To one who carefully studies the history of Christianity by the light of recently developed truths, the fact will doubtless be discovered that the fundamental difference existing between Catholic and Protestant sects is grounded in the old feud arising out of the relative importance of the sex-principles. From the days of Zoroaster to the final establishment of Christianity by Paul, the tendency--although slight--had been toward the elevation of woman, and consequently toward a greater acknowledgment of the female element in the god-idea. Considerable impetus was given to the cause of woman's advancement through the doctrines of the various schools of philosophy in Greece, and subsequently by the efforts put forth by the Roman lawyers to establish their equality with men before the law; hence, during the first hundred years of the Christian era the "new religion" seems to have contained much of the spirit of the ancient philosophy. By several of the early Christian sects, the second person in the trinity was female, as was also the Holy Ghost. In a "fragment of a gospel preserved by St. Jerome, and believed to have been from the original Aramaean Gospel of St. Matthew, with additions, the Holy Ghost (ruach), which in Hebrew is feminine, is called by the infant Savior, 'My Mother, the Holy Ghost.' "(142) 142) Barlow, Essays on Symbolism, p. 135. The mission of Christ was that of a Regenerator of mankind, an office which had been symbolized by the powers of the sun. He was to restore that which was lost. He attempted to teach to the masses of the people the long neglected principles of purity and peace. He did not condemn woman. He was baptized by John (Ion or Yon) in water, the original symbol for the female element, and while in the water; the Holy Ghost in form of a dove (female) descended upon him. To those who have given attention to the symbolism of the pagan worship these facts are not without signification. Because of the peculiar tendency of Christ's teachings women soon became active factors in their promulgation. If there were no other evidence to show that they publicly taught the new doctrines, the injunction of St. Paul, "I suffer not a woman to teach," would seem to imply that they were not silent.