Mark's final glorious verses

David Suchet's reading of the gospel of Mark in St. Paul's Cathedral (see earlier blog this month) leaves us with fear: “for they were afraid” (Mark 16:8 (2^nd for)). It seems that some translations of the Bible omit the final verses. 

I am going to type up those last verses (Mark 16: 9-20 King James Version), for they seem to have great significance to the student of Christian Science: divine Science, the Science of everything. I will leave out the verse numbers and make sentences as they seem reasonable.

Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak in new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Don't we hear echoes of Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy there? Or perhaps reflections by Science and Health of that wonderful teaching. For me, it sort of sums up the teaching of Christian Science.

Joyce Voysey

Salt and peace

A man had a problem with rodents.

Exquisite reading (gospel of Mark)

Book Club December 2019. Gospel Mark

Yesterday I went looking for something general about Mark on the Internet. I found David Suchet (of Agatha Christie fame as Poirot) being introduced in St Paul's Cathedral in London and reading the whole of the book of Mark.

It is a two-hour session, so I haven't heard and watched all of it yet, but it is excellent. Not the King James Version, but he didn't actually name the translation (Ed. I believe it's NIV). Exquisite reading.*

David Suchet has been recorded reading the whole of the Bible!

Meanwhile, in the Reading Room on Friday I came across an article Bible Texts and Manuscripts by Walter Meredith, which I found to be a valuable source on the history of the publications which have gone into the evolution of the sacred word-- see Christian Science Journal April 1948. (Non-subscribers to jsh-online can request a copy of this article from any Christian Science Reading Room.) It gives a history of the biblical writings from their earliest days of papyrus, which, being fragile, suffered much from use. 

Meredith's article was written about the time of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but it doesn't mention them. So no doubt scholars have updated some of the information that is given in the article.

Joyce Voysey

* Suchet mentions his fellow actor Alex McCowen who performed this gospel by heart in venues around the world, including the White House. Mr McCowen is mentioned by Bible teacher Madelon Maupin in her most recent teaching on Mark.

Ed. I found these paragraphs from Meredith's article most enlightening:

Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 179): "The Old and the New Testaments contain self-evident truths that cannot be lost, but being translations, the Scriptures are criticized. Some dangerous skepticism exists as to the verification of our Master's sayings. But Christians and Christian Scientists know that if the Old Testament and gospel narratives had never been written, the nature of Christianity, as depicted in the life of our Lord, and the truth in the Scriptures, are sufficient to authenticate Christ's Christianity as the perfect ideal."

 ...as late as 303 A.D. the Roman emperor Diocletian issued an edict ordering that the churches should be abolished and all Christian writings destroyed.

What are we listening to?

Jesus was a great teacher. He often used parables to convey his ideas and many parables included farming analogies, as in the parable of the farmer and his seeds--see Mark chapter 4. We remember that not all of the seeds germinated and brought forth fruit. And so it is with our endeavours today.

Up before dawn

The gospel of Mark is the earliest of the four manuscripts (gospels) written concerning the appearance of the much-awaited anointed one. Isaiah had foretold his coming and Mark heralds him in his opening passage: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God (Mark 1: 1) - James Moffatt translation quoted throughout this post.

This was good news (the meaning of the word gospel) and Mark, the scribe of the disciple Peter, was assigned the task of getting the story down before all the eyewitnesses had passed on!

After quoting Isaiah, he verifies his story by referring to John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, who recognizes Jesus' status as 'one who is mightier' and who will 'baptize...with the holy Spirit' (Mark 1: 7 and 8). Finally, 'a voice from heaven' proclaims the Messiah: 'my Son, the Beloved...my delight' (Mark 1: 11).

Swift on the heels of this announcement, Jesus finds himself beset by temptation in a forty-day desert experience where 'he was in the company of wild beasts, but angels ministered to him' (verse 13).  The story then moves swiftly into Jesus' ministry as he goes about choosing his disciples from among the local fishermen. (This snappy gospel--there are just sixteen chapters--condenses Jesus' three year ministry into one.)

'Come, follow me and I will make you fish for men' he commands (Mark 1:17). Soon he is teaching in the local synagogue on the Sabbath and his teaching astounds the listeners. It's not like anything they've heard before and it upsets at least one person in the congregation (verse 23-27) who happens to get healed during that church meeting. Suddenly, Jesus is big news.

Later that night, Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law (I wonder how she was handling the idea of her son-in-law giving up his fishing to follow Jesus!) and soon 'the whole town [is] gathered at [their] front door (verse 33). 

The next day, way before the sun was up, Jesus had already found a quiet spot where he could be alone to pray. Surely he would have expected what happened next--the disciples tracked him down. He had a plan: he took them off to the synagogues of Galilee, healing by 'casting out daemons' (verse 39). I believe that a demon is another name for devil or evil, and readers might like to check out the definition of 'Devil' in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - see page 584. It begins: 'Evil; a lie...'

