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Editorial Comments About
Mary Baker Eddy

 

"Whatever may be the prevailing opinion as to the tenets of her faith and its lasting benefit to the great cause of religion, none can deny that Mrs. Eddy was a remarkable personality, one of the great characters which stand out in bold relief in the history of the nineteenth century in spiritual affairs. Long after many who have won renown in literature, in art, in social and political advancement shall be forgotten with the passing years, her name will live as the Founder of a great religious cult which has taken firm hold of the souls and consciences of millions of the human race and has extended to the farthest limits of civilization. To her genius, her inspiration, her mental and spiritual powers alone the world owes the great religious movement of Christian Science. From humble origin it has risen in the short space of thirty years to include in its devotees some of the most intellectual and wealthiest among the English-speaking people. Her leadership was accepted without qualification or rivalry, and most graciously she has exercised the control and spiritual direction so freely accorded to her. She has brought to herself the power of concentration and a devotion which alone would have marked her as a character of eminence.

 

"The record of Christian Science has been phenomenal. What a rise and progress it has had! No other faith in the world's history, as far as human annals go, has risen and extended so rapidly, so quietly, so persistently. The cause projected by her, nourished patiently and almost despondingly amid the misgivings of friends and reproaches of enemies, triumphed in the moment of despair. It was an individual triumph. It showed the implicit confidence in the germs of truth at the base of her belief, and the stability of her faith. The fact that the cause has extended so far that it has drawn so many adherents, that her precepts and sayings are regarded as an inspiration to her followers, is an acknowledgment of her great individuality."

 

Boston Courier, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, January 7, 1911

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         The deep sorrow felt by Christian Scientists over the loss of their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, will be shared by people of broad sympathies outside that church who regret the passing of any notable figure. The impulse toward higher standards of conduct in the life which had its birth within her mind will continue to live and influence humanity.

         Within a generation Mrs. Eddy founded and established a sect and lived to see her teachings accepted by many peoples scattered throughout the entire world. The ethical part of her faith, pointing to rules for every-day conduct, has found general favor, and it is chiefly the therapeutic side of her teachings that has aroused criticism. Whatever one's view on religion may be, few will care to deny that Mrs. Eddy's influence has been directed toward the betterment of those she intimately touched. It must have been singularly gratifying in the closing days of her life to realize how widely her belief has been adopted, for few men and still fewer women live, as did Mrs. Eddy, to see their fullest hopes realized. This is not an appropriate time to set an estimate upon her right to enduring fame, which can better be judged by posterity, but the present-day testimony must be one of respect for a woman of remarkable mind and of unusual ability, who, after a long and active life, spent her closing years at peace with the world. She has passed on, leaving behind her an institution that she created.

 

Boston Globe, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         Christian Science is a solace, a support, and an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of human creatures. To them it is more precious than their daily bread. In its comforting power to its followers it is entitled to the world's reverence; and therefore the name of its Founder must claim the world's respect.

         Happily Mary Baker Eddy lived long enough to see the sneer give place to admiration. The new religion, or philosophy, or "Science," was compelled to make its stand in a nation much given to scoffing and in an age of free debate. That it has survived and flourished, that its Founder overcame all evil report, must be attributed to the deep spiritual effectiveness of the personality and the absolute answer of the faith to the needs of its devotees. No one now doubts that Mrs. Eddy sincerely believed in her mission to mankind. The fair-minded world acknowledges that she possessed a rare endowment of inward vision and external influence, and that she sought to bless her fellow-beings with her "Science" of absolute health. In that bestowal, her labor was a "marvelous work and a wonder." And through unnumbered generations and by countless millions of devotees she will be revered as the most inspired woman of all time.

         There is always a possibility of schism in a church when it comes to its first loss of leadership. But in the case of the Christian Science cult such division is not now probable. The creed and practice have been settled within well-defined lines; the membership is an intelligent democracy; and not even ambitious or avaricious rivalries would be able to disintegrate the fabric. From the days of popular "exposure" and ridicule, Christian Science has moved quietly and efficiently onward to its present high station. It has brought peace to many tempest-worn lives; it has given health to many pain-racked bodies; it has conferred content upon many tortured minds; it has established faith and cheerfulness, where formerly was despair of this world and doubt of the hereafter. For all the beauty and usefulness which it has given to a million lives, the faith is to be revered and the name of its Founder is to be held in grateful remembrance.

