Female Piety—The Young Woman's
Guide through Life to Immortality
John Angell James, (1785—1859)
The
Conspicuous Place Which Woman Occupies in Holy Scripture
"The holy women of the past." 1 Peter
3:5
It will probably be objected against some of the subjects
selected for this work, that they are not exclusively appropriate to the
class of people to whom they are addressed—that is, Young Women. This,
however, so far from being a fault, is an excellence. Most conditions of
human life are prospective, and have not only some proximate objects and
duties connected with them, but also some ultimate ones to which the others
are preparatory; and he who would lead people to the right discharge of the
whole range of their obligations, must set before them the future as well as
the present, especially when due preparation for after years must not only
be made in the present, but must be considered to a considerable extent the
object and design of the present. Neither childhood nor youth is an ultimate
condition of human existence, but each leads on, looks to, and prepares
for—manhood or womanhood. Surely it must be appropriate then to those who
are already arrived at adult age, or are fast approaching it, to have the
whole view of their future condition laid before them, at least in general
outline. How else can they prepare for it?
Those to whom this volume is addressed, are supposed to
have arrived at that period of youth, when the judgment is sufficiently
matured and reflective, to be capable of studying and appreciating their
future relations and duties—and therefore ought to have the subject laid
before them. Who can be rightly educated for any future situation, if that
is concealed until all its obligations and responsibilities burst suddenly
upon them? True, there is in some minds an almost instinctive kind of
perception of what is proper to be done in any new conjuncture of
circumstances, so that, almost without training, they are prepared for
whatever situation is before them. But this is not the case with all. The
greater number of mankind must, as far as possible, be trained for their
various situations in life. As in the education of a boy, especially when
learning a trade or profession—the future tradesman, master, father, and
citizen—must be set before him as that for which he must prepare himself; so
in the training of young women, the whole of womanhood in its full
expansion, ripened excellences, and complete relations, obligations, and
responsibilities, must be laid before them.
We know that there is much which can be learned only from
experience—yet there is much also that may be learned by observation,
reading, and reflection. Mothers, authors and preachers, who take up the
subject, should ever bear in recollection, that the girl is to develop into
the woman; and in teaching the girl, should ever have their eye fixed
ultimately upon the woman, and should with all possible earnestness fix the
eye of the girl also upon her future womanhood. Not that she is to be so
taken up with the future as to neglect the preset; or to acquire a premature
matronly air and gravity, which will repress the ardor and vivacity of
youth, and, by anticipated cares and solicitudes, go out to prematurely meet
the coming troubles of life. But remember, my young female friends, and the
lesson cannot be too deeply impressed upon your minds—that the seeds of
woman's life-long virtues and excellences must be sown in the spring-time of
existence; and it must be done in part by her own hand, when aided and
taught by others to prepare the soil. The flowers of womanly virtues and
excellences, which she would wish to grow in her future character, must be
previously and carefully selected, and be contemplated and anticipated by
her in all their full-blown beauty and their richest fragrance, even while
she is yet in youth.
With these remarks as my justification in presenting to
the younger of the sex what in fact appertains to the more advanced in
years, I now proceed to the subject of the present chapter.
When we consider the importance of woman in the great
human family, it would be strange if in a volume given by inspiration of
God, for regulating the conduct and promoting the happiness of mankind, she
had no place assigned to her commensurate with the influence she is formed
to exert. The Bible gives us an account of the origin and construction of
society, and is designed, among other and still higher purposes, to direct
its movements, and promote its welfare. This it could not do, if it left out
woman; or failed to bring her prominently forward; or did not prescribe with
much form and detail, her rank, her mission, and her duties. In the coins
which were struck in the reigns of our William and Mary, when the wife was
ruling queen, the busts of both husband and wife were represented; the king
in front, and the queen behind—and if a frontispiece were designed for the
history of our race as recorded in the Bible, man and woman should be
exhibited in something of a similar manner, with this inscription round the
two-fold portrait, "Male and Female created he them."
The subject of this chapter was entered upon in the
last—it will be here continued and expanded into wider dimensions. Man of
course, is the chief subject of revealed truth. He occupies there, as he
does in society, the first place. More is said of him, to him, and by him,
than applies to woman. He is the prime actor, but not the sole one, in the
great drama of Providence, as it is developed in the pages of inspiration.
His 'companion in pilgrimage' is brought forward into notice, and is neither
lost in his shadow, nor only occasionally peeps out from behind his more
portly form and loftier stature. Her name and history; her virtues and
vices; her services and sorrows, occupy a considerable space in the holy
Book. She has no right to complain that she is overlooked or forgotten, or
that she is thrust into a corner and hidden from observation. There is more
than enough said about her to make her contented. She ought to be thankful,
and without Divine grace, may even be tempted to be vain. She cannot be
deprived of self-respect, or of the respect of others, on account of the
manner in which she is treated in the Scriptures. In this respect the Bible
stands in bright and beautiful contrast to the Koran.
