The Ambiguous Feminism of Mary Baker Eddy Author(s): Susan Hill Lindley Source: The Journal of Religion, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Jul., 1984), pp. 318-331 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1202666 . Accessed: 22/10/2014 15:07 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Religion. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 66.31.143.47 on Wed, 22 Oct 2014 15:07:18 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Ambiguous Feminism of Mary Baker Eddy Susan Hill Lindley/ Saint Olaf College Among women who have achieved recognition in the field of religion, Mary Baker Eddy frequently appears as a pioneer, a woman who founded and led a major religious movement and who used feminine imagery for the divine. During and since her lifetime, biographers and historians have presented portraits of the founder of Christian Science of an almost dizzying variety, from unadulterated adulation to devas- tating attack.' More recently, Mary Baker Eddy as woman has been the focus of scholarly analysis, with mixed conclusions as to her place in the women's movement of nineteenth-century America and her heritage for contemporary feminism.