Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-24

The work has not been completed, how
ever, only one volume being out, and the
second in print The list of names of the
revising committee is as follows: Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, Rev. Phebe Hanaford, Clara
Bewick Colby, Rev. Augusta Chaplin, Mrs
Mary A. Livermore, Mrs. Mary Seymour
Howell Mrs Josephine K Henry, Mrs
wood, Mrs. Catharine F. Stebbns Ellen
Battelle Dietrich. Mrs. Cornelia Collins
Hussey, Lille Devereux Blake, Matilda
Frances Ellen Burr, Mrs. Chapman Gait,
Miss Helen H. Gardner. Mrs. Charlotte
Beebe Wilbour, Mrs. Lucinda B. Chandler,
Mrs. NJ. Louise Thomas. Mrs. Louisa
Southworth, Mrs. Martha r. Amy.
With only an exception or two all men,
bers of the Suffrage Association.
The list Of women who have written the
comments on the books of the Bible han
died in volume l, part l, are: Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, Lille Devereux Blake, Rev.
Phebe Hanaford, Clara Bewick Colby, Ellen
Battelle Dietrich. Ursula N. Gestefeld, Mrs.
Louisa Southworth and Frances Ellen Burr.
Again 1t will be seen that the women COM
mentators are all ardent suffragists. Mrs.
Stanton said of those who had aided in the
commentaries:
''Those who have undertaken the labor are
DESTROYS to have some Hebrew and Greek
scholars, versed in biblical criticism, to gid
our pages with their learning. Several dis
tinguished women have been urged to do So
but they are afraid that their high reputa-
ton and scholarly attachments might be
compromised by taking part In an enter
prise that for time may prove very I'M
popular Hence we may not be able to get
help from that class"
Why Some Women Hesitated.
That many other noted women were asked
to aid in the work is evident in the remark
of Mrs. Stanton on that point:
"Others fear that they might compromise
their evangelical faith by af1iliating with
those Of more liberal views, who do not re-
gard the Bible as the Word of God but
like any other book, to be judged by it's
merits. If the Bible teaches the equality of
woman, why does the church refuse to or
dain women to preach the gospel to fill the
offices Of deacons and elders, and to admin
lister the sacraments, or to admit them as
delegates to the synods, general assemblies
and conferences Of the different denomina-
tons? They have never yet invited wo-
man to join one of their revising commit
tees, nor tried to mitigate the sentence pro-
nounced On her by changing one count in
the indictment served on her in paradise"
To Revise "Women" Texts.
Mrs. Stanton says Of the object that she
had in view in this women's Bible that 1t
was to revise only those texts and chap
tiers directly referring to women, and those
also in which women are made Prominent
by exclusion. AS all such passages COM
bined form but one-tenth Of the Scrip
lures, the undertaking will not be so labor
ious as, at the first thought, one would
imagine. These texts, with the common
tarieS, can easily be compressed into a
duodecimo volume of about 400 pages
II. The commentaries will be Of three
fold character, the writers in the different
branches being selected according to their
special aptitude for the work:
l. Two or three Greek and Hebrew schol-
ars will devote themselves to the transla-
ton and the meaning Of particular words
and texts in the original
2 Others will devote themselves to bibl-
cal history, old manuscripts, to the new
version, and to the latest theories as to the
occult meaning Of certain texts and para
bles.
g. For the commentaries on the plain
English version a committee of some thirty
members has been formed These are
women of earnestness and liberal IDEAS
quick to see the real purport of the Bible
as regards their sex. Among them the
various books of the Old and New Tesla
ment will he distributed for comment.
III. There will be two or more editors to
bring the work Of the various committees
into one consistent whole.
w. The completed work will be SUBJ
mitted to an advisory committee assembled
at some central point. as London. New
York or Chicago, to sit in final Judgment
on ''The Woman's Bible"
How the Work is Done.
The manner Of doing the work is some
what unique. Each person purchased two
Bibles and ran through them from Genesis
to Revelations, marking all the texts that
concerned women. The passages were cut
out and pasted in a blank book and the
commentaries then written underneath.
In the preface of the first volume, writ
ten by Mrs. Stanton, she rather sarcastical-
ly refers to the fact that very many
women who are interested in the suffrage
work and who really believe that the
womans Bible is a splendid exposition
Of the real position that women occupied
in Bible times, are brought up standing
by their pastors, who say that the book