There's no question about it. Thousands of individuals the world over love Mary Baker Eddy. Perhaps they have experienced, as I have, the spiritually regenerating and healing power of Christian Science. And they are immensely grateful for her willingness to share her discovery of Christian Science in writing the textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and in founding the Church of Christ, Scientist. Yet people who are not familiar with her life often want to know why she is so honored. Such an understanding is necessary truly to appreciate Christian Science itself.
Perhaps it is most important for the new reader of the textbook to realize that those who are earnest students of Science understand clearly that Mrs. Eddy is not a Christ. As she herself says, "There was, is, and never can be but one God, one Christ, one Jesus of Nazareth." Pulpit and Press, pp. 74-75. Students of Christian Science strive to be disciples of Jesus and give him full credit for being the great Exemplar for all mankind to follow in their search for the kingdom of God.
Since this is so, what is it about Mary Baker Eddy that causes people to even think of her in relationship to Christ Jesus? For instance, if you've attended branch Churches of Christ, Scientist, anywhere in the world, perhaps you've noticed that nearly always there are two inscriptions on the front walls of the auditorium. One is a quotation from Jesus' words, and the other is a quotation from Mrs. Eddy's writings. That certainly implies some type of linkage between these two people. But what is the linkage? Christian Scientists understand that it is the spiritual light they share—an enlightened understanding of what God is and of what man is as His offspring. Jesus, through the great Christianity he expressed, taught us that we can't be separated from our heavenly Father, who is Love; and Mrs. Eddy, through her spiritual receptivity to the Master's teaching, perceived that this infinite Love is the divine Principle of all—the real creator of man and the universe. What a light this was to her! We can scarcely understand her life without first understanding something of this spiritual light, which brings the healing power of God to people everywhere.