We shall first of all advert to the account which the
Bible gives of woman's creation and fall, in the book of Genesis. We
would, in passing, remark, that it is to Biblical revelation, and to that
alone, that we are indebted for our knowledge of the origin of the human
species. Without the Mosaic account of the creation, we would know neither
the date nor the source of the family of man. There is no other oracle which
can give a response to the question, "Where did we come from?" This
furnishes an answer, and satisfies the enquirer—not as some would pretend,
with a mere allegorical history, but with true historic fact. I need not
recite the details of the scenes of Paradise, but only refer to them. It is
at once a beautiful—and melancholy record. We there see woman as she came
from the hand of the Creator, with a body combining every charm which could
captivate the being for whose companionship she was designed; and a soul
possessing every virtue that could adorn her character, and make her an
object of reverent affection. Her creation was peculiar, but not unworthy of
the Great Being who made her, of herself, or of him from whose own body she
was derived. Her origin seemed to dignify both her husband and herself. She
was formed of organized and vitalized matter, and not of mere dust—here was
her distinction. Who can describe, or who conceive, the thoughts or emotions
of this holy pair at their first interview! Our great poet has attempted it
in his immortal verse, where he says,
"I beheld her, not far off,
Such as I saw her in my dream, adorned
With what all earth or heaven could bestow
To make her amiable; on she came,
Led by her heavenly Maker, though unseen,
And guided by his voice—
Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye,
In every gesture dignity and love.
I, overjoy'd, could not forbear aloud—
You have fulfill'd
Your words, Creator bounteous and benign,
Giver of all things fair! but fairest this
Of all your gifts! nor enviest. I now see
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, myself
Before me—Woman is her name; of man
Extracted—for this cause he shall forego
Father and mother, and to his wife adhere;
And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul."
Painters and sculptors have joined with poets, to
represent to the senses and the imagination the first woman in all her
untainted loveliness. It is the Scriptures, be it recollected, that supply
to them the enrapturing subject of their art.
Thus far we see woman, man's companion in holiness and
bliss, tenanting with him the garden of Eden, enjoying its beauties, and
helping to preserve them. With him, joining in the morning hymn and vesper
song. Confessing no sin, for they had committed none; and disburdening
themselves of no care, for none pressed upon them. All was praise, while
their own notes of thanksgiving, blended with the melodies of the grove and
the music of the fields, led even the ear of God to listen with delight, and
to say, "It is good."
Alas, how soon and how suddenly changed was this scene of
Paradisaic bliss! Man was placed in Eden—not as we shall be in heaven,
if we are so happy as to reach it, in a state of confirmed happiness—but as
we are now upon earth, in a condition of trial. His submission to God
must be tested; and this was done in a manner that exactly suited his
condition. A garden as a residence became his state of innocence—and the
fruit of a particular tree equally well suited his circumstances for the
testing of his entire and implicit obedience and subjection. The test was as
easy as it was rational and suitable. Traditions of the state of primeval
felicity are current among many nations. They are discoverable in Grecian
and Roman history and in the pleasing fiction of the poet's golden age.
To induce Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit was the
scheme of Satan for his fall. It is difficult to conceive in what other way
he could tempt them. And how did he succeed? You know the melancholy sequel.
The assault of the tempter was made upon woman. She was the selected victim
of his wiles. It is evident, therefore, that he regarded her while in a
state of innocence, as more easily to be vanquished than man; and considered
her, even then, as the weaker vessel. At the same time, does it not seem as
if he had marked her out from the beginning, as the chief instrument for
accomplishing his future purposes of mischief towards the family of man?
Events have justified the sagacity of his malice—for to her influence how
much may be traced of the crimes and calamities which desolate our earth. He
saw in the conduct of the first pair, the love which woman inspires and
cherishes in the man—and was confident that if he could subdue her, he might
leave her to subdue the him.
The apostle in referring to this event, says, "Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was first in the transgression."
From the very creation, woman has shown a feebler power of resistance, a
greater pliancy of disposition, than man. How Satan knew this, we are not
informed; but that he did know it, is evident from his commencing the
assault on Eve instead of Adam. The passage just quoted seems to imply all
this. It is not meant that Adam did not sin, and was not deceived by the
tempter—but that the woman opposed a feebler resistance to the temptation
than the man would have done; and that the temptation as applied to her
mind, would have been ineffectual on him. To tempt and seduce him to sin,
there needed all the soft persuasions, the entreaties, and example of his
wife. Satan understood this, and approached man not with the specious
argument of the serpent—but through her irresistible allurements.
Some have supposed that Adam was not at all deceived by
the tempter—that he saw at once all his suggestions were lies; but that
foreseeing what Eve had done, how she had plunged herself into ruin, he, out
of mere love to her, and with his eyes open, determined to share her fate.
But the apostle's words do not necessarily convey this—but merely that he
was not deceived first, nor directly, by the tempter—but afterwards, and by
his wife. Her fall was occasioned by the deception of Satan alone; his by
the deception of Satan, aided by the persuasion of the woman.
