w

/syt

THE

ORIGIN OF SIN

AND

DOTTED WORDS

IN THE

HEBREW BIBLE,

BY

EMILY OLIVER GIBBES.

NEW YORK :
Copyright, 1893, by
CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM & CO.,
766 Broadway. 1893.

PREFACE.
" In thy Light shall we see light."
" Come my soul, thou must be waking,
Now is breaking
O'er the earth another day.
Come to him who made this splendor ;
See thou render
All thy feeble strength can pay''
This hymn was sung in church to-day, and I
thought, the day now breaking is a day such as we
read of in the Bible ; not a day of twenty -four hours,
but a day which means the commencement of a
certain time, the commencement of a time of new
thoughts and advancement of thought, granted to
¦waking souls, or waking minds. And I thought, now
is breaking this day for me ; and it is breaking o'er
all the earth, therefore to Him who made this inward
light, and grants this light to every soul. I will
render all my feeble strength can pay. I will search
for new thoughts on the old truths, and what I think I
find I will try to give to others.
I looked round this church and saw how many
many women were there, how few men — it was women,
then, who were there to pray and to them came the
[iii]

IV PREFACE.
answers of the prayers. And with these women I
prayed this prayer : " Almighty God, unto whom all
hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no
secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by
the inspirations of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may per
fectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy Holy
Name, through Christ our Lord."
And this prayer I hope will be answered in this
work of mine. In the light which Christ brought
to this world, may I find light, and "into my open
h.eart may He send by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit new thoughts by which I may magnify His
Name, and understanding the deep thoughts of the
Bible, so that I may give them rightly to this world.

DIAMONDS IN METEORIC IRON.
This journal, as well as nearly every daily and
weekly paper in the United States, has had notices
"of the discovery of diamonds in meteoric iron.
Prof. A. E Foote, of Philadelphia, recently read a
paper announcing this discovery at the meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. From this we learn that the diamonds are
small but plainly visible. They are the hardest vari
ety known — the black diamonds used for pointing
diamond drills. A small white diamond was also
found. Why has so much interest been shown in
this discovery which has been anticipated for many
years ? Because, Professor Foote claims, it confirms
the theory advanced by Sir William Thompson,

_RKFAC!_; V
twenty yeafs ago, that the first germs of life were
brought to this globe by meteors. Diamonds, like
coal, are supposed to result from changes occurring
in vegetable matter ; and if plants existed, then there
may have been animal life ; — and so we may have
approached one step nearer the solution of the ques
tion to which the wisest brains have given so much
thought for ages. The geological source of dia
monds themselves has never been satisfactorily
explained. They are scattered all over the. world
in unexpected places without any apparent reason.
It was suggested by the Washington geologists that
they came from decomposed meteors that had been
falling on the surface of the earth for unknown cen
turies, and that even the great deposits at Kimber-
ley were due to enormous masses that had fallen
there producing curious sink-holes similar to the
" crater" on the side of which Professor Foote found
the most of the pieces at Canon Diablo. Professor
Foote's complete paper may be found in the Ameri
can Journal of Science and Arts for November. — Popu
lar Science News for December.
I think that the garden of Eden was not on this
earth ; the fall of man means that evil was banished
from Heaven. Christ said to his followers : " I beheld
Satan, as lightning, fall from heaven." Satan, then,
was once in heaven. In the above we read : Sir W.
Thompson says "that the first germs of life were
brought to this globe by meteors." Eden is heaven
and those who wrote Genesis could form no better
idea of heaven than a garden ; they knew by inspir
ation that evil was in the world, and that the soul
within their sinful human body had been banished

VI PREFACE.
from happiness, and was a spark from goodness,
from light and happiness, and that their souls or
spirits were like diamonds in the meteoric iron
spoken of by Sir William Thompson. The soul of
man, which was only restored to consciousness and
life when after years his body had evolved from
the lowest animal life then understood when this
was so that God existed and that mankind had at
some distant time fallen from heaven, which he
called Eden. Christ has told us that God is a Spirit ;
therefore, when we say man was made in .the
image of God, we should understand man's spirit
and not his human body — those who wrote Genesis
understood this, as they say God breathed upon
man and man became (then) a living soul.
Satan means Sin. If Adam and Eve were ban
ished from Heaven (Eden), Satan, or Sin, is within
us — that is, in our flesh, which we get from Adam.
The image of God can not be our bodies of clay,
which die, for nothing of God can die. Jesus took
upon him our body of clay, and as He had a double
nature, spiritual and material, the temptation was
the struggle between these two ; the race of Adam
banished to this planet, and reduced to mere atoms
of life, rose from one stage to another, until they
became capable of seeking to return to God. Then
Christ came to help them and to show them the

_REFAC_. VU
Way, and to show that the spiritual, God's image
within us, or Souls, can by suffering overcome the
material of which our bodies are made. Satan, sin,
is within us — the same as Christ said the kingdom of
Heaven is within us. The seeking of self caused
the fall of Adam from Eden — the seeking of self
runs all through his race on this earth ; be they civ
ilized, or be they barbarians, the seeking of self was
the Sin of Satan — other words only for Adam and
Eve. Jesus did not " humiliate the Divinity to the
devil " by the temptation in the wilderness, for it
was in the glorious strength of his Divine nature, in
the knowledge of the power to overcome evil, that
He met for us the temptation.
Sin was driven from Heaven, banished to this
earth ; hence sin has been always on this earth, and
will be on this earth as long as this earth is alive.
We who are born on this earth, are born on an
earth, or star, or planet, of sin. The prince of this
earth is sin or Self.
Jesus said : " I beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from
heaven." This He said when the seventy said to
Him, " Lord, even the devils are subject unto us
through Thy name." " Devils " means evils of
all sorts. These seventy had healed the sick ; the
illness, and the evil which caused the illness, they
could banish through the name of Jesus.

viii PBEFAC_.
Sin, then, came to this earth when repulsed from
Heaven, and will always be here, and will always
fight the good that is in the world. We think it is
best for mankind to be ignorant of some things.
Sin will, through ignorance, cause mankind to sin.
If we think it best to grow in knowledge, Sin will
cause us to sin through knowledge. What then
must we do ? We must watch, and by knowledge
by intelligence, rise above sin.
When I say that our human nature we get from
Satan — that is, our flesh and blood nature, — do not
misunderstand me to say that God did not make
this world. God made all things, and He made this
planet with all other planets, the sun, and moon, and
stars. Do you know the history of the moon ? We
are told that it is dead, yet it follows on God's law —
and those who may have lived on it are alive no
more — yet the moon revolves, and reflects light.
That the race of mankind are on this earth does
not affect this earth, the laws of this planet go on
the same, we have nothing to do with these laws,
we cannot change them in the least. Sin, or Satan,
as. you wish to call it, was driven to this earth from
Heaven, and that life which must die came here in
that way. Pray do not misunderstand me ! In our
flesh and blood body we are not, we can not be of the
Image of God — for God is a Spirit.

CONTENTS,

BOOK I." Page
Origin of Sin  13
BOOK It.
The Dotted Words in the Hebrew Bible  61
BOOK III.
The Religions of the East of this day  87
BOOK IV.
Reflections  99
BOOK V.
The Christian Religion  137
BOOK VI.
Jesus Christ  147
BOOK VIL
Science  171
[i_]

X CONTENTS'.
BOOK VIII. Page
The Women of the Old Testament  181
BOOK IX.
The Women of the New Testament.  217
BOOK X.
Songs of the Women of the Bible  295
BOOK XI.
The Prayer-Book  303

BOOK i;

ORIGIN OF SIN.
[xi]

ORIGIN OF SIN.

THE FALL OF ADAM AND EVE.
In these days of growing unbelief in the Bible, and
even in God's word, it is the duty of those who are
loyal and true to God to give their thoughts to the
world in which we live ; so I am here giving mine
in great humility, for I shall speak of the things
which are hard to understand, but which all who
have any mind whatever should think out for them
selves always with prayer to God for right direction.
Trusting, then, that He is helping me by the whis
pers of the Spirit to my listening mind, I take cour
age to write the following. The Origin of Sin.
Christ, when teaching his disciples, told them that
He " had many things to tell them, but that they
could not bear them then." They had so much" diffi
culty in comprehending the Spiritual teachings of
Christ, that He had to teach them by parables, and
by earthly things as examples to make their earthly
[13]

14 ORIGIN OF SrN.
minds understand. But Christ did not mean that we
should remain so dull of understanding, so ignorant
of His spiritual teachings, " that he may run that
readeth it." We are to search the Scriptures, for
Christ told us to do so, because, as He said, they
testify of Him. Therefore, whosoever doubts about
Christ, let her first search the Scriptures, with her
mind totally free from all views and dogmas aud
prejudices of other people.
This is what I am trying to do in telling you my
idea of the origin of sin, and the reason that it is,
and always has been, on this earth.
Christ tells his disciples that He saw Satan fall
from Heaven like lightning. His words were : " I
beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from heaven."
Satan means Sin. To this earth Satan fell, broken to
pieces. Having once been in Heaven there was
within Satan the germ of the life which lives in
Heaven — the spark that never dies. Satan, then,
was reduced to nothing but the pulsating heart,
which science tells us is the point to which they can
trace back life on this earth — a- pulsating heart on a
muddy beach. This pulse of life, then, may have
come to this earth in this way This pulse science
traces back from man, through animals, plants, and
other things. We can understand very well that this
pulse can be traced up to mankind. We are, then,

