"I have given the name to all the Christian Science periodicals. The first was The Christian Science Journal, designed to put on record the divine Science of Truth; the second I entitled Sentinel, intended to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love; the third, Der Herold der Christian Science, to proclaim the universal activity and availability of Truth; the next I named Monitor, to spread undivided the Science that operates unspent. The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353).
Clearly, Mary Baker Eddy considered the Christian Science periodicals a vital component of her Church. She outlined Church members' support of them in the Manual of The Mother Church as Article VIII, Section 14, "Church Periodicals."
The seeds of this By-Law can be seen as early as 1884, in a motion adopted by the Christian Scientist Association (the association of Mrs. Eddy's students) in their March 18 meeting. The motion—initiated by Mrs. Eddy—required that "... every member of the C. S. A. subscribe for the Journal of Christian Science and obtain annually not less than (6) six subscribers for it or forfeit their membership ..." (EOR11, Early Organizational Records, The Mary Baker Eddy Library). The Journal, which would be renamed The Christian Science Journal one year later, was a very new publication, yet already seen as an important part of the public face of the emerging Christian Science movement. Barely a year later, the amendment was revoked; the records don't tell us why, but it's possible that many were finding the subscriptions requirement a difficult task.
