Did Mary Baker Eddy Write it? What is the authorship of “Taking Offense”?

(Updated January 3, 2023)

The article titled “Taking Offense” is included in Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 by Mary Baker Eddy. For many years there has been some uncertainty as to whether or not Eddy was in fact the author of this work. Despite extensive research into the question, the answers are complicated—and remain somewhat unclear. Here is what we know.

The earliest known publication of “Taking Offence” was on May 15, 1869. It appeared on the front page of The Liberal Christian, a weekly newspaper based in New York City, with a focus on the Unitarian church. The article is signed by “The Editor,” who at the time was William Travis Clarke.¹ According to the General Catalogue of the Harvard Divinity School, Clarke was the editor of the Christian Inquirer, later called The Liberal Christian, from 1865 until 1869.² A “Valedictory,” which includes Clarke’s signed farewell, appeared in the paper on December 4, 1869, indicating that he was the editor responsible for the publication of “Taking Offense.”³ 

A few weeks later, the article appeared in the June 2, 1869, issue of the Springfield [Massachusetts] Daily Republican, which attributed it to a “Liberal Christian.” It subsequently appeared anonymously in the February 1870 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book.⁴ 

A copy of “Taking Offense” appears in Eddy’s own scrapbook. However, the printing does not match those from The Liberal Christian, the Springfield Daily Republican, or Godey’s Lady’s Book. This indicates that the article was published elsewhere as well.⁵

On April 14, 1883, “Taking Offense” was published anonymously in the first issue of the Journal of Christian Science.⁶ In June 1886, an excerpt was published in the Journal, prefaced with the comment “SOMEBODY has written these wise words:__.”⁷ When Miscellaneous Writings was compiled and published under Eddy’s direction in 1897, “Taking Offense” was included.

Citing Godey’s and the anonymous reprints of the article in the Journal, critics asserted in 1929 that Eddy had plagiarized “Taking Offense,” based on its inclusion in Miscellaneous Writings. In the collections of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, this piece is found first as a clipping in Eddy’s scrapbook; it was among articles authored both by her and by many others that she saved and sometimes used in early issues of the Journal. Biographer Robert Peel felt strongly that the piece was not hers.⁸

Eddy may not have written “Taking Offense.” But we do know she edited it. The final version that appears in Miscellaneous Writings shows that changes were made from the version that had appeared in the 1883 Journal, and it does not match any of the other versions that we have located. 

Eddy’s decision to include “Taking Offense” in her Miscellaneous Writings signifies that she deemed it important to read and consider. There were several other instances in which she chose to include passages or poems by other individuals that contributed to her core message. Some examples are A.E. Hamilton’s poem at the end of Retrospection and Introspection (“Ask God to give thee skill/In comfort’s art…”) and Martin Luther’s quote at the beginning of the chapter “Science of Being” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (“Here I stand. I can do no otherwise; so help me God! Amen!”).⁹