WOMEN AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Meanwhile a new world force, destined to overthrow the old order of
things, was growing slowly to maturity and spreading out its might until
eventually it fought its way to preeminence. I have traced the rights of
women under the regime of pagan Rome; I shall inquire next into the
position of women under Christianity. We must first note the attitude of
the early Christians towards women in general; for that attitude will
naturally be reflected in any laws made after the Church has become
supreme and is combined with and directs the State. That will demand a
special chapter on Canon Law; but in the present chapter I propose to
show how women were regarded by the Christians in the centuries which
were the formative period of the Church.
The direct words of Christ so far as they relate to women and as we have
them in the Gospels concern themselves wholly to bring about purity in
the relation of the sexes. "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt
not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on
a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart."[212] His commands on the subject of divorce are positive and
unequivocal: "It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let
him give her a writing of divorcement; but I say unto you, that every
one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication,
maketh her an adultress; and whosoever shall marry her when she is put
away, committeth adultery."[213] Christ was content to lay down great
ethical principles, not minute regulations. Of any inferiority on the
part of women he says nothing, nor does be concern himself with giving
any directions about their social or legal rights. He blessed the
marriage at Cana; and to the woman taken in adultery he showed his usual
clemency. For the rest, his relations with women have an atmosphere of
rare sympathy, gentleness, and charm.
But as soon as we leave the Gospels and read the Apostles we are in a
different sphere. The Apostles were for the most part men of humble
position, and their whole lives were directed by inherited beliefs which
were distinctly Jewish and Oriental or Greek; not Western. In the Orient
woman has from the dawn of history to the present day occupied a
position exceedingly low. Indeed, in Mohammedan countries she is
regarded merely as a tool for the man's sensual passions and she is not
allowed to have even a soul. In Greece women were confined to their
houses, were uneducated, and had few public rights and less moral
latitude; their husbands had unlimited license.[214] The Jewish ideal is
by no means a lofty one and cannot for a moment compare with the honour
accorded the Roman matron under the Empire. According to _Genesis_ a
woman is the cause of all the woes of mankind.
_Ecclesiasticus_ declares
that the badness of men is better than the goodness of women.[215] In
_Leviticus_[216] we read that the period of purification customary
after the birth of a child is to be twice as long in the case of a
female as in a male. The inferiority of women was strongly felt; and
this conception would be doubly operative on men of humble station who
never travelled, who had received little education, and whose ideas were
naturally bounded by the horizon of their native localities. We are to
remember also that the East is the home of asceticism, a conviction
alien to the Western mind. There is no parallel in Western Europe to St.
Simeon Stylites.
We would, therefore, expect to find in the teachings of the Apostles an
expression of Jewish, i.e., Eastern ideals on the subject of women; and
we do so find them. Following the express commands of Christ, they
exhorted to sexual purity and reiterated his injunctions on the matter
of divorce. They went much farther and began to legislate on more minute
details. Paul allows second marriages to women[217]; but thinks it
better for a widow to remain as she is.[218] It is better to marry than
to burn; yet would he prefer that men and women should remain in
celibacy.[219] The power of the father to arrange a marriage for his
daughter was, under Roman law, limited by her consent; but the words of
Paul make it clear that it was now to be a Christian precept that a
father could determine on his own responsibility whether his daughter
should remain a virgin.[220] Wives are to be in subjection to their
husbands, and "let the wife see that she fear her husband."[221] Woman
is the weaker vessel[222]; she is to be silent in church; if she desires
to learn anything, she should ask her husband at home.[223] Furthermore:
"I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to
be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not
beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression;
but she shall be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith
and love and sanctification with sobriety."[224] The apparel of women
also evoked legislation from the Apostles. Women were to pray with their
heads veiled "for the man is not of the woman, but the woman for the
man."[225] Jewels, precious metal, and costly garments were unbecoming
the modest woman.[226]
In this early stage of Christianity we may already distinguish three
conceptions that were quite foreign to the Roman jurist: I. The
inferiority and weakness of women was evident from the time of Eve and
it was an act of God that punished all womankind for Eve's
transgression. Woman had been man's evil genius. II. She was to be
submissive to father or husband and not bring her will in opposition to
theirs. III. She must not be prominent in public, she must consider her
conduct and apparel minutely, and she was exhorted to remain a virgin,
as being thus in a more exalted position. At the same time insistence
was placed on the fact that a virgin, wife, and widow must be given due
honour and respect, must be provided for, and allowed her share in
taking part in those interests of the community which were considered
her sphere.