Despite the marvellous work Jesus was doing, the political atmosphere was fraught, and Mark tells us that 'Jesus could no longer enter any town openly' (verse 45).

What an astounding first chapter! It is filled with intensity and insight. We can feel the wave of something new and astonishing touching the lives of the people, not only more than two thousand years ago, but for us today too because the holy Spirit is an abiding force and Jesus' ministry is for all time as we too are invited to follow his path.

Julie Swannell

The sacred secret 'upper chamber'

I am especially interested in the idea of rest in Mother's Room, as referred to in the Whittier poem (mentioned in yesterday's blog post).  

In an article from the Mary Baker Eddy Library entitled Did Mary Baker Eddy write it? A letter to Septimus J. Hanna, we are told that Mrs. Eddy instructed Judge Hanna, as First Reader of The Mother Church*, to go into his 'secret "upper chamber"'. 

Mrs. Eddy's letter says in part, "Be strong and firm on this basis till you are ready to feel 'I have had my vacation I am ready for harder work'".

A vacation or rest in praying for oneself.  Wonderful concept!

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Hanna was also at that time on the Bible Lesson Committee and editor of The Christian Science Journal and he wanted to resign some of those jobs.

Ed. There are several references to 'upper chamber' in the Bible:

1. Acts 9:37, 39 (where Peter heals Tabitha) and

2. Acts 20:8 where Paul was preaching when Eutychus fell from the third loft. 

Mrs Eddy uses the phrase too:

1. Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 

   a) page 159:11-15 (extract from a Christmas letter in which she refers to the upper chamber as a 'sanctuary of love') and

   b) page 279:22-23 ('the disciples met together in an upper chamber').

2. The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany page 156:18 (Here are some tender words about thought prepared to receive Truth.) 

This still room

One room in the original Mother Church was built especially for the Pastor Emeritus, Mary Baker Eddy.

Love meeting the human need

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, author Mary Baker Eddy has a wonderful statement: Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. (See p. 494: 10-11). It correlates to many passages in Scripture, but today I'm thinking of this week's Golden Text from the Bible Lesson - Exodus 15:6 (to ;), 7 (to ;) from the Good News Translation in Today's English Version (2nd Edition):

Your right hand, Lord, is awesome

An indelible mark

The importance of building The Mother Church is brought out in Armstrong's conclusion.

He says, 

“It was a victory for Christian Science, a victory in which every claim of error was met and overcome. Something was accomplished which must be accepted by mortals as part of the world's history. . . Just as a large part of mankind have accepted the lives of Jesus and his apostles as historic facts, however little this may affect their own living; just as proofs of astronomical facts, reversing the evidence of the senses, are universally undenied, -- so the erection of this church is so great a demonstration of Christianity and Science as to leave on the world's thought an indelible mark which must be given a place in its history.

Only future ages can fully appreciate and understand the mighty triumph of good over evil, of Spirit over matter, manifested in the circumstances connected with the successful erection of this beautiful building, as given in this historical sketch of The Mother Church in Boston. 

Page 92.

In September 1893, Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, advised the Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, to lay the foundation for a church building the following October. (See p. 1, the opening paragraph of the chapter entitled The Foundation.)

“Hold your services in the Mother Church Dec. 30, 1894, and dedicate this church Jan. 6^th” (letter from Mrs. Eddy Dec. 19, 1894).

And that is what was accomplished.

The only building of an important church/cathedral I know of is St. John's Cathedral in Brisbane. Its foundation stone was set in 1901; a portion of the building was consecrated in 1910; a second phase was begun in 1965, consecrated 1968; the final phase, which included the towers, was begun in 1989; church consecrated 2009. I wonder if there is a history of problems and their resolution on that project.

One of my favourite stories in the book is of Caroline Bates climbing up shaky ladders to solve problems with workmen.

This is a wonderful book. Thank you to our Editor for setting it for us. (Although I had just reread it a few months ago, I always get renewed inspiration from it.)

Joyce Voysey

A breath of fresh air

The Christian Science Journal dated October 1991* includes a lovely tribute to Joseph Armstrong, the author of this month's book The Mother Church. It describes him as a tall man of six feet who, in his thirties, rose in commerce to achieve the position of president of his own bank. No amount of worldly success or money, however, had been able to cure his wife Mary. When Christian Science did cure her, their lives changed forever. Both took primary and normal class instruction in Christian Science from Mary Baker Eddy, and both became obedient and loyal students during the tumultuous years at the turn of last century. The Journal article offers insight into Mr Armstrong's role:

In late 1892 Mr. Armstrong was called to Boston. The Christian Science Publishing Society was in turmoil. Its Publisher had resigned in opposition to Mrs. Eddy's leadership, and over the previous three years the fledgling Journal had lost a large percentage of its subscribers...Within four months [with Armstrong at the helm**] the Journal recouped the three-year loss and increased subscriptions by an additional 15 percent.

