Rolling Aay the Stone Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism [Paperback]

This richly detailed study highlights the last two decades of the life of Mary Baker Eddy, a prominent religious thinker whose character and achievement are just beginning to be understood. It is the first book-length discussion of Eddy to make full use of the resources of the Mary Baker Eddy Collection in Boston. Rolling Away the Stone focuses on her long-reaching legacy as a Christian thinker, specifically her challenge to the materialism that threatens religious belief and practice.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2006The book includes a great deal of fresh research and honest scholarship . . . [F]or the individual wanting to sink his or her teeth into a serious study of Eddy . . . you have a lot to look forward to in reading this book.Vol. 129, No. 5 May 2011

Contents<\>
Foreword

Acknowledgments

Note on Textual Usage

Introduction

Prelude: The World's leaden weight
1. O God, is it all!
2. Becoming Mrs. Eddy
3. By What Authority? On Christian Ground
4. By What Authority? Listening and Leading
5. Woman Goes Forth
6. The visible unity of spirit
7. The preparation of the heart
8. Ayont hate's thrall
9. A Power, Not a Place
10. The outflowing life of Christianity
11. The kingdoms of this world
12. Elijah's Mantle
Coda: The Prophetic Voice

Chronology

Notes

Bibliography
Index

Gottschalk does a superb job of providing historical context for the chaotic events of Eddy's final decades. He analyzes frequently oversimplified disagreements between Eddy and Mark Twain, deftly highlighting the many points of agreement and parallel thinking that led Eddy and Twain to very different conclusions. Finally, Gottschalk makes accessible Eddy's mature theology, the product of controversy as well as deep reflection: a thoroughgoing rejection of all materialisms affirmed by her contemporaries (scientific, medical, ecclesiastical, spiritual) in order to l.