Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-12-04
"The WOman's BibIe.n

The curiosity of the public was arous
ed sometime ago by the announcement
that Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
board of cO-editOrs were engaged in
the preparation of series of volumes
to be known as The Woman's Bible.n
and most people were at loss to un
derstand exactly what the title signifies.
The majority, we suppose, concluded
that the production would be either an
unaltered text of the Scriptures, with
every reference to woman and her in
terests printed in large, extra heavy
type, or sort of paraphrase in which
woman and her relation here would be
treated with particular emphasis.
Both of these conjectures were
wrong. Volume l. of The Woman's
Bible" has appeared. and it is most
remarkable effort. 1t utterly surpasses
the hopes of even the bitterest enemies
of the ''emancipated" woman. and we
venture to say that it makes consid
cradle advance upon the expectations
of that individual herself. 1t was writ
ten, we are told, in the following man
ner: each of the eight editors pnrchas-
ed copy of the sacred text and pc
rused it carefully from Genesis to Rev
citation inclusive, incidentally clipping
those verses which excited her interest
and writing opinions concerning them
When this process was completed, the
debris was collected by Mrs. Stanton
and arranged in the proper order for
publication,
"And when the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;''
for the eager multitude awaiting the
long promised boon found that the
commentary contained many criti
cism that would put Colonel Ingersol
to shame. Once upon time that apos
tie of agnosticism called for the bitter
denunciations by his attempts to prove
that the Pentateuch was uninspired
1t was thought that he was going pref
ty far, but bark to Mrs. Elijah beth Cady:
Il do not believe that any man ever
saw or talked with God; do not believe
that God Inspired the Mosaic code, or
did about woman, for all the religions
on the face of the earth degrade her,
and so long as woman accepts the po-
sition they assign her, her emancipa-
ton is impossible
In view of this strong declaration,
what does Mrs. Stanton want with a
Bible? In consideration of her bril-
liant question, why is it more auda
cious to review Moses than Blackstone,
the Jewish code of laws than the Eng
fish system;of Jurisprudence ?" We sug
gest that she undertake another work
entitled 1.-The Bible AS 1t Should Be-"
Her critical attitude is that of the
most infexible materialism, of which.
this is an example:
'Bible historians claim special in
SEPARATION for the Old and New Tesla
ments containing the most contradic-
tory records of the same events of mir
acles opposed to all known laws" Mrs.
Stanton evidently would have her mir
acles conform to known laws, and then
they would not be miracles.
There have been many discussions of
the nature of the Trinity, and the
church has been violently disrupted
from time to time by differences of
opinion concerning the subject, but it
requires good deal of confidence to
go to the extent of asserting that 1.-THE
first step in the elevation of woman to
her true position, as an equal factor in
human progress, is the cultivation of
the religious sentiment in regard to
her dignity and equality, the recogni
ton by the rising generation, of an
ideal Heavenly Mother, to whom their
prayers should be addressed as we'll as
to a Father
Besides these radically and startling
ly unorthodOX comments, a great
amount of ink is consumed in petty eX
hibitions of sarcasm which cannot fail
to strike the average rather as ridicu
lous. For instance, Noah's ability as
an architect, as made known by the de
tails of the construction of the ark, is
|disparaged for 1.-The paucity of light in
this ancient vessel shows that woman
had no part in it's architecture, or
series of portfolios would have been
deemed Indispensable" Then in the
critical analysis of Rebekah at the well,
we are informed with the utmost gray
ity that sit was certainly a good test of
her patience and humility to draw wa
ter for an hour, with dozen men look,
ing on at their case, and none offering
to help" Moses comes in for a round
scolding, and his account of the origin
of the ten commandments is eharac
terized as willful prevarication.-
These injunctions, we are told. are
plainly intended for men more especial
ly than for wamen. The memory of
Aaron is harshly dealt with, because,
in the construction of the golden calf.
he used the jewelry of the women; and
this suggests to one of the editors the
original reflection that it was tea, not
whisky, that was thrown overheard 10
Boston harhor in 1773. Moreover, we
learn that, ''if Miriam had helped to
plan the journey to Canaan, it would
no doubt have been accomplished in
40 days instead of 40 years. Great
stress is laid upon the fact that Ba
laam's ass was of the female sex.
We have no idea that such work as
this is approved by all of the so-calied
new women. but it shows 90 what de
gree of absurdity infatuation and fa
naticism will carry intelligent people.
The publication of this "Woman's Bi
ble'' with its disrespectful illusions and
its misapplied criticisms. will not help
the cause which Mrs. Stanton and her
associates are advocating, but it will
rather disgust a number of her follow
ers. Her declaration that all the relig
ions on the face of the earth degrade
woman needs no comment. 1t is the
strongest possible argument against
her new venture. Carlyle was deeply
in earnest when, after saying that next
to the worst thing in the world is a man
without religion, he replied in answer
to a question as to what he confidered
the worst, IA Woman without relig
ion. n-Norfolk Landmark.