Mary Baker Eddy (née Baker; July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader, author, and teacher who founded the Christian Science movement. Born in Bow, New Hampshire, she was the youngest of six children in a devout Congregationalist family. Throughout her life, she faced significant health challenges, including chronic invalidism, which influenced her spiritual journey. Her pivotal moment came in 1866 when, after a severe fall and critical illness, she claimed to have been healed solely through reading the Bible and spiritual understanding, leading her to develop the principles of Christian Science.
She articulated her beliefs in her seminal work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first published in 1875, which became the foundational textbook of the movement and has sold over ten million copies. In 1879, she founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, formally chartering it to promote what she described as a restoration of primitive Christianity with its lost element of healing. She also established the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in 1881 to teach her system, and later founded the Christian Science Publishing Society in 1898 to oversee publications.
Eddy played a central role in launching several influential publications, including The Christian Science Journal (1883), The Christian Science Sentinel (1883), and The Herald of Christian Science (1889). In 1908, she founded The Christian Science Monitor, an international newspaper that has since won seven Pulitzer Prizes. Her work profoundly impacted American religious thought and the role of women in religious leadership, particularly during a time when women were barred from voting and most religious pulpits.
Eddy was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and was named one of the 25 most significant religious figures for Americans in the 20th century by PBS in 1998. She also adopted a son, Ebenezer Foster Eddy, in 1888. She died in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, at the age of 89. Her legacy endures through the global network of Christian Science churches, publications, and the ongoing practice of spiritual healing based on her teachings.
Key Beliefs and How They Differ from Confessional Christianity
1. Beliefs about God and Reality:
- Mary Baker Eddy’s View: Eddy taught that God is an impersonal, infinite Mind, and that the true nature of reality is spiritual, not material. According to Christian Science, all that truly exists is the divine Mind, and what people perceive as physical reality, including sickness, pain, and even death, is an illusion or error of the human mind. Eddy rejected the traditional Christian understanding of God as a personal, relational being and instead taught that God is an abstract Principle or force.
- Confessional Christianity: Confessional Christianity teaches that God is a personal, sovereign, and transcendent being who created the physical universe and sustains it (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 45:5-7). The Westminster Confession of Faith affirms that God is not only infinite and eternal but also personal, having revealed Himself in Scripture as a triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Reformed theology emphasizes that God is intimately involved with His creation, upholding all things by His power (Hebrews 1:3).
2. Beliefs about Jesus Christ:
- Mary Baker Eddy’s View: Eddy distinguished between “Jesus” and the “Christ,” teaching that Jesus was merely a human who demonstrated the “Christ idea” or divine principle of God’s mind. She denied the deity of Jesus, His physical resurrection, and the traditional understanding of the atonement. According to Eddy, Jesus’ mission was to reveal humanity’s inherent spiritual nature and the illusionary nature of sin, sickness, and death, rather than to die as a substitute for sinners.
- Confessional Christianity: Reformed theology and confessional Christianity affirm that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the second person of the Trinity who took on human flesh (John 1:1, 14). The Bible teaches that Jesus’ death was a substitutionary atonement for sin, and His bodily resurrection is the cornerstone of Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Westminster Confession emphasizes that Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection were necessary to redeem humanity from sin and death, contrasting with Eddy’s denial of these essential doctrines.
3. Salvation and Healing:
- Mary Baker Eddy’s View: In Christian Science, salvation is achieved through the realization that sin, sickness, and death are illusions that can be overcome through spiritual understanding and right thinking. Eddy taught that as individuals grow in their understanding of divine Mind, they can experience healing and freedom from physical ailments. This view minimizes the concept of sin as rebellion against God and instead treats it as a misunderstanding or false belief.
- Confessional Christianity: Confessional Christianity teaches that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Bible presents sin as a real and serious offense against a holy God, and it emphasizes that salvation involves repentance, faith in Jesus’ atoning work, and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 3:23; Acts 2:38). The Westminster Confession of Faith rejects any teaching that denies the reality of sin or the necessity of Christ’s redemptive work for salvation.
4. The Role of Scripture:
- Mary Baker Eddy’s View: Eddy claimed that the Bible is a valuable but imperfect document, requiring her own writings in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to unlock its true, hidden meanings. She believed that her interpretations were divinely inspired and essential for understanding the spiritual truths that the Bible allegedly contains. As a result, Science and Health is treated as an authoritative text alongside the Bible within Christian Science.
- Confessional Christianity: Confessional Christianity upholds the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Westminster Confession of Faith teaches that Scripture is complete, sufficient, and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. Reformed theology rejects any claim that additional writings or revelations are necessary to understand or supplement God’s Word.
5. Denial of Physical Reality and Miraculous Healing:
- Mary Baker Eddy’s View: Eddy taught that sickness and physical ailments are illusions that can be corrected through spiritual understanding. Christian Science practitioners are trained to use “spiritual treatment” rather than medical care, believing that true healing comes from recognizing the non-reality of disease. This approach often leads followers to reject medical interventions, relying solely on prayer and metaphysical techniques for healing.
- Confessional Christianity: Confessional Christianity acknowledges that God can and does heal, but it does not teach that sickness is an illusion. Instead, the Bible presents sickness and suffering as part of the fallen world (Romans 8:20-23) and encourages believers to seek both prayer and medical treatment (James 5:14; Luke 10:34). The Westminster Confession emphasizes God’s sovereignty over all aspects of life, including health, and rejects the notion that physical reality is an illusion.
Summary of Differences
Mary Baker Eddy’s teachings on Christian Science promote a worldview that denies the reality of sin, sickness, and death, emphasizing mind over matter and spiritual enlightenment as the path to healing and salvation. Her teachings reinterpret Jesus, the atonement, and Scripture in ways that diverge sharply from the core doctrines of confessional Christianity.
In contrast, confessional Christianity upholds the personal nature of God, the deity and atoning work of Christ, the reality of sin, and the authority of Scripture as the ultimate guide for faith and life. Eddy’s teachings, while appealing to those who seek a metaphysical or mind-centered approach to spirituality, lack the biblical grounding, doctrinal clarity, and emphasis on the gospel that are central to Reformed theology and historic Christian orthodoxy.
