Rolling Away the Stone

"Mary Baker Eddy (1821, 1910) has had more than her share of biographers: admirers, detractors, scholars, and members of her church. In this posthumous work, Gottschalk, who belongs in the last two categories, accepts the daunting task of examining the years between Eddy's 1889 move from Boston to Concord, NH, and her death. This period, ostensibly her retirement from active leadership and public life, was punctuated by acrimony, lawsuits, and highly publicized conflicts over Eddy's physical and intellectual/spiritual property, and the usual attacks upon her character and theology. 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 seek something higher and better than matter, and apart from it. All libraries should own this book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers."— D. Campbell, Colby College , 2006 oct. CHOICE

"Gottschalk's account is well told and enriched by fresh material now available from the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity."—Christian Science Monitor

"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 seek 'something higher and better than matter, and apart from it.'"—Choice

"The 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"—The Christian Science Journal

"Gottschalk has provided readers with a masterful account of Christian Science in its heyday. The book is a first-rate read for students of American religion and provides a look into how one of the country's more complex religious figures dealt with materialism in the late nineteenth-century America."—Religious Studies Review