The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy: The Rise and Fall of Christian Science [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

The promotional copy on the dust jacket boldly claims that "Martin Gardner exposes the plagiarism that occurs in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy...." It is interesting to compare Gardner's treatment of the subject with other viewpoints.

Gardner states that Mrs. Eddy's religious teachings originated from the unpublished writings of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, a mesmeric healer: "Mrs. Eddy's reliance on the awesome power of divine mind to heal, all historians outside of the Christian Science church agree, sprang from the teachings of an uneducated, sincere but simple-minded New England quack doctor named Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866). The story of how his wild views led to the founding of Christian Science is complex, controversial, and fascinating." (pp. 31-32)

George Quimby, the only son of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, came to a different conclusion than Gardner on the subject of plagiarism: "As far as the book 'Science and Health,' is concerned, Mrs. Eddy had no access to father's MSS. [save 'Questions and Answers'] when she wrote it, but that she did have a very full knowledge of his ideas and beliefs is also true. The religion which she teaches certainly is hers, for which I cannot be too thankful; for I should be loath to go down to my grave feeling that my father was in any way connected with 'Christian Science.'"(1) Gardner declined to comment upon George Quimby's conclusions, which are well-discussed in many other works on this subject.

Another claim made in the promotional copy is that this book will prove that Mrs. Eddy had a "morphine addition." To support this conclusion, Gardner quotes liberally on this subject from the Calvin Frey diaries, which were first published in appendix A of the 1930 edition of Edwin Dakin's "Mrs. Eddy: The Biography of a Virginal Mind." It is indeed unfortunate that some other reviewers in this forum have come away with the impression that Mrs. Eddy had a "lifelong morphine addition" from reading this book. Edwin Dakin, who is one of the most critical biographers of Mrs. Eddy, concluded that "unless further evidence becomes available, however, it seems fairer to assume that Mrs. Eddy never became a drug 'addict' in the usual sense of that word, although there is overwhelming evidence that the drug was for her, particularly in her latter days, a useful and at times even necessary sedative."(2) Although Gardner freely quoted from Edwin Dakin's supporting evidence, he declined to comment upon (or quote) his conclusion.

Gardner paints a picture of Mrs. Eddy as being delusional: "During the last half of her life, Mrs. Eddy developed clear symptoms of paranoia. Not only did she have delusions of grandeur about her role as God's chosen instrument for a new religious revelation that would conquer the world, she also believed herself under never-ending attacks by...her enemies." (p. 83) During the last few years of her life, Mrs. Eddy was examined by a number of psychiatrists, including the eminent Dr. Alan McLane Hamilton, as a part of a court case to determine her competency. Gardner's conclusions about Mrs. Eddy's psychological makeup contradict those of Dr. Hamilton. Dr. Hamilton published the results of his month-long examination in the "New York Times." Anyone can read about his findings in favor of Mrs. Eddy's competency by researching the articles about the subject on microfilm at their local library.(3)

For anyone seeking a good biography about Mrs. Eddy that is not written by a Christian Scientist, I recommend "Mary Baker Eddy" [Reading, MA: Perseus, 1998] by Dr. Gillian Gill. She was granted access to the primary source documents about Mrs. Eddy in the archives of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. This gives her a great advantage of Gardner, who based his work on secondary sources already published: "I intended to write only one essay about Mrs. Eddy and her church, but after reading for the first time "Science and Health" and other writings by Mrs. Eddy, and some two dozen books about her and the history of Christian Science, my single chapter grew to several, and finally expanded into this book." (p. 10) In conclusion, this book is unbalanced. It is not a mature commentary on the subject.

Notes: (1) P. P. Quimby, "The Quimby Manuscripts," edited by Horatio W. Dresser (New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1921), p. 436. Quoted in E. Mary Ramsay, "Christian Science and Its Discoverer" (Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1935), p. 84. (2) Edwin Franden Dakin, "Mrs. Eddy: The Biography of a Virginal Mind," "Popular Edition" (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930), pp. 513-514n. 1. (3) See 'Dr. Alan McLane Hamilton Tells About His Visit to Mrs. Eddy,' "New York Times," 25 August 1907. See also 'Mrs. Eddy Sane and Wise,' "New York Times," 24 August 1907.

It's possible that Gardner could have used a better fact-checker at some points. Matters such as copyright dates of the church textbook are apparently wrong (at least according to one CS attorney I corresponded with).

In Gillian Gill's recent bio of Eddy, Gill claims that Gardner's book is "error-filled," but does not elaborate.

Of course, like all modern researchers, Gardner did not have access to the church archives, not even the restricted access enjoyed by Gill. So perhaps some of these problems can be forgiven.

Any objective reader who is interested in CS--even open-minded readers who don't know much about CS--will enjoy this book. CS readers no doubt will be offended by Gardner's light-hearted poke at Eddy and should stay away.