The Journal article also quotes from Sibyl Wilbur's reminiscences that

One reporter's first impression of the man in 1905 captures [a] likeness: "Here is Saint Peter, I do believe, . . . greatly humble and humbly great." With only a few words to the reporter, Mr. Armstrong departed, leaving the sense that a breath of fresh air had been felt in the room.

For me, one of the appealing features about Armstrong's book is the inclusion of Scriptural passages that obviously inspired the building work through challenges and triumphs. For instance, on page 15, he quotes II Chronicles 13: 'The pressure to go forward and do something became more imperative every day, while at the same time everything material claimed to discourage and hinder the Directors, "fears within and foes without"'. But despite those fears and foes, the work continued apace and a touchingly 'simple ceremony' saw the laying of the corner stone on May 21, 1894, the date designated by their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and achieved through the faithful efforts of the Directors, whose 'voice was not heard in the street' (Isa 42:2 and Matt 12:19). This suggests a marked unobtrusiveness; methods that are quiet and gentle, yet firm and focused. Definitely a breath of fresh air.

Julie Swannell

*See jsh-online or visit your local Christian Science Reading Room.

** William Dana Orcutt writes that 'During the regime of Mr. Armstrong, the office of publisher really began to function for the first time. His imprint first appears on the one hundred and eleventh edition, and extended into 1907...' (Mary Baker Eddy and her Books p. 59).

Architecture and The Mother Church

There is a short podcast on The Mary Baker Eddy Library about the two buildings of The Mother Church in Boston.  So interesting considering our topic for November.

It features Dr Jeanne Kilde* and is to be found at 

www.mbelibrary.org/podcast 

Scroll down to Gender, Spirituality, and the Architecture of The Mother Church.

Joyce Voysey

* Dr. Jeanne Halgren Kilde is Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Minnesota. 

Caleb

I have come to one of my favourite Bible characters – Caleb. Oh dear! In looking up Caleb's history, I found there are 11 entries in my Bible Dictionary. They look interesting, so I will have to check them all, won't I?

Caleb was of the tribe of Judah. Now Judah is listed in the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (by Mary Baker Eddy) as: "A corporeal material belief progressing and disappearing; the spiritual understanding of God and man appearing" (p. 589:23). A good line to be in!

There were twelve men sent to check out the land of Canaan from the wilderness of Paran, on the east side of the Sinai Peninsula. Two of the twelve gave the enterprise the go-ahead – they could see that it was possible to take the land. Caleb “stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13: 30). However, the men who went with him thought they were not strong enough to do the job. So the journey to the Promised Land had to take the longer route.

Caleb and Joshua were the only ones of the group to enter the Promised Land – the others died in the wilderness.

But Joshua forgot that God's promise included Caleb, and he was ignored when the land was divided up. Really the whole of Caleb's story is encapsulated in Joshua Chapter 14. He put his case to Joshua and received what was due to him. Hebron was his inheritance.

Joyce Voysey

Geography and kingdoms

How about the list of “kings of the country which Joshua and the Children of Israel smote on this side Jordan...”! We then have a list of the kings: Josh. 13:9-24. That's 32 kings. 

The area we are reading about is very small – Israel to-day, we are told, measures 420 km x 115 km. But the area Joshua took over didn't include all that area. 

I think of the distance between the Gold Coast and Brisbane as being about 100 km. Take that north for 420 km you might get to Bundaberg. How many cities, towns, villages would that hold? And how about having 32 kings set up in that area?

The web site at https://images.app.goo.gl/FW9vuhGoWt68hoVk9 might give you a map. (Ed. You can spot Jericho just north of the Dead Sea and Ai a little to the north west of Jericho.)

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Interesting that they were all kings. I wonder about their queens. And how many people constituted each kingdom? With travel being mostly on foot, it's probable that people kept to their own little part of the world.

Cheerful employment

Warfare and conflict are usually distasteful topics; we'd rather have peace. Yet, as we read in Joyce's recent post, Joshua's story embraces a swag of conquests which involved both warfare and conflict. What lessons may be learned?

Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, writes that 'the warfare with oneself is grand'. The whole sentence reads: 'Be of good cheer; the warfare with one's self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you, — and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory' (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 118:24–28)

In this same volume, she writes evocatively of past skirmishes: 'With tender tread, thought sometimes walks in memory, through the dim corridors of years, on to old battle-grounds, there sadly to survey the fields of the slain and the enemy's losses' (ibid, p. xi: 24).

