Article June 19, 2006 Issue

Horizons far beyond one's own doorstep

RICHARD NENNEMAN

WHEN MARY BAKER EDDY described her life-purpose, she was reminding her followers that Christian Science requires their progress in redeeming the ills connected with a material sense of existence, including disease. She was also making it clear that this Science is available to everyone in their everyday affairs. She helped make it accessible in a way that was unique to her, and beneficial to those who would come after her.

Mrs. Eddy set out her vision of a church community that would stand the test of time. This needed to be a community in which the statement of Christian Science would not become adulterated by the passage of time or even well-intentioned personal opinions. And it needed to be a community that would allow members to move out into the wider world.

In Science and Health, she referred to her withdrawal from most social connections by noting "how much time and toil are still required to establish the stately operations of Christian Science" (p. 464). She spent several hours each day in prayer and spiritual study. Much of her thought was given over to how the movement she had established would function when she was no longer at the helm.

About the author

Richard Nenneman, a former Editor in Chief of The Christian Science Monitor, is author of the books The New Birth of Christianity: Why Religion Persists in a Scientific Age (Harper San Francisco, 1992) and Persistent Pilgrim: The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Nebbandoon Press, 1997). In his preface to the latter book, Nenneman speaks of Mrs. Eddy's "growing sense of spiritual dominion," which enabled her to lead a global religious movement. Given his background, we asked Nenneman to contribute to this issue of the Sentinel, which focuses on what Mrs. Eddy described as her life-purpose—"to impress humanity with the genuine recognition of practical, operative Christian Science" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896).

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