What Is Christian Science?

This rigorous 1921 critique dissects one of America's most controversial religious movements with the precision of a philosopher and the urgency of someone who sees real danger in misplaced faith. M. M. Mangasarian, a prominent agnostic writer known for his public debates with religious leaders, turns his attention to Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science: a movement that claimed the mind could cure any physical ailment and that matter itself was merely an illusion. The book systematically dismantles Eddy's theological claims, her assertions about spiritual healing, and her radical rejection of conventional medicine. But beyond the theological argument lies something that still resonates: Mangasarian grapples with what happens when sincere belief leads people to refuse life-saving treatment, a question that haunted his era and remains relevant today. Written in accessible yet rigorous prose, this is both a historical artifact of early 20th-century religious debate and a provocative examination of faith's boundaries.