 

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado), quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         The death of Mary Baker Eddy well might serve as inspiration for a new beatitude: Blessed are they who need no monument; their names are graven on many hearts. Opinions may differ as to adequacy of the Christian Science faith to answer the full requirements of the human soul; but few deny that to hundreds of thousands of devoted followers the teachings of Mrs. Eddy have been a hope and inspiration.

         Wisely anticipating the time when she could be with her followers only in spirit, she recently had withdrawn herself as far as possible from the details of church management. Consequently, the organization that she has perfected will continue to perform its functions. Her life-work was well completed and will endure.

 

Chicago Journal, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         No other woman in this age or even in the history of the world has ever accomplished such a beneficent work for humanity as the dearly loved Leader of the Christian Science movement. Mrs. Eddy will rank in history as one of the world's greatest women; as one of the world's greatest benefactors. The growth of the Christian Science church has been phenomenal, and today there are hundreds of thousands of her followers in every portion of the world who can testify to the wonderful good brought to them through the study of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy's lifework was to restore to humanity primitive Christianity, with its saving power, here and now.

         Mrs. Eddy's mission is fulfilled. The work she began will go steadily forward. The passing of the loved Christian Science Leader will only serve to unify the faithful followers, and they will strive the more earnestly to carry forward the work of the great church that she founded. . . . And she will ever live in the hearts of her loving students as their revered Leader.

 

Sawtelle (California) Veteran-Enterprise, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, January 7, 1911



         Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy may properly be estimated as one of the most remarkable women of the age. As the Founder of a new religious cult; as the projector of what she believed was the true Science of Christianity; as the builder of a great church with ramifications reaching all over the nation and beyond its borders, she has long stood out as a bright and shining target for the arrows of vituperation, of ridicule, of scorn, of implacable hostility, of the bitterest of cynicism and the harshest of jeers. It was because she survived these things; because the storm and tempest which beat upon her availed not to drive her from the doctrines for which she stood; because amid the stress of almost superhuman trial, and the fierce avalanche of opposing arguments, she serenely held safe poise of mind, and fealty to conviction, and fidelity to purpose, that she should be accounted great. Though everything in which she believed and which she taught should hereafter fall and crumble beneath the assaults of logic and research and demonstration; though with her death should also be witnessed the decadence and the early death of Christian Science, — things which we by no means predict, — yet Mrs. Eddy's place in history would be secure as one who achieved to tremendous purpose; who wrought mighty results; who was revered by vast hosts of intelligent, God-fearing men and women and children as the mighty mistress of a cause that was noble in objective and good in inspiration; that accomplished much in affording relief from human ills and the peace of mind for those who craved and needed helpful ministration.

         It is not necessary to believe in Mind-healing as Mrs. Eddy believed in it, to accord her this distinction. It is not necessary to give intellectual acceptance to the creed of her church, to concede that Mrs. Eddy nobly lived and worked and aspired — and that she deserves to be ranked among the most striking, the most interesting, and the strongest figures that ever graced and distinguished the annals of her sex.

 

Lynchburg (Virginia) News, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         The United States has lost, in the death of Mary Baker Eddy, one of the truly remarkable characters of the century. That in this practical age the beliefs and theories of Mrs. Eddy interested and held nearly a million people sincere and devoted to their Leader, and that this fidelity continued year after year with increasing force, demonstrates not only that Mrs. Eddy was a woman of superior intellect, but that she was one of innate goodness to have stood the test of time. Mrs. Eddy's accomplishment is remarkable in that it was attained without evangelizing or proselytizing. Her church might be called a natural growth, and it grew with the dignity which characterized the woman herself. It had chiefly to contend with ridicule of the practical class, whose materialistic nature could not and would not accept the teaching of the woman. Some responsive chord her teaching certainly found in the public mind, and nothing has ever shown that her influence was other than good. Even if Mrs. Eddy accomplished nothing more, she effected in her followers a mental harmony which in this busy land, with its tendencies to discord, was in itselfto those who needed ita benison.

         Mrs. Eddy's disinterestedness stands out prominently. She is free from the accusation of promoting her own worldly affairs at the expense of her zealots. The fruits of her years of labor revert to the organization she planned and perfected. Mrs. Eddy was the most striking example the century has had of the power of repose; hers was not a church militant and her church was the antithesis of that of the evangelical whirling dervish whose creed is as transient as it is tempestuous. From all walks of life, high and low, Mrs. Eddy recruited her army of followers; hers was no appeal to any particular class, nor to any particular nationality, and in point of universality in America the sect was in a class by itself. Few will advance the theory that Mrs. Eddy has not left the world better than she found it.