ORIGIN OF SIN. 15
in the body direct descendants of Satan, and from
him we get all sin and evil, and, besides, we get the
spark of life which can not die, but which can, and
which did grow stronger in mankind, until " men
began to call upon the name of God," and as the
spark of life grew stronger, God breathed upon
mankind and gave them their Souls — the Image of
God — " for God is a Spirit," said Christ (whose
words I shall take for the authority of what I am
writing) and no flesh and blood can be the Image of
God; Nothing in which evil dwells can be the Image
of God — nor did God ever create anything in which
were sin and evil and call it good. The story of
Adam and Eve is an allegory or symbol, and we are
to hunt for its meaning. Adam and Eve were the
race of mankind when life evolved to the state we now
have, called mankind, and to whom God gave " liv
ing souls " — " and man became a living soul." The
words " God breathed upon man," when man
became a living soul, were used by the writer to
make us understand the invisible nature of the
soul, — the same as Christ said, " the wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof
but cannot tell from whence it cometh or whither it
goes ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Also, when the apostles received the Spirit — or
Holy Ghost — a sound like a. mighty rushing wind

16 ORIGIN OF SIN.
filled the place. So we understand that the breath
of God means the Spirit of God, — the Soul given to
mankind. Now, what was the sin of Satan ?
Eden means, in my mind, Heaven j "Adam and
Eve," the race of men and women banished from
Heaven to this earth. The story says : " Banished
from Eden " — Heaven. The tree of knowledge of
good and evil, which they ate of, was the sin of creat
ing : that is, they had a child after their own image.
I do not believe that God said, "increase and multi
ply and fill the earth," for this reason : God never
commanded evil and sin to increase. All animal
nature, in which there is power to increase and mul
tiply, have in them, evil and sin. Search and see !
Can you find any living thing or being in which
there is not sin and evil ? Do you think that God
has told us to increase and multiply that sin and evil ?
Eye was punished in the story of the creation ; in this ¦
way : " In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children."
And her first child was not born in Eden, also he was
a murderer and a liar. Christ said, " Satan was
from the beginning a murderer and a liar." Cain
lied in his offering to God, and murdered his
brother. The punishment to Satan's descendants in the flesh
is the necessity to increase and multiply in the

ORIGIN OF SIN. 1(
flesh, as all flesh does, and will do to the end of the
world (Only those who have strong souls can over
come the flesh). Christ has told us that at the end
of the world there will be marrying and giving in
marriage. The curse of increasing sin remains to
the end of the world and is only excused by Christ's
blessing marriage at the marriage at Cana. He
sanctified it by His presence and afterwards gave
the limits which alone would receive His blessing.
The limits you will find in what He says about
divorce and marriage.
At the marriage in Cana, which Christ honored
with His presence, He also showed the first sign of
His power. The turning of water into wine; has a
deeper meaning than the mere fact of the water
being made wine. All of Christ's miracles and words
had a spiritual meaning, and those spiritual mean
ings it is our duty to searchout. We may n°t be
able fully to search out all the meaning, but as we
have advanced in knowledge in other things so. far
beyond those who lived years ago, so should we
advance in knowledge of spiritual things, and not
remain exactly where they were in such knowledge.
The word of God is the word spoken by Christ, and
also by the Prophets — such as the ten Command
ments, which Christ confirmed. But, as I said
before, it is Christ's words which I take as my guide

18 ORIGIN OF SIN.
in these thoughts. Therefore, I think this water
means baptism, the wine a new and stronger life. '
This marriage, then, was different from all mar
riages before it, for they were only carnal, the
same as all animal life. As the weak water was
turned to strong wine, so the weak human nature
was turned to strong nature, and the marriage was
raised on to a higher plane. Now I go back to the
origin of sin. We have a way of calling this earth
" God's world," yet Christ said that the Prince of
this world had "nothing in Him, that is, in Christ. This
world is Satan's. When Christ was tempted by
Satan, Satan showed him all the glories of this world,
and said, " all these things will I give thee, for that
is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I
give it." Therefore, this world is Satan's, the king
doms and the glory of this world, and the power, all
are Satan's, and the lie of Satan was in that he said
he could create good the same as God. (Read the
story of Adam and Eve.) Satan hid from God, for
he had created evil — for look at the race he created,
are we good or evil ? Satan was a murderer, for he
created death — nothing on this earth lives, all things
die. Satan could not create a Soul, he created
nothing but sinful flesh. God gave us the Soul.
This is the reason of the never ending battle
between animal life in us and the soul in us. The

ORIGIN OF SIN. 19
animal life we get from Satan, and it must die. God
never made evil and sin. The soul is from God and
can never die, it must conquer in the fight and over
come the animal in us, that is, overcome Satan.
Satan being once in heaven had within him the
life that cannot die j he was reduced on this earth after
the fall «to.a living pulse of life. Science tells how
slowly that pulse emerged through the lowest life
up to mankind, and mankind slowly emerged from
animal life only and animal inclinations, until it was
fit for the growth or the life of the soul — that spark
of life which lived in Satan and lives in his descend
ants, which we all are. When God breathed on
mankind, the spark received life and became a liv
ing soul, and cannot die. Our bodies of flesh and
blood we get from Satan ; hence the sin in us and in
this world, hence the suffering in this world from
which none are exempt, hence the power and
triumph of evil and sin, the inclination to evil and
sin, evil thoughts, which cease not to war against
the soul so long as the soul is imprisoned in the
flesh. And when mankind turned to God for help
in this struggle, in His great compassion for these >
struggling atoms of the life once in heaven, He
sent to us His Son. Christ called Himself the Son
of God in the same way that He used many earthly
things to make plain His teachings to those who

20 ORIGIN OF SIN.
heard Him. His strong Spirit was the son of God.
His body, like ours, being of mankind, was the son
of mankind, yet without sin, being born only of a
pure virgin. He was a pure, strong Spirit or Soul
from God, sent, and willing to come and dwell in the
body of flesh, to show to all mankind that the spirit
within them was able to conquer the flesh if they
took the way He showed them. He says, " I am the
way." Being in the flesh He was tempted by Satan
the same as we are — for the flesh is Satan — but Christ
conquered in the flesh all the temptations of the
devil — for in that flesh dwelt the strong Spirit of
God. He died as all flesh must and does die. I also
believe that that flesh being so purified by the Strong
Spirit of God, " saw not corruption," and so was not
given to this earth and to the Prince of this earth,
who is Satan. The sin of Satan, as I have said before,
was the art of creating, expressed in the story, of
Adam and Eve, the serpent, and the fruit eaten.
We are told no child was born in Eden, and sin and
evil are always being created on this earth.
Christ often tells his disciples that He (Christ) is
not of this earth. He tells them that they are from
beneath (that is, of this earth), that He is from
above, that is, from Heaven. Christ also tells some
of His hearers that they are of their father the
Devil, He even says this .to those who claim

(3SIGIN OF SIN. _1
Abraham ;as their father— that is, the chosen race of
Jews. If these Jews, who were truly the chosen race,
were descendants of the Devil, it was because they
were only flesh and blood. Their souls, had no
power over their animal natures.
'. Now, a gf eat many good people are shaken in their
faith because, as they say, God permits sin to be on
this earth. Iii a certain way they accuse God of the
sin which has always been on this earth, and
will be fo the end of the world; for this earth
is Satan's — therefore the wicked prosper here, and
the good suffer. God, in His great mercy and gobdr
ness,. sent the willing Christ, the pure Spirit of God,
to take the body of flesh and blood from a pure Vir
gin, and He was born in a stable, which typifies the
descent of mankind. And He lived the human life to
show us the way back to Heaven, and to suffer for
lis in. that flesh, and to tell us that it is only through:
what this world calls suffering, — that is, suffering to
the flesh inherited from Satan, and which is the
nature of flesh.^if is only in that way, that is the
way Christ showed us, — only in that way can our
souls, which are a spark from Heaven, ever return.
to Heaven. COMMUNION OF CHRIST. THE PASSOVER.
•' Christ blessed the bread, broke it and gave it to
His disciples,.saying .: " Take, eat, this is my body,"

22 ORIGIN OF SIS.
And He took the cup, saying : " Drink ye all of it,
for this is my blood, shed for many, for the remis
sion of sins. I will not drink of this fruit of the vine,
until that day when I drink it new with you in my
Father's kingdom." Christ kept the Passover, that
feast which called to remembrance that God passed
over the children of Israel when all the first-born
died in Egypt— and at that feast He (Christ) changed
the Passover to the Passover of our natural sins,
that is, that all who believe in Christ and His death
and ascension, who accept Christ as their leader,
and by the help of the Spirit overcome or struggle
to overcome their natural sins in the flesh, will be
passed over for Christ's sake in the judgment to
come. Those who obey and are faithful and true
to the inward conscience, which is in all of us, will
be judged with others, but will also he passed over, as
the children of Israel were passed over by the angel
of death in Egypt.
When Christ said the bread was His body and the
wine His blood, 'I understand Him to mean, this
human body, which could not live unless fed by
bread and wine — or by food and water — for it must
eat and drink to live this earthly life. In this way
He tells them that his earthly body will be broken
and His blood shed, as a sacrifice for them. Christ
means that He gives the life of the flesh-and-blood

