Discovery of Christian Science

Clifford P. Smith

How did Mrs. Eddy happen to discover Christian Science? Different inquirers have asked this question in almost the same words. The best answer is to be found in her published writings, but the main points from all sources can be given here.

Mrs. Eddy was born of devout parents, and was reared among devout people. From childhood she showed an exceptional interest in religious subjects. The development of this interest was aided by her parents, by her pastors, and by other ministers whom her parents frequently entertained. As a girl and young woman, she often discussed religious topics with her pastors and other ministers, exhibiting a comprehension and an independence which they regarded as remarkable. One of her pastors, who also was her tutor for six or seven years (Reverend Enoch Corser, of Tilton, New Hampshire), predicted for Mary Baker a great future, and spoke of her as "an intellectual and spiritual genius."

The beginning of Mrs. Eddy's interest in religious or spiritual healing can be traced to an incident which occurred at Bow, New Hampshire, when she was twelve years old, immediately before her first application for membership in the Congregational Church. While she had a fever, her mother commended prayer to God. Then, as Mrs. Eddy has related on page 13 of "Retrospection and Introspection," "I prayed; and a soft glow of ineffable joy came over me. The fever was gone, and I rose and dressed myself, in a normal condition of health."

To a similar incident which occurred at Lynn, Massachusetts, thirty-three years later, Mrs. Eddy attributed a closer connection with her discovery of Christian Science. Then she fell on an icy street and was injured severely. Carried to a near-by residence, she was attended by a physician. The next day she was taken to her home "in a very critical condition," as a local newspaper reported. On the third day after this accident, while still suffering from the injury, she asked for her Bible and opened it so that she read an account of Christian healing (Matthew 9:2), and again Mrs. Eddy immediately felt the effect of divine power. Not completely healed in this moment from frail health plus this injury, she received wonderful relief then, together with a glimpse of what she later developed as Christian Science.

Important as this incident was, it cannot be detached from the experiences of many years which included experiment, observation, and study. Mrs. Eddy has said, "During twenty years prior to my discovery I had been trying to trace all physical effects to a mental cause; and in the latter part of 1866 I gained the scientific certainty that all causation was Mind, and every effect a mental phenomenon" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 24). The healing just related occurred in February of that year. Then followed three years of devoted and intensive study leading to the culmination of her discovery. Referring to this period, Mrs. Eddy has written: "I won my way to absolute conclusions through divine revelation, reason, and demonstration. The revelation of Truth in the understanding came to me gradually and apparently through divine power" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 109). In brief statement, this is how Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science.

To be published soon, a book by the Reverend Lyman P. Powell will add considerably to the public's knowledge of Mrs. Eddy. Interesting to Christian Scientists, this book will be especially informative and interesting to other people—to all who would appreciate a disinterested view of its subject. An Episcopal clergyman, Dr. Powell has observed Christian Science for many years in a fair and friendly way. From time to time, he has spoken or written on different topics connected with this Science, and has collected material for further writing. Now, having had access to the biographical data in the files of The Mother Church, he has become better informed about Mrs. Eddy than any other person who is not affiliated with her church. Thus equipped, he has endeavored to paint a realistic portrait of her. And those who have seen this picture in type feel that the author has succeeded admirably. Clifford P. Smith

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