 

Butte (Montana) Evening News, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
The creed which Mrs. Eddy built in the minds or hearts of her multitude of disciples has one aspect or incident which seems to us to deserve universal recognition. It is apart from any question concerning the theology, the pathology, the psychology of her doctrines, and apart even from the facts of her personal career.

         We are thinking of the astonishing influence she exerted in thousands of homes for the amelioration of life and manners in some of the details of family and social intercourse. She taught cheerfulness of spirit, and observation encourages the belief that the great majority of her followers either became more cheerful, both subjectively and as consistent examples to those around them, or with more or less success simulated a modification of temperament in that respect, which amounts in practice to nearly the same thing. She taught charity in judging the deeds and motives of another — who does not know of more than one case in his own circle of acquaintance where apparently hopeless vinegar has become oil because of her? She went so far as to devise a vocabulary of euphemism, which proceeds in the right direction, no matter how you may regard some of its extreme manifestations; for there are many habitual and conventional asperities of expression which serve beyond doubt no better purpose than to intensify the sentiments they denote.

         It may be said that this is nothing more than an insistent application of principles common to all the forms of the Christian faith. Granting that, is it any the less the duty of candor to recognize the effort and results and to acknowledge the service?

 

New York Morning Sun, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
Not Christian Science alone, but people of all faiths and no faith, join in tributes to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, one of the most remarkable women the world has produced. What the doctrinal teachings of Christian Science are, we do not know; we do not know wherein its interpretation of the Bible differs from that of the evangelical churches. We do not understand the Principle underlying its healing; we cannot, to our own satisfaction, differentiate between the subconscious and the divine Mind. But this is known to all, that Christ gave to his disciples power "to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease," and this power was not limited to the twelve.

         Moreover, its teachings are accepted, not by cranks and faddists, not by those always seeking something new, but by the educated, the cultured, the thoughtful, and the student. Whatever its secret may be, it has produced a wonderful faith, a marvelous spirit that shows in a power of self-command, of self-denial, of sympathy, and helpfulness that is truly Christian. It has brought a new power into the world, which has gained its way against the fiercest and most stubborn prejudice, against ridicule, scorn, and almost ostracism, until it has compelled recognition and respect, with the acknowledgment of its permanency. Today, while millions profess open allegiance to Christian Science, many more express a sympathetic interest in it. From a mysterious, sort of uncanny, and somewhat dangerous cult, allied with the black art, to be approached only by those insulated in a dread and suspicion, it has taken its place as a faith and as a church.

         Mrs. Eddy's dominance has also been resented. She has been misinterpreted, maligned, and persecuted. Volumes have been written against her. Her power as an executive, her administrative ability, and her gift of organization were as wonderful as the faith she founded. Yet that she built her structure on broad, sound, permanent administrative principles, instead of founding a house of cards on shifting sands, has been the cause of most of the attacks personal to her. In this, however, her experience was no different from that of any other great and strong personality in the world's history, and few have left to the world a greater heritage.

 

News Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
With the death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy there passes from this world's activities one of the most remarkable women of her time. Whatever the degree of faith or unfaith with which the individual may look upon what she taught and what was accomplished by or through her teachings and her influence, the amazing and well-nigh miraculous achievement set down to her account cannot but impress the imagination and arouse our profound consideration. She has builded in her own lifetime a great religious institution, a faith widespread and held by hundreds of thousands of believers. And not only is the number of her following notable, but likewise its character. Mrs. Eddy has not swept into her church myriads of the unthinking and uneducated. On the contrary, her teachings have appealed to the highest classes, and the level of the character and intelligence of the Christian Scientists is everywhere high.

         As to the right value of Mrs. Eddy's message, the permanence, importance, and extent of the church she founded, no contemporary estimate or prediction is worth much. A hundred years from now it will be easier and safer to evaluate her teachings, the worth of the work she did, and her own place among the men and women who have risen to lead and influence powerfully and extensively the lives, the thought, and the spirit of their fellowmen.

