Mary Baker Eddy (1998) by Gillian Gill is a biography of Mary Baker Eddy, a religious leader and founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

Background

Gill examines various controversies surrounding Eddy's life, including her relationship with her son, her supposed debt to Phineas Quimby and the longevity of the accusations surrounding him, her use of morphine, and her relations with staff.[1] The book is written from a feminist perspective, and explores and analyzes the significance that gender played in Eddy's controversial life.[2][3] Beryl Satter states that "Gill acknowledges Eddy's human frailties but places them in context of religious struggle, not female irrationality."[1] Throughout the book, including in the extensive appendix and end-notes, Gill discusses previous biographical treatments of Eddy and explores their strengths and weaknesses, as well as discussing the difficulties facing historians writing on the topic.[4][2] Gill also discusses the frequent revisions of Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.[5]

Gill constructs her book around four periods of Eddy's life: her early life including her illness, widowhood, single motherhood and other struggles (1821-62); her difficulties as she began to found her religious movement (1863-82); the beginnings of her success as a church leader and author (1883-1905); and her final years (1906-10).[6]

Scholar Jana Riess wrote that she expects Gill's book to "stand the test of time as the first major study to mine the considerable scholarly possibilities that exist between church-sanctioned hagiography and muckraking exposé."[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Satter, Beryl (1999). "Review of Mary Baker Eddy". The New England Quarterly. 72 (3): 503. doi:10.2307/366901. ISSN 0028-4866.
  2. 1 2 Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (2000). "Review of Mary Baker Eddy". The American Historical Review. 105 (2): 551. doi:10.2307/1571513. ISSN 0002-8762.
  3. ↑ Schrager, Cynthia D. (1999). "Founding Mother". The Women's Review of Books. 16 (6): 19. doi:10.2307/4023130. ISSN 0738-1433.
  4. ↑ Stein, Stephen J. (2000). "Review of Mary Baker Eddy". Church History. 69 (3): 686. doi:10.2307/3169435. ISSN 0009-6407.
  5. ↑ Gutjahr, Paul C. (2001). "Sacred Texts in the United States". Book History. 4: 349. ISSN 1098-7371.
  6. ↑ Stein, Stephen J. (2000). "Review of Mary Baker Eddy". Church History. 69 (3): 685–686. doi:10.2307/3169435. ISSN 0009-6407.
  7. ↑ Riess, Jana (2002). "In Sickness and in Health: The past and future of Christian Science". Books & Culture.
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