Volumes have been written about Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy. I am going to concentrate on a few books and articles that were written during the life of MBE and immediately after her death, some written by people that knew her. All of these people had some sort of relationship with her, and several were members of the church at some point in time.
Rev James Wiggin (1836-1900)
Rev. Wiggin was a Unitarian minister from 1862-1875. After he retired from the ministry, he would occasionally take on a job proofreading books to keep him busy and earn a little money. In August of 1885, Calvin Frye (Mrs. Eddy’s secretary) called on him to see if he would be interested in a job proofreading Mrs. Eddy’s book, Science and Health. Rev. Wiggin accepted the job and ended up editing three early revisions of Science and Health, starting with the 4th edition. He worked closely with Mary Baker Eddy for four years, and probably knew her as well as any. In a letter dated December 14, 1889 Rev. Wiggins criticized his former employer.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Truth and the Tradition by John V. Dittemore
John V. Dittemore (1876-1937) was a board member for The Mother Church for 10 years, from 1909-1919. He was also an executor to Mary Baker Eddy’s estate. After the death of Eddy in 1910, he had access to three trunks of correspondence, which he made copies of. He had originally planned to write a book that was in complete support of Mrs. Eddy, however, the information in those trunks convinced him otherwise. According to Dittemore, there was an element in the church that wished to romanticize Mrs. Eddy, giving what he learned to be a less than accurate account of her past. It was this, plus the Eddy plagiarisms that came to light in 1928, and the attempt to boycott Charles Scribner & Sons over the Dakin book that drove him to write his book “Mary Baker Eddy, the Truth and the Tradition” in 1931. Although he wrote the book, he did not have control of the copyright, and The Mother Church was able to buy the copyright to prevent further printings. It is still available at a price, and can be found in various libraries across the country.
Vital Issues in Christian Science by Augusta Stetson
Augusta Stetson (1842-1928) built the largest Christian Science church at the time in NYC at Central Park West and 96 Street. She was later ex-communicated from the church. The conventional wisdom is that Mary Baker Eddy felt threatened by the loyalty of her congregation and that they may have held Augusta in a higher light than Eddy herself. Augusta had a great love for Mrs. Eddy throughout her association with her which is very apparent in the many letters included in her book. Her book, Vital Issues in Christian Science tells her story. It is readily available.
Why I left Christian Science by Max Wertheimer
Max Wertheimer, PH. D (1863-1941) An ex-Rabbi, he joined the church after his wife of three years died. Seeking comfort from the pain he felt from his wife’s death, “he dabbled in Spiritism, in Theosophy, and other such cults, finally lapsing into Christian Science”. He later went to Mrs. Eddy’s “Metaphysical College” of Boston, where he obtained a C.S.B. He then became a first reader of the 1st church of Dayton, OH. Mrs. Eddy wanted him to become a Christian Science lecturer. He began to realize that Christian Science was not what he thought, and left the church. You can read his book here. The first edition came out in 1916, with subsequent editions up until 1934 (11th edition).
The Religio-Medical Masquerade by Fredrick W. Peabody (1862-1938)
Fredrick Peabody was a Boston Lawyer, probably best known for taking on Mary Baker Eddy in the Josephine Woodbury libel lawsuit. Though he did not win the case, he learned an awful lot about Mary Baker Eddy in the process. He wrote several articles about her, the most known being The Religio-medical Masquerade. He made the following statement, directed toward Eddy:
“I challenge Mrs. Eddy and the whole Christian Science combination to dare to prosecute me for libel, and I affirm and shall continue to affirm that their omission so to do is an acknowledgment of the truth of every statement I make.”
Peabody, being a lawyer, knew well the consequences of his statement. I have not found any record that he was ever taken to court over this. Peabody certainly was no saint but he did know Eddy well and I have no reason to doubt his statements regarding her.
The following are works written in the early years of the church
Mark Twain (1835-1910) At one time in his life, Mark Twain became interested in CS. He later became disillusioned and wrote a book simply called Christian Science. Though the book was written in his humorous, sarcastic style, it nonetheless contained a lot of truth. Twain had studied Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy thoroughly, and wasn’t afraid to express his thoughts.
Mrs. Eddy: the biography of a virginal mind, by Edwin Bates (1929)
The Mother Church (TMC) tried unsuccessfully to suppress this tell-all book when it first came out through a variety of means. The publisher, Charles Scribner & Sons, came out with a pamphlet called The Blight that Failed that told of all that TMC did in it’s attempt to keep the book off the market. The attempt to suppress backfired on them, and ended up publicizing the book. Because of it’s multiple printings, it is readily available today.
The McClure’s Magazine articles
This series of articles, written by Georgine Milmine and published in McClure’s Magazine in 1907-1908 is an in-depth look at Mrs. Eddy’s life. She spent months going up the New England countyside interviewing people who knew Mrs. Eddy, obtaining sworn statements from them. Many of these statements conflicted with what Mrs. Eddy said about herself. These articles were made into a book, “The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy & The History of Christian Science” by Willa Cather & Georgine Milmine. Originally published in 1909 by Doubleday, it has been revised and re-printed by Nebraska Press in 1993.
The Truth about Christian Science, the Founder and the Faith by James H. Snowden
James Snowden (1852-1936) is the author of 17 books, the majority written on religion. This book, written in 1920, is an in-depth look at the religion of Christian Science. His solid Christian background allowed him to compare Christian Science with that of Christian theology. I have copied the introduction to the book plus the part on Christian Science and Christian doctrine here, which clearly state his view on this religion. I also provided a link below for those who wish to read the entire book (305 pages)