The History of The Christian Science Movement

Johnson, William Lyman. The History of The Christian Science Movement, 2 vols. Brookline, MA: The Zion Research Foundation, 1926.

Lyman Johnson’s home life was dominated by his father’s devoted service to Mary Baker Eddy during the years she established her church. With numerous primary documents as well as his first-hand accounts of many of the events, Johnson answers questions that succeeding generations have wondered: why did Eddy disband her original church and the Metaphysical College?; why did Eddy create a church with a self-perpetuating Board of Directors?; why did Mrs. Woodbury and Mr. Nixon pose such threats to the church?  Johnson discusses Eddy’s responses to the internal power struggles, rivalry, plagiarism, and jealousy of those who first loved Christian Science, but then caused great troubles. Johnson’s History itself endured heavy editing and suppression. A couple of highlights that are nearly invisible in the 21st-century operation of the church include 1) the near obsession by Mr. Nixon, manager of the Publishing Society, with the publication of literature, and 2) the difficulty of becoming members of the new Christian Science church. Competition among spiritual healers became so intense, and Eddy endured defections and disloyalty to such an extent that she needed to take extra precautions to preserve her own teachings within the church.

Access these rare volumes on the Plainfield CS website:

The History of The Christian Science Movement, Volume One

The History of The Christian Science Movement, Volume Two

See also annotations:

Building of the Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist by Joseph Armstrong and Margaret Williamson

Mr. Dickey: Secretary to Mary Baker Eddy with Adam H. Dickey’s “Memoirs of Mary Baker Eddy” by Nancy Niblack Baxter

“Our Cause . . . Does Not Need Advertising, but Protection”: The Christian Science Movement Regroups, 1908 – 1910 by Rolf Swenson