Having considered the Scriptural account of woman's
condition at the creation, and the means by which, through her, the human
race was brought into its present state of sin and misery—we may next notice
the very explicit and frequent mention which is made in the Scriptures of
her numerous relations in social life, with the descriptions it gives of the
various characters of women. It certainly tends deeply to impress us
with the importance of woman, and to raise her in her own and in our
estimation, to see how constantly she is brought before us on the sacred
page, in every part which she fills in life, as if the duties connected with
each were of vast consequence to society. Not one is omitted; all are
recognized and dwelt upon. Woman is ever before us in one or other of her
many relations to the community.
Not only is there much said about the son—but also about
the DAUGHTER.
This relationship is not only included in the generic term of 'children',
but it is also set out by itself. How commonly is it mentioned in connection
with female children—"the sons and the daughters" are spoken of. A
beautiful instance of which we have in the words of the psalmist, "that our
sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; and our daughters may
be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace." Or, as
"corner-pillars, wrought like those of a palace," that is in their fittest
and best proportions, combining strength, beauty, and symmetry—both of body
and of soul—than which, no comparison can be more elegant and delicate. In
the exquisite poetry of the Hebrews, how commonly is this relationship
employed as the metaphor of countries, states, and cities! Jerusalem comes
before us as "the daughter of Zion," sometimes jubilant in her
prosperity, at others, as in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, covered with
sackcloth and bathed in tears.
The word
SISTER occurs almost in every portion of the
Word of God, like a floweret, lowly and lovely amid others of larger growth
and more imposing form and color. How sweet and gentle a spirit is sometimes
seen in a sister's form amid her brothers' more robust ones; and what a
softening influence does the spell of her fascinating tenderness throw over
their cruder natures. We are thus reminded by Scripture, that the younger
female branches of the family are to be thought of as having their separate
claims upon parental regard and brotherly affections. How many families are
laid open in the Bible to our view, of which the sisters, as well as the
brothers, are brought prominently into notice.
How much may it be supposed would be said about the
WIFE—and
how much is said about that close and endearing relation. To form the
character, and direct the conduct of the wife, is worth all the pains that
have been bestowed by innumerable writers; and we might have been very sure,
even before we had read a page of Scripture, that much would be there found
concerning this relationship. The book of Proverbs, that admirable directory
for domestic and social life, is quite a manual for wives, as well as for
every other member of the family circle. Unusual pains seem taken for the
right formation of her character. How frequently and how impressively does
Solomon refer to woman, as sustaining this close and tender relation. In
what exalted and glowing terms does he speak of it, when it comprehends the
graces and the excellences which it should always possess, "Whoever finds a
wife finds a good thing." "A prudent wife is from the Lord."
Who has ever read, or can read, without admiration, the
beautiful description of a virtuous woman, in the closing chapter of the
Proverbs? Can we wonder that he who had this elevated idea of the value of
such a companion, should again and again exhort a husband to live joyfully
with the wife of his youth, and forsaking all others, cleave to her alone?
In this he did but copy the beautiful and poetic picture of wedded happiness
which had been furnished to him by his father David, if indeed he was the
author of the Psalm, "Your wife will be like a fruitful vine, flourishing
within your home. And look at all those children! There they sit around your
table as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees." "The vine," says Bishop
Horne, "a lowly plant raised with tender care, becoming by its luxuriance,
its beauty, its fragrance, and its clusters—the ornament and glory of the
house to which it is joined, and by which it is supported, forms the finest
imaginable emblem of a fair, virtuous, and faithful wife. The olive trees
planted by the inhabitants of eastern countries, around their banqueting
places in their gardens, to cheer the eye by their verdure and to refresh
the body by their cooling shade, do no less aptly and significantly set
forth the pleasure which parents feel at the sight of a numerous and
flourishing offspring."
On the other hand, Solomon directs all the powers of his
bitter eloquence and irony, against the degraded woman, whose deadly work
none has ever renounced with more holy indignation. How does he brand the
crime of the harlot in the second and fifth chapters of the book of
Proverbs; and with what awful correctness describe the conduct of the
adulteress in the seventh. Nor does he stop here, but descends to the
characters of women, who, though less guilty than those to whom we have just
alluded, are still deserving of severe reprobation, "The foolish woman who
plucks her house down with her hands." "The quarrelsome woman, whose society
is more intolerable than dwelling in a corner of the house-top, or in the
wilderness." "The woman who makes ashamed, who is a rottenness in the bones
of her husband." "The odious woman, whose marriage is one of the four things
for which the earth is disturbed, and which it cannot bear." "The beautiful
woman without discretion, whose beauty is like a jewel of gold in a swine's
snout." "The contentious wife—as annoying as the constant dripping on a
rainy day."
This same Solomon, at the period when he had reached a
penitent and reformed old age, and when all the events of his life had
passed in review before him, is compelled to confess, that he had sought in
vain for a woman after his own heart—"I discovered that a seductive woman is
more bitter than death. Her passion is a trap, and her soft hands will bind
you. Those who please God will escape from her, but sinners will be caught
in her snare."
"This is my conclusion," says the Teacher. "I came to
this result after looking into the matter from every possible angle. I found
one upright man among a thousand—but not one upright woman among them all."
