The First Church of Christ, Scientist, is celebrating National Bible Week in a very special way this year—by opening to the public for the first time The Mother Church's priceless Bible collection in its entirety. For nearly sixty years the Church has been adding to and cherishing this collection, which now includes almost four hundred Bibles in thirteen languages.
Previously, the Bibles have been displayed in major exhibitions only twice—in 1935 and in 1952. More recently, several of the Bibles have been seen in The Mother Church's Bible Exhibit. Beginning in November 1991, the entire collection will be available to people from all over the world who love the Bible and are reaching out for its message of hope and healing.
What's significant about these Bibles?
Far more than just valuable or historically interesting artifacts, they stand as living testaments to God's power and love. Many of them mark major turning points or "firsts" in the thousand-year evolution of the modern Bible. They witness also the enduring faith and commitment of those who gave their labors, and often their lives, that future generations might have more ready access to the Holy Bible. The Christian Science Board of Directors hopes to share with the world the real significance of this Bible collection, which traces humanity's faith in the light of God's Word.
Where did the Bibles come from?
Many of the Bibles were donated to The Mother Church by students of Christian Science wishing to express gratitude for their religion and for the Biblical truths upon which it is based.
One of the key donors during the 1930s was William Pitfield, a Christian Scientist in England who avidly collected Bibles. He donated a number of extremely rare Bibles.
Pitfield's donations include the Welsh Bibles pictured to the right, as well as important early Bibles in Greek, Dutch, Hebrew, Latin, and English. His generous gift inspired the Church's first major Bible Exhibition in 1935, commemorating the four-hundredth anniversary of the Coverdale Bible (the first complete English Bible), which was being celebrated widely in English-speaking countries. Several of the Bibles in the exhibit had belonged to Lady Victoria Murray, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's. Lady Victoria did much to introduce Christian Science to Great Britain in the early part of this century. Others collaborating in the exhibition included Harvard College, the Massachusetts Bible Society, and Oxford University Press. The event was held in the Lobby of the Christian Science Publishing House and was described in the February 1, 1936, Christian Science Sentinel.
In a letter accompanying one of the Bibles Pitfield gave to the Church, he wrote of "the need of awakening the minds of young people particularly to the value of the Scriptures." He said he felt it was "imperative at this time ... when tireless efforts are being made in some quarters to turn thought away from the inspired Word."
Another key Bible donor was Edgar Isaac Newgass, also a Christian Scientist in Great Britain, as well as a poet and Bible collector. His poetic and prose contributions (forty-one of them in all!) to the Christian Science periodicals span sixty-three years—from 1914 to 1977. The Bibles he gave are among the most valuable in the collection and include the first edition Coverdale, Matthew's, and King James Version shown on these pages. Bringing his entire collection of Bibles to The Mother Church for an exhibit in the Lobby of the Christian Science Publishing House at the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church in 1952, Newgass left behind what he called "the pick of the exhibit" as a permanent gift. He specially asked, however, "that the Bibles be placed on more or less permanent exhibition ...." The opening of the collection to the public at this time represents the fulfillment of this desire.
Other Bibles in the collection came from a variety of sources—Oxford University Press; Bliss Knapp, a teacher of Christian Science; Thomas Leishman, a Bible scholar who had many articles published in the Christian Science periodicals; and several branch churches. In addition, over fifty Bibles in the collection belonged to the personal library of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy.
Why was the Bible so important to Mary Baker Eddy?
She considered the Bible her textbook for the understanding of eternal Life. It was the book she herself loved and searched in her effort to grasp the Science of Christianity. Mrs. Eddy continued to study and treasure the Scriptures throughout her life. She urged her students to "search the Scriptures." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 214. And she ordained the Bible, along with her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, as pastor of the Church of Christ, Scientist, Knowing her love of the Bible, friends and students gave her a number of unusual Bibles as gifts. When someone gave her a copy of Martin Luther's German translation of the Bible, she responded with "A Tribute to the Bible" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany):
This Book of books is also
the gift of gifts .... The
Bible is our sea-beaten rock.
It guides the fishermen. It
stands the storm. It engages
the attention and enriches
the being of all men. Miscellany, p. 295 .
And she loved to give Bibles as gifts, often inscribing them with a special message. To her, Bible study was much more than a pastime. It opened the way to salvation, to the truth of being. "Our thoughts of the Bible utter our lives," she wrote her Church in 1902. Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 4 . When she wrote the Tenets of Christian Science, the first was this: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life." Science and Health, p. 497.
How does the Church plan to share these Bibles more widely?
The Church History Department, where the collection is housed, is releasing for the first time a complete catalog of the collection. The arrangement of the catalog will be by language (illustrating the international scope of the collection) and will be chronological within language groups. It will be suitable for use by researchers, libraries, and other individuals and institutions worldwide with an interest in Bible study. Anyone may receive a copy of the catalog, together with a brochure explaining the background of the Bible collection, simply by addressing a request as follows:
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Church History Department, A–221
175 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA, U.S.A. 02115
If you're visiting Boston and would like to see some of the Bibles, you're invited to come to the Bible Exhibit, where the Bibles will be displayed on a rotating basis. Also, the Bible Exhibit will feature a lecture series for the community on some of the most outstanding and interesting Bibles in the collection. If the particular Bibles you'd like to see aren't currently on exhibit, you're welcome to make an appointment to view them in the Church History Department.
Eventually, several publishing projects will further illuminate the collection. These will emphasize the spiritual commitment and selflessness of the translators who labored to give us the Bible.
Does one have to be a church member to see these Bibles?
Absolutely not! The free, nondenominational Bible Exhibit, where the Bibles are on display, is open to the public six days a week. Also, anyone may make an appointment with the Church History Department on the twenty-second floor of the Church Administration building. They'll be delighted to see you and your friends!