ORIGIN OF SIN. 23
body, in which He then dwelt. That they must eat
it, means that they must give the life of their body
of flesh and blood for the life of the Spirit within
them. They must rule the flesh by the Spirit, gov
ern it as they would govern any thing outside of
themselves. Christ said plainly to His disciples
that it is the Spirit that quickeneth, meaning, gives
life. The flesh profiteth nothing ; it is the Spirit
within you that lives, your flesh like all flesh must die.
Therefore, what we call the Communion, is like the
eating of the Passover ; we keep the feast, we eat ,
the bread and wine by Christ's command, so as to
remember the death of His earthly body, which was
like our earthly body, and lived by food and drink.
And He tells us He will drink the new wine in His
Father's kingdom with us. The new wine means
the new life, the life of the Spirit, which He sent to
us by the Holy Spirit, which came to us after His
death on this earth — and it means the True life in
Heaven. GENESIS. — MY HUMBLE THOUGHTS THEREON.
Whoever wrote Genesis tells us that .-all things
were made by God. We are not to make a transla
tion of Genesis into our language, " aux pied 'de la
lettre," as it is said in French, which means we are
not to understand a thing written, as understand
ing it at the foot of each letter. Who can find out

2_"- OftiGltf OF Silf.
God ? who then can understand all thing's which are"
made by God ?
- The author of Genesis tells us of the sun and moon .
and stars— and 'he tells lis they were made to rule the,-
days and the nights of this earth, This earth, in those;
days, was thought tobe larger' than the sun, and the-
sun to move in truth as we see it move round the earth', •
The sun teaches us what faith is, or belief in a thing'
contrary to what we see it to be. We do not fed or
feel the earth to revolve around the sun ; we see it to1
do just, the reverse, but because we. believe what
Others tell us, others in whom we trust, &nd trust
Without having ever seen them, or spoken to them,;
but whose books we have . read. We believe that
what we see is not so, but that the truth is the
reverse. Why, then, do we not believe what Christ
has- -told us in his book, the: New Testament?
Though we do not see the things which He tells us
_nd tells us that they are true, and we. believe not
because we see in our darkened minds the .reverse
of what is true. We trust to our earthly eyes and
use not the eyes of our reasons or minds or souls;
Now: Genesis says that God set these 'stars in the-
firrriament of the heaven to give light upon the
earth. Were all these lights in the hea/vens only
made for this earth ? I, think not ; but you who
read can think it out perhaps much better than I

ORIGIN OF SIN. 25
Can. Do so and give the thoughts to the world. We
heed all the thoughts of those who are God's, if they
fail in their efforts or no. .
Genesis tells us that God gave to mankind— not yet
called Adam-^evexy herb, every fruit of trees yield*
ing seed. "To you.it shall be for meat;' and to
every beast of the earth', every fowl: !ot the air, and to
every' thing' that creepeth wherein there is life, I have
given every green herb for meat."
¦ Now here we read that man and beast, fowl and
creeping things, have the same meat — that life is in
them all. There seems to us no difference made
between them and'mankind until mankind received
a soul. by 'the breath of God, and became in soul the
image of God. Then God said to mankind : " Sub
due the earth, and have dominion over every living
thing that.moveth upon the earth." These living
things on this earth are the descendants of Satan ;
also bur earthly living" bodies ; and our Souls from
God are to subdue and have dominion over our
bodies and all earthly living things.
. Genesis, tells us of the seventh day being a day in
which God rested. This idea'of God's resting, and the
possibility. that God needed rest, shows, very clearly
that there was no idea, in the writer's mind of a
Spiritual Gqd-f-it'was a God made in all respects as
a human, man needing rest. The setting of a time

26 ORIGIN OF Sltf.
as the morning and evening, the first or seventh
day, is the same mistake. We know that all created
things work or grow by the set rules of God. How
then did God need rest f Rest is of this earth ; there
can be no need of rest in Heaven. We have in
Revelations iv, that the four beasts before the throne
"rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come.'' He who wrote Genesis could not make others
understand about the Sabbath but by so writing
Christ tells us the Sabbath, was made for man ; not
man for the Sabbath. Christ understood mankind.
Unless we keep one day in seven to think of and
pray to God, we will forget Him ; in our rush after
earthly things we would neglect our Souls. " God
is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship
Him in Spirit and in Truth." Earthly things so
needed for our earthly bodies are not Spiritual
things. Genesis says : " These are the generations of
the earth, when they were created" — every plant,
every herb. I think this is the generations of the
earth, first a plant or herb, then animals. The plant
grew from " the dust of the ground." We are told
that " God formed man of the dust of the ground,"
before He breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life which caused man to become a living soul.

ORIGIN OF SIN. 2?
Genesis here tells us that God made the plant
and herb before it grew, " because it had not rained
and because there was not a man to till the ground."
We can not take this " aux pied de la lettre," for
mist causes rain, and many green things grow where
there is no man to till the ground — and all things are
possible to God.
Now we have already said what we think the word
" Eden " to mean — a garden was the only thing
man's mind could liken Heaven to. We have also
said what we believe about the fall of mankind, that
Christ said he saw Satan fall from Heaven, and we
believe it was to this earth that Satan fell ; hence the
origin of sin on this earth, and the fa&t-that Satan's sin
was creating evil, the result of his attempt to know
good and evil. And being banished from Heaven to
this earth, he brought death to this rife and all
things living here ; as all flesh descends from him
and is his, flesh must die. The spark of life which
he had in Heaven is the life that goes on in his gen
erations, given from father to son on and on until
this world must end. Happy is the man or woman,
we think, who having a strong soul can conquer the
body, overcome all temptations ; and giving him.
self, to Christ, live his life on this earth, so that
he transmit no sin to generations to come, either
by body or mind. When God gave mankind a Soul,

28* ORIGIN OF. SIN.
as we are told He gave Adam, it was given, with
the command to subdue the earth — the soul was to sub
due the flesh^-and by so doing mankind would and
could rise above his fellows, the beasts of the earth.
Let us ask of those who read this, examine, your
selves and see have you nothing of the beast in
you ; if you find that you have, how then can you, in
your body of flesh and blood, be the Image of God?
ADAM.
" A deep sleep fell upon Adam," that is, upon-
mankind. This, we think, means oblivion, between the
time that mankind evolved from a lower animal into
his present state, and when he received his soul, his
mind becoming strong and his intellect growing,
and his conscience awaking — in the deep sleep he
forgot his former state of being a brute1 beast.
Eve, or woman, we are told, was born of Adam
(man). Mankind being evolved into a higher state
than the "brute beast, was no longer to cohabit with
brute beast. Among the beasts of the field "for
Adam there was not found a help meet for him."-
Gen. ii, 20.
Now, science tells us . that life began very low
down in the scale of animal life, and evolved until
it reached mankind ; if this is so, then woman is the
highest evolution, as we read she was created after
man. This. Bible birth of Eve we thinkis figurative

ORIGIN OF SIN. 29
(as we think much in the Bible is, and we are to
search out the meaning), her evolution took place at
the same time as Adam's, for all living things were
made, male and female. It may mean that Adam
was the flesh and blood body, Eve the mind and
intellect of the race called Adam. And we are told
that the serpent addressed Eve, not Adam — that is,
he addressed the mind or intellect of mankind, not
his body of clay. The verse referring to marriage
must have been written by some one else and much
later than the rest, for in those early days a man
did not forsake his father and mother and cleave, to
his wife. How could Adam do so, if he had no father
or mother ; for he certainly had no father or mother
like himself ; and his being called in the generations
the Son of God, means his soul was the Son of God,
his soul given to him by the breath of God — which is
the true life within us.
" Eve did eat the fruit of the tree." We eat with
our minds as well as with our bodies. Christ told us
that we cannot live by bread alone, and that He
was the bread of Heaven, come down from Heaven.
He meant that by our minds and hearts and souls,
we must eat the bread he gave us, if we wish to live.
That is, we must hear and learn what his words
mean, and with the truths He gave us we must feed
our minds and hearty.

30 ORIGIN OF SIN.
Eve did eat the knowledge, " that ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil." The mind of Adam
or mankind, the descendants of Satan, thought evil in
their minds — wished to know good and evil, and sinned
to. get the knowledge. " Your eyes shall be opened '
this, we suppose, is understood by everyone to
mean the eyes of their mind, and not of their human
bodies. Why, then, do we understand the rest to
be literal and not to contain some deep meaning that
we are to search out ?
" Their eyes were opened and they knew that they
were naked " — it does not say that they saw they
were naked, but knew; that is, comprehended in
their minds. Naked ; that is, fhey knew that they
were only animals, a soul within an animal body.
We have already said what we think the punish
ment of the serpent means. The woman's punish
ment was to bear children ; Cain was not born in
Eden. The man's punishment, this earth was cursed
for his sake ; that is, for Satan's sin ; sorrow shall
last as long as this earth shall last. " Thou shalt eat
the herb of the field," we have already said, refers
to mankind when man was only animal. We do not
think we are to read Genesis as we read any book
written in our day. What is written in Genesis does
not follow one event after another — we must search
the spirit of the book here and there.