But the battle is not with other people; it is with sin and error, as exemplified in the following passage in the Christian Science textbook by Eddy: 'There is too much animal courage in society and not sufficient moral courage. Christians must take up arms against error at home and abroad. They must grapple with sin in themselves and in others, and continue this warfare until they have finished their course ' (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 28:32–5).

What, then, was Joshua doing as he and his people fought so many battles? We will probably never know exactly, but we hope they were sorting themselves out, finding their place, learning how to get along with each other, putting down roots and growing shoots, and practising the ten commandments handed down to them by their courageous leader Moses. It wasn't and isn't always easy, but 'the Lord gave them rest...' (Joshua 21: 44)--a little respite on their continuing journey to know and obey God.

Julie Swannell

Was Joshua paying attention to God?

Joshua. I haven't got my peace about all that killing. One commentator suggests that the towns may have been infested with a terrible, incurable disease. And of course there were other gods to be gotten rid of. Though it is said there were still some left - somehow.

Well I have just come to the sentence, “And the land rested from war” (Josh. 11:23 And the...). 

The towns of Canaan have been burned down after the inhabitants were killed. “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions” (Josh. 11:23 to first .).

How puzzling. It made me think that Joshua took up the idea of taking over Canaan for a homeland for the Israelites, but didn't listen quietly as to how to do it. I have found that when I get an idea  from Mind for some action, there is a second part to the demonstration. I have to ask and listen for the modus operandi of how to do it, not go off “half-cocked,” so to speak.

This morning (Sunday 20^th October), I was reading the article Lessons in True Compassion in the October 2019 Christian Science Journal. Speaking of the Children of Israel and their Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land, the writer (Gabriela Mejia) says she found it surprising and comforting that God never left their side. She says, “Time after time, despite all the doubts and complaints from the Israelites, God demonstrated His great patience and love by providing for them and protecting them from harm.”

Hey! Where is the Golden Rule here. The Israelites had been freed from slavery in Egypt where they really had a pretty good life, and they go and savagely kill and burn whole towns and villages.

No compassion there.

Joyce Voysey

A new generation

I am impressed by the parallels between Joshua, and his teacher and leader, Moses. It is obvious that Joshua, as leader of this new generation, had paid attention.

Both had the formidable task of crossing water-courses with a mass of people--men, women, and children. Joshua faced the Jordan River in flood. This river, which has the lowest elevation of any river in the world*, flows from snow-capped Mount Hermon (approx. 9,000 feet; 2,800 metres) in the north to the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius), and continues south to the Dead Sea (the lowest part of the earth's surface). It sits between 32 and 35 degrees north of the equator. (As a comparison, Canberra is 35 degrees south). There is a great map at https://www.mapsofworld.com/lat_long/israel-lat-long.html

It seems that the Israelites crossed the Jordan following the death of Moses in 1406 B.C., the same year in which Jericho was destroyed. Joshua had to prove his worth as their new leader and he quoted Moses as he spoke to the people.

Within the historical context that "the people of Israel had been landless for nearly five hundred years", The Message (Eugene Peterson) presents a bold young Joshua advising his people thus: "Pack your bags. In three days you will cross this Jordan River to enter and take the land God, your God, is giving you to possess" (Joshua 1: 10-11). The nomadic life of "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons [followed by] ...over 400 years...[in] slavery" was behind them.

Joshua proclaimed:

"Remember what Moses the servant of God commanded you. God, your God, gives you rest and he gives you this land. Your wives, your children, and your livestock can stay here east of the Jordan... but you, tough soldiers all, must cross the River in battle formation, leading your brothers, helping them..." (ibid verses 12-15).

These people demonstrated obedience, attention to detail, trust, confidence in God, action, movement, and close listening.

They also had to stand firm in their resolve to move forward together and to drive out foreign matter such as fear, doubt, disobedience.

How fitting it was that Joshua, like Moses, had to remove his shoes. He was standing on holy ground (Joshua 5: 15), feeling the sanctity of God's direction and protection.

Julie Swannell


* Britannica entry on Jordan River

Rahab and smugglers

Chapter two of Joshua has a great story, with Rahab as its heroine.

Joshua had led the people to Shittim which is within spitting distance of Jericho. He sent two men to spy out the prospects of getting into Jericho. Rahab, a “harlot,” was a -- what to call her? (I am reminded of the people in Europe during the Second World War who hid folk fleeing from the Nazis and the Italians. What were they called? Guerrillas? Part of networks of men and women getting the ones in danger to freedom.) 

Rahab didn't have a network. She thought it all out herself. (Wrong! We never think anything out for ourselves, do we?) She had heard of the wonders which had attended the Israelites in the journey out of slavery in Egypt, and she respected their God which had brought them through the Red Sea, etc. After the Israelites conquered Jericho her father's family were the only ones saved. (She had requested that of Joshua's two men.)

