Mary Baker Eddy’s Discovery of How Jesus Healed:
It’s Women’s History Month, so let’s talk about the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, and her discovery. During the 1800s, Mrs. Eddy began a religious movement in New England when she discovered how Jesus healed. This movement is still helping people find peace and strength in the Bible’s teachings today.
Eddy, who had struggled with frailty and illness all her life, first healed herself after a devastating fall on ice, which she suffered on the way to an activist meeting for the temperance of alcohol. Raised in a devout congregationalist household, she developed a deep love for studying the Bible and maintained a strong, unshakable faith in God. Throughout her life, she struggled with chronic illness, which led her to explore various medical treatments and healing methods popular during her time. However, no treatment was as uniformly successful as what she discovered after a devastating fall in her 40s.
A Movement Based on Eddy’s Discovery
Eddy did not intend to lead a movement, initially approaching churches with the belief that they would be just as excited as she was about this deeper understanding of Jesus’ teachings. Only when they dismissed her findings did she begin to teach and lead others in her own movement and church. As a woman taking on the beloved leadership role, she was faced with many challenges as critics attacked her motives, sanity, and right to have a voice in the religious discussion.
Still, she persevered, creating a successful movement, church, and community; publishing dozens of publications, including The Christian Science Monitor, a secular newspaper that is still lauded today for its forthright, hopeful, and unbiased coverage of world events.
From Mary Baker Eddy’s discovery of Christian Science until her passing, Eddy continually deepened her understanding of its principles, remaining committed to the core spiritual values she knew were inherent in all people. She devoted her life to sharing her deep love for the Bible and her discovery of how Jesus healed.
In 1992, Mary Baker Eddy’s healing book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures was named one of the “75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World.” It explains the principles of Christian Science, and continues to be a best-seller with over 10 million copies sold. Continuing to receive accolades for her accomplishments as an author, healer, and religious leader, Eddy was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995.
Equality of the Sexes in Christian Science
Eddy’s efforts for the equity of sexes are infused into the basic equality of the teachings of Christian Science. Anyone can learn Christian Science and anyone can use its teachings to find healing. Everyone is a reflection of God. Even in the 1800s, Mrs. Eddy was challenging the gendered notion of God in Christianity, by using the term ‘Father-Mother God’ with regularity and purpose.
Mind is the divine Principle, Love, and can produce nothing unlike the eternal Father-Mother, God.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 335:25–26
Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 256:7
We are grateful for Eddy’s commitment to doing what she believed was most helpful to others, even when it was the harder path to tread. Mary Baker Eddy is a worthy woman to celebrate for Women’s History Month! We hope you will also find strength, joy, and peace in Christian Science, just as she did.
More Resources
To learn more about Mary Baker Eddy’s discovery and her healing work, you can read Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer. It’s available to read or purchase at any Christian Science Reading Room, or you can purchase a copy online.
If you want to read more about Mary Baker Eddy’s life, check out the Mary Baker Eddy Library.
