Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-24
Mrs. StantOn'a Belief
Then Mrs. Stanton says:


Mrs. StantOn'a Belief.
Then Mrs. Stanton says:
THE only points in which / differ from
all ecclesiastical teaching is that / do not
believe that any man ever saw or talked
with God; 1 do not believe that God in
spired the Mosaic code, or told the his
tcrians what they say he did about woman.
for all the religions on the face of the
earth degrade her, and so long as woman
accepts the position that they assign her
her emancipation is impossible. What
ever the Bible may be made to do in He
brew or Greek, in plain English ii does
not exalt and dignity woman. My stand
point for criticism is the revised edition
of 1883. / will so far honor the revising
committee of nine men who have given us
the best exegesis they can according to
their abilitS although Disraeli said the
last one before he died contained 10000
blunders in Hebrew and 1000 in the Greek.
The canon law, the Scriptures, the
creeds and codes and church discipline OF
the leading religions bear the impress Of
fallible man, and not of our ideal great
first cause, The Spirit of all good" that
set the universe of matter and mind in mo-
ton, and by immutable law holds the land,
the sea, the planets revolving round tine
great center of light and heat, each in its
own elliptic, with millions of stars in har-
mony, all singing together, the glory OF
creation forever and ever"
The manner of handling the text in this
woman's Bible is much like that in Barnes
commentaries. They begin with Genesis
26:27:2s,the creation of man, and God
blessing him. Mrs. Stanton has revised"
this at some length, and says that the
paucity of language may give rise to many
misunderstanding, and adds:
THE above texts plainly show the stimuli
taneous creation Of man and woman, and
their equal Importance in the development
of the race. All those theories based on tho
assumption that man was prior in the cre-
Q HOY da-f Inn Int,
AS to woman'S subsection, on which both
the canon and the civil law delight to
dwell, 1t is important to note that equal
dominion is given to woman over every
living thing, but not one word is said CIV
ing man dominion over woman.
Here is the first title deed to this green
earth giving alike TO the sons and daugh-
tiers of God. No lesson of woman's SUBJ
lection can be fairly drawn from the first
chapter of the Old Testament
In commenting on this story of creation,
Mrs. l.. d. Blake gives the "E,lohistic" and
the '1ahoistic" theories, which do not
agree, the former creating mankind male
and female the last thing, and the latter
creating man in the fifth act, before vege-
tatfon and animals, and woman the sixth
and last thing. Mrs. Blake says:
Now as it is manifest that both Of these
stories cannot be true, intelligent women
Who feel bound to give the preference TO
either, may decide according to their own
judgment of which is more worthy of en-
Intelligent woman's acceptance. Paurs rule
Is a good one in this dilemma-'Prove ali
things; hold fast to that which is good
My own opinion is that the second story
was manipulated by some Jew in an en-
deayor to give heavenly authority for re-
curing a woman to obey the man she mar
RED In work which l an now complet.
ing L give some facts concerning ancient
lsraelitish history, which will DE of Pc
cullar. interest to those who wish to iln-
Gerstand the origin of woman's s,1,iao-
tion.'
Then she cunningly adds: ct cannot he
maintained that woman was inferior to
man. II, as asserted in chapter 2, she was
created after him, without at once admit
ting that man is inferior to the creeping
things, because created after them"
Inc story of the temptation and fall in
discussed by Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Blake and
Mrs Colby. Mrs. Stanton thinks that the
curse pronounced on woman is inserted IN
an unfriendly spirit to justify her degra-
aauon and subsection to man. and glories
IN the fact that the serpent did not try to
tempt Eve with brilliant Jewels, rich
dresses, worldly luxuries or pleasures. but
with the promise OF knowledge with the
wisdom of God, and reused in the woman
that intense thirst for knowledge that the
Simple pleasures of picking flowers and
talking with Adam did not satisfy"
a bright woman, who repudiated the
this: How on earth could the serpent
tempt woman whose only article of attire
was fig leaf apron with the promise of
jewels not yet discovered, luXuries that had
terests when Eden was the whole world
and everything in 1t Adams and Eve's?''
There has been no attempt, so far at
least, at alteration of the original text Of
the Bible. The comments are only such as
individuals may and do make whenever
opportunity and desire may present them
selves. In fact, 1t is simply a woman's
crttiQue of woma1s part in the Bible
The corresponding secretary. Rachel Fos-
ter Avery, declared that the "Woman's
Bible" is without either scholarship or
literary value, set forth in spirit which
Is neither reverent nor inquiring"
The executive committee will hold a ses-
sion before the morning meeting Saturday
for the express purpose of discussing plans
Of procedure in the warfare that will be
opened upon the clause quoted as soon as IL
is brought before the convention.