Mary Baker Eddy's major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, was the culmination of her own life-long search for a spiritual system of healing. She published Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures out of a desire to help others who were suffering, convinced it would help those who read it.

Chronically ill from childhood, Eddy sought relief in the various medical systems of her day, including water-cure, homeopathy and dietary regimens. Her experiments with homeopathy convinced her that there is an undeniable relationship between mind and body. She also studied the Bible constantly, believing it held the answers she was seeking about health, God, and her own purpose for living.

At the mid-point of her life, she sustained serious internal injuries from a fall. Given little hope of recovery by the attending physician, she turned again to her Bible and read an account of one of Jesus’ healings. She glimpsed a truth in those moments that not only gave her the strength to get up from her bed, but also launched her on a career of healing, writing, and teaching that extended into her ninetieth year.

Many of her ideas ran counter to the currents of 19th-century medicine, religion and society. Undaunted by a lack of formal education, resources, and the many basic rights women have fought hard to gain since then, Eddy persevered. The system of healing she discovered enabled her to heal many who were sick or debilitated. She lectured and preached in living rooms and rented halls, and established a college to teach others how to heal.

Eddy’s many other accomplishments include the establishment of The First Church of Christ, Scientist (churchofchristscientist.org), a worldwide community based on the teachings in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She started several magazines and a publishing company, all of which are still thriving today.

One of her most well-known publications is the award-winning daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor (csmonitor.com). The Monitor has 25 news bureaus around the world and has been awarded seven Pulitzer prizes.

Today, the lifework of Mary Baker Eddy, a pioneering healer, author and publisher, is recognized as a foundational source for the world’s exploration of practical spirituality.