 

Chicago Tribune, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
Of the many women who have led religious movements in modern times, none attracted more attention or established a wider influence than Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, who died at her home near Boston on Saturday night. Mrs. Eddy's followers or fellow-believers were not generally of the class that is subject to emotional excitement. They were largely of superior intelligence, readers, and always ready and able to defend the doctrines they accepted. They maintain in Boston a daily paper, which in its breadth of views and ability to discuss large questions has few superiors in America. The Christian Science people have been scoffed at and laughed at, and some of them, going to extremes, have suffered harder fortune. Their story, like the story of many another religious movement, may, more than anything else, mean that the human heart longs for the preaching of faith and turns to whoever can preach it with earnestness and sincerity.

 

Montreal Gazette, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
Whatever may be the opinion of the world at large upon the doctrines inculcated by the church of which she was the Founder, it is a question whether Mary Baker Eddy in the building up of this organization of half a million fervently loyal adherents has not outdone the achievement of any other woman who ever lived. There has been many a woman who "led her soul, her cause, her clan" to the accomplishment of a great humanitarian undertaking — who notably contributed to the promotion of temperance, to the amelioration of the lot of slaves or prisoners, to the effectiveness of missionary labor in the domestic or the foreign field, or to the alleviatory ministration to invalids in hospitals in wartime or in times of peace. The world has quite recently been called upon to mourn the passing of two such women — Florence Nightingale and Julia Ward Howe, both of whom were of approximately the age of Mrs. Eddy when they obeyed the summons of the invisible. But Mrs. Eddy was more than philanthropist and humanitarian. To create such a church and to inspire a following so numerous and so devoted, Mrs. Eddy must have been a woman of altogether extraordinary personal endowments.

 

Philadelphia Public Ledger, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
The death of Mary Baker Eddy removes from earth one of the most remarkable characters of history. In a full and consecrated life of nearly ninety years she accomplished two things, either of which would have crowned her with immortality. The American businessman is not only overworked but overwrought and overworried. His practical training affords him no philosophy. His one need is the serenity and relaxation of mental rest. He needs a mental anchorage that at the same time sustains and buoys, but across the anchor which he throws out into the unknown seas must be written "absolute certainty." There must be no questionings.

         Christian Science affords its believers just that. Its cardinal doctrines of the final supremacy of eternal good and the swift doom of imagined evil are doctrines which, put into practice, confer a calm serenity and unshakable confidence that is only good. Christian Science is a practical, inspiring religion. It was born of a woman, and it has been baptized in the tears of grateful millions. In its promulgation Mary Baker Eddy has answered the cry of thousands of tired hearts. In this, if in nothing else, she has been a great benefactor to the world.

         Her second great achievement has been the organization of a mighty church in a single lifetime. She accomplished in one generation that which followed only centuries after every other great religious leader. No other founder of a great church ever lived to see his work complete. Neither Confucius, Gautama, or St Augustine ever beheld the fruit of his teachings materialize as Mary Baker Eddy did. Few will mourn the death of Mary Baker Eddy as other deaths are mourned. Her own doctrines preclude that. Moreover, her personality was something apart, always above and apart, and but little known and understood. But, whatever the verdict of the ages shall be, Mary Baker Eddy today sits enthroned in the hearts of thousands and thousands of admiring followers, her remarkable accomplishments an epitome of one of the most extraordinary and potent personalities the world has ever known.

 

Inland Herald, Spokane, Washington, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         Whether one agrees or disagrees with the Christian Science faith in its concept and practice, few, we think, will deny to the Founder of that church the laurels of greatness and the right to be called "a wonderful woman."

         Study the story of her life as written by friend or foe, the impartial pose toward her seems to have been a very difficult one to maintain, and every careful and thoughtful reader must be impressed with what Mrs. Eddy accomplished in her old age, for the dawning of her success was not much more than twenty-five years ago, and she was eighty-nine when she died. The permanence or brevity of the spiritual empire she created, the extent of her influence upon modern thought and life, will be justly valued soon by time, the great appraiser. Whatever that verdict may be, the memory of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy will long be cherished in Concord, the city which by her and through her has been so much beautified and benefited.

 

Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         The death of Mrs. Eddy is mourned by a million of her followers. We are too near in time to measure in full the meaning or the value of her work, but the force of her personality and the influence of her teachings have been established permanently beyond all question. No more remarkable woman has been born in this country and none whose work is more certain to live after her. Christians and scientists may differ as to her teachings, but in the minds and hearts of thousands they have won and kept a place and power that have worked mightily in the molding of religious thought.

