The Mary Baker Eddy Library Website has an online series titled\u00a0From the Collections. The most recent addition is\u00a0Mary Baker Eddy\u2019s Attleborough lecture. This article describes her 1881 lecture in Attleborough:
\nLocated forty miles southwest of Boston, Attleborough, Massachusetts, played its little-known part in the expanding Christian Science movement. In the early 1880s the town was approaching 12,000 citizens and in transition, moving from textile manufacturing to become a hub of jewelry making. Incorporated as a city in 1914, its spelling officially changed to\u00a0Attleboro, by 1950 it would be dubbed \u201cJewelry Capital of the World.\u201d1
\nThe early 1880s also marked a time of transition for Mary Baker Eddy and the fledgling Church of Christ (Scientist), which she had founded in 1879. Holding regular services in Boston, where Eddy had just chartered her Massachusetts Metaphysical College, the church was gaining followers. Within a few years Eddy reported that the state capital was \u201cboiling with the ferment of this glorious \u2018leaven\u2019,\u201d2\u00a0Eddy was devoted to sharing her discovery as widely as possible\u2014not only in New England\u2019s major city but wherever receptive individuals might be found. So she headed to Attleborough in December 1881, to give a Christian Science lecture to a fresh audience in a new setting.
\nGeorge D. Choate laid the groundwork for the event. A student of Eddy with his own Christian Science healing practice in Attleborough, he was at that time an active member of the Christian Science movement.3\u00a0While practicing in Attleborough, Choate had healed the wife of Eliot Hunt, as well as their daughter. The enthusiastic Hunt was proprietor of the\u00a0Attleborough Chronicle\u00a0newspaper\u2014and proved a valuable contact.
\nHunt agreed to attend Eddy\u2019s lecture, scheduled for December 2, and to publish a review of it. Then three days before the date Choate wrote to Eddy with bad news:
\n\nDo read this letter and help me, advise me show me the way out or I\u2019ll be in hot water at once you know and God knows it is false. I thought I had everything ready for Friday night, but I find there is to be a cantata at the church.4
While we don\u2019t know Eddy\u2019s response, her lecture did take place\u2014its review appeared in the December 17 edition of the\u00a0Chronicle. It seems most likely that she spoke on Friday, December 16. Unfortunately the only existing records of the lecture are Choate\u2019s letter and Hunt\u2019s published words\u2014the venue and title remain mysteries. By 1881 Eddy had delivered many addresses in Boston, with titles such as \u201cHow Christianity Lost Its Element of Healing,\u201d \u201cChristian Healing and Mesmerism Contrasted,\u201d and \u201cHow to be Healthy and Happy.\u201d It\u2019s possible the Attleboro lecture was one of these, or a hybrid.
\nOn one hand, Hunt faulted Eddy in the review for trying to cover too much ground\u2014\u201cunder the disadvantage of having to crowd into one lecture what really belongs to three\u201d5\u2014while he felt\u00a0Science and Health\u00a0provided a clearer explanation of her ideas. His candid review also included the observation that much of the audience met Eddy\u2019s ideas with bemusement:
\n\n\u2026the subject treated \u2018Christian Science or Metaphysical Healing,\u2019 and the manner of treating it, were so new and startling and so far in advance of the ideas and life thoughts of those who listened, it is not to be wondered at that Mrs. Eddy was not understood, and that many passed out of the lecture room with inquiring looks upon their faces and with a doubtful shake of the head.6
But Eddy also received considerable endorsement, as Hunt went on to state he had experienced the efficacy of Christian Science treatment firsthand. He spoke glowingly of\u00a0Science and Health. \u201cIts teachings are based upon the Bible truths,\u201d he asserted, \u201cand its doctrines are high and pure. It is certainly a wonderful book and could be read with profit by all.\u201d7\u00a0His conclusion was to \u201cwatch with much interest the future of this new theory\u201d and \u201c\u2018prove all things and hold fast to that which is good\u2019.\u201d8\u00a0All things considered, Eddy might have done well to feel a little encouraged in this effort outside Boston.\u00a0If you would like to read lectures and sermons from the 1880s, including how people were discovering and embracing Eddy\u2019s \u201cnew theory,\u201d visit\u00a0mbepapers.org.
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The post Mary Baker Eddy Library – Mary Baker Eddy\u2019s Attleborough lecture appeared first on Christian Science Houston Area.