Let not this passage, however, be mistaken, as if it meant that it was
Solomon's opinion that the number of good women is inferior to the number of
good men. Observation and general testimony assure us that this is not the
truth. We are to consider where he made his enquiry for female virtue, and
under what circumstances it was made. He who had crowded his court with
wives and concubines, could little expect to find female excellence in such
a situation. Instead of concentrating his affections on one woman as his
wife, the partner of his joys and sorrows, and seeking his happiness in
drinking with her the sweet cup of wedded bliss, he had gathered round him
in his harem, for pride and sensuality, a multitude of women, amid whose
jealousies and contentions he could no more find happiness, than he could
find virtue amid their illicit pleasures. From such a scene virtue would
retire abashed and weeping. If, therefore, in this passage, he satirized the
female sex, he did it on unjust, unwise, and unmanly grounds.
"But," says Dr. Wardlaw, "I am far from thinking that he
here speaks the language of a disappointed and waspish satirist. He rather
utters the feeling of an abased and self-dissatisfied penitent, of one who
had felt it to be 'an evil and a bitter thing' to depart as he had done from
God; who remembered 'the wormwood and the gall;' who perceived and lamented
the folly and the wickedness of all those 'inventions,' by which himself and
others had sought to find out happiness apart from the favor and the ways of
God."
If we speak of woman as a
MOTHER,
how often does that endearing relationship come before us in holy Scripture;
both literally and metaphorically; in the Old Testament and in the New; in
the way of example and of precept. The maternal relationship is the theme of
constant reference, both for the sake of illustrating other subjects, and
for enforcing its own claims as those of the female head of the household.
Had this character been omitted, or only introduced occasionally, and then
invested with no more than a second-rate importance, the Bible would have
been lacking in one of its sweetest harmonies with the feelings of nature,
and one of its strongest appeals to the sympathies of humanity—and we would
have doubted if it had come from him who created woman and gave her as a
helper for man.
The paternal character and relation are maintained
in their primary rank, authority, and dignity—no invasion is made upon the
prerogative, or usurpation of the rights of the father; he is not called to
yield his place of rule, his supremacy of condition, to the mother; and yet
how is all her proper rank and station and influence maintained. There she
is exhibited as being in the family circle, if not the circumference which
includes all, yet in one sense as the center in which husband and
children all meet. How resonant are the Scriptures with that sweet and
tender name, how redolent with the fragrance of that odoriferous word, how
rich with the ornament of that beautiful term, mother. There, is sustained
the poet's declaration—"A mother is a mother still—The holiest thing alive."
If the mother's importance be not known, her claims not
conceded, her influence not felt, her duties not rightly discharged, it is
not the fault of the Bible, which is the friend of society by exalting the
maternal relationship. Nor is the mistress of the family overlooked or
forgotten nor her duties left out of consideration.
The WIDOW,
that name of desolation, that sorrowful epithet, that type of woe, meets us
at every turn. She passes before us in her mourning garments and in her
tears, leading in her hand her fatherless children, and saying to us, "Pity
me, pity me, O my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!" More is said
about, and for, and to, this bereaved one, than any other class of women—a
circumstance which exhibits with uncommon force and beauty the compassion of
God. But there is a discrimination on this subject which shows the wisdom as
well as tenderness of God. Young widows are admonished, while aged and
helpless ones are comforted.
Nor is the female
SERVANT
left out. A place for her is found among the various other and higher ranks
and conditions of her sex. Her humble lot is recognized amid the provisions
and commands of the Law, and was announced and defended by the thunders of
Mount Sinai. We find it protected by precept and illustrated by example, as
if woman in the lowest grade of society should not be overlooked in the
Bible, that blessed and glorious charter of rights and privileges. There the
little maid lifts up her head among the queens and princesses of
Scripture history!
But the most impressive and important point of view in
which the subject can be placed, and the most convincing proof of the effect
produced by the Scriptures with regard to woman, is the very great number
and variety of female examples which they contain. It is one of the
surpassing excellences of the Bible, that it is replete with narrative,
history, and biography, and thus, apart from its sacred character and its
momentous importance, is one of the most interesting books in the world. It
is full, not only of precept, but of living acting patterns of the
virtues which it inculcates—and of the vices which it prohibits.
It is a complete picture gallery, in which we see portraits of every size,
from the miniature to the full-length painting; and in every degree of
representation, from the mere outline to the most finished production of the
artist's brush.
Among these it would have been strange if female
characters had been lacking. And they are not missing. There, amid kings,
priests, warriors, and prophets, are to be seen the portraits of "the holy
women of the old time, who trusted in God," as well as of those who
disgraced themselves and dishonored their sex. In the great drama of life,
as it passes before us in the Bible, no trivial or inconsiderable part is
assigned to female characters. Woman's place among the dramatic personages
is not that of some airy vision which lights upon our path, and after
surprising and dazzling us for a moment, immediately vanishes and is seen no
more—but of one of the veritable actors in almost every place and every
scene.
