Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) was a spiritual pioneer. Her work covered the disciplines of science, theology, and medicine.
She studied the Bible her whole life. In 1866, she experienced a dramatic recovery from a life-threatening accident after reading one of Jesus’ healings. From that moment, she wanted to know how she had been healed. She read the Bible and prayed for answers. It became clear to her that spiritual healing was based on divine laws of God, Spirit. She proved that these laws could be applied by anyone to heal every form of human suffering and sin.
Spiritual healing isn’t miraculous, but an effect of understanding God’s all-power and love. It’s as provable today as it was in biblical times. For the next forty years, Mary Baker Eddy practiced, taught, and shared this healing Science of Christianity. As Mary Baker Eddy became known as a Christian healer, she was often asked to cure cases that had been given up by doctors. Once she went to see a woman who’d been given up as dying by a well-known physician. She wrote about this experience, “On seeing her immediately restored by me without material aid, he asked earnestly if I had a work describing my system of healing . . . he urged me immediately to write a book which should explain to the world my curative system of metaphysics” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 105). When she went home, Mrs. Eddy opened her Bible to the verse in Jeremiah, "Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book." (Jeremiah 30:2). That clear message to her from God prompted her to write Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
At the time, she was already writing notes that would expand into her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. This book contains the full explanation of Christian Science and its biblical foundation of spiritual healing. For over a century, readers have shared how reading and studying Science and Health has given them a new spiritual sense of the Bible and of their unchangeable relationship to God. These new insights result in physical healing and moral regeneration.
Mary Baker Eddy went on to establish the Church of Christ, Scientist. It’s a Christian denomination and worldwide movement of spiritual healers. She published 16 more books and started several weekly and monthly magazines—the Christian Science Sentinel, The Christian Science Journal, and The Herald of Christian Science—that feature articles on Christian Science practice and verified testimonies of healing. In 1908, when she was 87, she founded The Christian Science Monitor, a global newspaper that provides balanced, humane coverage of world news. It is alert to progress and promise as well as to humanity’s need to address suffering and conflict. It was established to “injure no man, but to bless all mankind” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353). The Monitor publishes a daily digital edition on its website and a weekly print magazine. It distributes news coverage and commentary via articles, charts, audio, and video content.
You can read the full Bible and Science and Health online, purchase her other works at a local Christian Science Reading Room or online, and explore and subscribe to The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald, and Christian Science Monitor. Discover her life and contributions to the world at MaryBakerEddyLibrary.org.