\n", "content_text": "The Mary Baker Eddy Library Website has an online series titled\u00a0From the Collections. The most recent addition is\u00a0Mary Baker Eddy\u2019s Attleborough lecture. This article describes her 1881 lecture in Attleborough:\nLocated forty miles southwest of Boston, Attleborough, Massachusetts, played its little-known part in the expanding Christian Science movement. In the early 1880s the town was approaching 12,000 citizens and in transition, moving from textile manufacturing to become a hub of jewelry making. Incorporated as a city in 1914, its spelling officially changed to\u00a0Attleboro, by 1950 it would be dubbed \u201cJewelry Capital of the World.\u201d1\nThe early 1880s also marked a time of transition for Mary Baker Eddy and the fledgling Church of Christ (Scientist), which she had founded in 1879. Holding regular services in Boston, where Eddy had just chartered her Massachusetts Metaphysical College, the church was gaining followers. Within a few years Eddy reported that the state capital was \u201cboiling with the ferment of this glorious \u2018leaven\u2019,\u201d2\u00a0Eddy was devoted to sharing her discovery as widely as possible\u2014not only in New England\u2019s major city but wherever receptive individuals might be found. So she headed to Attleborough in December 1881, to give a Christian Science lecture to a fresh audience in a new setting.\nGeorge D. Choate laid the groundwork for the event. A student of Eddy with his own Christian Science healing practice in Attleborough, he was at that time an active member of the Christian Science movement.3\u00a0While practicing in Attleborough, Choate had healed the wife of Eliot Hunt, as well as their daughter. The enthusiastic Hunt was proprietor of the\u00a0Attleborough Chronicle\u00a0newspaper\u2014and proved a valuable contact.\nHunt agreed to attend Eddy\u2019s lecture, scheduled for December 2, and to publish a review of it. Then three days before the date Choate wrote to Eddy with bad news:\nDo read this letter and help me, advise me show me the way out or I\u2019ll be in hot water at once you know and God knows it is false. I thought I had everything ready for Friday night, but I find there is to be a cantata at the church.4\nWhile we don\u2019t know Eddy\u2019s response, her lecture did take place\u2014its review appeared in the December 17 edition of the\u00a0Chronicle. It seems most likely that she spoke on Friday, December 16. Unfortunately the only existing records of the lecture are Choate\u2019s letter and Hunt\u2019s published words\u2014the venue and title remain mysteries. By 1881 Eddy had delivered many addresses in Boston, with titles such as \u201cHow Christianity Lost Its Element of Healing,\u201d \u201cChristian Healing and Mesmerism Contrasted,\u201d and \u201cHow to be Healthy and Happy.\u201d It\u2019s possible the Attleboro lecture was one of these, or a hybrid.\n\n\n\nOn one hand, Hunt faulted Eddy in the review for trying to cover too much ground\u2014\u201cunder the disadvantage of having to crowd into one lecture what really belongs to three\u201d5\u2014while he felt\u00a0Science and Health\u00a0provided a clearer explanation of her ideas. His candid review also included the observation that much of the audience met Eddy\u2019s ideas with bemusement:\n\u2026the subject treated \u2018Christian Science or Metaphysical Healing,\u2019 and the manner of treating it, were so new and startling and so far in advance of the ideas and life thoughts of those who listened, it is not to be wondered at that Mrs. Eddy was not understood, and that many passed out of the lecture room with inquiring looks upon their faces and with a doubtful shake of the head.6\nBut Eddy also received considerable endorsement, as Hunt went on to state he had experienced the efficacy of Christian Science treatment firsthand. He spoke glowingly of\u00a0Science and Health. \u201cIts teachings are based upon the Bible truths,\u201d he asserted, \u201cand its doctrines are high and pure. It is certainly a wonderful book and could be read with profit by all.\u201d7\u00a0His conclusion was to \u201cwatch with much interest the future of this new theory\u201d and \u201c\u2018prove all things and hold fast to that which is good\u2019.\u201d8\u00a0All things considered, Eddy might have done well to feel a little encouraged in this effort outside Boston.\u00a0If you would like to read lectures and sermons from the 1880s, including how people were discovering and embracing Eddy\u2019s \u201cnew theory,\u201d visit\u00a0mbepapers.org.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to view this complete article on\u00a0https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org, please click\u00a0here.\u00a0\n\n\n\n\n \nThe post Mary Baker Eddy Library – Mary Baker Eddy\u2019s Attleborough lecture appeared first on Christian Science Houston Area.", "date_published": "2018-10-01T13:14:03+00:00", "date_modified": "2019-07-20T16:31:06+00:00", "authors": [ { "name": "Amber Moffat", "url": "https://christianscienceheals.com/author/ambermoffat/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ea040a30be2941d40fbe113d813a9b3?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "Amber Moffat", "url": "https://christianscienceheals.com/author/ambermoffat/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ea040a30be2941d40fbe113d813a9b3?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://i0.wp.com/christianscienceheals.com/files/2018/10/Mary-Baker-Eddy%E2%80%99s-Attleborough-lecture.jpg?fit=800%2C500&ssl=1", "tags": [ "Attleborough", "Christian", "Christian Science", "Lectures", "Library", "Mary Baker Eddy", "Ideas", "News", "The Mary Baker Eddy Library" ] } ] }