Christian Healer & Founder of Christian Science 

Find out more about Christian healer, Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded the Bible-based system of healing prayer, known as Christian Science. 

Mary Baker Eddy was a spiritual thought leader born in the early 19th century. She is best known for discovering and founding a Bible-based system of healing prayer, known as Christian Science. 

In 1995, Mrs. Eddy was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame! Mary Baker Eddy's discovery of the underlying spiritual laws of God's universe, as practiced by Christ Jesus, impelled her to establish the Christian Science Church in 1879. Officially known as the Church of Christ, Scientist, this Christian denomination quickly became an international movement. Today, there are over 1,400 Christian Science churches in 60 countries.”

Eddy was a spiritual healer and author of many books, including the healing textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which has been translated into sixteen languages. There are thousands of documented testimonials of people healed just by reading this book.

Photo Courtesy of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, Boston, MA

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Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer
 

For anyone interested in healing through prayer—as a practical approach to well-being or as a topic of investigation—Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer is an incomparable resource. It focuses on Eddy's healing work and contains all of her documented healings, which include freeing individuals from mental illness, cancer, heart ailments, blindness, deafness, and many others.  

Explore this and other biographies.
 

Quick Facts

• Mary Baker Eddy born 1821
• Healing from a fall 1866
• Science and Health published 1875
• Church of Christ, Scientist established 1879
• First Christian Science Reading Room 1888
• Christian Science Publishing Society founded 1898
• Christian Science Monitor published 1908
• National Women's Hall of Fame induction 1995
• Mary Baker Eddy Library established 2002  

Christian Roots

Mary Baker was born on a New Hampshire farm near the state capital of Concord, the youngest of six children. She was raised as a devout Congregationalist and was an avid student of the Bible with an unwavering faith in God. Mary was chronically ill from her youth and through the years she investigated many medical and other healing systems of her time.
 

Spiritual Growth & Healing

When Eddy was in her 40's, living in Lynn, Massachusetts, she experienced a remarkable healing of internal injuries caused by a fall on the ice. The attending physician gave her no hope of recovery, so she called for her Bible and began to read accounts of Jesus' healings. She was so uplifted by the healings that she immediately felt God's healing power and rose from her bed, completely well and able to walk normally. 

For the next three years, Eddy studied the Bible diligently, seeking to understand more fully how she had been healed, and how Jesus healed. Her devotion to God led her to rely on a spiritual method of healing rather than on traditional medical care. She understood that mortal thought must be uplifted above death and sickness to bring healing.  Not only was she able to heal others through the methods she learned, but also to teach them how to heal in Christian Science. Her convictions were so solid that she wanted to share them with the world and help improve humanity. 
 

Discovery of God's Laws

Mary Baker Eddy's discovery of the underlying spiritual laws of God's universe, as practiced by Christ Jesus, impelled her to establish the Christian Science Church in 1879. Officially known as the Church of Christ, Scientist, this Christian denomination quickly became an international movement. Today, there are almost 1,700 Christian Science churches in 76 countries.

In order to share the underlying principles of her discovery, Mary Baker Eddy wrote a textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first published in 1875. Its message is as relevant now as it was then. ​

Science and Health teaches reliance upon God for guidance in daily life, for successful accomplishment and for spiritual healing.   It has been a best seller for decades, and was selected as one of the "75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World." 

In 1995, Eddy was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.  In 2002, The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity opened its doors in Boston, giving public access to documents about Christian Science and one of the largest collections of documents about an American woman of note.
 

Mary Baker Eddy - Beyond Her Time

As a Christian Scientist, Mary Baker Eddy made amazing advances for women. 

She was able to purchase real estate to establish her church, and conduct other business transactions, when women were not even allowed the most basic right to vote. She was able to do many things that did not seem possible, because of her reliance on prayer. Much of this occurred during the later years of her life.

She founded the publishing arm of her church with several religious periodicals which included inspirational articles, poems, and accounts of spiritual healing: the weekly Christian Science Sentinel, the monthly Christian Science Journal, and the Herald of Christian Science which appeared in various foreign languages.  

The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons were established for weekly study and also to provide the Sunday church sermon, comprised of selections from the Holy Bible and correlative passages from her textbook, Science and Health.

In 1908, Mary Baker Eddy launched The Christian Science Monitor, an international daily newspaper which has won seven Pulitzer prizes for its excellent, unbiased reporting of world events. All of these astonishing achievements resulted from her steadfast faith in God, whom she described as divine Principle, Love, Life, Mind, Soul, Spirit and Truth.
Photo Courtesy of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, Boston, MA

Challenging Times Overcome

Eddy went through many trying times as an adult. She was widowed, then had her son taken from her because she could not care for him. After a second marriage, she then suffered through a divorce, based upon her husband's adultery. She was forced to move her home many times while trying to make a living for herself. Through these difficult times, she relied on her understanding of God and the Scriptures. Later on, she was able to write with conviction:  "Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger." Through that faith, she progressed from illness and homelessness to enduring health and prosperity.

Eddy personally healed hundreds of people. Her life and writings continue to inspire others to discover and practice healing prayer and experience spiritual growth. You can view testimonies on this site. 

“She [Mary Baker Eddy] did a wonderful - an extraordinary work in the world and there is no doubt that she was a powerful influence for good.” The Boston Globe

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Explore the Mary Baker Eddy Library

Monthly highlights

• Gillian Gill’s enduring contributions in Mary Baker Eddy
• Podcast: early Christian Science Monitor coverage of a new social experiment
• How the first Christian Scientists were making their mark in the community
• Did Eddy ever visit The Mother Church Extension?

Visit the Library in Boston or online

Visit the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity

Exhibits

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Mapparium

Photos Courtesy of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, Boston, MA

Find out more about Christian Science.