Popular Culture Review Vol. 2, No. 2, July 1991 | Page 59

Christian Science in the Gilded Age

51

extravagant,’"(30) derived from the rather doubtful creed of
Quimby.(31)
During the last decade of Mary Baker Eddy's life, progressives
and the twilight of Social Darwinism combined for a final philoso
phical salvo against her. In the Progressive era, the denial of matter
meant the denial of the scientific age and the ability of man to shape
his own destiny. John Churchman railed against the notion of non
existent evil in a society where corruption was shamelessly flaunted;
he called the Science system a philosophical heresy and its innova
tor a dilettante and a fanatic.(32) The concept of matter as an
illusion(33) seemed closely allied to Social Darwinism in its denial of
poverty and its blithe disregard for those on the lower rungs of
society. The crux of the argument was that "matter” [e. g., the new
scientific discoveries and technological advances of the twentieth
century] was saturated with God; to say that God revealed himself to
man in any other way was a monstrous belief.(34) The chief
indictment of progressives against Christian Science was that "it
tended to shut off the current of growth and lock the wheels of
progress."(35)
However, the progressive intellectuals were split. To Benjamin
O. Flower, editor of the muckraking Arena, materialism had
paralyzed virtually an entire country; Christian Science was the last
expression of moral idealism left.(36) A theistic idealist, Gerhard t
Mars, identified Mrs. Eddy with the culmination of the philosophi
cal concept of man's spiritualization. Although he approved of
mental healing, he believed it to be most effective when proper
medical precautions were taken. In a figurative sense, he interpreted
Mrs. Eddy's philosophy to be the beginning of man's victory over
death—humanity would master its material environment and build a
new heaven on earth. (37) Joel Rufus Mosley, a young American
thinker, demonstrated the relevance of Christian Science to Platonic
idealism and the subjective idealism of Berkeley, Kant and
Hegel.(38) Thus, the morality, idealism and spiritualization of
Christian Science were regarded by some as manifestations of modern
idealism rather than an ill-conceived delusion.(39)
Christian Science was buffeted in a philosophical crosscurrent.
If progressives were not completely sold on her theories, neither were
the right-wing naturalists. Henry White called the movement a
"medieval revival"(40); others claimed it was a regressive step on