Christian Science Publishing Society

The Christian Science Publishing Society and the Board of Trustees that manage it were established by Mary Baker Eddy in a deed of trust on January 25, 1898, under the auspices of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Although she had not wanted to create a separate trust to handle the church's publications, legal considerations made it necessary. Written in the deed is Eddy's express intent for the Publishing Society, that it is "for the purpose of more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by me." Always concerned about the purity of the teaching, she was reported by her student Septimus J. Hanna to have said just days before signing the deed, that she wanted "to protect and preserve the literature of [Christian Science] in its purity". She wanted to protect her teachings from "aggressive attempts" to adulterate them, which she felt would wreak havoc within the church and would cause misrepresentations of her teachings, both within and outside the church.