ORIGIN OF SIN. 31
" Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return."
' Here we find evolution from a spark or a pulse of
life. We came from the dust of this earth, and to it
our bodies inherited from Satan will return. Our
Souls, from God will always live. " Coats of skins "
also refers to the animal life of animal man.
Satan or Sin, if permitted to remain in Heaven
(Eden), would live forever, and his descendants, men
and women of clay, would have lived there for ever,
men and women born of sin. Therefore Satan fell
from Heaven to this earth. This is what we think is
meant in verses 22, 23, 24 of 3rd chapter of Genesis.
" The flaming sword " is death to the body of clay,
it cannot enter Heaven (Eden) where eternal life is
to be found. The body of clay must die.
Again, we think that Cain means the body of clay,
a child of Satan. Christ has said that Satan was a
murderer and a liar, from the beginning. Satan
lied to Eve, and is the father of Death. Cain lied
in offering to God what was not of the best of what
he had, and he slew his brother. Abel means the
soul. He brought to God the best of his flock ; that
is, he worshipped God in his soul and mind, and
was accepted of God.
"Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,"
means, we think, Satan ; sin, lies, and murder, all of
which the word Satan means, went from God's

32 ORIGIN OF SIN.
presence, in the body of this child of Satan, Cain.
And so sin lives on this earth, and Satan, driven
from heaven, is the origin of sin on this earth, and
this world and all the glories. of it are Satan's.
We must read Genesis all through with thjs idea.
We cannot know how many years are between
events, and we must search the deep spiritual mean
ings which undoubtedly are given to us in it. For
if we only take the letter, how can we understand it ?
.For where did Cain find his wife ? He was the first
child of Adam and Eve. .The first child of Cain, we
are told, " builded a city." And many more accounts
like these we will find in Genesis. We know that
the Serpent was used by the old nations as a sign of
wisdom. Therefore, we think it is so used in Genesis.
" The serpent was more subtil than any beast of the
field;" it had this earth's Wisdom, the same as Christ
tells us, " the children of this world are for their
generation wiser. than the children of light." That
is; in their earthly life they are wise in earthly wis
dom, while the children of light — that is of heavenly
wisdom in the soul — these are not so wise in earthly
,things ; they do not succeed in getting earthly treas
ures, which the children wholly of this earth do get.
The serpent if not here used as a symbol, was cer
tainly on the same level as mankind, for it spoke the
language of Eve. also had reason, mind and thought

ORIGIN OF SfN. 33
If you take this account of the serpent "aux pied de
la lettre," you must believe that the serpent and all
animals and reptiles were equal to mankind, could
speak and reason with them — that is, before mankind
became a living soul, — for with and by that gift of God
mankind was raised above the brute beast.
We are telling you that we are searching the scrip
tures for the spirit of the scriptures, and not for the
letter. In so doing, we are obeying our Lord and
Master Jesus Christ. All the account of Genesis
makes no difference to us, for we know that in oui"
body of flesh and blood there is no good thing ; that
evil and sin is ever with us, and the battle of our soul
with the flesh and blood body must go on until the
death of the body ; but as the world has attacked
the Bible, we are doing our best to fight the world
as a soldier of Christ.
So here is what we think : Satan, if once in
Heaven, was then fit to be there. A spirit or
angel of wisdom and knowledge, who thought to be
equal to God, and in his attempt to create, and
know good and evil, created only evil, and was
driven from Heaven to this earth, broken to pieces,
and, as we said, the pieces in which were life, began
to live on this earth in the lowest stage, and by slow
degrees from plant to animal came to be mankind.
Then God gave mankind their souls — to help them

34 ORIGIN OF SIN.
to think of Heaven and find the way back there —
and Genesis tells us at first, that God said to the ser
pent, " thou art cursed above all cattle" that is, the
human body descended from Satan and animals is
cursed. We cannot, in our bodies of clay, leave this
earth, and what we eat in the body of clay, is dust,
for out of dust does it grow. The seed of the woman
we know is Christ ; mark ye, it is the seed of the
woman ; it does not say the seed of man. Christ's
human body he took from a woman alone ; that we
must allow i&we believe what we read in the New
Testament. Therefore the soul and spirit of woman
must be stronger than the soul and spirit of man,
for a woman alone was found pure enough to give
the human body in which Christ dwelt.
" The enmity between thee aud the woman," is
the enmity between the body of flesh, which we get
from Satan, and the Spirit of God, which we get
from Christ born of a woman. • " Thy seed," means
the flesh and blood body; "her seed," those to
whom Christ by the Spirit has come. " It shall
bruise, thy head ;" that is, Christ conquers death •
death of the body of clay is the head of Satan, for
Satan created death.
"Thou shall bruise his heel;" that is, Satan
caused the human body of Christ to die here. It is
called his heel because his head is the Spirit of God.

ORIGIN OF SIN. 35
His heel, means the human body. We go back now
to these words, " I will put enmity between thee and
the woman." We think this means that women, not
men, are the ones who are the enemies of sin, and of
the human body which causes sin. They are the
ones to fight the hardest against this body, descended
from Satan. Also, a woman alone said, "Behold the
handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto me as thou hast'
said." ANIMALS.
Why did the first Christians or the Christians of
our days represent the four Gospels by animals ?
St. Mark, by iflion ; St. Luke, an eagle ; St. John, an
ox ; and St. Matthew, a calf. And, also, why do we
constantly find allusion to animals in the Bible ? We
think that there is no other reason but that we are
descended from animals ourselves, and have such
animal ways and inclinations ; we eat and drink, we
nourish our bodies the same as animals. We sleep
and walk the same as animals. They think and rea
son to a certain extent, they can be trained to do all
sorts of things. We train up a child and are obliged
to teach it, or it would not know if we did not.
In the Bible we have an ass which spoke, a lion
is often mentioned as to destroy mankind. The
raven, the dove, they do God's will ; the dog is
mentioned often, the wolf, swine, the ram, sheep are

36 ORIGIN OF SIN.
often spoken of, and the lamb, the ox and the mule.
The lion was the symbol of strength and of the
tribe of Judah and of Christ. The fox is mentioned
to denote that the person socalled had the instincts
of the fox in his character. Christ uses this symbol,
"Go and tell that fox." You can hunt in the New
Testament and find when Christ used the word. The
animals all have instincts which can be found in the
characters of mankind, and also the birds have these
instincts in a lesser degree. Notice, hunt, and see
for yourself if this is not so. We differ, then, only by
our souls from the lower animals ; we should use,
then, every effort to overcome the animal in us, and
let the soul grow, the conscience, the brain power,
the mind, the reason ; these all belong to the Soul
If we stunt it, we remain animals ; we can only rise
above them by overcoming the animal by the soul.
The Missing Link.
These Bushmen gave rise to a sombre repugnance
almost amounting to a shuddering aversion, in that
they are examples of the lowest depths of a degraded
humanity. A characteristic distinction between
monkey and man is the power possessed by the latter
of opposability between the forefinger and thumb.
This power is lacking in the Bushman. " Pinch my
finger," I said to one of them ; " pinch much harder."
In vain ; the pressure would scarcely have injured
a fly. Now, an anthropoidal ape possesses many
human characteristics, but is essentially a monkey';
a Bushman possesses many apish characteristics, but

ORIGIN OF SIN". 37
is essentially a man. A miserable, dwarfed, decrepit,
repulsive man. One whom I measured was only
four feet three inches in height, with a skinny,
feeble body to correspond, a screwed-up chest,
drumstick legs and arms, very small cerebellum,
prognathous jaws, high cheek bones, acute facial
angle, and lack-lustre eyes.
His features were totally devoid of expression ;
his demeanor, when examined and handled, was
more stolid than that of a sheep ; his language
could barely be called coherent, and, in fact, it was
difficult and painful to realize that this poor brutish
animal must be classified in a genus which com
prises a Newton, a Milton, and a Shakespeare. The
only instance I witnessed of Bushman intelligence
was in a tiny infant in Kimberley Hospital. The
creature was about the size of a puppy, and equally
bright and vivacious, illustrating the theory that in
a race of low intellect intelligence is in an inverse
ratio to age. — Blackwood's Magazine.
IMAGE OF GOD.
Tell me how you understand these words in
Genesis, chap, i., verse 26 : " And God said, Let us
make man in our image after our likeness ;'' and
then we have in the 51st Psalm, verse 5, 6, " Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother
conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the
inward parts ; and in the hidden part thou shall make
me to know wisdom." In our mind, there can be
but one meaning. The image and. likeness to God can
be only spiritual — the soul or spirit in mankind is
the image spoken of here. In the Psalm, " shapen in

3_ OfifGlN OF SIN.
iniquity and sin," is what we have said before : we,
in our bodies of clay have been shapened by the ani
mal body traced back to Satan, which is Sin ; and
the truth which God desires of us in the hidden part
is truth in our souls, for the soul is hidden, our minds
and reason are hidden from all, except God. They
are not hidden from Him.
" When Mary brought forth her first-born son she
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a
manger, because there was no room for them in the
inn." The deep meaning of this mention of the
manger may mean that Christ, when He came to
his earth to dwell in a body ot clay, came to be
among the poor and humble ; also the human body
of clay, descended from animals, may be the reason
the manger is mentioned. This Holy Spirit of God
had come to dwell in a human body originally de
scended from animals, and by doing so gave to men
and women the power to become the children of God
by their own free will. Children of Satan they always
would have been and lost forever, and but for this
great compassion of God through Christ they never
would have been saved. Therefore Christ is the
Saviour of mankind, for in no other way could the
descendants of Satan, or Sin, ever return to Heaven.
The angels who appeared to the shepherds when
Christ was born said, " Glory to God in the highest

