Was there a chapter in Science and Health titled “Imposition and Demonstration”?
Yes. The first edition of Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health, published in 1875, included a chapter with that name.
The May 1889 issue of The Christian Science Journal included a letter to Eddy from Emily B. Carter of Omaha, Nebraska, sharing a healing she’d experienced while “reading the chapter on ‘Imposition and Demonstration,’…”.1
In 1891 Eddy released the 50th edition of Science and Health, in which “Imposition and Demonstration” was split into two new chapters—“Christian Science and Spiritualism” (later “Christian Science versus Spiritualism”)2 and “Atonement and Eucharist.” She also moved several paragraphs into other chapters, including “Christian Science Practice,” “Footsteps of Truth,” and “Science, Theology, Medicine.”
In 1897 Eddy included testimonies in her new book, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896. Carter’s testimony appears on page 415 and continues to refer to “Imposition and Demonstration.”
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- “Extracts from letters to our teacher,” The Christian Science Journal, May 1889, 76, https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/2iucediy5sg?s=t.; Carter to Eddy, 28 March 1889, IC655.69.039.
- “Christian Science Versus Spiritualism,” 9 February 1910, Subject File, Mary Baker Eddy (1821 -1910): Writings – Science and Health – Revisions – 1910.