 

Times (Louisville, Kentucky) quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
The death of Mrs. Eddy marks the passing of a most remarkable figure in the religious world. Wielding a wonderful influence over a great army, and it was undoubtedly an influence for good, it being reflected in the lives of thousands of her followers, she needed no brass bands to make the world conscious of her presence. While many there are who could not fathom the depths of Mrs. Eddy's teachings, few have denied her sincerity. Her writings bear the imprint of the close student of God and man. Her gospel was largely one of sunshine and mental uplift. Of her home life we know but little, but from all accounts it was an exemplary one.

         Mrs. Eddy was also a woman of rare moral courage when we consider that forty years ago she founded a creed at total variance with all established beliefs. The doctrines she enunciated at that time had no other adherent than herself. The scorn and ridicule which greeted her first book has given place to a widespread interest, and a great portion of humanity today believes that the pill and potion are not essential to the cure of disease.

 

The Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         The passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy brings to a close a life story that is one of the most wonderful that this country of unlimited possibilities has to show. Out of nothing that is physical, no great fortune, no industrial invention, no inherited opportunity, Mrs. Eddy built up a great career. It is the greater because its greatness was not for herself but for the church which she founded. She took from the Bible one of the fundamental commands which modern Christianity had overlooked, the solemn injunction to "heal the sick." This, with an inspiration that burned steady and serene for long years, she put into a faith and a creed that has brought happiness and health and the active religious spirit to thousands upon thousands of her fellow-beings.

         This accomplishment cannot be denied her, even by those to whom Christian Science is most distasteful. Its proof lies first in the growth and solid strength of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and secondly in the character and bearing of the members of that church. The stately church buildings in this city and its suburbs, and the constant additions to their number, give concrete evidence of this marvelous development. But more significant than the church buildings, more meaningful than the numeral strength of the church, is the character of its congregations. Without humbug or sentimentalism, any outsider can and must admit that Christian Science people are good people. They not only believe in their church and attend its meetings with a passionate faithfulness that other churches envy, but they also carry their faith with them into their daily lives. By its very nature they have to. For if Christian Science means anything to any man or woman, it must mean everything.

         It is this inherent strength in the fundamental idea of Mrs. Eddy's church that will hold it together even after her hand has been removed from its direction. The faith will still live. Only by a full realization of this fact can the outside world gain any comprehension of the calm exaltation of spirit with which Christian Scientists will receive the tidings that the earthly career of their Leader has closed. Only in this way it can it understand dimly their fine and vivid belief that "there is no death" in the old pagan sense of that solemn word.

 

Chicago Post, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         The death of the Founder of Christian Science removes from the world one of the most remarkable women of all time. Her career commands admiration, no matter what opinion may be held of her teachings. Mrs. Eddy founded a religious sect that during her lifetime multiplied its proselytes till it has become a great force in American life. She retained her position as sole Leader, and was looked up to by her followers as the sole source of inspiration. Virile and vigorous, she was a natural commander, a natural organizer, a woman who displayed intellectual qualities of the highest order. The work that Mrs. Eddy has done will remain as her monument. Christian Science will not perish with the death of its Founder. It has assumed proportions that assure permanency.

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         One need not be a subscriber to or even a sympathizer with the creed of Christian Science to recognize its Founder, Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, as a remarkable and achieving figure of history. Founders of religions and creeds there have been in plenty, but not in our day, at least, has there risen one to build so staunch and so phenomenally an increasing following as that which pays tribute to Mrs. Eddy as its originator and Leader.

         When all is said and done, it remains that this woman taught and achieved in large measure that conquest of the flesh by the Spirit that is all too sadly needed in an age engrossed with the lure of substance. She disseminated happiness and cheerfulness among men and women, inspired hopefulness to those that were sick of heart and gave many a battle-weary spirit courage to face once more in the direction of the dawn.

         By whatever term it be described, the accomplishment stands for the furtherance of good and the encouragement of uplift. And, on the personal side, there are elements of greatness in a woman who could win and so persistently hold the love and absolute confidence of a following mounting into the many thousands.

 

Atlanta (Georgia) Constitution, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
To the long list of women who have been leaders in religious movements of the world, death has added the name of Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of the Christian Science church in America. Born in a farmhouse overlooking the beautiful Merrimac valley, she is described as having been "a very delicate and a very religious little girl." Yet that delicate little girl was destined to become the Founder of a sect which in her own country alone has well on to one hundred thousand communicants, and that has spread all over the world.

