Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-07-25
ScRIPTURAL SANCTION.

cording to Holy Writ
The Scriptural argument in regard
to woman suffrage was ably presented
by Rev. j. w. Bashford in an address
before the Massachusetts, Woman Suf-
frage Association, recently: He said:
''Our opponents generally go back as
far as Genesis for arguments, but even
then they do not 60 back far enough.
They stop with true account of the
false relation into which man and wo-
man were thrown by sin, and quote this
account as the original charter for
mankind: Thy desire shall be to thy
husband and he shall rule over thee.
If they will only go back TO the creation
of Adam and Eve and to their natural
and divine relation before the fall, they
will fail to find a sentence which hints
at the subordination of woman. Woman
was not made in mans image. neither
was the dominion of the world COM
mitted to him alone. On the contrary
the record plainly says: In the image
of God created lie them; male and fe-
male created He them. and God said:
Let them have dominion over all the
earth
Now when Adam and Eve descend
ed from the sphere of spirituality to the
animal sphere. when they turned from
a life of faith to follow appetite. God
said to man that even nature should
rebel against his animal life: The
earth shall also bring forth thorns and
thistles' The history of every drunk
ard and man of lust proves that nature
fights against him and confirms the
prophecy. And God said to woman
that in this lower animal life with
man she would be constantly worsted:
Thy desire shall be to thy husband
and he shall rule over thee Six thou
sand years of history have proved the
terrible truth of this prophecy.
And yet this declaration of wom-
ans subordinatiOn which does not be-
long at all to the account Of her origi-
nal creation. and which is directly due
to sin. and which we see sprang from
the very nature of the two and from
the sinful contest on which they then
entered-is quoted repeatedly as the
divine declaration of the ideal state of
the sexes, and we are constantly told
that any attempt to change it is vio-
lation of the divine constitution. AS
well might one declare that the thorns
and briars which God said the earth
should bring forth on account of mans
sin are an expression of the ideal atti-
tude of nature toward man, and that
we violate the divine constitution in
tiliing the soil and improving its pro-
ducts
Again, the whole effort of Christ
was to restore to mankind what was
lost in Adam. For as in Adam all die
so in Christ shall all be made alive If
Christianity is completely to restore
that which was lost in Adam. how can
it stop short of completely abolishing
the subordination of woman. which the
Bible declares to be the direct result of
sin, and leading us back to that Edenic
proclamation: Let them have domin-
ion over all the earth?'
Paul wrote the letter to the Corin-
thians, and all his other letters, not
from the platform of the rights. but
from the higher platform of love. He
declares that he has. from the stand
point of justice, clear right to pay
ment for his labor, but refuses it; says
he has plain right to eat any kind of
meat. but declares that if meat cause
his brother to offend he will eat no
meat while the world stands. He asks
the Jews and Romans who may be in Co
rinth, not to confess Christ in Hebrew
or Latin unless an interpreter is pres
ent. tells the women to keep silence in
the meetings and obey their husbands.
fOrbids the slaves to contend for their
freedom. but to choose service rather
He even says: Let no man seek his
own but every man his neighbor's
good, and the argument fifty culmi-
mates in the marvellous exaltation of
love in the thirteenth chapter.
AFTER reading Paurs letter as a
whole, who would dream of affirming
that Paul is writing. not an apothesis
of love. but magma charta of personal
rights? As well might we say that the
fact of his taking no compensation is
proof that he had no right to COM
pensation for his labor; that his COM
mand to Jews and Romans not to con-
fess Christ at Corinth is proof that they
had no right to confess Christ in He
brew or Latin. and that his prohibition
of any man to seek his own is proof that
Q man has no right to his property, as
to say that Paurs command to women
to keep silence in the church, and to
obey their husbands, is proof that they
had no right to speech or liberty. But
still more, as if Paul foresaw that his
words on the subsection of women
might be tortured into falsehood. in
this very letter to the Corinthians.
after mentioning the historical fact that
the man is the head of the woman. he
adds: Nevertheless, neither is the