Christian Science Sentinel
The Christian Science Sentinel is a weekly magazine published by The Christian Science Publishing Society. The first issue was published in 1898, under the name The Christian Science Weekly. It was changed to the Christian Science Sentinel in 1899. The Sentinel includes primarily articles on Christian Science and testimonies of healing, along with announcements, poetry and other special features. The Sentinel is still published today in both print and electronic formats. The mission of the Sentinel is “intended to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love.”
The idea for a weekly publication was first proposed in August 1898. Mary Baker Eddy wrote to William P. McKenzie, who was then serving as a Trustee of The Christian Science Publishing Society: “The dignity of our cause and the good of students demand of us to publish a weekly newspaper[.] Please name it a little more graphically e.g. Christian Science Messenger.” (See Eddy to McKenzie, 20 August 1898, L04871B.) While the church had a monthly periodical, and a quarterly publication of Bible lessons, there was no weekly publication to bring news and religious matter to the rapidly growing Christian Science field.
Eddy appointed Septimus J. Hanna and his wife, Camilla Hanna, to head up the publication. The first issue listed them as Editor and Assistant Editor (they held similar positions with the Journal).On August 25 Septimus Hanna sent Eddy a sample copy of the new publication for her review (033bP2.13.013Click link to view 033BP2.13.013 document in new window), and on September 1, less than two weeks after Eddy’s request, the first issue of The Christian Science Weekly appeared. That issue consisted of seven pages, with general news items, testimonies of Christian Science healing, and articles on Christian Science.
The publication’s name soon changed to Christian Science Sentinel. An unsigned editorial in this first Sentinel issue included an explanation for the renaming: One of the lexicographical definitions of sentinel is, “One who keeps watch or guard to prevent surprise.” One of the most important duties of Christian Scientists is to be so watchful as to never be caught off their guard or taken by surprise. How shall this degree of watchfulness best be attained? By keeping every one’s consciousness in the “secret place of the Most High.” This place can be reached and abided in only through watching and praying. Let our watching be unceasing and our praying instant. Let us reflect God, Good, in our lives in such a manner that error will flee before us, and never be able to get near us. Let us be sentinels on the watch-tower of Truth. (“Our Third Bow,” Sentinel, 26 January 1899, 4.)
The Sentinel still gave the appearance of a newsletter – in fact, the magazine had no front or back covers until September 1899. The new front covers included graphics of lamps, and a striking change was initiated in July 1906, when Eddy wrote to Editor Archibald McLellan on an advance Sentinel copy: “What if you put here the figure of a woman with a lamp in her hand. This would illustrate Longfellows lines in verse ….” (See Eddy to McLellan, July 1906, L03117.) Starting with the September 1, 1906, issue, two such figures appeared on the cover, in place of the lamps. Underneath each figure were verses from “Santa Filomena,” an 1857 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem is about Florence Nightingale, “The Lady with the Lamp,” best known today as the founder of modern medical nursing. The “ladies” proved an enduring symbol, remaining on Sentinel covers until 1973.
In 1908, Eddy explained the purpose of the Sentinel, in the context of the launch of The Christian Science Monitor daily newspaper; she noted that the weekly was “intended to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love.” (See Eddy, “Something in a Name,” Monitor, 25 November 1908, 12.) The Sentinel continues to be issued weekly, in both print and electronic formats.