ministry of women is as bitter as was that of Rabbi Eliezer, and who
would rather let souls perish, than that the truths of the gospel
should be delivered by women?
‘This,’ says Clarke, ‘was their condition till the time of the gospel,
when, according to the prediction of Joel, the Spirit of God was to be
poured out on the women as well as the men, that they might prophesy,
that is, teach. And that they did prophesy, or teach, is evident from
what the apostle says, ch. 11: 5, where he lays down rules to regulate
this part of their conduct while ministering in the church. But does
not what the apostle says here, let your women keep silence in the
churches, contradict that statement, and show that the words in ch.
11, should be understood in another sense? for here it is expressly
said, that they should keep silence in the churches, for it was not
permitted to a woman to speak. Both places seem perfectly consistent.
It is evident from the context, that the apostle refers here to asking
questions, and what we call dictating in the assemblies.’
The other passage on which the opinion, that women are not called to
the ministry, is founded, is 1 Tim. 2d ch. The apostle speaks of the
duty of prayer and supplication, mentions his own ordination as a
preacher, and then adds, ‘I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere,
lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner
also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel,’ &c. I shall here
premise, that as the punctuation and division into chapters and verses
is no part of the original arrangement, they cannot determine the sense
of a passage. Indeed, every attentive reader of the Bible must observe,
that the injudicious separation of sentences often destroys their
meaning and their beauty. Joseph John Gurney, whose skill as a biblical
critic is well known in England, commenting on this passage, says,
‘It is worded in a manner somewhat obscure; but appears to be best
construed according to the opinion of various commentators (See Pool’s
Synopsis) as conveying an injunction, that women as well as men should
pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.
1 Tim. 2: 8, 9. ‘I will therefore that men pray everywhere, &c.;
likewise also the women in a modest dress.’ (Compare 1 Cor. 11: 5.) ‘I
would have them adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety.’’
I have no doubt this is the true meaning of the text, and that the
translators would never have thought of altering it had they not been
under the influence of educational prejudice. The apostle proceeds
to exhort the women, who thus publicly made intercession to God, not
to adorn themselves with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly
array, but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good
works.’ The word in this verse translated ‘professing,’ would be more
properly rendered preaching godliness, or enjoining piety to the gods,
or conducting public worship. After describing the duty of female
ministers about their apparel, the apostle proceeds to correct some
improprieties which probably prevailed in the Ephesian church, similar
to those which he had reproved among the Corinthian converts. He says,
‘Let the women LEARN in silence with all subjection; but I suffer not
a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in
silence,’ or quietness. Here again it is evident that the women, of
whom he was speaking, were admonished to learn in silence, which could
not refer to their public ministrations to others. The verb to teach,
verse 12, is one of very general import, and may in this place more
properly be rendered dictate. It is highly probable that women who had
long been in bondage, when set free by Christianity from the restraints
imposed upon them by Jewish traditions and heathen customs, run into
an extreme in their public assemblies, and interrupted the religious
services by frequent interrogations, which they could have had answered
as satisfactorily at home.
On a candid examination and comparison of the passages which I have
endeavored to explain, viz., 1 Cor. chaps. 11 and 14, and 1 Tim. 2,
8-12. I think we must be compelled to adopt one of two conclusions;
either that the apostle grossly contradicts himself on a subject of
great practical importance, and that the fulfilment of the prophecy
of Joel was a shameful infringement of decency and order; or that
the directions given to women, not to speak, or to teach in the
congregations, had reference to some local and peculiar customs, which
were then common in religious assemblies, and which the apostle thought
inconsistent with the purpose for which they were met together. No
one, I suppose, will hesitate which of these two conclusions to adopt.
The subject is one of vital importance. That it may claim the calm and
prayerful attention of Christians, is the desire of
Thine in the bonds of womanhood,
SARAH M. GRIMKE.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] I cannot enter fully into this part of my subject. It is, however,
one of great importance, and I recommend those who wish to examine it,
to read ‘The Book of the Priesthood,’ by an English Dissenter, and
Beverly’s ‘View of the Present State of the Visible Church of Christ.’
They are both masterly productions.
[4] Rom. 16: 3, compare Gr. text of v. 21, 2. Cor. 8: 23; Phil. 2: 25;
1 Thes. 3: 2.
LETTER XV.
MAN EQUALLY GUILTY WITH WOMAN IN THE FALL.
_Uxbridge, 10th Mo. 20th, 1837._
MY DEAR SISTER,--It is said that ‘modern Jewish women light a lamp
every Friday evening, half an hour before sunset, which is the
beginning of their Sabbath, in remembrance of their original mother,
who first extinguished the lamp of righteousness,--to remind them of
their obligation to rekindle it.’ I am one of those who always admit,
to its fullest extent, the popular charge, that woman brought sin into
the world. I accept it as a powerful reason, why woman is bound to
labor with double diligence, for the regeneration of that world she has
been instrumental in ruining.
