The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy: The Rise and Fall of Christian Science [Hardcover]

Martin Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

In a penetrating biography, famed science writer Martin Gardner profiles the life and teachings of the controversial founder of Christian Science, showing her to be a power-hungry individual whose life included spiritualism, drug addiction, and frequent hysterical rages. Includes Mark Twain's famous essay attacking Eddy, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Gardner (The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener, 1983, etc.), world-class debunker of paranormal phenomena, now turns his demolition skills on the woman who founded one of America's most successful home-grown religions. The title is bitingly ironic, for Gardner considers Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science to be neither healing nor revelatory but, rather, a farrago of wild imaginings. According to Gardner, Eddy (1821-1910) suffered from ``delusions of grandeur'' and ``delusions of persecution,'' and wrote her books by plagiarizing other writers. In fact, he declares, Christian Science's central precept- -that Divine Mind is the sole reality, and illness and death illusions--was lifted by Eddy from the teachings of a ``quack'' named Phineas Parkhurst, who cured her of a spinal ailment. Eddy always denied her connection to Parkhurst, claiming that her doctrines came as a direct transmission from God; to Gardner, this is yet more evidence of her ``outrageous lying.'' He makes a strong case, demonstrating Eddy's plagiarism in damning fashion by placing her writings side-by-side with her apparent sources, and detailing her relentless persecution of heretics, her nervous disorders (including lifelong morphine addiction), and her extraordinary fears (she believed enemies were killing her through ``malicious animal magnetism''). Most welcome from the standpoint of literary history is the author's favorable reassessment of Mark Twain's forgotten booklength battering of Eddy, Christian Science (1907). More inquisition than objective report, but on target: a well- aimed tomato to the face. (Photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879758384
• ISBN-13: 978-0879758387
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #562,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Other Denominations & Sects

More About the Author

For 25 of his 95 years, Martin Gardner wrote 'Mathematical Games and Recreations', a monthly column for Scientific American magazine. These columns have inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to delve more deeply into the large world of mathematics. He has also made significant contributions to magic, philosophy, debunking pseudoscience, and children's literature. He has produced more than 60 books, including many best sellers, most of which are still in print. His Annotated Alice has sold more than a million copies. He continues to write a regular column for the Skeptical Inquirer magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't trust the 'star' ratings, June 29, 2006

By 

John B. Coffin (El Cerrito, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy: The Rise and Fall of Christian Science (Hardcover)

Just a reminder. Books that address any controversy attract attempts to pack the Reader Reviews with negative comments.

The quality of reviews here is very uneven. The Kirkus review, for example, refers to Phineas Quimby as Phineas Parkhurst. This is a dead giveaway that the reviewer has not actually read the book.

Gardner's accusations against Mrs Eddy are thoroughly researched and documented. Most of them have been made before and remain unchallenged except by evasion and denial. What is new and helpful in this book is the description and commentary on other aspects of the larger New Thought movement. Many who would never give credence to Eddy are strongly influenced by the same strain of thought.

I would strongly recommend this book to any reader, not just those interested in Christian Science.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gardner tells it like it is., July 22, 2011

By 

Dr. Oscar (VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy: The Rise and Fall of Christian Science (Hardcover)

As with his treatise on The Urantia Book, Gardner has spent a great of time studying his subject and presents the facts with the degree of humor and raised eyebrows that they deserve. This is not an all-inclusive history or biography but a concise overview of the topic (it began as an article and grew into a 255 page book). No doubt true believers will find fault throughout the entire volume but those of us on the outside looking in will find the shenanigans quite amusing. Another home-run for Gardner.

25 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing fiction, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy: The Rise and Fall of Christian Science (Hardcover)

After reading Gillian Gill's well researched biography of the founder of the Christian Science church, Gardner's book is incredibly disappointing. Misconstrued facts, while presented in a persuasive way, demolish his thesis. Gill's work, (a non-Christian Scientist just like Gardner) is the antithesis of Gardner's. She is fair, evaluative, does not editorialize, and while she tells things that Christian Scientists may or may not appreciate, she is honest to the core. Gardner would have done well to peruse the work of a TRUE writer (Gill) before attempted his own falsified fiction of an American religious figure.