Persistent Pilgrim: The Life of Mary Baker Eddy

Nenneman, Richard A. Persistent Pilgrim: The Life of Mary Baker Eddy. Etna, NH: Neggadoon Press, 1997.

The title of Nenneman’s biography, Persistent Pilgrim, highlights his two major themes: Mary Baker Eddy’s tenacious unyielding sense of purpose, and Eddy as pioneer “marking out the path for generations yet unborn” (Science and Health 174). Nenneman, former managing editor of The Christian Science Monitor, researched his biography by reading Eddy’s voluminous correspondence and pulling out “the continuing strands of thought” (ix) in Eddy’s story and contextualizing them. He is interested in Eddy’s evolution and progression through her triumphs as well as trials, loneliness, disappointments, and personal weaknesses. One standout that emerges is Eddy’s “consciousness of being answerable to God for all her actions” (xi)—a tribute to her Calvinist heritage. Nenneman sees the phenomenal growth of Christian Science after Eddy’s death as dependent upon the groundwork Eddy put in place the last decades of her life. But what about a century later? This question occupies his conclusion as he wrestles with the viability of Christian Science in his day, amidst the religious diversity, medical advancements, scientific discoveries, diminishing interest in the Bible, and the “trivia of materialism” (355). He is convinced that Eddy’s gift of Christian Science “as a healing agent” tied closely to “the regeneration of human character” remains practical and precious for any age (355).

ISBN-10: 1891331027
ISBN-13 (Softcover): 978-1891331022