The Journal of Christian Science is the title of a new publication in this city, the initial number of which is just out. It champions the cause of "mental healing," and will be edited by Mary B. Glover Eddy.
—Boston Herald,April 15, 1883
"An organ from the Christian Scientists has become a necessity. ... Further enlightenment is necessary for the age, and a paper devoted to this work seems alone adequate to meet the requirement." This must have seemed an amazing statement to the readers of the first issue of the Journal of Christian Science. After all, in April 1883, Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy's textbook, had appeared only slightly over seven years earlier. Yes, the book was selling, students were coming to study Christian healing at Boston's Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and attendance at Church of Christ (Scientist) services was growing. But the growth was modest. Was it really time for a magazine?
