The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-12-07

tenth century the fear of the ap.
preaching end of the world had filled
the churches with an excited popu-
lace. The church exaggerated the
troubles, and having them once in it's
power, (itself sharing the general So
cial barbarism), crippled its devotees,
both men and women.
So far the church may be bIama-
BILE; 80 far it is responsible for the
position of women ..as regards civic
value and sturdy independence of
social character. Changed social
ideals, Feudalism, the Crusades,
Chivalry, must bear their full share
in this seeming degeneration of wo-
men. To re-write the Bible, expect
ing by so doing to change the whole
drift of history, deny the concurrent
streams of tendency, re-arrange the
lines of social and intellectual per-
spective, would never occur to any
but the most prejudiced minds.
One thing yet remains to be said.
There can be no question but that
the influence of Christianity was to
beget secluded habits among it's vo-
taries. The Ecclesia was the Called
Out" "the Separated" Christian
men and women felt that they were
Scaled out" from the world, and
sanctified to uses, devoted to a cause.
This had the effect of isolating, es-
tranging them from the world. The
state of society intensified, made
more pleasant, and even necessary,
this isolation, until it become habit.
A habit once formed is hard to break
away from,-it continues, is only slow
ly given up. The world in the early
days of the Christian church was a
hard place to live in. Despotic gov
ernment, lawless rapine, war, tumult,
persecution, martyrdom, all con-
spired to make it so. Gentler souls,
those of more quiet and studious
habit, retired, yielded to the inclina-
tion to be isolated from the turmoil.
Doubtless this was a bad thing for
the world; but it was a perfectly nat
ural thing. 1t exists yet in the disin-
clination which certain large class
of men have to mixing in the squab-
ling and wirepulling of our munich
pal elections: and is yet one reason
why popular government is such a
failure in our large municipalities.
The language, the public specta-
cles, the religious festivals of pagan
nations had all to be changed in
order to conform to the Christ spirit.
The genius of Christianity must be
put into the old forms, like the new
wine into the old bottles, before they
could be adapted to Christian use.
This took time and effort; it took
men of regal minds, of noble impulse,
of devotion to high ideals, of SYM
pathy with the common people, of
sound judgment. That the work has
been SO well done as it has, proves
that the church has never been want
ing in such men. From Abraham
down to this present day, our religion
has had its full share of great men,
men who strove to bring order, har-
mony and permanence out of chaos
and tumult.
Yet more. The constant preaching
of love, peace, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance, as the
fruit of the Holy Spirit, had the
effect of loosening more and more
Christian minds from worldly idola-
tries, strifes and emulations. Is it
nothing that these Christian virtues,
these fruits of the spirit are all femin-
inc, all more or less natural and easy
to the womanly nature9 Is it moth
ing that the inculcation of these has
changed social conditions from those
of the fifth century to those of the
nineteenth, and made the prevailing
thought, like the prevailing type of
face, feminine? Let us believe, in
spite of prejudice, that in Christian
ity we see the promise and potency
of that noble thought of Goethe's,
.'The Eternal Womanly leads us on. /"
OSHKOSH, WIS.