Perspective on scholarly issues relating to Christian Science

A harbinger is a sign that foreshadows a future event; certain flowers, for example, are called harbingers of spring. Mary Baker Eddy used the word in this sense when she wrote of "the harbingers of truth's full-orbed appearing," but the harbingers she singled out were by no means flowery. Like many Christians, she believed that authentic spiritual witness often meets with "disdain, stubborn resistance, [and] opposition...."

The occasional columns that will run in the Commentary section linked below will look at harbingers, both positive and negative, in the realm of scholarship on Christian Science. The Fund's hope is that readers from varying backgrounds, including those with a strictly academic interest as well as Christian Scientists themselves, may benefit from fresh perspective. The purpose isn't to review or rate particular scholarly works, but to get at the fuller truths behind the issues they raise.

COMMENTARY

1. SEPTEMBER 2008

Church of Christ
When Mary Baker Eddy and her students took the first steps toward forming a church in 1879, they called it simply the "Church of Christ." Later that year she added the word "Scientist," in parentheses, to distinguish the name from that of other congregations nearby, but the change in name did not signify a change in the nature of the new church. [more...]