The mental atmosphere in Boston's Tremont Temple on March 16, 1885, would likely have been daunting to most speakers trying to explain what must have seemed a very different way of being a Christian. The thoughts of the nearly three thousand attendants ranged from benignly curious to highly skeptical to openly hostile. But Mary Baker Eddy stood before them all in order to defend her "child," the Cause of Christian Science. At a previous Monday Noon Lecture, the then quite prominent Reverend Joseph Cook had harshly criticized this relatively new face on Boston's religious scene. Not only did the new faith promise healings after the manner of Jesus; it spoke in a new language that contradicted a number of traditionally and, consequently, firmly held doctrines; and even worse, it was led by a woman!
Mary Baker Eddy:
a lifetime of healing
Mrs. Eddy had been allowed only ten minutes in which to reply to the Reverend Mr. Cook's criticism. She began:
