Dear Reader,
Some years ago, an ad posted all over London promoted a book about a celebrity as “the ultimate biography.” I was reading a biography of Mary Baker Eddy at the time, and was struck with how she leaned on God and defied all the odds to restore what she referred to as “primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing” (Church Manual, p. 17). I kept thinking, “This is the ultimate biography.”
The many varied biographies that share Mrs. Eddy’s story are a wonderful resource for going deeper in our understanding of her life and ideas. They offer no teachings that aren’t already available in her textbook on Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Yet gems of insight can be gleaned from learning how its author practiced the Christian Science she discovered, and from “listening in” to some of her one-to-one conversations with others.
If you’re anything like me, though, you might have long wished for a way to search the biographies in order to track down and verify quotes and experiences you recall reading. Or to research a topic and share a citation that meets the need of a friend or patient. Or, joy of joys, to be able to highlight an excerpt that you value in a biography and copy and paste it into an article or talk you are preparing, or bookmark it digitally for future reference.
This wish list is now being realized for those subscribing to JSH-Online.com, with no added cost. The first of several biographies of Mrs. Eddy that will be posted on the website of The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald is now available on JSH-Online.com—the Amplified Edition of Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer by Yvonne Caché von Fettweis and Robert Townsend Warneck. Several more biographies will go online this fall, and more will be added early next year.
Besides the benefits highlighted above, every time you research a topic in the Christian Science periodicals on JSH-Online.com, relevant quotes, experiences, or other references cited in the biographies of Mrs. Eddy will also appear in the search results. In the case of Christian Healer, you will also be able to listen to the entire book online.
Whichever way you choose to engage with them, we expect these new resources to enhance your online research experience. We would love to hear from you about your experience of using them.
Tony Lobl
Associate Editor