If, now, we examine the writings of the Church Fathers, we shall see
these ideas elaborated with all the vehemence of religious zeal.
The general opinions of the Fathers regarding women present a curious
mixture. They are fond of descanting on the fact that woman is
responsible for all the woes of mankind and that her very presence is
dangerous. At the same time they pay glowing tribute to women in
particular. St. Jerome held that women were naturally weaker, physically
and morally, than men.[227] The same saint proves that all evils spring
from women[228]; and in another passage he opines that marriage is
indeed a lottery and the vices of women are too great to make it worth
while.[229] "The sex is practiced in deceiving,"
observes St.
Maximus.[230] St. Augustine disputes subtly whether woman is the image
of God as well as man. He says no, and proves it thus[231]: The Apostle
commands that a man should not veil his head, because he is the image of
God; but the woman must veil hers, according to the same Apostle;
therefore the woman is not the image of God. "For this reason, again,"
continues the Saint, "the Apostle says 'A woman is not permitted to
teach, nor to have dominion over her husband.'" Bishop Marbodius calls
woman a "pleasant evil, at once a honeycomb and a poison" and indicts
the sex,[232] something on the order of Juvenal or Jonathan Swift, by
citing the cases of Eve, the daughters of Lot, Delilah, Herodias,
Clytemnestra, and Progne. The way in which women were regarded as at
once a blessing and a curse is well illustrated also in a distich of
Sedulius: "A woman alone has been responsible for opening the gates of
death; a woman alone has been the cause of a return to life."[233]
That women should be in subjection, in accordance with the dictum of
Paul, the Church Fathers assert emphatically. "How can it be said of a
woman that she is the image of God," exclaims St.
Augustine,[234] "when
it is evident that she is subject to the rule of her husband and has no
authority! Why, she can not teach, nor be a witness, nor give security,
nor act in court; how much the more can she not govern!"
Women are
commanded again and again not to perform any of the functions of men and
to yield a ready and unquestioning obedience to their husbands.[235]
The Fathers also insist that marriage without a paternal parent's
consent is fornication.[236]
Marriage was looked upon as a necessary evil, permitted, indeed, as a
concession to the weakness of mankind, but to be avoided if possible.
"Celibacy is to be preferred to marriage," says St.
Augustine.[237]
"Celibacy is the life of the angels," remarks St.
Ambrose.[238]
"Celibacy is a spiritual kind of marriage," according to St.
Optatus.[239] "Happy he," says Tertullia[240] "who lives like Paul!"
The same saint paints a lugubrious picture of marriage and the "bitter
pleasure of children" (_liberorum amarissima voluptate_) who are burdens
and just as likely as not will turn out criminals. "Why did the Lord cry
woe unto those that are pregnant and give suck, unless it was to call
attention to the fact that children will be a hindrance on the day of
judgment?"[241] When such views were entertained of marriage, it need
not seem remarkable that Tertullian and St. Paul of Nolan, like Tolstoy
to-day, discovered the blessings of a celibate life after they were
married and ran away from their wives.[242] Jerome finds marriage useful
chiefly because it produces virgins.[243]
As for second marriages, the Montanist and the Novatian sects condemned
them absolutely, on the ground that if God has removed a wife or husband
he has thereby signified his will to end the marrying of the parties;
Tertullian calls second marriage a species of prostitution.[244]Jerome
expresses the more tolerant and orthodox view: "What then? Do we condemn
second marriages? Not at all; but we praise single ones.
Do we cast the
twice-married from the Church? Far from it; but we exhort the
once-married to continence. In Noah's ark there were not only clean, but
also unclean animals."[245]
As the Fathers were very well aware of the subtle influence of dress on
the sexual passions, we have a vast number of minute regulations
directing virgins, matrons, and widows to be clothed simply and without
ornament; virgins were to be veiled.[246] Tertullian, with that keen
logic of which the Church has always been proud in her sons, argues that
inasmuch as God has not made crimson or green sheep it does not behoove
women to wear colours that He has not produced in animals
naturally.[247] St. Augustine forbids nuns to bathe more than once a
month, unless under extreme necessity.[248]
As soon as the Church begins to exercise an influence upon law, we shall
expect to see the legal position of women changed in accordance with
certain general principles outlined above, viz: I. That inasmuch as Adam
was formed before Eve and as women are the weaker vessels, they should
confine themselves to those duties only which society has, from time
immemorial, assigned them as their peculiar sphere. II.