The sacred volume opens, as we have already seen, with
Eve in Paradise—all beauty, innocence and smiles—as its lovely
frontispiece. And then shows us that same Eve, impelled by the vanity which
she has bequeathed as a mournful legacy to her daughters, reaching forth her
hand, at the instigation of the tempter, to pluck that fruit which was the
test of her obedience—and the seed of all our woe—and thus exhibiting to us
the sad association of beauty with sin.
In tracing woman's history, as it is set forth on the
page of Scripture, from Paradise as the starting point, we will look first
at the darker side of the narrative. How soon do we see Adah and
Zillah, consenting to be the joint wives of Lamech, and thus giving, for
anything we can tell, the first example of that bane of domestic
happiness—polygamy!
Then come the "daughters of men," the women in the
line of Cain, who made no profession of religion, but lived in atheism,
seducing and corrupting the "sons of God," the male line of Seth and the
professors of godliness—and thus by their unsuitable and incongruous
marriages and the universal corruption that followed—creating the necessity
for the waters of the deluge to wash away the moral filth of the old world.
Hagar comes next, troubling the faith, charity and
peace of Abraham; persecuting the child of promise; and at the same time
punishing by her waywardness, the weakness of the patriarch, whose concubine
she was.
Then that family of Lot, the poor, earthly-minded
wife and mother, who was so wedded to Sodom as to cast the lingering,
longing look behind, which transformed her into a pillar of salt; and the
disgusting conduct of her incestuous daughters, who showed too well how they
had been corrupted by the place of their abode—and how careful all parents
should be to remove their children from the polluting influence of evil
examples.
What a revolting pattern of an adulterous woman, and of a
cruel slanderer to hide her shame—is Potiphar's wife!
Then there was the ensnaring and successful temptation
offered by the daughters of Moab to the children of Israel in the
wilderness.
How mighty and how fatal were the powers of harlotry in
Delilah to subdue the strength and extort the secrets of Sampson! And
what a forcible picture of man's weakness before woman's vicious wiles, have
they furnished to all coming ages!
Who does not think of Bathsheba consenting to
David's wicked proposals, and thus causing him for awhile to cease to be
David, the man after God's heart?
And then come the immoral women who threw even the mighty
intellect of Solomon into the awful eclipse of idolatry!
And Jezebel, that Zidonian idolatress, who
instigated her husband to the murder of Naboth, and exasperated the mind of
Ahab to a more intense degree of wickedness than he would otherwise have
attained lo!
And Athaliah, that turbulent and idolatrous queen
mother, who counseled her son to do wickedly, and was put to death by
command of Jehoiada, the priest!
I have forborne, of course, to dwell on these
examples and descriptions of female immorality recorded in the Scriptures.
It has been a matter of surprise, perhaps almost of regret, to some, that
such instances of depravity should have been left on record. But shall we
dispute either the wisdom, goodness, or purity of God in these histories?
Are not important ends to be answered by them in the moral government of
God—and in the religious history of man? A profligate woman is at once
the most odious, mischievous, and hateful member of the community! Is it
not every way proper, and even desirable, that such a character should be
held up to detestation and scorn, as a warning to her sex—and that God
should thus set a brand upon her with his own hand, and bear his indignant
testimony against her vices? The examples of this kind are all for our
warning, to show in instances from actual life the excessive odiousness of
female depravity. This is done in a manner the least likely to do harm, and
the most likely to do good. The descriptions of female turpitude in the word
of God contain nothing to inflame the imagination, or to stimulate the
passions; nothing to make vice seductive, by a half concealment of its
odiousness; nothing to beat down the guards of virtue, by associating sin
with an amiable or interesting character, or screening it by sophistical and
insidious excuses or defenses. Vice is left in all its naked and revolting
deformity, all its nauseating loathsomeness, to inspire disgust, and cause
even ordinary virtue to recoil from the ugly and filthy object.
How different the case with many works of fiction, both
prosaic and poetic, in which, though there may be a less particularity of
sinful detail, there is immeasurably more to corrupt the moral principles,
to pollute the heart, and to lead astray the youthful mind from the paths of
virtue! What female reader of the word of God can rise from contemplating
even the worst characters, and perusing the most vivid descriptions of the
sins of her sex, without a stronger love of purity, and a more deeply rooted
hatred of iniquity? This is the answer we would give to infidels, who
sometimes affect to be prudish, and complain of the descriptions and
examples of female criminality which are contained in the sacred volume. The
use which every virtuous woman will make of them, is to be inspired with a
greater abhorrence of transgression, and a more holy and intense desire to
be kept from the most distant approach to it.
Coming forward to the New Testament, we meet with
Herodias, exhibiting the malignant and revengeful passions of a shameless
woman, against the servant of God, who had dared to reprove her paramour,
and impelling Herod, against the protest of his judgment, heart, and
conscience, to put John the Baptist to death, and so involve them both in
murder. And here also we read of the Jewish women that encouraged and
stimulated to violence the mob that persecuted Paul and Barnabas—and "That
woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess, and taught and seduced God's
servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols."