My Bible Dictionary says of Rahab: "According to later Jewish legend, Rahab was one of the four most beautiful women in history. She became a righteous convert, married Joshua, and was the ancestor of eight prophets (including Jeremiah) and of Huldah the prophetess (b. Meg. 151). In the New Testament, Rahab is cited as a heroine of faith (Heb. 11:31) and of righteous works (James 2:25), and is included in Jesus' ancestry by Matthew (1:5)".

I am currently reading a book called The Book of Smugglers of Timbuktu: The Quest for this storied city and the pace to save its treasures, by Charlie English. I wonder what the readers of this blog think about Timbuktu. Not much in the way of literature there perhaps. Old manuscripts and historic documents – no way, I would have thought. The book corrects that line of thinking.

First of all, Timbuktu, on the Niger River, is in Mali in West Africa (the rounded part), on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The official language is French.

It was fabled as being rich in gold. Mungo Park explored the area between 1795 and 1797, and though he didn't reach Timbuktu, at Kamala he found people reading Arabic texts. He was also shown The Book of Common Prayer.

Among the documents he saw was an Arabic version of the Pentateuch of Moses (Torah of Moses). And he found that the people were familiar with Old Testament stories like Adam and Eve; the death of Abel; Noah's flood; the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon. Some could relate the stories in the local language, Manding.

Interestingly, Julie's exchange student from French-speaking Quebec visited Mali some years ago. I didn't take much notice at the time. Now I would love to hear about it.

Here is some of what Wikipedia says about Timbuktu:

Timbuktu Manuscripts 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manuscript of Nasir al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hajj al-Amin al-Tawathi al-Ghalawi's Kashf al-Ghummah fi Nafa al-Ummah. From the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library, Timbuktu.

A manuscript page from Timbuktu showing a table of astronomical information

Timbuktu Manuscripts (or Tombouctou Manuscripts) is a blanket term for the large number of historically important manuscripts that have been preserved for centuries in private households in Timbuktu, Mali. The collections include manuscripts about art, medicine, philosophy, and science, as well as copies of the Quran. The number of manuscripts in the collections has been estimated as high as 700,000.[1]

The manuscripts were written in Arabic and local languages...[2] The dates of the manuscripts ranged between the late 13th and the early 20th centuries (i.e., from the Islamisation of the Mali Empire...

Perhaps I have strayed from Joshua a little. But isn't that all interesting. Does it tempt the reader to go find English's book? 

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Rahab certainly was brave to smuggle the 'spies' to safety.

PS. I find it interesting to conjecture from which direction the Israelites approached Jericho. And what did they carry with them of their African experience - physically, morally, educationally?

The book of the law

Book club for October 2019 – Joshua

First thing in Chapter 1, for me, was the phrase, the "book of the law” in verse 8. It seems this refers to the Torah or first five books of the Bible, including all of Moses' rules and regulations, though definition varies with scholarship. In my consecutive reading of the Bible I have been wading through the Exodus listing of all those seemingly interminable laws; interminable and somewhat pedantic to my thought. Though I seem to remember that Mrs. Eddy says that every thing in the Bible can have a spiritual truth embedded in it. Sorry, I don't have a quote to hand on that one.

It would seem that the people were not able to do what Joshua 1:8 demands of them, namely, not let the "book of the law depart out of [their] mouth[s]", and, "meditate therein day and night, that [they might] observe to do according to all that is written therein". They were assured that they would be "prosperous" and "success[ful]" if they obeyed this rule. But, in II Kings 22:8, we find that some time in the future, under the reign of Josiah, Hilkiah finds the book of the law. It had languished some place – forgotten and not lived by.

(One of my favourite Bible stories is connected to this reference to the “book of the law”: Nehemiah 8:1-12.)

I seem to have happened here on a matter that may require in-depth study to get straight. Suffice it to say perhaps, that the Israelites didn't always obey the book of the law, and it had to be re-discovered over and over.

In verse 6, Joshua tells the people that they must "be strong and of a good courage". He reiterates the idea three more times. Perhaps he thought it was important! It is still good teaching for us as students of Christian Science.

Joyce Voysey

Sir John Bowring and hymn 79

Sir John Bowring (1798-1872), mentioned in Unity of Good, p. 26, by Mary Baker Eddy.

Bowring had quite a few strings to his bow, including being familiar with over one hundred languages, being governor of Hong Kong (1854-9) and writing a number of hymns. The entry about him in Wikipedia suggests that he was a Unitarian, and it offers the following information about one compilation of his hymns:

Hymns (Privately published, 1825) This includes the hymns In the cross of Christ I Glory, and Watchman, Tell Us of the Night, both still used in many churches. The American composer Charles Ives used part of Watchman, Tell Us of the Night in the opening movement of his Fourth Symphony.