They should be
meek, and not oppose father or husband; and to these they should go for
advice on all matters. III. All license, such as the Roman woman's right
of taking the initiative in a divorce, must never be tolerated. IV. They
should never transgress the bounds of strictest decorum in conduct and
dress, lest they seduce men; and they must never be conspicuous in
public or attempt to perform public functions. V. They are to be given
due honour and are to be cared for properly.
The legal rights of women would be affected, moreover, by a difference
in the spirit of the law. The Roman jurist derived his whole sanction
from reason and never allowed religious considerations, as such, to
influence him when legislating on women. He recognised that laws are not
immutable, but must be changed to fit the growth of equity and
tolerance. No previous authority was valid to him if reason suggested
that the authority's dictum had outlived its usefulness and must be
adapted to larger ideas. It never occurred to him to make the
inferiority of woman an act of God. On the other hand, the Church
referred everything to one unchanging authoritative source, the Gospels
and the writings of the Apostles; faith and authority took the place of
reason; and any attempt to question the injunctions of the Bible was
regarded as an act of impiety, to be punished accordingly. And as the
various regulations about women had now a divine sanction, the
permanence of these convictions was doubly assured.
SOURCES
I. The Bible.
II. Patrologia Latina: edidit J.P. Migne. Parisiis. 221
volumes
(finished 1864).
NOTES:
[212] _Matthew_ 5, 27 ff.
[213] _Matthew_ 5, 31 ff.; id. 19, 3 ff. _Mark_ 10, 2-12. _Luke_ 16, 18.
[214] Plutarch lived in the second century A.D.; but he has inherited
the Greek point of view and advises a wife to bear with meekness the
infidelities of the husband--see _Praecep. Coniug_., 16.
His words are
often curiously similar to those of the Apostles, e.g., _Coniug.
Praecep_., 33: "The husband shall rule the wife not as if master of a
chattel, but as the soul does the body." Id. 37: "Wives who are sensible
will be silent when their husbands are angry and vent their passion;
when their husbands are silent, then let them speak to them and mollify
them." However, like the Apostles, he enjoins upon husbands to honour
their wives; his essay on the "Virtues of Women"--
[Greek: gynaikôn
aretai]--is an affectionate tribute to their worth.
Some of the respectable Puritan gentlemen at Rome also held that a wife
be content to be a humble admirer of her husband (e.g., Pliny, _Paneg_.,
83, hoc efficiebat, quod mariti minores erant ... nam uxori sufficit
obsequii gloria, etc.). But Roman law insisted that what was morally
right for the man was equally so for the woman; just as it compelled a
husband himself to observe chastity, if he expected it from his wife.
[215] _Ecclesiasticus_ 42, 14.
[216] _Leviticus_ xii, 1-5.
[217] _Romans_ 7, 2-4.
[218] _Corinthians_ i, 7, 39.
[219] _Corinthians_ i, 7, 1 ff.
[220] _Corinthians_ i, 7, 37.
[221] _Ephesians_ 5, 22 and 33.
[222] _Peter_ i, 3, 7.
[223] _Corinthians_ i, 14, 34.
[224] _Timothy_ i, 2, 12-15.
[225] _Corinthians_ i, II, 8.
[226] _Timothy_ i, 2, 9. _Peter_ i, 3.
[227] Abelard, Ep., 9, in vol. 178, p. 325, of Migne: Beatus Hieronymus
... tanto magis necessarium amorem huius studii (i.e.
the Scriptures)
censuit, quanto eas naturaliter infirmiriores et carne debiliores esse
conspexit. Cf. St. Paul of Nolan, _Letters_, 23, § 135--
Migne 61, p.
273: Hi enim (i.e. evil spirits) petulantius infirmiora vasa pertentant,
sicut non Adam, sed Evam coluber aggressus est.
[228] Adversus Iovianum, i, 48--Migne, vol. 23, p. 278.
[229] Adversus Iovianum, i, 28--Migne, vol. 23, pp. 249-250: Qui enim
ducit uxorem, in ambiguo est, utrum odiosam an amabilem ducat. Si
odiosam duxerit, ferri non potest. Si amabilem, amor illius inferno et
arenti terrae et incendio comparatur. He quotes the Old Testament,
especially _Pr_. 30, 16, to support his views.
