Christian Science Publishing Society

Summary

The Christian Science Publishing Society was established in 1898 by Mary Baker Eddy and is the publishing arm of The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts.

Christian Science Publishing Society
Parent companyThe First Church of Christ, Scientist
Founded1898
FounderMary Baker Eddy
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters location210 Massachusetts Ave.
Boston, Massachusetts
Publication typesBooks, periodicals
Official websitejsh.christianscience.com

Origin and purpose edit

The Christian Science Publishing Society and the Board of Trustees that manage it were established by Mary Baker Eddy in a deed of trust on January 25, 1898.[1][2] Although she had not wanted to create a separate trust to handle the church's publications, legal considerations made it necessary.[3] Written in the deed is Eddy's express intent for the Publishing Society, that it is "for the purpose of more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by me." Always concerned about the purity of the teaching, she was reported by her student Septimus J. Hanna to have said just days before signing the deed, that she wanted "to protect and preserve the literature of [Christian Science] in its purity". She wanted to protect her teachings from "aggressive attempts" to adulterate them, which she felt would wreak havoc within the church and would cause misrepresentations of her teachings, both within and outside the church.[1]

Publications edit

In addition to Mary Baker Eddy’s works, they publish a number of periodicals, including the monthly The Christian Science Journal, the weekly Christian Science Sentinel, The Herald of Christian Science published in a number of languages; and the Christian Science Quarterly, also published in a number of languages.[2] The Quarterly contains the Bible lessons used as sermons in Sunday services in all Christian Science churches around the world. They also publish biographies of Eddy and other books and study materials on Christian Science.

There is also an international weekly newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, which has won several Pulitzer Prizes.[4] The Monitor is a secular newspaper; however, there is one religious article in each issue.

The Publishing Society is managed by a three-person Board of Trustees[2] under the authority of the Christian Science Board of Directors. It is located, along with the Mary Baker Eddy Library, in the Publishing Society building at the Christian Science Center in Boston's Back Bay. It is the primary publisher of the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and other Christian Science literature.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Gottschalk, Stephen. Rolling Away The Stone (2006), pp. 255-256
  2. ^ a b c "The Christian Science Publishing Society, Article XXV" Archived 2013-07-24 at the Wayback Machine Manual of The Mother Church, 89th Edition (first published 1895). Retrieved August 5, 2013
  3. ^ Peel, Robert. Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority (1977), p. 417, fn 126
  4. ^ Company profile: Christian Science Publishing Society Hoovers.com. Retrieved August 5, 2013

External links edit

  • JSH-Online Website of the Christian Science religious periodicals
  • The Christian Science Monitor
  • Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy Christian Science textbook, online version
  • The First Church of Christ, Scientist
  • Works by or about Christian Science Publishing Society at Internet Archive

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