Consecrated Womanhood: A Sermon Preached in the First Congregational Church, Portland, OregonMarvin, Frederic Rowland
Religion
Consecrated Womanhood: A Sermon Preached in the First Congregational Church, Portland, Oregon
Marvin, Frederic Rowland
Sermons, American; Women -- Biblical teaching; Women in the Bible
Men who advocate the subjection of women plant themselves upon the
Bible and say to us, "You radicals want to turn things upside down. You
have no respect for the settled order of society. You would destroy the
divine harmony Heaven has established. You set aside the teaching of
the great Apostle who said, 'I suffer not a woman to usurp authority.'"
But the Bible is always on the side of progress. Jesus and his
immediate followers were innovators, agitators and leaders of public
thought and morals. The Jews quoted the Old Testament against them as
Southern preachers quoted the New Testament against us when we demanded
the abolition of slavery. We must remember that it is the mission
of the Bible to lead men and not to follow them. The age that shall
overtake the New Testament will be right in discarding it. Open the
Bible—what does it teach? "The genuine perfection of humanity, instead
of being the forced obedience of one-half to the other half, is the
spontaneous obedience of both halves to the law of God. The incomplete
statement of Paul, 'I suffer not a woman to usurp authority,' is
supplemented by the far deeper words of Jesus, 'Ye know that the rulers
of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise
authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would
become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be
first among you shall be your servant.' (Matthew xx.:25-27, Revised
Version.) _That is the ideal of the future._" Neither man nor woman
shall usurp authority, but both, in mutual helpfulness, shall yield
willing obedience to the perfect law of God. A consecrated womanhood is
a womanhood of surrender, not to social prejudices and superstitions,
nor yet to political disability, but to Heaven. It is a surrender
without defeat and a victory without conquest. A woman may dance a
ballet or sing in an opera, but the moment she enters the pulpit to
preach a sermon, steps upon a platform to deliver a lecture, or goes
to the polls to vote, society rises in indignation and disgust. If a
woman may tend as a nurse, why may she not practice as a physician?
If a woman has a calling to medicine, divinity, law, literature, art,
mechanics, instruction or trade, what law of God prohibits? But is it
wise to open our colleges and schools of science to women? Why not?
Are they not capable of receiving a liberal education? The part woman
has played in ancient and modern history, in the arts and sciences,
as well as in political life, constitutes not only an answer to the
question, but a positive demand for admission to every department of
knowledge and industry. Open all the doors and remove every barrier.
Subject girls to the same requirements you exact of boys in colleges,
but in all justice and fairness set before them the same rewards.
The best educators tell us that some of the finest mathematical
students are girls. They read Virgil and Cicero, Xenophon and Homer
as well in every way as do young gentlemen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account