Christ came and Christianity developed. It personified opposition against the beastly materialism that prevailed among the rich and mighty ones in the Roman empire; it represented rebellion against the oppression and disdain of the masses. But since it sprang from Judaism that knew woman only as an oppressed being, and since it was biased by the biblical conception that she is the source of all evil, it preached the disdain of woman; it preached abstinence and destruction of the flesh, that was sinning so much at the time, and with ambiguous expressions pointed to a coming kingdom--conceived by some as a celestial, by others as an earthly kingdom--that would bring universal peace and justice. In the mire of the Roman realm, the seeds of these doctrines were planted in fertile soil. Woman, hoping for liberation and redemption from her position like all the other unfortunates, gladly and eagerly embraced the new faith. Until this day no great and important movement has taken place in all the world in which women did not figure as heroines and martyrs. They who praise Christianity as a great achievement of civilization, should not forget that to woman it owed many of its victories. Her eagerness to make converts played an important part both in the Roman empire and among the barbarian peoples of the middle ages. Through her efforts those in power often were converted. Thus, for instance, it was Chlotilde who induced Chlodwig, King of the Franks, to embrace Christianity. It was Bertha, Queen of Kent, and Gisela, Queen of Hungary, who introduced Christianity in their countries. The conversion of many prominent men was due to the influence of women. But Christianity rewarded woman poorly. Its doctrines contain the same disdain of woman that is met with in all the religions of the Orient. It commands her to be an obedient servant to man, and even to-day women must promise obedience to their husbands before the marriage altar. Let us hear how the Bible and Christianity speak of woman and marriage. The ten commandments of the old testament are addressed exclusively to the man. In the ninth commandment the woman is mentioned together with the domestic servants and domestic animals. The man is warned not to covet his neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his neighbor’s. Woman then is an object, a piece of property, that man should not desire if in someone else’s possession. Jesus, who belonged to a sect that maintained rigorous asceticism and practised voluntary emasculation, when asked by his disciples whether it were well to marry, replied: All men cannot receive this saying save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb; and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.