         There has been a tendency to joke about the teachings of this woman, but a movement that has spread as has Christian Science, including in its ranks men who are leaders in all walks of life, must be viewed as of importance. Particularly is this so when it is considered that it has all been brought to pass in a period of thirty-five years, and that during all of that period the teachings have been criticized and in many quarters strongly denounced.

         The world has seen the rise and fall of many new religious movements, but it does not seem as if a better test has ever been devised by man than that which Gamaliel proposed nearly nineteen hundred years ago, when Christianity was first on trial: "If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it."

 

London (Ontario) Free Press, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, February 11, 1911



        
Mrs. Eddy has been one of the world's greatest benefactors. Her followers will say more than that, perhaps, but there is no reason why even her enemies should say less. Regardless of differences of faith or philosophy, the world must recognize, in her work, a vast contribution to human happiness. Certain it is that Mrs. Eddy found the world full of doubt and despondency, and gave it a larger measure of brightness and hope. She taught the weak that they need not be weak, the sick that they might be well, the suffering that they had it within themselves to end their wretchedness. Those who were ailing, physically or mentally were enabled, as she herself had been, to become strong in soul and body. Neurasthenia and melancholy yielded to the gospel of optimism.

         Call it what you will, it is a fact that Christian Scientists, as a class, are healthy, hopeful, happy, and prosperous. And Christian Science modes of thought have permeated the thinking of the world, outside the pale of the church. It is a great thing to be a teacher when the teaching bears such fruit. And as Mrs. Eddy, full of years, goes to her rest, the world is full of gratitude for the good she has done.

 

Boston Traveler, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
In the death of Mary Baker Eddy the world has lost a wonderful woman, one whose life's work will go down in church history as the equal of the Wesleys, Calvin, Luther, and others of like prominence in the promulgation and foundation of theological teachings and ethics. As in the case with these others, thousands of men and women the world over bless the memory of Mrs. Eddy for the countless benefits brought into their lives by her teachings. It makes little difference by what name it is called, any creed or ethical doctrine which makes the ordinary human being more content and happy in this life, more worthy to live it, and inspired with a confidence and hope of that which is beyond, is a precious blessing to mankind, and one whose benefits cannot be calculated by human measure. Such a blessing the deceased head of the Christian Science church has conferred upon innumerable human beings, and with a confidence and gratefulness born of personal experience and benefits, these will hold her and her teachings in reverential memory forever and anon.

 

Rutherford (New Jersey) Republican, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 31, 1910



        
Mary Baker Eddy, who died on Saturday night at a ripe old age, was a woman who had made her mark upon the time in which she lived. It is as idle as it is contemptible to refuse to recognize facts, and the church which she founded is a substantial fact indeed, in whatever light it may be viewed. That a woman at middle life should have gathered about her a little band of pupils and should have so impressed her teachings upon them that they became her devoted disciples, that she should have lived to see that little company increase and expand until it became a religious organization counting nearly a thousand churches and more than eighty-five thousand members in this country alone, and with branches in most of the countries of the world, is a fact which may well attract the interest and hold the attention of any one who desires to be well informed and who professes to hold an open mind.

         It is a development which must be admitted to be the more remarkable because it came in a period of the most notable discoveries in medical science. At the same time that the effect of certain germs upon the physical organization was beginning to be understood, Mrs. Eddy and her followers boldly and persistently maintained that disease is more of the mind than of the body. Nor were those followers gathered only from among the ignorant and the credulous. The character of the members of Christian Science churches is such that ridicule may be said to have become itself ridiculous, and it has well-nigh ceased.

 

Manchester (New Hampshire) Union, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



         It is the testimony of Holy Writ that love is stronger than death, and at this hour Christian Scientists are proving the truth of the inspired saying. Their beloved and revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has left the earthly scene of her untiring activity in the service of God and humanity, and in the solemn hush which follows their human sense of loss they realize as never before the depths of their love for this noble and true-hearted woman whose life of devotion to Truth has meant so much to unnumbered thousands of lives that were in deepest darkness until the light of Christian Science dawned upon them. Poorly indeed would they prove their understanding of her teachings did they at this hour yield to any unreasoning sense of sorrow. Mrs. Eddy has ever insisted that God, not man, is "the center and circumference of being," the Principle and Life of all, and to this eternal fact they will cling until the goal of spiritual being is reached, and the deathless life proved by Christ Jesus is attained. Mrs. Eddy's discovery of the healing and saving power of divine Truth was brought to a densely materialistic age, but in spite of this it has aroused mankind to lay hold upon all that the Bible promises. Today, after nearly half a century of arduous and unselfish toil on her part, the Scriptures are a mighty, life-giving power to multitudes who before the coming of Christian Science knew them only as the letter that killeth.

