may not permit his children to believe in Santa Claus—Mrs. Eddy abolished Santa Claus by proclamation in 1904. He may not read or quote from Mrs. Eddy's books without first naming the author. Mrs. Eddy says, in explanation of this by-law: "To pour into the ears of listeners the sacred revelations of Christian Science indiscriminately, or without characterising their origin and thus distinguishing them from the writings of authors who think at random on this subject, is to lose some weight in the scale of right thinking."[1]
A Christian Scientist "shall neither buy, sell nor circulate Christian Science literature which is not correct in its statement," etc., Mrs. Eddy, of course, determining whether or not the statement is correct. He "shall not patronise a publishing house or bookstore that has for sale obnoxious books."
A Christian Scientist may not belong to any club or society, which excludes either sex, Free Masons excepted, outside the Mother Church. Mrs. Eddy says that church organisations are ample for him.[2]
It is indicative of Mrs. Eddy's influence over her followers that when this by-law was issued, less than twenty inquiries (so her secretary announced) were received at Pleasant View. Men resigned from their political, business, and social clubs, women from their literary and patriotic organisations, without a murmur and without a question.
No hymns may be sung in the Mother Church unless they have been approved by Mrs. Eddy, and Mrs. Eddy's hymns must be sung at stated intervals. "If a solo singer in the
- ↑ Church Manual (11th ed.), Article XV.
- ↑ Ibid. (43d ed.), Article XXVI.
