The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-30
THE W9MAN'S BIBLE.
Interview With Mrs. Eliza
beth Cady STAN
ton.
She Has Met With Chilling IndIf-
ference From the Sex She Is
Striving to Help.

From the numerous paragraphs afioat
one is led to suppose that there is to be
new edition of the Bible arranged to
suit the fancy of the nineteenth-century
woman.
That is all a mistake. There never was
the slightest intention on the part
of the feminine revising committee
of revising the entire Bible or even any
part of it for the purpose of CIV
ing the public new edition of the great
volume.
The women who conceived this idea of
"The Woman's Bible" as they have
named the book that is destined to be a
subject of indignation, agitation, interest
and probable profit, have only in view an
interesting compilation of comments
touching upon those portions of the Holy
Writ that especially relate to women.
Such a book would have inestimabie
value as a reflection Of the mental attitude
of the woman of to-day toward the Bible,
provided it were possible to have COM
ments from intelli GENT women who still
believe the Bible to be inspired from cover
to cover, as well as from those who look
upon it as merely history of the Jewish
people and the events incident to the COM
ing Of Christ and perhaps as fallible as
other histories.
But it appears this is not altogether
feasible. Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the
head and front of tt s possible offending.
in a recent interview with the writer says
of this-but. without doubt the whole in
terview would be of interest, being at any
rate, an authentic statement of what the
women hope to do with 1.-THE Woman s
Bible.'
Mrs Stanton, will you tell me- for pub
LEGATION, what is The Woman's Bible? "
1.-The Woman's Bible is to consist of
comments on those parts of the Bible that
refer to women, which can all be found in
about one eleventh part of the Old and New
Testaments."
How long will it be before the book
will be ready to be given to the publicp"
1--WE hope to get it out within year, but
may not"
tors In the work?"
"My idea was to have all sects and shade
of thought represented, to get the opinion
of the women of the nineteenth century as
to what they thought of the Bible But
fear l shall not succeed in that Evangeli-
cal women believe that it is the word of
God, and it would be irreverent to pass
any criticism on it. Liberal women reject
it altogether as authority and think it a
waste of time to read it, much less write
about ii"
"What is your own opinion?"
81 do not agree with either side. The
book has strong hold on multitudes of
women, and is the chief block in the way
of their emancipation. The general ten
dency of the teaching is to degrade woman,
to assign her an inferior position, subject
to man. 1t makes her the origin of evil,
marriage condition of slavery, maternity
a curse. The Pentateuch makes all fe-
males unclean, female lamb too unclean
for burnt offering Read the five books
through and decide for yourself
What is proposed as the mission Of the
womans Bible?"
~ want to show women that the book is
written by men for men, and that it is a
blasphemy for the authors to claim that
God thus degraded the mothers of the race.
No man has ever seen or talked with God,
and when those old Hebrews tell us God
said SO, we know it was tigment of their
Imagination"
What is to be your own share in the
work ?"
II am commenting ON the Pentateuch,
and hope to get that out as part first dur
ing the summer"
The women who have worked long and
faithfully for the emancipation of their sex
have long ago come to realize the powerful
weapon their enemies hold in these three
words. 1.-THE Bible says"
While the great mass of women believe
the Bible to be the actual word of God, it's
authority closes their ears to all illusions
to the taking of any position on any subject
whatever not in accordance with the teach.
ings of the testaments. Therefore it will
be seen that the breaking down of the au-
thority of the Bible as the inspired word of
God will give an added impetus to the
women's movement which has always
found its strongest opponents in the pulpit
and its general teachings of the inferiority
of women based always upon the word of
God as revealed in the Bible.
No one will gainsay, no matter what
position he or she may take on the woman
question, that the leaders who plan the
Napoleonic efforts for the cause, and that
this last movement of bunting the edge of
the keenest sword that is welded against
them is stratagem worthy of their already
well-earned laurels as leaders of what has
been SO long looked upon as forlorn hope.
K N