A check in the 'Authors and Sources' section at the back of the Christian Science Hymnal (pp. 621-626) lists the following hymn authorship by him:

• 79          God is Love: His mercy brightens
• 128/9     How sweetly flowed the gospel sound
• 133/424 I cannot always trace the way
• 363        Upon the Gospel's sacred page
• 368/9     Watchman, tell us of the night

Mary Baker Eddy's reference to Bowring concerns hymn 79. She objected to one particular verse--

Chance and change are busy ever,
Man decays and ages move; 
But His mercy waneth never, --
God is wisdom, God is love.

This verse has been omitted in our hymnal. Mrs. Eddy reasoned that 'if it be true that God's power never waneth, how can it be also true that chance and change are universal factors, - that man decays?' (Unity of Good, p. 26). She continues, 'Many ordinary Christians protest against this stanza of Bowring's, and its sentiment is foreign to Christian Scientists' (ibid). 

We can be glad to sing the hymn without this offending stanza. I, for one, always cherish the recurring message of the hymn: God is wisdom, God is Love.

Julie Swannell

Brave Blondin

Firstly, please accept apologies for the rogue posting that popped up on this site on Tuesday. Technical difficulties! 

Blondin (1824-1897) - mentioned in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 199 - is a fascinating character. Real name: Jean Francois Gravelet.

French-born Blondin's passion for rope-walking began as a child 'when a troupe of acrobats pitched their tent near his home at St. Omer' (Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them, p. 36). I wonder what his mother thought as he 'practiced crawling out on branches...catch[ing] hold of the branch above and swing[ing] himself up' (ibid)! 

In fact, by the time 'he was five, his parents placed him in the École de Gymnase in Lyons...[and soon]...he appeared as Little Wonder' (p. 37).

I especially enjoyed reading that 'In 1851 he came with a French company of equestrian and acrobatic performers to the United States. On the voyage a man was washed overboard. At once Blondin jumped in and rescued him' (ibid) and that 'While performing, he never looked down, but always straight ahead' (ibid).

The internet has many many references to Blondin - even some videos of his crossing the Niagara Falls. This entry from History Today is interesting: 'Blondin's first crossing of the Niagara Falls, in 1859, was the most famous feat in a life packed with them and like all the others was painstakingly prepared, ...'

A writer to the Christian Science Sentinel of April 14, 1962, mentions Blondin in his article regarding self-discipline. Israel Pickens writes, in part:

'The overcoming of fear and of other propensities of mortal mind does not require the use of willpower. There have been instances when some great achievement was accomplished simply through the expression of such qualities as stability, poise, or fearlessness or through practicing the art of self-discipline, which is not the same as willpower.

'An example of this is seen in the experience of Charles Blondin, who walked on a tightrope above the roaring torrents of Niagara Falls. Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p.199), "Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it." And she adds, "His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear." Blondin had practiced self-discipline, which enabled him not only to overcome completely the fear of falling but to balance himself.

'Such self-discipline expressed in the overcoming of the fear of falling is far less significant, however, than is that of the self-discipline in learning that God governs our real selves, that man is His care and responsibility.'

While we may never have the ambition or the staying power to conquer the art of tight-rope walking, yet we each have the self-discipline necessary to hone and expand our individual talents, and so to glorify our heavenly Parent.

Julie Swannell

Soldier and historian Flavius Josephus

Flavius Josephus (37-117 A.D. -- born the day Paul became a Christian) is often mentioned as a source who authenticates the actual being of Jesus. Scholars argue about that.  The reprinted article which follows the Bible Lens this week (see Christian Science Sentinel September 23-29, 2019) offers a beautiful record on one person's inspiration in this regard (Chet Manchester – Peace in a shared homeland – originally printed January 21 2002, Christian Science Sentinel)

Mary Alice Rose's January 2015 Christian Science Journal article, adapted from a JSH-Online Journal podcast series, gives an updated Josephus' story*.

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Subscribers to jsh-online can search directly for the articles mentioned above. Non-subscribers are welcome to use the facilities of Christian Science Reading Rooms to access the articles. Note that non-subscribers are able to access a wealth of information for free. 

Ed. Josephus is mentioned in Mary Baker Eddy's book Christian Healing, p. 3.

* The version found in our book Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them appeared in the Sentinel June 23, 1956. 

Six men of character

On the same page of Mary Baker Eddy's book, The People's Idea of God, that mentions Abercrombie and Johnson, Voltaire gets a mention:  'Voltaire says: “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease”' (p. 6: 11). Precious. Leo Tolstoy quotes it in War and Peace.

Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire lived from 1694 to 1778. The article on him in the Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them series finishes with: 'Voltaire has been called an atheist, but these words deny it: "I shall always be convinced that a watch proves a watchmaker, and that a universe proves a God”' (p. 209).

Franklin Pierce (1804–1869)—mentioned in Eddy's Retrospection and Introspection, p. 6 and The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, pp 308, 309, 311. I have not as yet found the article in the periodicals where Mrs. Eddy mentions Franklin Pierce. But of course I don't need to, for I have the 'hard copy' of the Bound Sentinel which contains it, which I found in the Reading Room. With the knowledge that it is in the Sentinel of April 12, 1958, I could find it on JSH-Online*. However, students of Christian Science are quite familiar with him and his family. There was a close connection with her brother Albert, who read law with him, and he went on to become President of the United States. I wonder how Mrs. Eddy viewed some of his ideas, like “defend[ing] the proslavery program” (ibid, p. 167). There is an interesting note about presidential campaigning: 'Pierce himself did not actively campaign, but remained quietly in Concord until he was elected' (ibid).

Aha! I was spelling Pierce wrongly. “Pearce” would never find him on JSH.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)—mentioned in Eddy's Science and Health, pp. 66, 176, 244; Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 8, 226, 267; Retrospection, p. 81; Unity of Good, pp. 22, 23. It would seem that Mrs. Eddy could have valued Shakespeare a little lower than the Bible. On page (iii) of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, three authors are cited:

           Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. JOHN viii. 32

           There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. SHAKESPEARE

            Oh! Thou hast heard my prayer;

            And I am blest!

            This is Thy high behest: —

            Thou here, and everywhere.  MARY BAKER G. EDDY

And we find Jesus and Shakespeare in the same paragraph on page 8 of Miscellaneous Writings:

'Shakespeare writes: “Sweet are the uses of adversity.” Jesus said: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; …

for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”'

'Shakespeare, the immortal lexicographer of mortals, writes: — To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man' (Mis. 226:13).

 At the time of his passing, his fellow playwright Ben Jonson wrote: 'He was not of an age, but for all time.' And so it has proved to be.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)—mentioned in Retrospection, p. 77: Message for 1901, p. 30; Miscellany, p. 269. Mrs. Eddy commends Pope for saying: '“An honest man's the noblest work of God”' (Ret. 77:2). This is a reminder of the words of a loved hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal—'Man is the noblest work of God' (# 51). Perhaps Pope did not have quite the quality of poet Mary Alice Dayton's man in mind—man who is the perfect idea of Mind, God.

Mrs Eddy counselled 'Christian Scientists under all circumstances to obey the Golden Rule, and to adopt Pope's axiom: “An honest, sensible, and well-bred man will not insult me, and no other can”' (Message for 1901, 30:27–30).

Aristotle (384 B.C. – 332 B.C.)—mentioned in Miscellaneous Writings, p. 226. Mrs. Eddy wrote of him: 'When Aristotle was asked what a person could gain by uttering a falsehood, he replied, “Not to be credited when he shall tell the truth”' (Mis. 226).

Along with his teacher Plato, he has been called the "Father of Western Philosophy". His writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and government. (Wikipedia)

My aside at this stage was, 'What an encouragement to scholarship all this is.'

Charles Carrol Bonney (1831-1903)—mentioned in Miscellaneous Writings, p. 312. The reader may like to read for themselves what Mrs. Eddy said about this 'great' man. 

Joyce Voysey

* An addition to the story of Franklin Pierce in the 'Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them' series was prepared for podcast by Christian Science Monitor reporter Gail Russell Chaddock (published 1 December 2015).

Reading Room discovery

I have loaned my copy of the book, Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them, thinking I would find one to borrow in my church's Reading Room lending library. Alas, no copy there, so I had to find another road to finding the articles which make up the substance of the book.

Recently, when I was in the Reading Room before our Wednesday Testimony Meeting, I chose, at random, a volume of the Christian Science Sentinel (an annual 'bound volume') to browse through. What do you know? The 1958 volume opened up to an entry about General Henry Knox (1750-1806) from the 22 February 1958 edition of the Sentinel. I learned that this hero of the American War of Independence was a relative of Mary Baker Eddy's on her grandmother's side. In her Retrospection and Introspection Mrs Eddy tells us, 'I was fond of listening, when a child, to grandmother's stories about General Knox, for whom she cherished a high regard' (Ret. 2:27) -- as did George Washington, according to the Sentinel account.