[230] S. Maximi Episcopi Taurinensis--Homilia 53, I--
Migne, vol. 57, p.
350.
[231] Augustinus: _Quaest. ex vet. Test_., 21: an mulier imago Dei sit
... unde et Apostolus, Vir quidem, inquit, non debet velare caput, cum
sit imago et gloria Dei; mulier autem, inquit, velet caput. Quare? Quia
non est imago Dei. Unde denuo dicit Apostolus: Mulieri autem docere non
permittitur, neque dominari in virum. Migne, vol. 35, p.
2228.
[232] Migne, vol. 171, pp. 1698-1699: Femina dulce malum, pariter favus atque venenum, Melle linens gladium
cor confodit et sapientum. Quis suasit primo vetitum gustare parenti?
Femina. Quis patrem natas vitiare coegit? Femina. Quis fortem spoliatum
crine peremit? Femina. Quis iusti sacrum caput ense recidit?
Femina.--etc., ad lib.
However, in another poem he acknowledges that there is nothing more
beautiful than a good woman:
In cunctis quae dante Deo concessa videntur Usibus humanis, nil
pulchrius esse putamus, Nil melius muliere bona, etc.
[233] Migne, vol. 80, p. 307. The sentiment is more fully developed in
another poem--Migne, vol. 80, p. 307: Femina causa fuit humanae perditionis; Qua reparatur homo, femina causa
fuit. Femina causa fuit cur homo ruit a paradiso; Qua redit ad vitam,
femina causa fuit. Femina prima parens exosa, maligna, superba; Femina
virgo parens casta, benigna, pia.
[234] _Quaest. ex vet. Test_., 45; Migne, vol. 35, p.
2244.
[235] E.g., Tertullian, _de virg. vel_., 9. St. Paul of Nolan, letter
23, § 135--Migne, 61, p. 273. Id., letter 26, vol. 61, p. 732 of Migne.
Cf. Augustine, letter 262, § 5--Migne, 33, p. 1079.
[236] Basilius, _ad Amphil_., c.42: Matrimonia sine iis, qui potestatem
habent, fornicationes sunt.
Ambrose says: Honorantur parentes Rebeccae muneribus, consulitur puella
non de sponsalibus, illa enim expectat iudicium parentum; non est enim
virginalis pudoris eligere maritum.
[237] Virginitas praeferenda coniugio--August., vol. 44, p. 142 of
Migne. The Council of Trent, eleven centuries later, in its
twenty-fourth session, re-echoed this sentiment and anathematised any
one who should deny it.
[238] Migne, vol. 16, p. 342.
[239] Id., II, p. 1074.
[240] Tertullian _ad uxorem_, i, 3.
[241] Id. _ad uxorem_, i, 5. See also Gregory of Nyassa, _de Virg_.,
iii, on the evils of matrimony.
[242] v. Tertullian, _ad uxorem_. For Paul of Nolan, see Migne, vol. 61,
p. 22.
[243] Laudo nuptias, laudo coniugium, sed quia mihi virgines generant.
[244] _Ad uxorem_, i, 7 and 9: non aliud dicendum erit secundum
matrimonium quam species stupri.
[245] Jerome, _Epist_., 123. See also id., _Epistola de viduitate
servanda_, Migne 22, p. 550, and the _Epist. de monogamia_, Migne, 22,
p. 1046. Ambrose, _de viduis liber unus_, Migne, 16, p.
234. Cf. Alanus
de Insulis in Migne, vol. 210, p. 194: Vidua ad secundas nuptias non
transeat.
[246] See, e.g., St. Cyprian, _de habitu virginum_.
Tertullian, _de
virginibus velandis_ and _de cultu feminarum_. Treatises on the way
widows should dress were written, among others, by St.
Paul of Nolan,
_Epist_. 23, §§ 133-135--Migne 61; Augustine, St.
Fulgentius Rusp., St.
Paulinus Aquil., and St. Petrus Damianus.
[247] _De cultu feminarum_, i, 8.
[248] Lavacrum etiam corporum ususque balneorum non sit assiduus, sed eo
quo solet intervallo temporis tribuatur, hoc est, semel in mense. Nisi
infirmitatis necessitas cogat, corpus saepius non lavandum--Augustine,
_de monialibus_, Migne, vol. 33, page 963.