But, although I do not repel the imputation, I shall notice some
passages in the sacred Scriptures, where this transaction is mentioned,
which prove, I think, the identity and equality of man and woman, and
that there is no difference in their guilt in the view of that God who
searcheth the heart and trieth the reins of the children of men. In Is.
43: 27, we find the following passage--‘Thy first father hath sinned,
and thy teachers have transgressed against me’--which is synonymous
with Rom. 5: 12. ‘Wherefore, as by ONE MAN sin entered into the world,
and death by sin, &c.’ Here man and woman are included under one term,
and no distinction is made in their criminality. The circumstances of
the fall are again referred to in 2 Cor. 11: 3--‘But I fear lest, by
any means, as the serpent _beguiled_ Eve through his subtility, so
your mind should be beguiled from the simplicity that is in Christ.’
Again, 1st Tim. 2: 14--‘Adam _was not deceived_; but the woman being
_deceived_, was in the transgression.’ Now, whether the fact, that Eve
was beguiled and deceived, is a proof that her crime was of deeper
dye than Adam’s, who was not deceived, but was fully aware of the
consequences of sharing in her transgression, I shall leave the candid
reader to determine.
My present object is to show, that, as woman is charged with all the
sin that exists in the world, it is her solemn duty to labor for its
extinction; and that this she can never do effectually and extensively,
until her mind is disenthralled of those shackles which have been
riveted upon her by a ‘_corrupt public opinion, and a perverted
interpretation of the holy Scriptures_.’ Woman must feel that she is
the equal, and is designed to be the fellow laborer of her brother, or
she will be studying to find out the _imaginary_ line which separates
the sexes, and divides the duties of men and women into two distinct
classes, a separation not even hinted at in the Bible, where we are
expressly told, ‘there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one
in Christ Jesus.’
My views on this subject are so much better embodied in the language
of a living author than I can express them, that I quote the passage
entire: ‘Woman’s rights and man’s rights are _both_ contained in
the _same_ charter, and held by the _same_ tenure. _All rights_
spring out of the _moral_ nature: they are both the root and the
offspring of _responsibilities_. The physical constitution is the mere
_instrument_ of the _moral_ nature; sex is a mere _incident_ of this
constitution, a provision necessary to this _form_ of existence; its
_only_ design, not to give, nor to take away, nor in any respect to
modify or even _touch_ rights or responsibilities in any sense, except
so far as the peculiar offices of each sex may afford less or more
_opportunity_ and ability for the exercise of rights, and the discharge
of responsibilities; but merely to continue and enlarge the human
department of God’s government. Consequently, I know nothing of _man’s_
rights, or _woman’s_ rights; _human_ rights are all that I recognise.
The doctrine, that the _sex of the body_ presides over and administers
upon the rights and responsibilities of the moral, immortal nature, is
to my mind a doctrine kindred to blasphemy, _when seen in its intrinsic
nature_. It breaks up utterly the _relations_ of the two natures, and
reverses their functions; exalting the animal nature into a monarch,
and humbling the moral into a slave; making the former a proprietor,
and the latter its property.’
To perform our duties, we must comprehend our rights and
responsibilities; and it is because we do not understand, that we now
fall so far short in the discharge of our obligations. Unaccustomed to
think for ourselves, and to search the sacred volume, to see how far we
are living up to the design of Jehovah in our creation, we have rested
satisfied with the sphere marked out for us by man, never detecting
the fallacy of that reasoning which forbids woman to exercise some
of her noblest faculties, and stamps with the reproach of indelicacy
those actions by which women were formerly dignified and exalted in the
church.