ORIGIN OF SIN". 39*
and on earth peace among men in whom he is well
pleased." It is, therefore, only to those in whom
God is pleased that peace can come ; it is not earthly
peace but peace with God, and it is within our souls,
minds and reason that God must be pleased. . There
fore the voice when Christ was baptized said, " This
is my son in whom I am well pleased." Christ was
then in the human body, and the Spirit of God which
had come to this earth to dwell among men was
pleased to dwell in the pure human body of Christ.
His soul, or Spirit mind, and reason were of God
direct. Christ, also, is the true Light which lighteth
every one in the world. This Light was sentto us
by God through Christ. Without His life, works,
words, and death, we would still be only the children
of Satan or Sin.
HOW CAN WE FIND OUT GOD ?
Only by the spoken Word. That is, the message
which God himself sent to this world, by the only
way we could receive it and by the only way we
were able to bear it, as no one can see God and live.
The Word, therefore, was God. That is, not the body
of flesh and blood in which Christ dwelt when on
this earth, as that body was to die ; He distinctly and
plainly says so Himself. He said, " Why do you
call me good, no one is good but God." The man
who called Christ good was, in his mind and heart, ad-

40 ORIGIN o_ siN.
dressing a human man like himself ; he was not ad
dressing the Word which was in Christ, and the
word which was God.
Having read that there are some who say that
there is no God, and that Christ did not make Chris
tianity, but that Christianity made Christ, and that
women preachers preach Christ, we wish to say
that women can receive into their minds the
truths of God better than men ; and God is
nearer to woman's soul and mind than to man's.
And, doubtless, since unbelief has attacked belief,
Christians will have a greater mental activity in the
future to defend their faith — for the religion of
Christ will not fail. We are told in the Bible that
before this world is destroyed that there will come
" a falling away of the faith first," but we are also
told that at Christ's second coming, " He will find
faith on this earth."
What kind of an argument is it that Christianity
made Christ ? History tells us that Christ lived ; it
tells us when and where He lived. This then is a
foolish saying, with no sense in it at all, that
" Christianity made Christ." And as to there being
no God, and no modern mental activity but with
those who say. there ic no God, what are we to
think when the mental activity suddenly gives way,
in an unknown manner, and when those who make

Origin of sin. 41
such boasts lose their minds and reasons, and live on
in the body with lost minds. Will their modern men
tal activity help them then ? And yet this thing, los^
ing his mind, can come to every one. We say above
" those who say there is no God," for we do not believe
that there exists a living thinking person on this
earth, who is in his right mind, but who inwardly, in
some secret corner of his soul or mind, knows that
there is a God. More the sin, therefore, in trying to
make others disbelieve in God !
" ART THOU A MASTER OF ISRAEL AND KNOWEST
NOT THESE THINGS?"
Are^we Christians and we know not the deep
meaning of Christ's teachings ? When Nicodemus
went by night (because he feared the Jews because
they would turn him away from the synagogue) to
ask Spiritual questions of Christ, he first made a con
fession of his faith in Christ. " We know that Thou
art a teacher come from God." Jesus said to him
"Except a man be born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God." Nicodemus knew only of the
animal birth ; and Jesus tells him " that which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit." Here are two things very distinct and very
separah. You can be born of the flesh and have no
Spirit life. Jesus here takes the wind as a symbo
to make Nicodemus understand the birth of the

_2 ORIGIff of SIS*.
soul. " Thou canst not tell whence it cometh and
-whither it goeth ;" you know not from where your
soul or spirit comes nor can you tell where it is
to go when it leaves the body of flesh — the body
of flesh inherited from animals, and through animals
inherited from Satan, which is sin. The soul born of
spirit, which is from the breath of God. Breath is
air. Air is motion, like wind, and bloweth where
it listeth ; thou canst not hear the sound. Your
soul can hear the guidance of the Spirit in your con
science ; but you cannot tell or kuow whence it
cometh. Jesus said to Nicodemus that he, Christ, spoke of
what He knew and testified to what He had seen, and
we receive not this witness. Christ had told them
a great many earthly things and they believed not
And here was one : the body of flesh was animal.
The soul within it must be born of water (baptism)
unto God, and of the Spirit, the soul or reason given
by God, our soul or Spirit given by us to things of
the Spirit. If this is not so, you cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. That is, you can not under
stand the things of God, or receive them. And if
you cannot understand these earthly things of God,
how then can you understand heavenly things ?
This is what Christ said to Nicodemus, " How shall
ye believe if I tell you of heavenly .things ?" In what

ofiiGiN of safN". 43
way would we believe them, and no one could tell
us of those heavenly things but Christ. " No man
had been in heaven but he who came from Heaven"
came to be a son of mankind, so that he could save
mankind, the descendants of animals and of Satan
or Sin. Christ here refers to Moses, the lifting up
of the serpent in the wilderness [read the story in
the Bible] and all who believed were cured and
lived. So all who believe in Christ will be saved
from death and will have eternal life. We believe
this to mean the life of the soul, and not of the
body, as Christ has said, " that which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit." Certainly the body of flesh must die.
OBJECTIONS.
In reading what we have written, you will say, as
so many women have said to us, these words : " But
my father and mother were so and so." So that
what we have written can not be so. Let us first
say to you, that your father and my father have
nothing whatever to do with this, unless you can
trace your generation back thousands and thousands
of years, as far back as Cain and Seth, or before
Adam and Eve. If so, your generation comes under
what we have written. We are descendants of ani
mals in the body of flesh, " that which is born of the
flesh is flesh." Do you call cannibals men or ani-

44 OfelGlN OF SIN.
mais ? Are they in the image of man or the image
of God ? They feed upon their own kind ; so do
some animals. I do not think all animals would eat
their own kind. Will a horse eat a dead horse, or a
cow a dead cow, and so on ? Yet mankind eat man
kind. If we read in the 8th chapter of St. John the answer
Christ gives the Jews who boasted that Abraham
was their father, we will see that Jesus says to them,
" I know that ye are Abraham's seed ; " and yet He
tells them " ye are of your father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speak-
ette a lie he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and
the father of it." Now, as evil came to this earth
when Satan fell from heaven, and we in the flesh
descend from Satan, these words of Jesus, we think,
explain why evil is in us ; why mankind left to nature
do evil rather that good. Jesus allows that those to
whom he was speaking' were Abraham's seed —
the chosen race— and yet they were children of the
devil. The devil was a murderer from the beginning !
we understand this to mean that he is the cause that
death must come to all earthly life. " The lusts of
your father ye will do," we think means, as the sin of

ORIGIN OF SIN. 45
Satan was the act of creating a child in his image,
his descendants will never, on this earth, escape the
necessity of it, from the lowest animal or object in
which there is earthly life, to the highest. Those
who are able to rule their earthly dwelling-place — •
the body of flesh — are the strong souls of God: Christ
has said that in heaven there is no marrying, and
that the souls which leave their earthly dwellings are
in heaven as the angels of heaven ; and He also said
that as long as the world lasts that here there will
be marrying and giving in marriage, creating a child
in their own image. Christ also tells these children
of Abraham that as their father the devil is a liar,
and the father of it, they cannot believe the truth
He tells them. Our flesh, by nature descending from
the devil, prevents our receiving the truth which
Christ came and gave us. And He tells them
plainly this, " your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day, and he saw it and was glad. Before Abra
ham was I am." Abraham in the flesh was dead, but
Abraham in spirit or soul was in heaven ; it was from
there he saw the birth of Christ on this earth ; it
was from there he saw the pure spirit, which was
the son of God, who is a spirit (Christ tells us God
is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship
Him in spirit), and Abraham, saw this pure Spirit
come to dwell in the flesh which had descended, from

46 ORIGIN OF SIN.
Satan. He hesitated not to take upon Himself this
flesh, and to overcome the temptations of the flesh
for the sake of saving mankind — and showing man
kind the only way to escape from the sins of the
flesh inherited from the devil in the flesh ; and to
save their souls alive, that living spark, or the soul
from God which Satan had in heaven (Satan fell
from heaven,) and which spark lives forever. Abra
ham, seeing the hope brought to this earth by this
glorious Son of God, " rejoiced to see it" — this Son.
of.God who lived in heaven before Abraham was.
Now, those who believe in the miraculous birth of
Christ believe this. The purest part of mankind is
woman. From woman alone Christ took his human
body, and woman receives His teachings and His
truths more readily than man, more deeply than
man, more truly than man ; therefore she is more
fit than man to teach them and give them to others.
OUR DESCENT FROM WHAT WE CALL THE LOWER
ANIMALS.
As Science has decided that such is the case, when
we come to look at it in that light, how plainly we
see that it is so. Have you never noticed some
strong resemblance to some animal or bird in the
features of some man or woman, and also in the
character or disposition of animals and men and