Now, I knew that these pieces had been first printed as a series in the Christian Science Sentinel, so I looked for more in that volume of Sentinels. I found that they did not appear weekly, but by patiently turning the pages I came to others.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) -- a Scottish chap: Sentinel, 25 January 1958. Carlyle is mentioned in Eddy's Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 33 and The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 154, 193. In the latter reference, Mrs Eddy commends Carlyle's sentiment: 'Give a thing time; if it succeeds, it is a right thing' (My 193: 22).

At this stage, my thought was of gratitude that Mrs. Eddy found support for her ideas from characters such as these recorded in our book. It seems she felt that they were reaching for the truth she found in divine Science, and grasping a little of that truth. Sometimes she takes the message higher through a reference to the Bible.

John Albion Andrew (1818-1867) -- a contemporary of Mrs. Eddy: Sentinel, 8 February 1958. The reference to this man is in Mrs. Eddy's Poems. The Sentinel account has a wonderful tribute to Abraham Lincoln (a hero of mine), but I will refer here to another quote relevant to Christian Science: 'In respect to principles I am always radical. In respect to measures I am always conservative. Principles are of God...Measures, on the other hand, are human devices by which men attempt to actualize in human affairs the principles they perceive and believe in' (Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them, p. 16).

One is reminded of the absolute and relative in our work as students of Christian Science.

Dr John Abercrombie (1780-1844 – a Scot) and Dr James Johnson (1777-1845): Sentinel, 8 March 1958. These men are coupled in one entry in the Sentinel. They too appear in Mrs. Eddy's writings. In The People's Idea of God, p. 6, Abercrombie is quoted as saying, 'Medicine is the science of guessing.' Johnson, Surgeon to William IV, King of England,  is even more forthright, 'I declare my conscientious opinion, founded on long observation and reflection, that if there was not a single physician, surgeon, apothecary, man-midwife, chemist, druggist, or drug on the face of the earth, there would be less sickness and less mortality...” See Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 163 and The People's Idea of God, p. 6.

David Hume (1711-1776) - Sentinel, 22 March 1958. Ah! Hume is one of a group of thinkers who Mrs Eddy's critics felt 'must have been the originators of the Science of Mind-healing as...stated [in Science and Health]'. See Retrospection and Introspection, p. 37.

I still have five more blokes to comment on, so I will give the editor and the reader a break here.

Actually, there is another session I had on Friday in the Reading Room that I must chat about...

Joyce Voysey

A fascinating Chronological Index

I find it very interesting that there is, at the back of our book, Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them, there is a list of the people mentioned, as listed in chronological periods.  Thus:

• Classical Times
• Early Christian Period
• The Renaissance, Reformation and Elizabethan Age
• Identified with 17th Century
• identified with 17th and 18th Centuries
• Identified with 18th Century
• Identified with 18th and 19th Centuries
• Identified with 19th Century
• Identified with 19th and 20th Century

 Joyce Voysey

Ed. Joyce photocopied the Index for our readers, but the images were rather small once set in the blog, so here is just a taste -- transcribed for book club readers.  

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX

Classical Times

 ?100-850 BC......................... Homer

Sixth Century BC................... Pythagoras

469-399 BC...........................  Socrates

460-357 BC...........................  Hippocrates

427-347 BC...........................  Plato

384?-322 BC.......................... Demosthenes

384-322 BC...........................  Aristotle

356-323 BC...........................  Alexander the Great

c. 300 BC...............................  Euclid

70-19 BC...............................  Virgil (Publius Virgilius Maro)

63 BC-AD 14......................... Augustus (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)

42 BC-AD 37..........................Tiberius Caesar

AD 37-117.............................  Flavius Josephus

c. 60-c. 120...........................   Epictetus

62-113..................................    Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus)

Middle of Second Century...... Claudius Ptolemy

Early Christian Period

?...........................................   Publius Lentulus

69-155..................................  Polycarp

?...........................................   Papias (contemporary of Polycarp)

100(?)-165(?).......................   Justin Martyr

280(?)-337............................  Constantine (Flavius Valerius Constantinus)

354-430................................   St. Augustine (Aurelius Augustinus)

Middle Ages

1265-1321............................. Dante Alighieri

1272(?)-1305.........................Sir William Wallace

1320(?)-1384.........................John Wyclif

1340(?)-1400.........................Geoffrey Chaucer

The Renaissance, Reformation, and Elizabethan Age

1451-1506............................. Christopher Columbus

1452-1498............................. Girolamo Savonarola

1473-1543............................. Nicolaus Copernicus

1483-1520............................. Raphael Santi

1564-1642............................. Galileo Galilei

1600-1681............................. Pedro Calderón de la Barca

1483-1546............................. Martin Luther

1497-1560............................. Philip Melanchthon

1509-1564............................. John Calvin

1519-1572............................. Gaspard de Coligny

1533-1603............................. Elizabeth I

1564-1616............................. William Shakespeare

1573-1637............................. Ben Jonson