Science and Health, with key to the Scriptures. Allison V. Stewart, 1909.
Mary Baker Eddy - a life of discovery. Dir. Christian Science Lectures. Perf. Chet Manchester. 2013. Video. .
The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe 29 October 1987. News paper.
The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, Inc. The Mary Baker Eddy Library. n.d. 1 May 2013. .
Wilbur, Sibyl. The Life of Mary Baker Eddy. Human Life Publishing Company, 1907. Digital Book.