I should not mention this subject again, if it were not to point out to
my sisters what seems to me an irresistible conclusion from the literal
interpretation of St. Paul, without reference to the context, and the
peculiar circumstances and abuses which drew forth the expressions,
‘I suffer not a woman to teach’--‘Let your women keep silence in the
church,’ i. e. congregation. It is manifest, that if the apostle meant
what his words imply, when taken in the strictest sense, then women
have no right to _teach_ Sabbath or day schools, or to open their lips
to sing in the assemblies of the people; yet young and delicate women
are engaged in all these offices; they are expressly trained to exhibit
themselves, and raise their voices to a high pitch in the choirs of our
places of worship. I do not intend to sit in judgment on my sisters for
doing these things; I only want them to see, that they are as really
infringing a _supposed_ divine command, by instructing their pupils in
the Sabbath or day schools, and by singing in the congregation, as if
they were engaged in preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ to a
lost and perishing world. Why, then, are we permitted to break this
injunction in some points, and so sedulously warned not to overstep
the bounds set for us by our _brethren_ in another? Simply, as I
believe, because in the one case we subserve _their_ views and _their_
interests, and act _in subordination to them_; whilst in the other, we
come in contact with their interests, and claim to be on an equality
with them in the highest and most important trust ever committed to
man, namely, the ministry of the word. It is manifest, that if women
were permitted to be ministers of the gospel, as they unquestionably
were in the primitive ages of the Christian church, it would interfere
materially with the present organized system of spiritual power and
ecclesiastical authority, which is now vested solely in the hands of
men. It would either show that all the paraphernalia of theological
seminaries, &c. &c. to prepare men to become evangelists, is wholly
unnecessary, or it would create a necessity for similar institutions
in order to prepare women for the same office; and this would be
an encroachment on that learning, which our hind brethren have
so ungenerously monopolized. I do not ask any one to believe my
statements, or adopt my conclusions, because they are mine; but I do
earnestly entreat my sisters to lay aside their prejudices, and examine
these subjects _for themselves_, regardless of the ‘traditions of
men,’ because they are intimately connected with their duty and their
usefulness in the present important crisis.
All who know any thing of the present system of benevolent and
religious operations, know that women are performing an important
part in them, in _subserviency to men_, who guide our labors, and are
often the recipients of those benefits of education we toil to confer,
and which we rejoice they can enjoy, although it is their mandate
which deprives us of the same advantages. Now, whether our brethren
have defrauded us intentionally, or unintentionally, the wrong we
suffer is equally the same. For years, they have been spurring us up
to the performance of our duties. The immense usefulness and the vast
influence of woman have been eulogized and called into exercise, and
many a blessing has been lavished upon us, and many a prayer put up
for us, because we have labored by day and by night to clothe and feed
and educate young men, whilst our own bodies sometimes suffer for
want of comfortable garments, and our minds are left in almost utter
destitution of that improvement which we are toiling to bestow upon the
brethren.
‘Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.’
If the sewing societies, the avails of whose industry are now expended
in supporting and educating young men for the ministry, were to
withdraw their contributions to these objects, and give them where they
are _more needed_, to the advancement of their _own sex_ in useful
learning, the next generation might furnish sufficient proof, that
in intelligence and ability to master the whole circle of sciences,
woman is not inferior to man; and instead of a sensible woman being
regarded as she now is, is a lusus naturæ, they would be quite as
common as sensible men. I confess, considering the high claim men in
this country make to great politeness and deference to women, it does
seem a little extraordinary that we should be urged to work for the
brethren. I should suppose it would be more in character with ‘the
generous promptings of chivalry, and the poetry of romantic gallantry,’
for which Catherine E. Beecher gives them credit, for them to form
societies to educate their sisters, seeing our inferior capacities
require more cultivation to bring them into use, and qualify us to be
helps meet for them. However, though I think this would be but a just
return for all our past kindnesses in this way, I should be willing
to balance our accounts, and begin a new course. Henceforth, let the
benefit be reciprocated, or else let each sex provide for the education
of their own poor, whose talents ought to be rescued from the oblivion
of ignorance. Sure I am, the young men who are now benefitted by the
handy work of their sisters, will not be less honorable if they occupy
half their time in earning enough to pay for their own education,
instead of depending on the industry of women, who not unfrequently
deprive themselves of the means of purchasing valuable books which
might enlarge their stock of useful knowledge, and perhaps prove a
blessing to the family by furnishing them with instructive reading. If
the minds of women were enlightened and improved, the domestic circle
would be more frequently refreshed by intelligent conversation, a means
of edification now deplorably neglected, for want of that cultivation
which these intellectual advantages would confer.
DUTIES OF WOMEN.
One of the duties which devolve upon women in the present interesting
crisis, is to prepare themselves for more extensive usefulness, by
making use of those religious and literary privileges and advantages
that are within their reach, if they will only stretch out their hands
and possess them. By doing this, they will become better acquainted
with their rights as moral beings, and with their responsibilities
growing out of those rights: they will regard themselves, as they
really are, FREE AGENTS, immortal beings, amenable to no tribunal but
that of Jehovah, and bound not to submit to any restriction imposed
for selfish purposes, or to gratify that love of power which has
reigned in the heart of man from Adam down to the present time. In
contemplating the great moral reformations of the day, and the part
which they are bound to take in them, instead of puzzling themselves
with the harassing, because unnecessary inquiry, how far they may go
without overstepping the bounds of propriety, which separate male and
female duties, they will only inquire, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have us to
do?’ They will be enabled to see the simple truth, that God has made no
distinction between men and women as moral beings; that the distinction
now so much insisted upon between male and female virtues is as absurd
as it is unscriptural, and has been the fruitful source of much
mischief--granting to man a license for the exhibition of brute force
and conflict on the battle field; for sternness, selfishness, and the
exercise of irresponsible power in the circle of home--and to woman a
permit to rest on an arm of flesh, and to regard modesty and delicacy,
and all the kindred virtues, as peculiarly appropriate to her. Now to
me it is perfectly clear, that WHATSOEVER IT IS MORALLY RIGHT FOR A
MAN TO DO, IT IS MORALLY RIGHT FOR A WOMAN TO DO; and that confusion
must exist in the moral world, until women takes her stand on the same
platform with man, and feels that she is clothed by her Maker with the
_same rights_, and, of course, that upon her devolve the _same duties_.
