The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1873-07-24
from the Christian Standard,l
#s. Woman's Work.


Woman's Work.
1t would be strange, indeed, if, in the
churches of Christ, where there is nei-
ther male nor female" and where women
usually constitute the majority in point
of numbers, there were found no sphere
of activity for the exercise of their gifts
and the employment of their powers. 1t
surely does not harmonic with the ge-
MUS of Christianity to smother the asplf-
ations and bury the talents of the sister
hood-to palsy the hands best fitted for
ministfations of mercy; silence the
tongues most tender and thrilling in
their accents of truth or quench the
fervor Of hearts most sensitive to every
pure spiritual influence and most capable
of high spiritual culture. Grant that, in
the order of nature, her duties lie mostly
in the domestic sphere; that the customs
and preiudices of society forbid her par
ticipation in the more stirring scenes of
public life; that her natural subordina-
tion to man as the weaker and more de-
pendent of the two and the native yearn-
ings of her heart for that happiness which
is found in trusting and loving, necessar-
ily prescribe for her O sphere of life less
public and more exclusively domestic
than suits the rugged. aggressive nature
of man, grant, we say, all this-for it is
not our purpose, at present, to affirm or
DENY on these points-it is still q ques-
ton whether this warrants that tyranny
of custom in orr churches which dooms
her to inactivity and forces her to silence
and nothingness.
Not so do we read the New Testament
nor, indeed. the Old. But passing by
s..le fnrznes esrr@lisreasstians.-sw observe
that during the personal ministry of Jc-.
sus, women figured prominently in min
istering" unto Him-aiding his work and
smoothing his rough path by such kind
and loving attention to his wants as IA
cilitated the tolls and mitgated the sor-
rows of his laborious and suffering life.
1t was woman's voice that on his trial,
made itself bravely heard in his behalf,
rising clear and strong above the tumul-
tuous outcries of the blasphemous and
cruel throng, in attestation of his inno-
cence and in an earnest plea against his
condemnation. Women were last at
the cross and earliest at the grave They
were honored as the first evangelists of
his resurrection. They formed part of
the company that continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication" after
his ascension. They shared in the out.
pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost-the grand amounting of the
church for its mission of mercy--and in
similar outpouring on the Gentiles at the
house of Cornelius, and daughters as
well as "sons" prophesied, and ''spake
with tongues and magnifed God" Phebe
was "a deaconess of the church at Cen
ohrse." Priscilla, equally with Aquila,
was Paurs helper in Christ Jesus and in
her queenly way gave lessons of instruc-
ton even to eloquent preachers like
Apollos. Tryphene, Tryphosa, and Per
sis .'labored much in the Lord. In the
Philippian church were women who Ia
bored with me in the gospel says Paul.
Nor can we imagine how chat woman
Jezebel' ever got an opportunity to do
so much mischief under the guise of
prophecies in the church of Thyatira,
if the gifts of the women were as effetual-
ly and Systematically smothered in the
primitive churches as in the churches of
the present time.
Take all this into account, in connec-
ton with what we have said in previous
essays concerning deaconesses, and it
must, we think, be evident. that we fail,
in our churches generally, to employ the
energies and talents of women as they
were evidently employed in the primi-
tive churches. --.s. a-ss 7.-~. 81
What is there, then, that women can
marked in former article, if her duties
are not specifically marked out, and yet
ministry recognized as properly hers,
we are at liberty to conclude that she
may be employed in any. and every min
istry in which she can be useful, unless
it is prohibited to her in the Scriptures.
We therefore leave out of view public
teaching and ruling q. Tim. ii. II, l2),
and unless there is some farther prohibit
ton at present unknown to us, the whole
range of Christian activities is open to
women as to men, and any ministry em-
braeing any of these is scriptural, pro-
vided her gifts fit her for it, and the
public sentiment is not such as to render
her service nugatory. 'H -iH
q But let us see what we can gather up
from intimations in the New Testament
on this point. We leave out of view
what is said of woman's praying and
| pPophesying CT. Cor. XII. 5), merely re-
marking that if it was the general privi-
| lege of Christian women to pray and
prophesy, it was of course the privilege
Of deaconesses along with the rest. '5
/ /. Phebe had been "sucoorer OF
many" Her mission, or part OF It, at
least, was to supply the needy and re.
lieye the distressed. IL ere Is vast field
for usefulness for which women are Pc
culiarly fitted sa5 ..ar glue c,
We have but to mention the names OF
Elizabeth Fry, Dorothea Dix, Florence
1 Nightingale, and Agnes Elizabeth Jones,
and such institutions as that of the dea-
conesses at Kaiserswerth, where Christian
women are trained for nursing and hold
themselves in readiness to so wherever
they are wanted-to open up a world oi
reflection to our Christian women We
have not spoken of the various ministries
of women among the Roman Catholics
and in other churches, though these too
are worthy of careful study The worlc
especially in the cities-abounds il
distresses which it Is peculiarly Christ