         With the temperament of a seer, Mrs. Eddy has always chosen to be alone with God in pondering the solution of the great problems of being, and as a result of her communing with the Mind that governs the universe she has shown the utmost wisdom in directing the activities of the rapidly extending Christian Science movement, its success being due to her wonderful ability so to present the truth as to inspire those about her with something of her own faith in God and her sublime courage in working for the triumph of good over evil in every phase of human experience. Her followers can now do no less than defend the heritage of truth which she has left them, until it sets all men free.

         Mrs. Eddy has glorified the teachings of Christ Jesus in making them a living power today as truly as nineteen hundred years ago, and to her belongs his words of commendation: "Well done, good and faithful servant …. enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

 

"A Tribute" by Annie M. Knott
The Christian Science Monitor
Quoted in Editorial Comments on the Life and Work
of Mary Baker Eddy
, pp. 127-128



        
The passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy brings to a close a life story that is one of the most wonderful that this country of unlimited possibilities has to show. Out of nothing that is physical, no great fortune, no industrial invention, no inherited opportunity, Mrs. Eddy built up a great career. It is the greater because its greatness was not for herself but for the church which she founded. She took from the Bible one of the fundamental commands which modern Christianity had overlooked, the solemn injunction to "heal the sick." This, with an inspiration that burned steady and serene for long years, she put into a faith and a creed that has brought happiness and health and the active religious spirit to thousands upon thousands of her fellow-beings.

         This accomplishment cannot be denied her, even by those to whom Christian Science is most distasteful. Its proof lies first in the growth and solid strength of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and secondly in the character and bearing of the members of that church. The stately church buildings in this city and its suburbs, and the constant additions to their number, give concrete evidence of this marvelous development. But more significant than the church buildings, more meaningful than the numerical strength of the church, is the character of its congregations. Without humbug or sentimentalism, any outsider can and must admit that Christian Science people are good people. They not only believe in their church and attend its meetings with a passionate faithfulness that other churches envy, but they also carry their faith with them into their daily lives. By its very nature they have to. For if Christian Science means anything to any man or woman, it must mean everything.

         It is this inherent strength in the fundamental idea of Mrs. Eddy's church that will hold it together even after her hand has been removed from its direction. The faith will still live. Only by a full realization of this fact can the outside world gain any comprehension of the calm exaltation of spirit with which Christian Scientists will receive the tidings that the earthly career of their Leader has closed. Only in this way can it understand dimly their fine and vivid belief that "there is no death" in the old pagan sense of that solemn word.

 

Chicago Post, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910



        
In the passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder and Leader of the Church of Christ, Scientist, this world has lost one of the most wonderful women it has ever known. Over two score years ago she discovered what she believed was the real religion taught in the Bible. Her ideas were ridiculed and attacked on every side. But she was not disheartened. She met all attacks, all opposition, calmly, bravely, as one who had the true courage of her convictions, and persevered. Little by little others came to believe as she did, and today the Christian Science movement has spread all over the world and has millions of faithful adherents, who daily thank God for His goodness, and give expression of their gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for her work in opening the door of this religion to them.

         Although there are millions who believe in Christian Science, there are more millions who do not, but even the most bitter enemies must admit that Christian Science has done much to relieve suffering, and has brought health, happiness, and peace to hundreds of thousands who were ill, physically, morally, spiritually. Mrs. Eddy was a brilliant woman, a brave woman, and the world has been made better by her presence. Could she speak today, in the flesh, it seems as if she might fittingly say, as did Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

 

Los Angeles Record, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 31, 1910



        
The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy removes from the living one of the most remarkable women of the centuries. However people may differ about the doctrines she taught, however diverse human opinion may be as to her claims and her writings, whatever may be the final judgment of an intelligent Christian world concerning Christian Science, all must admit that she was a transcendent character. No other woman in modern times has ever reached anything like Mrs. Eddy's heights in leadership, in organization, and in enduring fame.

