Skip to content
Csbibliography

Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science

Academic and Other Literature

  • Home
  • About
    • About the ABCS Project
    • Support Opportunities (Donate)
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Annotations
    • Search Information
    • Category Search
    • Keyword Search
    • Advanced Search
    • Standard Search
    • Authors/Editor List
    • Title List
    • Recently Added
    • Search Support
  • Resources
    • The Book
    • Online Resources
    • ABCS Blog
    • Suggest Resources
  • Contact
Annotation Resource

“Physic and Metaphysic in Nineteenth-Century America: Medical Sectarians and Religious Healing”

“Physic and Metaphysic in Nineteenth-Century America: Medical Sectarians and Religious Healing”

Albanese, Catherine L. “Physic and Metaphysic in Nineteenth-Century America: Medical Sectarians and Religious Healing.” Church History 55, no. 4 (1986): 489–502.

Albanese argues that the 19th-century American interests in both “physic and metaphysic showed striking points of connection and overlap” (502). The popular mentality of the era deified nature and made it into a religion of metaphysical components. The concept of ‘nature’ was so ill-defined, however, it ranged from the simple physical world to an abstract idea of the environment without any real connection with the world. Some considered nature the illusory outer garment of higher spirit, and for others it connoted the truly real. But in many religious manifestations, “the theology of nature … understood nature and mind as primary principles and the healing act as the expression of virtue through ritual” (492). This is why, as Albanese argues, American metaphysical religion paradoxically also expressed forms of the theology of nature. Phineas P. Quimby forms the link from channeling energy to heal through mesmeric roots to mental healing. But “it remained for Mary Baker Eddy, former Quimbyian patient and student, to achieve the greatest clarity regarding matter and mind, given the inconsistencies of the heritage” (501). And yet in her own way, Eddy also wove a relationship of ‘nature’ into her metaphysical schema, as Albanese quotes Eddy’s Science and Health: “Laws of nature are laws of Spirit” (Science and Health, 183).

ISSN: 1755-2613
Print ISSN: 0009-6407

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3166370

 

See also annotations:

A Story Untold: A History of the Quimby-Eddy Debate by Keith McNeil

Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery by Robert Peel

Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James by Ann Taves

Certain Trumpets; the Call of Leaders by Garry Wills

“The Case of Edward J. Arens and the Distortion of the History of New Thought” by Gordon J. Melton

“Christian Science and the Puritan Tradition” by Thomas C. Johnsen

Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, by Gordon J. Melton

 

Albanese, Catherine L.

Related Annotations:

Annotations related by category:
  • Availability: Online - Academic Credentials or Fee
  • Controversy: Quimby-Eddy Debate
  • Official Christian Science Publication: No
  • People: Eddy, Mary Baker
  • People: Quimby, Phineas
  • Publication Date: 1981-2000
  • Resource Types: Article
  • Subjects: Healing and Health
  • Subjects: Theology
Annotations related by keyword:
  • Critical Analysis
  • New Religious Movements
  • Science
  • Spirituality
More by authors or editor(s):
  • Albanese, Catherine L.

Comment on this resource: Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Home

Search application instructions and overview.

Search Support

Questions? We've got answers.

Category Search

Select subject, person, organization and/or controversy to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Keyword Search

Select one or more specific keywords to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Advanced Search

Select from all search options to obtain very specific results.

Standard Search

Might yield a mix of relevant and irrelevant results, but could be very helpful if you are looking for a specific term not included in any of the other types of searches.

Annotations by Author
Annotations by Title
Most Recent

View the 30 most recently added annotations.

New Since the Book

View new annotations available here that were not included in the book.

Suggest a Resource
Donate via PayPal

Scholarly Works on Christian Science is the nonprofit corporation that produces the ABCS website. We rely on donations to keep the bibliography updated and available to the public. If you find this site useful we hope you'll consider donating to support the work. Donate via PayPal by clicking the button above or send a check to:

Scholarly Works on Christian Science
420 Conway Meadows Drive
St. Louis, MO 63017

© 2022 and later by Scholarly Works on Christian Science, all rights reserved.

Privacy Policy is here. Cookie Policy is here. Comment Policy is here.

This material was printed from the Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science website produced and maintained by Scholarly Works on Christian Science (https://csbibliography.org). All rights reserved.