In such instances as these, female pride, wherever it
exists, may find some check to its exercise, and some motive to humility. To
those females who are prone to think of their sex more highly than they
ought, we present these examples of woman's frailty, which the pen of
inspiration has drawn upon the page of Scripture. While to those of the
other sex, if there are any, who are apt to glory over fallen women, we
would, after reminding them that some of these instances are the result of
their own seductions, present the brighter side of the picture. We would
also call upon women to contemplate for their own encouragement the
beautiful specimens of female excellence, with which, like so many stars
of various magnitudes, the skies of Scripture is studded.
There is Sarah, who, notwithstanding her many
failings, was unquestionably a good and even a great woman. In her case, as
in many others, her beauty became a snare to others, if not dangerous to her
own virtue, and placed the life of her husband in peril. Still she is
presented by the apostle Peter as one of the holy women of old, who were
patterns of domestic virtue and piety. For her defects, which consisted of a
weakness of faith, leading to some strange domestic arrangements that
brought their own punishment, were surrounded with the brightness of many
excellences, in which, if they were not entirely lost, they were at any rate
diminished. She was a pattern of conjugal fidelity, sweet simplicity, and a
just matronly jealousy towards the stranger who had been brought for awhile
so unwisely into her place. Her faith in God's promise was strong, though
shaken for a moment by the improbabilities of the promised blessing.
Rebekah's earlier and latter life presents to us a
somewhat painful contrast. None can read the beautiful account of the
mission of Abraham's servant to her father without admiration of the good
qualities of the damsel who is the heroine of the story, her industrious
habits, her unaffected and artless simplicity, her genuine yet not silly
modesty, her graceful courtesy, her humane consideration of the comfort of
the brute creation. What a bright pattern is here for the imitation of young
people. But oh! her unbelieving, injudicious, and sinful contrivances to
bring about the bestowment of the Divine blessing upon the heir of promise,
by the wicked imposition which she practiced upon her aged and blind
husband! Mothers, read it, and learn to guard against sinful contrivances to
get good for your children. Rebekah, however, was a good, though a mistaken
woman.
In Miriam, the watchful sentinel beside the waters
of the Nile, of the ark which contained the infant Moses, we see first the
dutiful daughter and anxious sister; and, in after life, the coadjutor of
her illustrious brother, leading the chorus of women by her timbrel and her
voice, in his triumphal song, on the borders of the Red Sea—afterwards, in
conjunction with Aaron, she became his opponent through envy—but we may hope
was restored to her better and earlier mind, through the chastisement she
received from the Lord. How much mischief may ENVY do to spoil the best of
characters, and to poison the happiness of families!
In Deborah, we contemplate the religious heroine,
and the inspired poetess, raised up by the special Providence of God, for
the deliverance of his people; an instance of exalted piety in an age of
depressed religion, and still deeper national distress.
Should it be asked by any one, what we are to say of Jael,
celebrated by the poetess Deborah, in her lofty strain of praise, I scarcely
know what answer to give. Nothing less than a Divine mandate, which she may
have received in some unknown and unrecorded manner, could have justified
the deed. Apart from this, even the stratagems of war would not clear the
heroine from the charge of treachery of the blackest kind. True, Sisera was
an enemy; but he had trusted himself to her protection, and she slew him
while sleeping under her guardianship. I leave the matter therefore as I
find it, without either justifying or condemning it, for I know not all the
facts of the case.
What a pattern of filial obedience, piety, and
patriotism, have we in Jephtha's daughter, over whose affecting story
hangs so deep a mystery. Whether, according to the opinions of some, she was
actually offered up in sacrifice; or according to others, was only
consecrated by perpetual virginity to God, her beautiful character shines
out with equal brightness, in all that is amiable, dutiful, and submissive.
But now turn to that touching and melancholy group of
widows in the land of Moab, Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah. What pen but that
which has done it, and done it with such inimitable simplicity, could do
justice to this sweet and touching story? Rarely in the history of families
does such a scene of affliction as this occur—a widowed mother, and the
widows of her two sons! A sad proof how precarious are all the scenes of
dear domestic bliss we fondly call our own. How tender, how dignified, and
how thoughtful, is the conduct of Naomi! What nobleness of resolution, what
daughter-like attachment, and what piety, do we see in Ruth! If in her
after-conduct there was that which would not suit the meridian of our age
and country, there was nothing contrary to the strictest purity of
intention, or modesty of conduct, if we take into account the circumstances
of her time, and the provisions of the Jewish law under which she lived. The
whole narrative presents a beautiful episode in Jewish history, and an
attractive specimen of the simplicity of early manners.
Can we fail to sympathize with Hannah in her
sorrows, her insults, and her joys, or to admire her zeal for the Lord, in
devoting her child of promise to his service? What a pattern for parents
willingly to give up their sons for ministers and missionaries!
Abigail furnishes us with a striking example of the
singular prudence of a woman who was unhappily associated with a drunkard
and a churl, and of her diligence and tact in averting from her family the
evils impending over it from her husband's vices.