ORIGIN OF STN. 47
women— all animals are not alike, nor are all men
alike, nor are all women alike,
The lowest animals fight each other ; so do the
highest. We are witness to birds of one kind fighting
for a nest until one overcame the other. As we
watched the strange sight, we thought how exactly
like two men fighting. Think what a spectacle this
earth must be to One who sees the lowest insect up
to the highest animal — mankind. All are fighting,
killing each other, e'iating each other ; if not under
the plain sense of the word, none the less the
fighting and killing goes on. And Christ came to
tell us that as such we are not fit for the Kingdom
of Heaven. To follow His example, when on this
earth, means simply to kill our natures inherited
from the animals, to kill self. This is the hardest
thing for human nature to do, and has only truly
been done once on this earth, and the human flesh
which did it held within it the pure Spirit we call the
Son of God. THE MANGER.
The manger indicates, that the Holy Spirit of
God had come to dwell in a human body descended
from lower animals ; and by doing so, gave to human
men and women the power to become children of
God by 'their own free choice. In no other way
could the descendants of Satan ever return to

48 ORIGIN OF SIN.
heaven— eternal death, eternal banishment from
Heaven was their just fate. The laws of Moses
began the battle between the bodies of clay in
herited from Satan, and the spark of life — the soul —
which having once lived in Heaven (before the fall
of Satan) can never die. Generation after gener-
tion at last found, born of flesh, a virgin, pure enough
to be the Mother of Christ's earthly body, in which
dwelt the Holy Spirit of God — the Word which was
God, and which dwelt among men.
Now, who will say that he has not sin within him ?
Where did he get sin, if not from Satan ? Certainly,
we can not say that God gave us a nature of sin.
Had God made Adam and Eve perfect, they could
not have sin. But Adam and Eve simply indicate
man and woman at the time that the descendants of
Satan had arrived at the forms of man and woman.
In their flesh they had the sins of their father, the
devil ; and to the end of this world their descendants
will have to fight the sins inherited from the devil.
God has sent them many helps to rise again to
Heaven, but the greatest help was in the great sac
rifice of a pure and Holy Spirit of God descending
from Heaven to dwell for a time in flesh of this
earth. And this earth, and all in it, belong to Satan
— the prince of this world owns it, and all the erlories.

ORIGIN OF SIN. 49
of it. The soul which endures to the end, the same
shall be saved. MY SOUL'S ANSWER.
Come, my Soul, the world has attacked your
Lord and Master ; what have you to say about it ?
I have this to say ; I wish I had the pen of a
ready-writer, to tell you plainly what I think. My
Lord and Master has bid me think. I have life in
my Soul, I should think out for myself all truths ;
I can read and study the Bible for myself, I can
read all books for or against my Lord and Master
and the truths He came to give us who are on this
earth. I can hear sermons, and read sermons writ
ten by different thinkers — of different Churches ; so
as to glean the truths from each. If I am well prac
tised in this, I will readily catch in my soul the best
of all, and let the rest go by. I know that I am
shut up now in a body of flesh and blood. This body
of clay has come from sin ; it has within its nature
nothing that is good ; it torments me, it plagues
me, it hinders me ; it is its nature to do so, for being
sin it hates good, and I hate it. I take care of it for
one reason only — that is, Christ my Lord and Mas
ter has sanctified the human body by dwelling in a
human body Himself, and by doing so, made that
body sinless.
We are noj; tjie image of God in our human

50 ORIGIN OF SIN.
natures. Our human bodies come by sin. " Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me." Whoever wrote the 51st Psalm
understood that his body of clay was of sin. Satan
(Sin) whom Christ said he saw fall from Heaven
(which I think is the place we call Eden), was ban
ished to this earth broken in pieces. But life, which
cannot die — the life which once lived in Heaven
(Eden) is the life I mean which cannot die — began
the life of this earth as low and small as life can be
and be life — a pulse — perhaps a. pulse in mud, water,
lower than a worm, but a pulse, a pulse of life.
From a plant it grew to be an animal, clothed in
hair, feeding on grass, and when it became in shape
as men and women it was called Adam and Eve.
Up to this time they were the descendants of Sin
(Satan) — soulless. The life within them waft an
atom from Heaven. We inherit our flesh and its
sins from Satan ; our Spirits from God ; hence this
endless struggle within us between good and evil.
" The law of the flesh, and the law of the Spirit."
When we wish to do good, evil is with us. We
received our souls, when God gave them life, by the
breath of His Spirit ; then mankind became a living
soul within the human body, emerged from clay
and was called then Adam and Eve — a race above
the other animals by virtue alone pf the living soul.

ORIGIN OF SIN. 51
The evil, the sin, which we inherit from Satan (Sin)
, , will fight on, until the death of the body which we
have from Sin, and the soul will conquer, so far as
we let it fight its own battle ; it cannot die — it is
from God. But we can let it grow within us to a
glorious height or stunt it ; but we cannot kill it — it
will live forever.
We are told in one place in the Bible, " then men
began to call upon the name of the Lord." They
had not done so before, being brute beasts they had
no souls, so could not call upon God, who is a Spirit,
and they who worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth. We have said before that the
sin of Satan was the sin of creating, and as no one
but God can create good—" None is good but God."
Satan created evil, and continued on this earth to
create evil, therefore our bodies are evil. Sin is in the
world in that way — " The Prince of this world " is
Satan — it will alwa) _ be here. As long as the world
lasts, Sin and evil will fight the good that is in the
world and in us. Our souls conquer at last only by
the death of the body of clay. Evil cannot enter
Heaven ; our bodies and their laws are of Satan ;
and in a body, the same as ours, though without sin,
being born of a pure Virgin, Christ — my Lord and
Master — conquered Satan. Tempted like as we are
by :sin, He conquered in the wilderness.

52 ORIGIN OF SIN.
This is our double nature, flesh and body, inher
ited from Sin (Satan) when it fell from Heaven,
and the spark of life, our souls, our other nature,
which cannot die, and which struggled to find God
again through many dark years, and many dark
ways, until Christ in the mercy of God, took com
passion on these children of sin and came to dwell
in a body of clay, of flesh and blood, the same as
ours, but without sin, because the body of- clay
which He took was not created by the double nature
of sin. At the same time it was flesh and blood and
could be tempted as we are. Think, says my Soul
to me, of Christ's great love for you and others, to
take as a dwelling-place a body such as yours, our
body of sin, and by His holiness sanctify my body
so that the soul within this body might live and grow.
Watch, therefore, that your body of sin, which you in
herit from Satan, gain not the victory over your soul.
THE APPEAL.
We have seen how sin came to this earth, with
the consequent" sufferings and sorrows, the origin
of Sin — in other words Satan, the Devil, the serpent,
lies and murders — and that we in the flesh have
evolved through many stages from Satan to our
present state, and we have seen how responsible we
are for all the sufferings and sorrows on this earth
which come to others and to ourselves, and how

ORIGIN OF SIN. 53
unjustly we accuse God of all these sufferings and
m
sorrows of which we alone are the cause through
ignorance. We have seen how vain are the efforts
of the flesh to overcome evil with good, also how
slow we are to comprehend all that Christ has
taught us. And we understand the reason of all
this to be the unceasing efforts of Satan in our flesh
to prevent our souls, or the living spark of life from
God, which is within us, from guiding our flesh and
minds into the only way by which this spark of life
can return to Heaven. We have seen that unless
by study, and effort, and will, we ourselves, and not
another must gain knowledge and understanding
and strength to comprehend what Christ came to
teach us ; we must conquer ourselves, we must rule
ourselves, if we wish to overcome the Satan and
animal within us. We see that we are fighting on
the enemy's land. This world and all the glories of it
are Satan's. We in the flesh are Satan's. We have
but a small spark of the true life within us. Then, if
we wish to be victorious, we cannot lose a moment,
we cannot cease to pray for help from God ; every
effort, every thought, every motive must be with
the view of saving the spark of true life which we
get from God.
We have seen God's great compassion, great
mercy, great love, in coming by Spirit to dwell in the

54 OSlGIN 0_ SIN.
flesh as a human being, whom we know as Jesus
Christ — and* as God could not dwell in the flesh
wholly descended from Satan, the body of flesh was
born of a pure virgin. And to indicate that the body
of flesh had evolved from animal, the birth was in a
manger. Will not this thought take from us all
earthly pride, and also make us realize God's great
compassion towards our struggling souls for the life
immortal. We know that flesh and blood cannot see God
and live ; therefore God came to us in flesh and
blood to tell us in words the only way that we can
live ; and He told us through Christ all that we
could understand of that way, if we will only try to
understand the words spoken by Christ and given to
us by those who heard Him. But we should not
forget that each one of us, and not another, should
study these words and works of Christ for ourselves,
and with . free minds understand them in our own
minds and spirits to our own profit, for the things
of the Spirit are deep and are to be thought out by
the Spirit.
Refuse not the compassion and love and good-will
of God, which He offers us through Christ. Trem
ble and think of the consequences of refusing to
hear and believe ; the consequences are our own
making, not God's — the evil and sufferings we make

OfelGIN OF SI_f. 55"
for ourselves, not God. The laws of God are just,
and we know are not to be broken, and will be ful
filled. No miracle will be performed for us. If we
break these laws, if we scoff, if we rnake efforts to
create evil, we will succeed, easily, swiftly, surely ;
for Satan is in our flesh, and this world is Satan's.
Also, the consequences of all this will surely be ours —
sufferings, sorrows, and the loss of Heaven.
How much has Christ done towards refining, civil
izing this world ? We must first see how these things
stood at the time that Christ came to this earth.
Revenge was thought to be just and honorable — ¦-
an eye for an eye, and so on, rejoicing when they
see the vengeance, saying we shall wash our foot
steps in the blood of the ungodly. Great pride of
supposed goodness, saying, I thank thee God that
I am not like others ! Also, the poor were despised
because they were poor. Great pride of supposed
knowledge, saying, " Dost thou teach us !"
Now Christ taught us that revenge is sinful ; also to
revile when reviled, is wrong ; to take the uppermost
seat at a feast is not to be done. Certainly this is
teaching courtesy. To say, Peace be to the house
you enter, is to wish it well and to all who dwell in
it ; no envy, no hatred, no malice to the household
must dwell in your mind or heart towards those
in it.

