Science and Health (Summarized Edition)

Science and Health articulates the theological and metaphysical core of Christian Science, asserting that divine Mind is real and matter illusory, and that healing follows from spiritual understanding. In didactic prose, scriptural exegesis, and the catechetical "Recapitulation," it recasts prayer as demonstration. Composed amid nineteenth‑century disputes over medicine and biblical authority, it reframes "science" as Gods provable law and challenges medical materialism. Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), raised in New Hampshires Protestant milieu and long beset by illness, traced her method to a dramatic 1866 recovery that prompted rigorous study of the Gospels. Contact with mental healing circles, including Phineas P. Quimby, became a foil as she formulated a biblical "Christian Science." She repeatedly revised this book, founded the Church of Christ, Scientist (1879), and trained practitioners, presenting it as a pedagogical "Key to the Scriptures." Recommended to readers exploring the nexus of theology, knowledge, and healing, this volume offers a lucid—if contested—architecture of faith-as-demonstration. It rewards scholars of American religious innovation, New Thought, and Transcendentalism, as well as critics of biomedical materialism. Read critically yet sympathetically, in conversation with the biblical texts it cites and with ongoing debates about what counts as science.
Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the authors voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable—distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Author Biography · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.