Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-18
NO. TURNING BACK.
Women Will Hold Their Position in
Spite of Cranks' Groakings,
AND WILL ADVANCE STILL MORE.
Their Press Associations and Successful
Publication Work
A PAYING NEWSPAPER WITHOUT MEN
WRITTEN FOR THE pIsPArcH.i

that 10 Cnrlstlanlty woman owes ner restora-
tion from the degradation and bondage of
/ Paganism. 1t claims it has broken her fet-
ters. redeemed her from the life OF a slave.
and given unto her the honor that is her
proper due. 1t also claims that through its
teachings and the work of the ministry "has
been developed" social order in which her
influence. already great, is growing, and in
which she rules, in her proper sphere, over
man. Moreover, the author from whom I
quote maintains that if the church should
lose its power, woman would again be de-
graded and fall directly back into her old
state of slavery.
This is a prediction intended to give
women a regular "scare," but they will not
"scare," for too many of them have taken to
reading and studying and thinking for
themselves upon this matter, and have some
faith in the doctrine of evolution. 'The
mind and will of the church" says this rev.
erend author, "are set forth in the words of
inspired truth as follows: 4 suffer not a
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over
| the man, but to be in silence. For Adam
was first formed, then Eve. The head of
every man is Christ; the head of the woman
is the man. The man is the image and glory
OF God; but the woman is the glory of man.
| These words" he continues, "express the
mature and perpetual judgment of the
church and the mind of God."
The Command Isn't Obeyed.
If this be true, then indeed is the world
running counter to such commandments,
and tending to destruction with ever accel-
Grating speed. Women should not be suf-
fered to teach Squarely against this is the
| fact that women now constitute the main
body of teachers in the uiost civilized coun-
tries on the globe. With intelligence at
the freside represented by better educated
mothers than the world has ever seen, and
with the culture OF the schools, where the
tender twigs are bent, largely in the hands
of, and under the minds of women, it is
hard to see how the church expects to hold
on to the old notion that women are to re-
main in silence, and shall not be suffered to
teach or preach.
Force and public opinion rule mankind.
Force always begets wrath and rebellion.
There is something in human nature that
rises against arbitrary rule. Hatred and
revenge are always dogging the heels of
despotism. The church has tried force. 1t
has murdered and martyred millions. 1t
has tortured and burned heretics. 1t has
sentenced to the gallows and the fagot
hundreds of thousands of women as witches
whose only crime, it is said, was intelli-
gence beyond the common. Force has
failed in face of the advance OF civilization
and free thought. Women are forbidden to
preach too. They are to remain in silence.
But they preach all the same, and the num-
Der of women preachers keeps constantly
growing, despite the mature judgment of the
church, and the teachings of the bachelor
apostle, who assumed to be a dictator on the
dress and department of women.
Facts That Shine in History.
| That these words on which the reverend
brother lays such special stress were not
| applicable to ali women, even in the days of
| the Apostle who uttered them, is evident.
| 1t will not be forgotten that greater than
| Paul himself, even Jesus of Nazareth, en-
couraged women to become his disciples and
helpers, while Paul had CO. workers in the
| Lord In Phoebe and Priscilla and Persis
and others. The example and teachings OF
| Helena, the mother Of Constantine, are said.
to have led to his establishing Christianity
as the religion of Rome. Pious mothers and
wives in the primitive days of the church
are credited with the esta blishmentof Chris
tian rule throughout Europe. In those
| days women held Offices in the Christian
| church. They preached, baptized, and
| ministered at the altar until the doctrine OF
original sin was fully developed by Angus
| tine.
Under cover of this convenient excuse
| by which a woman was held responsible for
all the evil in the world, the war against
women began under the sanction Of the
early fathers, and the sisters of the church
were declared inferior beings, who were to
be restrained and prohibited from holding
Office in the church. 1t took some hundreds
OF years to get the women crushed and
suppressed in the church; but with both
civil and canon law against them, it
is not surprising that for centuries they had
no standing or voice in church affairs, but
were constrained to be in silence. They
were encouraged to contribute money. OF
course, ana to work for its advancement and
welfare in obscurity, but to teach. to preach,
to hold otfice-oh no! That would be sheer
defiance OF the DEGREES of Providence. "That
would be entering field which" as the
reverend brother puts it, "God has reserved
for men only"
Sentiment of the Public.
But while ecclesiastical courts still forbid
while General Conferences still hold out
while church councils still harangue and 60