56 Origin of sin.
Now let us see the way that the Jews understood
God : i Chronicles xx. David had conquered their"
enemy, the people of the city Rabbah. "And he
brought out the people that were in it, and cut them
with s_Ws, and with harrows' of iron, and with axes."
Now compare this with the way Christ understood
God, and taught us to understand God : Love youf
enemies, do gpod to them that hate you, bless them
that curse you, and pray for them which despite-
fully use you. Be merciful, judge not, and Christ
here says, " Ye have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine
enemy." So it was understood to be the right thing
to do, when Christ came to this earth ; that is, to
hate your enemy. What a change in morals and
refinement is this teaching of Christ — " love your
enemy." Has any one taught us higher teachings than the
teachings of Christ ? Divine.
Those who only believe in the human nature of
Christ, and deny his Divine nature, cast upon them
selves great reproach, and they prove before the
world that they are cruel and wicked ; for what one
human man can do, another human man can also do.
Christ, by his touch, cured the sick of leprosy and
plagues, gave sight to those who were born blind,

ORIGIN OF SIN. 57
gave iife to dead bodies, called back the departed
soul to re-inhabit the body of clay. Jesus' answer
to those whom John the Baptist sent to ask him,
" Art thou he that . should come, or do we look for
another," was this : " The blind receive their sight
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the
deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have
the gospel preached to them."
Some say that these things were done by a
man, the same in nature as themselves. Then, if
this is so, why do they not do these things ? Are
they so cruel, so hard, so wicked, so wholly Satan's,
that they take pleasure in seeing these sufferings,
all of which are part of Satan, and caused by our
flesh inherited from Satan ? Or, do they say that
they do not believe that such a person as Christ
ever lived on this earth ? Then they allow that who
ever wrote the life of Christ, in what we call the
Gospels, whoever the man was, he was divine,
otherwise he could not have created in his mind a
life such as Christ lived on this earth.
Human and Divine.
At the crucifixion the double nature of Christ was
plainly shown : for what is of God cannot die. It was
necessary, Christ himself tells us, that His body
should die, the same as our bodies must die, for it
was a body like unto ours in which Christ dwelt.

5. OfeiGlN OF SItf.
Unless our bodies die we cannot return to Heaven,
for our bodies of flesh are of Satan, they are created
by Satan banished from Heaven ; they must die or
our imprisoned souls cannot return to Heaven.
Therefore, we think (with all reverence, and love
for our Saviour) that at the death of Christ on the
cross, his cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou for
saken me !" shows us that it was His body in the
flesh which then died. The Divine for that moment
withdrew. For what is of God cannot die. Therefore,
Christ knows what it is for us to die in the flesh,
having died in the flesh himself.
We do not think that Christ's cry was " My power,
why hast thou left me !" for Christ on no occasion
boasted of His power. He knew that He had power,
for He has told us that He could call for legions of
angels, if He wished to do so. We know by His
life that He never did so. Power is what mankind
loves and gets when it can — power over the masses
of people ; and man can only get this power by keep
ing the people in ignorance and gaining knowledge
himself, and locking it up from others. Christ
gave knowledge ; He taught others ; He taught the
masses of the people. He urged all to learn, to
give up ignorance, to listen and understand what
He told them. He never lost power, and He never
used it for Himself.

ORIGIN OF SIN. 59
It was His double nature to which He referred
when He said, " All manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto
men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the
Son of Man (Christ in the flesh) it shall be forgiven
him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world
nor in the world to come."
Also, we think that Christ bore the indignities which
were heaped upon Him in this world before His
death, as an example of what the body of flesh must
suffer. He had taken the body of flesh, and borne all
the sufferings which such a body must suffer from
Satan. Can any of us willingly suffer in silence ?
With a knowledge such as Christ must have had,
that at any moment He could be defended from it
and not use the knowledge, but bear all to the end,
what would our vain pride make us do, when these
indignities came upon us ? — our pride of our bodies,
which we inherit from brute beast and Satan ?
And yet Christ, in the flesh, bore all these things
for our Salvation ! The body descended from Satan
is worthy of these indignities, and it is of these
bodies that we are so proud and vain. And Christ
suffered them all for us ! He was in the human body

-

60 ORIGIN OF SIN.
only for our sakes. It was like unto our bodies, and.
must suffer the same if Christ used not his Divine
nature to defend it. He did not use His -Divine
nature until after the death of that body of flesh,
and then, having dwelt in that body, and being Lord
of life, the body could not decay as our bodies, being
so purified by the spirit of God which dwelt in it,
and the true life in it returned to it, and this earth,
which is Satan's, held it not.

BOOK II.

THE. DOTTED WORDS IN THE HEBREW
BIBLE.
[61]

THE DOTTED WORDS IN THE HEBREW
BIBLE.

In the Old Documents and the New Bible, by J.
Paterson Smyth, L. L. B., B. D., I read the follow
ing :_
" In the account of Esau's meeting with Jacob, we
are told (Gen. xxxiii. 4) that he fell on his neck and
kissed him — and the words ' and kissed him ' are
marked thus by these mysterious dots, which remain
to this day in our Hebrew Bible."
I cannot read Hebrew, but I think the -dots mean
more than they are supposed to do. May it not
mean, Judas kissed the Christ and so betrayed him ?
We are to search the Scriptures, as they testify of
Christ. I wish I had all other words so marked in
the Hebrew Bibles, to see if they do not also testify
to the signs of knowing Christ.
The author of the above book in telling of how
an ancient and valuable copy of the Scriptures was
effaced by a piece of pumice stone, and the parch
ment used for St, Ephriatn's discourses, says, " en-
m

64 THE DOTTED WORDS
thusiastic admirers are generally ladies," so if a
woman effaced the Scriptures years ago, a woman
now will do her best to make the Scriptures plain,
and clear words to the praise of Christ.
Mr. Smythe also says in chapter on " Ancient Criti
cism ": " They attempted, too, a crude sort of Bib
lical criticism, such as marking in a certain way
words about which there was something peculiar.
The reader, perhaps, will wonder how this can be
known when no one even of our most ancient
writers has ever seen one of these vanished copies.
He will find, however, in* the following period of the
history, that the copyists there make notes about
certain dots and marks which had been transferred
into their manuscripts, from earlier times, and which
were so ancient that their meaning had even then
become completely lost.
" Some of their guesses at the meaning are rather
amusing. For instance, in the account of Esau's
meeting Jacob, we are told (Gen. xxxiii, 4) that he
fell on his neck and kissed him, and the words
'and'kissed him ' are marked thus by these mysteri
ous dots. Some of the old commentators were
greatly exercised in mind about the explanation of
this. One thought they denoted that the kiss was
sincere, another that it was not sincere, another
that the dots represented Esau's teeth,"

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE. 65
I agree, therefore, with the scribe who thought
the kiss was not sincere — since I think it to point out
Judas' kiss given to Christ as a sign, when he be
trayed Jesus unto death. And if the ancient'Jewish
authority attributes the marks to Ezra, and that
Ezra when asked about the dots, said : "When Eli
jah comes, if he asks why I wrote down that word,
I will answer, ' I have already dotted it,' " I think
he must have answered, that he was inspired to dot
the words — so dotted them as we now have them
dotted in our Hebrew Bibles to this our day.
Though I do not believe every word in our Bible is
inspired, I believe the spirit of the Bible, the essence,
as it were, of the Bible, is inspired, and these dotted
words, if they mean what I have tried to show them
to mean, if it is so, then they certainly were inspired
so many years before Christ lived on this earth, if
they were written so long ago, then they who wrote
the words and dotted them were inspired — and in
spired by the Spirit of God.
I may have made mistakes, as I do not know one
word of the Hebrew, but I have tried to do this
much, in hopes that some learned Hebrew scholar
will take up the work and perfect it — for there are
many more dotted words in the Hebrew Bible —
dotted with one dot, so far as I can make out.
This is only an attempt by a woman, who knows

66

THE DOTTED WORDS

her Bible, but who does not know one word of He
brew. With the help of an old Hebrew Bible, and
her English Bible, she has tried to replace in this
world what a woman effaced " with a piece of pum
ice stone " years ago.

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew.

What I find them lo mean
in the New Testament.

GENESIS.

Chap. 6, Verse 9 :
Noah was a just man,
perfect in his generation.
And Noah walked with
God.

The Virgin Mary de
scended from Noah, and
she was the human
Mother of Christ.

Chap. 12, Verse i :
The Lord had said The Lord said to
unto Abram, Get thee Joseph, Arise and take
out of thy country, and the young child and his
from thy father's house, mother, and flee into
unto a land that I will Egypt.
shew thee.

IN TIIIO HEBREW BIBLE.