         The church Mrs. Eddy founded but a few years ago already has a membership in this country of probably one hundred thousand, made up not of ignorant, credulous people, not of those who are easily duped, who are moved by prejudice and passion, but more largely than the average denominational church, of thoughtful people, educated people, intelligent and cultured people, drawn largely from the leading Protestant Christian churches throughout the world, a unique religious body unlike any other in history and yet holding to certain fundamental truths which people of all religious beliefs admit, a religious body having some of the finest edifices erected in modern times. Mrs. Eddy did not live in vain. The world has been made and will still be made the better for her having lived, and she has left an impress world-wide that will go down the centuries yet unborn.

 

Sandusky (Ohio) Register, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 24, 1910



         In the passing of Mary Baker Eddy there was removed from earthly existence the most beloved woman in history. The good citizenship will applaud the efforts of any one who helps humanity to a more correct life, no matter through what channel of religion. Therefore it would seem but the insincere who would fail to say aught but good of this noble woman. She faced the world, with its harsh criticism and ridicule, alone, with only her God as a protection. For years she stood with her faith unshaken by that which would have quailed the stoutest heart. First dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands were appealed to by her religion and found relief from many worries of life, until today Christian Science reaches around the world and to its farthest corners.

         In the beginning Mrs. Eddy said steadfastly, "God is my life:" her last earthly message was, "God is my life."

 

Evening Index, San Bernardino, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 31, 1910



        
In some respects, at least, Mrs. [Mary Baker] Eddy seems, from the perspective of today, one of the world's great women. It is possible that she will some day be generally accepted as the world's greatest woman. She was the "Discoverer" of a religion and the Founder of a church. It is a religion that seems to make a universal appeal, in that it is accepted by men and women of all races, creeds, and conditions, and so it is a church that gives promise of enduring permanence. Philosophically it rests on the doctrine of pure idealism, morally on the gospel of love. A religion resting on such foundations, and satisfying, as it has from its inception, some of the purest souls and clearest minds of the present civilization, should travel far through the generations.

         There can be general agreement as to the rare qualities of heart and mind and personality of Mrs. Eddy, the Founder if Christian Science. Like Tolstoi, she is one of the unique figures of universal history.

 

World Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 31, 1910



        
Mrs. Eddy's death is the world event of a day because her life is a world event of the age. The verdict as to her place in literature, or philosophy, or theology, or medicine is unimportant. The verdict as to her place in the life-story of the world is stupendous; it "passeth all understanding." Now that she has gone the world will speculate upon the effect of her departure and will reconsider and gently qualify many of the harsh, unfair sentences it passed upon her. The profound scholarship, for illustration, that had penetrated the depths of the labyrinth of human knowledge may be accorded belated recognition. Men of letters may apprehend it to be their duty to read the book which in the artistry of its proportion, the felicity of its expression, the puissance of its logic, its rare grammatical purity, the splendor of its visions, and the sweetness of its message is, in simple truth, a book of books.

         And as men of letters may do honor to her scholarship, so philosophy may lay aside its pride and its intolerance and pay homage to a service that retrieved contentment from the world's lost arts. So, too, may theology, grim and resentful, address in a spirit of fellowship, one other of "the wondrous names of God." And who shall say but medicine, grappling resolutely but hopelessly with its adversary, may ultimately accept this school of healing as an ally?

         As a Leader, a teacher, and evangel that sought strange, independent channels for her energies, Mrs. Eddy is held in reverence and affectionate esteem by the army of a million recruited from all the ranks of life. And in the assurance she has brought to doubt, the hope with which she has routed despair, the strength that has been given to weakness, the courage that has supplanted cowardice, the health that has banished wretchedness, the glory of the everlasting day into which she has marshaled the wanderers in night's terror — thus, in the grandeur and the permanence and the mercy of her works, she stands justified. And by these tokens and imperishable signs the voice of a million reiterates, "There is no death."

 

Joplin (Missouri) Daily Globe quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 31, 1910



        
History is full of the tales of women whose influence has been a power in the affairs of men. But, strange as it may seem, by far the greatest number of those who have risen on the written pages of history attained their power through charms of person and through their influence with men of power. But the leading woman of her time, and among the greatest in history, rose to her high place through the power of that which is most eternal in mankind — thought.

         Mrs. Eddy was not born to power, nor did she seek the influence of those who were so born. By the force of the thought that she expressed and lived has she attained the high place she holds today, and by its force will she live. No matter what individuals may think of the system of thought that bears her name, it is an acknowledged power for good among mankind, and thousands have found comfort and relief through its teachings.

 

Milwaukee Daily News quoted in the
Christian Science Sentinel, December 17, 1910
 

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