It is not my intention, nor indeed do I think it is in my power, to
point out the precise duties of women. To him who still teacheth by
his Holy Spirit as never man taught, I refer my beloved sisters. There
is a vast field of usefulness before them. The signs of the times give
portentous evidence, that a day of deep trial is approaching; and I
urge them, by every consideration of a Savior’s dying love, by the
millions of heathen in our midst, by the sufferings of woman in almost
every portion of the world, by the fearful ravages which slavery,
intemperance, licentiousness and other iniquities are making of the
happiness of our fellow creatures, to come to the rescue of a ruined
world, and to be found co-workers with Jesus Christ.
‘Ho! to the rescue, ho!
Up every one that feels--
’Tis a sad and fearful cry of woe
From a guilty world that steals.
Hark! hark! how the horror rolls,
Whence can this anguish be?
’Tis the groan of a trammel’d people’s souls,
_Now bursting_ to be free.’
And here, with all due deference for the office of the ministry, which
I believe was established by Jehovah himself, and designed by Him to
be the means of spreading light and salvation through a crucified
Savior to the ends of the earth, I would entreat my sisters not to
_compel_ the ministers of the present day to give their names to great
moral reformations. The practice of making ministers life members, or
officers of societies, when their hearts have not been touched with a
live coal from the altar, and animated with love for the work we are
engaged in, is highly injurious to them, as well as to the cause. They
often satisfy their consciences in this way, without doing anything to
promote the anti-slavery, or temperance, or other reformations; and we
please ourselves with the idea, that we have done something to forward
the cause of Christ, when, in effect, we have been sewing pillows like
the false prophetesses of old under the arm-holes of our clerical
brethren. Let us treat the ministers with all tenderness and respect,
but let us be careful how we cherish in their hearts the idea that they
are of more importance to a cause than other men. I rejoice when they
take hold heartily. I love and honor some ministers with whom I have
been associated in the anti-slavery ranks, but I do deeply deplore, for
the sake of the cause, the prevalent notion, that the clergy must be
had, either by persuasion or by bribery. They will not need persuasion
or bribery, if their hearts are with us; if they are not, we are better
without them. It is idle to suppose that the kingdom of heaven cannot
come on earth, without their co-operation. It is the Lord’s work,
and it must go forward with or without their aid. As well might the
converted Jews have despaired of the spread of Christianity, without
the co-operation of Scribes and Pharisees.
Let us keep in mind, that no abolitionism is of any value, which is
not accompanied with deep, heartfelt repentance; and that, whenever
a minister sincerely repents of having, either by his apathy or his
efforts, countenanced the fearful sin of slavery, he will need no
inducement to come into our ranks; so far from it, he will abhor
himself in dust and ashes, for his past blindness and indifference
to the cause of God’s poor and oppressed: and he will regard it as a
privilege to be enabled to do something in the cause of human rights.
I know the ministry exercise vast power; but I rejoice in the belief,
that the spell is broken which encircled them, and rendered it all but
blasphemy to expose their errors and their sins. We are beginning to
understand that they are but men, and that their station should not
shield them from merited reproof.
I have blushed for my sex when I have heard of their entreating
ministers to attend their associations, and open them with prayer. The
idea is inconceivable to me, that Christian women can be engaged in
doing God’s work, and yet cannot ask his blessing on their efforts,
except through the lips of a man. I have known a whole town scoured to
obtain a minister to open a female meeting, and their refusal to do so
spoken of as quite a misfortune. Now, I am not glad that the ministers
do wrong; but I am glad that my sisters have been sometimes compelled
to act for themselves: it is exactly what they need to strengthen them,
and prepare them to act independently. And to say the truth, there is
something really ludicrous in seeing a minister enter the meeting,
open it with prayer, and then take his departure. However, I only
throw out these hints for the consideration of women. I believe there
are solemn responsibilities resting upon us, and that in this day of
light and knowledge, we cannot plead ignorance of duty. The great moral
reformations now on the wheel are only practical Christianity; and
if the ministry is not prepared to labor with us in these righteous
causes, let us press forward, and they will follow on to know the Lord.
CONCLUSION.