What an instance of respect, gratitude, and affection for
the ministers of religion, of female influence, rightly exerted over the
mind of her husband in the cause of religion, and of submission to the will
of God, is the Shunamite! Who can read that touching account of the
death of her only son, and her own collected, composed, and energetic
conduct on the occasion, without deep feeling and high admiration? We find
in her no overwhelming or distracting grief preventing her from adopting the
best, the only means for obtaining relief, but a faith which sustained her
courage, and directed all her actions. Multitudes in every age and country,
where the story has gone, have been instructed by her language, and
stimulated by her example; and amid their deepest sorrows, have echoed her
few noble monosyllables in reply to the question, "Is it well with you? With
your husband? With your child? And she answered and said, It is well."
And then what a pattern of fidelity, and piety, and
kindness, do we find for female servants in the very next chapter, in the
simple and beautiful story of the little Hebrew captive girl, who was
nurse-maid in Naaman's family! All, and especially those who occupy a
similar situation, may learn, by what weak and humble instruments God may
accomplish his purposes, and work out the schemes of his Providence. To how
many a charity sermon in these remote days has that incident furnished a
text; and thus the little Jewish slave not only brought healing to her
master, and a knowledge of the true God into Syria, but became a pattern to
myriads of children in our own country!
Nor less to be admired are the generosity and faith of
the widow of Sarepta, whose barrel of meal and cruse of oil stand out in
such relief, among the brightest pictures of Old Testament history. In what
a coruscation of glory does the name of Esther blaze forth upon us, for
conjugal fidelity, piety uncorrupted by prosperity, and queenly influence
consecrated to the cause of true religion!
Now open the page of the New Testament. Is Christianity
destitute of female worthies, women of holy renown? It would be very strange
if it were. Strange, indeed, if His religion, who, though he was the Son of
God, was born of woman, did not raise up many who should shine forth in all
the mild and heavenly radiance of female piety.
Though, as I have said in the last chapter, we ascribe no
divine honors and offer no idolatrous homage to the Virgin Mary, nor set her
forth in the beauties of painting and sculpture; nor call her, with a
singular mixture of absurdity and blasphemy "the Mother of God." We revere
her as blessed and exalted among women, to give birth to the humanity of
Christ, the Savior of the world; and ascribe to her every holy and general
excellence as a woman, a wife, a mother, and a godly believer. (In an age
when Popery is lifting up its head in triumph, and with hope, no fair
opportunity should be lost to expose its pretensions and refute its errors.
There is no part of this dreadful system more contrary to Scripture, or more
insulting to God, than its Mariolatry, or worship of the Virgin Mary. She is
titled, "Mother of God" "Queen of Seraphim, Saints, and Prophets" "Advocate
of Sinners" "Refuge of Sinners" "Gate of Heaven" "Queen of Heaven." And as
the same titles are ascribed to her, or nearly so, as are ascribed to
Christ; so is the same worship paid to her as to the Savior. Churches are
built to her honor; her shrines are crowded with devotees, enriched with
their gifts, and adorned with their votive offerings. Prayers are offered to
her, her praises are chanted in hymns, thanksgivings are addressed to her,
and blessings are asked from her, as one who has power to bestow them. Seven
annual festivals celebrate her greatness, and keep alive the devotion of her
worshipers. So that Papists almost shut out the worship due to the Father
and the Savior by their idolatry of her. Now where, we ask, is one single
example, command, or even hint, for all this, in the Word of God? Is it any
wonder the Scriptures are kept from the people, when the most common
understanding could see that nothing of all this is to be found in that
sacred volume? The Acts of the Apostles make mention of her name but once,
and that without any mark of eulogy; and in the Epistles she is not
mentioned at all. Yes, how contrary is all this to the declaration that
there is only one Mediator between God and man, the Man Jesus Christ. "This
doctrine of the worship due to the Virgin," says Wylie, in his admirable
work on the Papacy, "has been exhibited in symbol, and that in so grotesque
a way that for a moment we forget its blasphemy. In the dream of St.
Bernard, which forms the subject of an altar-piece at Milan, two ladders
were seen reaching from earth to heaven. At the top of one of the ladders
stood Christ, and at the top of the other stood Mary. Of those who attempted
to enter heaven by the ladder of Christ, not one succeeded, all fell back.
Of those who ascended by the ladder of Mary, not one failed. The Virgin
prompt to support, stretched out her hand; and thus aided, the aspirants
ascended with ease.")
We cherish also a high veneration for Elizabeth
her cousin, the wife of Zacharias, and the mother of John the Baptist. In
the piety of old Anna, we see a bright pattern for aged widows in her
posture, believing and waiting for the consolation of Israel, and an example
for an aged saint, ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—the zeal,
so worthy to be imitated by every reclaimed sinner, of the woman of
Samaria, after she had believed in Christ, for his honor, and the
conversion of her countrymen—the melting penitence of the woman who had
been a sinner, whose history teaches us that the most abandoned people
may be reclaimed, and find mercy, and that penitence, gratitude, and love,
should be in proportion to the guilt contracted and forgiven—the invincible
faith of the Syrophenician woman, which received such admiration from
Christ, and will teach the latest generations of mankind the power of
importunate, persevering, and believing prayer—the generosity of the poor
widow who cast in two mites, the whole of her substance, into the
treasury of the temple—the beautiful account of the two sisters,
Martha and Mary, and the delineation in it, of the characters of the careful
and troubled housewife, and the anxious inquirer after salvation—the pouring
out of the box of spikenard by one that loved Christ so much as to
give her costliest offerings to his person—the grateful, devoted attention
and ministrations of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to
Christ. What an array of female excellence is here!
