This website is provided in the spirit of love by members of The Mother Church to fellow Christian Scientists. Its purpose is to share research and historical perspectives which call into question the practice by current church officers of including Bible translations other than the King James Version in the English-language Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons.
Historical records provide clear evidence of Mrs. Eddy’s intention that the King James Version of the Bible is to be used in all English-language Christian Science church services.
For example, in the July 2, 1938 Christian Science Sentinel, the Christian Science Board of Directors described Mrs. Eddy’s consistent preference for the King James Version. The Directors included this statement: “Because of the extent to which the King James Version of the Bible is the basis of and enters into our Leader’s writings, it is and should be the accepted English translation for Christian Scientists. In our church services no other English translation should be used; and in the study of Christian Science other English translations should be consulted or used only as additional reference works.” The Directors at this time included William McKenzie who had been appointed by Mrs. Eddy to the Bible Lesson Committee and as Trustee of the Publishing Society, William Rathvon who had served as her private secretary, and George Wendell Adams who had been taught by her in her last class. These individuals had been directly instructed by Mrs. Eddy and had worked closely with her.
A number of such statements published in The Christian Science Journal and Sentinel, as well as historical documents in The Mary Baker Eddy Library, provide an accurate historical context of Mrs. Eddy’s supreme regard for the King James Version of the Bible and of its singular use in the Christian Science movement during her day and for almost a century since. References to these published statements and historical documents can be found on this website and in the files available for download.
However, after almost a century of complete reliance on the King James Version of the Bible in our English-language Lesson-Sermons, the Christian Science Publishing Society began to include verses from more than a dozen other Bible translations for the Golden Text and/or Responsive Reading in the Christian Science Quarterly. During the period from May 2008 to June 2021, non-King James Bible translations were used in over 150 Bible Lessons.
As a help to Christian Scientists, this website, csandthekjv.com, continues to make available information from a mailing with the title “Christian Science Church Services and the King James Bible” that was prepared by members of The Mother Church and mailed to the Christian Science field on March 12, 2008.
The mailing alerted the field to plans, announced by church officers in the spring of 2008, for the “occasional” use of Bible translations other than the King James Version in our English-Language Bible Lessons. This mailing included HISTORICAL RESEARCH using Mother Church archives, as well as official PUBLISHED STATEMENTS issued by earlier Boards of Directors. These documents provide evidence of Mrs. Eddy’s intent and directives for use of the King James Bible in our publications and church services. The archival materials include directives and instructions written or dictated by our Leader. Other materials include published statements recorded by early workers close to her.
This 2008 mailing was sent to the memberships, First and Second Readers, Sunday School Superintendents, and Reading Rooms of all English-speaking branches and societies. It was also sent to all Journal-listed practitioners, teachers, nurses, and Committees on Publication in these English-speaking areas, and to Journal-listed teachers worldwide.
The mailing included the following documents (made available here in Adobe PDF format):
Note: You may need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or update to a newer version by clicking on this link: https://get.adobe.com/reader/. (Be sure to uncheck any additional downloads you do not want.)
From 1898 (when the Christian Science Bible Lessons took their current format) until July 1906, the King James Version was the sole Bible translation used in Christian Science church services with only 13 exceptions—a single other translation, the Revised Version, was used 11 times for a Golden Text and twice in a Responsive Reading. From August 1906 on, the King James Version was the exclusive Bible translation used in English-Language Bible Lessons throughout the remainder of Mrs. Eddy’s lifetime, a practice that could only have been carried out with her full knowledge and approval.
Annie Knott was called to Boston in June 1903 by Mrs. Eddy to serve as Associate Editor of the religious periodicals and was appointed to the Bible Lesson Committee by Mrs. Eddy on April 9, 1904. This meant that Mrs. Knott was directly involved in the preparation of the Bible Lessons during the time the Revised Version was being phased out. That our Leader gave specific instructions as to which Bible translation she wanted used in our Lesson-Sermons, is recorded in an editorial by Mrs. Knott: “Many years ago Mrs. Eddy decided that the Authorized Version of the Bible, known as the King James Version, should be used at all our services… .” (April 12, 1913 Christian Science Sentinel, p. 631)
Four years after Mrs. Eddy’s passing, and only ten months after the publication of Mrs. Knott’s editorial, a solitary attempt was made to again cite the Revised Version in our Bible Lessons—for the Golden Text on February 1, 1914. Mrs. Knott was serving both as a member of the Bible Lesson Committee and as Associate Editor of The Journal, Sentinel, and Herald, so she likely was aware of the plans to re-introduce the Revised Version into our Lesson-Sermons at the time she wrote her editorial in 1913.
We do not have a record as to whether Mrs. Knott objected to these plans for the re-introduction of a non-KJV Bible translation into our Bible Lessons. What we do know is that in 1913, just ten months prior to the re-introduction, Mrs. Knott chose to put on record for all time Mrs. Eddy’s distinct instructions, providing the entire field with knowledge of our Leader’s intent. In fact, Mrs. Knott went on record three times, verifying our Leader’s requirement that the King James Version be used in all our public church services (in 1913 as Associate Editor, and in 1923 and 1928 as Director; see Statements 1, 2, and 4, listed below).
Our movement’s history records Mrs. Knott’s unwavering loyalty and obedience to Mrs. Eddy and includes descriptions of her taking our Leader’s instructions deeply to heart. This was not personal loyalty or personality worship, but a deep consecration and devotion to our Leader and her mission as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. Early workers such as Mrs. Knott, whom Mrs. Eddy placed in positions of responsibility, whom she entrusted with implementing her directives, and who worked under her careful guidance and supervision, are of prime importance because they serve as direct witnesses to our Leader’s intent.
The solitary use of the Revised Version in February 1914 resulted in such criticisms from the field that the Trustees of the Publishing Society, in a March 19, 1914 memorandum, instructed the Bible Lesson Committee that it would be better not to quote from Revised Versions. From then on, the use of any translation other than the King James Version in English-Language Bible Lessons was completely abandoned for almost a century—until 2008.
Each of the first five articles, those published from 1913 to 1938, includes as an author an individual appointed to the Bible Lesson Committee by our Leader—a position where these individuals had the opportunity to serve under her careful instruction, guidance, and supervision over a period of many years.
These official statements, published by The Mother Church over many decades, which advocate the primacy of the King James Version, enable Christian Scientists to follow their Leader through an adherence to her instructions.
The information on this website continues to be made available to help branch churches and individuals arrive at their own conclusions as to whether the King James Version should be the exclusive Bible used in their English-language Christian Science church services. We unite with you in giving our deepest prayerful thought to honoring Mary Baker Eddy’s leadership with regard to the voice of our dual Pastor—the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy—authorized to speak with one inspired voice, concordant in both wording and meaning.
As a help to Christian Scientists who wish to use only the King James Version of the Bible in their English-Language Bible Lessons and church services, the following web site:
makes available pages with the Golden Text and Responsive Reading formatted in the text of the King James Version whenever other translations appear in a Bible Lesson.
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