Women

Christian Science is a female-founded community, and was the first major religion founded by an American woman. It is governed not by the Masculine Principle of material force, but by the Feminine Principle of love and spirit. By emphasizing this Feminine Principle, they would try ushering in a new spiritualized humanity. The religion puts a strong emphasis on the promotion of the female divine figure to in turn promote the equality of women. Mary Baker Eddy saw the Feminine as the epitome of spiritual perfection. Unlike femaleness, maleness was identified with materialism and carnality. Eddy liked identifying herself as the new Virgin Mary, or the “woman clothed with the sun” of the book of Revelation who brings forth the new messianic child, Divine Science. The First Church of Christ, Scientists succeeded and still succeeds today in promoting equality for women and emphasizing the importance of healing, which is often attributed to women.