Passing on to the Acts of the Apostles, what delightful
mention is made of Dorcas, full of good works and alms-deeds which
she did, as evinced by her coats and garments for the poor, and the tears
which were produced by her death, and which embalmed her memory—and of
Lydia, who resorted to the place of prayer at Philippi, whose heart the
Lord had opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul, and who afforded the
rites of hospitality to the apostle and his companion—and of the chief
women, not a few, at Thessalonica, who believed in the apostle's doctrine
concerning Christ. Nor are the epistles barren of female names deserving
ever to be held in remembrance for their piety, zeal, and good works. There
we find Phoebe, the deaconess and bearer to Rome of the epistle to
the church in that city; and Euodia, and Syntyche; Lois and Eunice, the
mother and grandmother of Timothy, renowned for the sincere faith which
dwelt in them; and those women also that labored with Paul in the gospel.
And what shall we say more of Priscilla, Paul's helper in Christ, and
the instructress of the eloquent Apollos; and Mary, "who bestowed much labor
upon him," and Tryphena, and Tryphosa, and Julia, "who labored in the Lord?"
No, my female friends, you see, we repeat, the Scriptures
of truth have not passed over your sex in silence, nor thrust it into a
corner, nor thrown it into the shade. On the contrary, the sacred page is
rich and luminous with bright and beautiful examples of female excellence.
You stand there side by side with man in the practice of piety, and are
exhibited as not a whit behind him in all that appertains to the grandeur of
humanity!
In the Bible, we have now proved that woman is seen in
every gradation of rank, from the queen upon the throne, to the menial
grinding at the mill—in every variety of condition, the maid, the wife, the
mother, and the mistress; in every circumstance of grief and joy, the happy
bride, the mourning widow—in every phase of moral character, the faithful
spouse and the shameless adulteress—in every scene of active duty, whether
in the family, the church, or the world—in every changeful aspect of
fortune, rolling in affluence or pining in poverty—there she is seen
enlivening the sacred page with her narrative, adorning it with her
beauty—sometimes darkening it with her crimes, at others brightening it with
her virtues—now calling us to weep with her in her sorrows, then to rejoice
with her in her joys. In short, woman is everywhere to be found wrought into
the details of God's Scriptures—a beacon to warn us—or a lamp to guide us.
And all the notices being written by the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit are to be considered as his testimony to the excellence and
importance of your sex, and the influence it is intended and destined to
exert upon the welfare of mankind. Had the Bible, I will not say been
against you, but had it passed you over in silence, or only referred to you
incidentally, or looked at you with sidelong glances, you would have sunk in
general estimation; and man's neglect of you would have been defended or
excused by that of God himself. But now no one can plead the example of the
Bible for any attempt to neglect, despise, or oppress you. While it protects
woman from the insults, the injuries, and the oppression of the other sex,
it saves her with no less care and benefit from the sad effects which would
arise from the assumption of prerogatives which do not belong to her, and
from those excesses of ambition to which her own vanity might otherwise
prompt her. It guards her dignity from being trampled down by others, and
equally prevents her from lowering it herself, by pretensions which would
only make her ridiculous. It describes with accuracy the circle within which
it is the will of Providence she should move; presents to her the mission
which she is sent into the world to fulfill; furnishes her the rules by
which she is to act; proposes to her the rewards which she may legitimately
seek and surely expect, if she be faithful to herself—and offers her the
assistance necessary for the fulfillment of her high and holy vocation. What
this is will be the subject of our next chapter.
In the meanwhile, let me exhort you not only to study the
Scriptures, to learn the way of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, but
to study them, in order to form your own character as women, by their
precepts and their examples. Many and precious are the volumes that have
been written for your benefit by your own sex. Female pens have been most
happily and usefully employed in delineating female excellence, in writings
which you would do well to read. But after all, there is no guide for the
formation of female character, morally or spiritually considered, like the
inspired one. A woman unacquainted with the Bible, and ignorant of its
contents, as affecting her own conduct, character, and history, has yet to
know the finest patterns of female loveliness. The Bible is the best
mirror by which most accurately to know what you are, and to become what you
should be; before which you may adjust all the moral clothings of the
soul, and from which you may go forth adorned with all the beauties of
holiness, clothed with the garment of purity, and decorated with the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. (The author is indebted for some things
in this chapter and the next to an incomparably beautiful little work by
Adolphe Monod, formerly professor of Theology at Montauban, but now Minister
of the French Reformed Church in Paris.)
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