67

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
GENESIS— Continued.

Chap. 12, Verse 10 :
Abram went down
into Egypt to sojourn
there.

Verse 20 :
And Pharaoh sent him
away.

And Joseph was there
with the child until the
death of Herod, as it
was spoken by the
prophet : " Out of Egypt
have I called my son."

Chap. 18 :
The Lord appeared
unto Abraham in the
form of three angels, as
three men. They told
him that nothing was
impossible to God — that
Sarah in her old age
should have a son.

Three, the Father, the
Sou, the Holy Ghost.
Jesus has told us that
nothing is impossible to
God. Elisabeth, mother of
John the Baptist, had a
son in her old age.

Chap. 23 :
Abraham's

purchase Joseph of Arimathaea

68 thk dotted words
Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
GENESIS— Continued.
of a cave for a sepul- took the body of Jesus
chre. and laid it in a sepulchre
that was hewn in stone.
Chap. 26, Verse 19 :
And Isaac's servants Jesus said to the
digged in the valley, woman of Samaria,
and found there a well " Whosoever drinketh of
of springing water. the water that I shall
give him shall never
thirst, but the water
that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of
water springing up into
everlasting life." This
woman said : "I know
that Messias cometh
which is called Christ.
When He is come He
will tell us all things."
Jesus said unto her, " I
that speak unto thee
am He."

fN THE" HEBREW BfBLE.

69

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew.

What I find them to mean
in the New Testament.

GENESIS— Continued.

Chap. 28, Verse ii :
And he lighted upon
a certain place, and tar
ried there all night,
because the sun was set ;
and he took of the stones
of that place and put
them for his pillows,
and lay down in that
place to sleep.
Verse 12 :
Jacob in his dream
saw a ladder set up on
the earth, and the top
of it reached to heaven ;
and behold the angels
of God ascending and
descending on it.
Chap. 33, Verse 4 :
Esau ran to meet Ja
cob, and kissed him.

Jacob's dream — he saw
with his spirit «what he
could not see with his
flesh, that the soul can
communicate with God.
The ladder by which the
soul reaches heaven is
Christ. Sleep means the death
of the body, not of the
soul. Jesus said, " Here
after ye shall see heaven
open, and the angels
of God ascending and
descending upon the
Son of Man.

Judas betrayed Jesus
Christ with- a kiss.

70

the Dotted words

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew.

What I find them to mean
in the New Testament.

GENESIS— Continued.

Chap. 37, Verse 9 :
Joseph's dream — " I
have dreamed a dream
more, and behold, the
sun and the moon and
the eleven stars made
obeisance to me."

Chap. 41, Verse io :
Pharaoh's chief butler
remembers Joseph, still
in prison, and tells how
he explained dreams, and
that the interpretation
came true.
Chap. 45, Verses ii, 17
and 18 :
Joseph sends for his
father and brethren to
come to Egypt, to save
them from poverty.

All will be put under
the feet of Christ — the
sun and the moon and
the stars.
The eleven tribes will
make obeisance to the
tribe in which Jesus
was born.
The disciples of Christ
remembered after His
death all that He had
told them, what He had
explained to them, and
that all had come true.

Christ leaves heaven to
come to this earth to save
those who are His from
poverty of spirit.

IN The Hebrew Bible.

71

Words with the mysteri- What J find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
GENESIS— Continued.

Chap. 44, Verse 19 :
Judah offers himself to
suffer and die, so as to
save his brethren.

Jesus Christ offers,
Himself to suffer and
die, so as to save those
who are His brethren.

EXODUS.

Chap. 6, Verses i and 14 :
God speaks to Moses.
He will lead them from
Egypt to the promised
land— He tells Moses
that he appeared to
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.

Jesus leads us to God.
He goes before us — to
the promised rest.
Christ said, " Verily,
verily, I say unto you,
before Abraham was, I
am."

Chap. 10 :
And the Lord said The signs of Jesus
unto Moses, Show were shown before
these my signs before Jerusalem, and the
Pharaoh. Jews.

72

THE DOTTiiD WORD.

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew.

What I find them to mean
in the New Testament.

EXODUS— Continued.

Chap. 14, Verse 16 :
. The Children of Israel
go through the Red Sea.

The baptism of Jesus.

Chap. 18 :
Jethro,the priest, givest
counsel to Moses.

Jesus, our Priest, gives
counsel to His disciples.

Chap. 20 :
The Ten Command- ' Jesus also said
ments. must keep them.

we

Chap. 25, Verses i, 2, 19 :
Of giving willingly.
An offering of the heart.
The mercy seat.
Chap. 26 :
The veil of the • taber
nacle.

Jesus gave Himself
willingly, and is above
the mercy seat.

When Jesus died, the
veil of the temple was
rent in two. God was
no longer hid from those
who saw Him in Christ.

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE.

73

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
EXODUS— Continued.
Chap. 30, Verses 10, 11 :
Aaron shall make an Christ's atonement is
atonement most holy most holy unto God.
unto God.

Chap. 34, Verses 22, 35 :
The firstlings redeem
ed with a lamb.
And Moses put a veil
on his face.

Chap. 37, Verse 43 :
Seven lamps. -

Christ is the first fruit,
first risen from the dead ;
He is the lamb which re
deemed us.
God's face is veiled
from us, except in
Christ.

Seven churches
Christ.

of

LEVITICUS.

Chap. 6, Verses i, 25 :
If a soul sin —
In the place where
the burnt offering is
killed, shall the sin offer-

There are to be no more
burnt offerings. Christ
has died as a sin offer
ing.

M

THE toOTfSO WORDS

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew.

What I find them to mean
in the New Testament.

LEVITICUS— Continued.
ing be killed before the His death before the
Lord. It is most holy. Lord is most holy.

Christ died to save us
from sin.

A child of flesh is
therefore unclean.
Mary, the Mother of

Chap. 9 :
Sin sufferings.
Chap, ii and 12, Verse
27 :
What goes on all'
fours is unclean. Bring
,a lamb or two turtles,
two young pigeons, for the human body of
an atonement. Christ, kept this law.
Christ took upon Him
our human flesh. He
tells us that His soul
was sanctified by the
Father, and sent into
this world of sin.
By taking our flesh
from a pure virgin, He
was able to die in the
flesh for our atonement.

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE.

73

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
LEVI TICUS— Continued.

Chap. 14, Verse 28 :
Cleansing with oil.

Chap. 16 :
The high priest must
enter into the holy place,
the sin offering, the
scapegoat, the yearly ex
piations. Chap. 19, Verse 30 :
And the Lord spake
unto Moses, .saying,
"Speak unto all the con
gregation, and say unto
them, ye shall be holy,
for the Lord your God
is holy. Ye shall keep
My sabbaths, and rever
ence my sanctuary. 1
am the Lord.

God's laws for cleans
ing the body to make it
more fit as a dwelling-
place for the soul.
All refers to Christ.
He is our High Priest,
He has entered the holy
place.

Christ preached to the
congregations — multi
tudes in many places.
He said, " Make not My
Father's house a house
o f merchandise. M y
Father'shouse is a house
of prayer."

76

The doited words'

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean'
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
LEVITICUS— Continued.
Chap. 21 :
The priest must be Christ our High Priest
holy — must not have a had no blemish.
blemish.

Chap. 25 :
Redemption
priests.

by the Christ is our redemp
tion.

Chap. 26, Verse 33 :
And I will scatter you Christ foretold the
lamong the heathen, and destruction of Jerusa-
will draw out a sword lem. Behold your house
after you, and your land is left unto you desolate.
shall be desolate and
your cities waste.

. NUMBERS.

Chap. 4, Verse 35 :
From thirty years old
and upward even unto
fifty, every one that en-
tereth into the service

And Jesus Himself be
gan to be about thirty
years of age. And He
preached from the pro-

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE.

77

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew.

What I find them to mean
in the New Testament.

NUMBERS— Continued.

for the work in the tab
ernacle of the congrega
tion.

Chap. 8 :
And the Lord spake
unto Moses.

phet Esaias. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Me,
because He hath an-
nointed Me to preach
the gospel to the poor.
He hath sent Me to heal
the broken-hearted, to
preach deliverance to
the captives, and recov
ering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty.
them that are bruised,
to preach the accepta
ble year of the Lord.
Then Jesus said to them
who' heard him, " This
day is this scripture ful
filled in your ears. The^
prophet Esaias spoke
this of Christ."
• Christ's age is given
when He began to

78

THE DOTTED WORDS

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
NUMBERS— Continued.

The lamps, the age
and time of the service
of the Priest.
[This may also mean
our Chapter 9. J
The Passover is com
manded again.

preach. We should follow this
rule. Christ kept the Pass
over.

Chap. 13 :
And the Lord spake True priest must be
unto Moses. called to preach by God.
The names of the men
who were sent to search
the land.

Chap. 17 :
Aaron's rod.

Christ the son of
David.

Chap. 19 :
The water of separa- The uncleanness of a
tion made of the ashes of dead body, be the body
the red heifer. man or beast.

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE.

79

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
NUMBERS— Continued.
Chap. 22 :
And the children of The story of Balah
Israel set forward. and Balaam— read Ba
laam's parable in verses
19 to 25 — in our 23d
Chapter — " God is not
a man that He should
lie, neither the son of
man that He should re
pent ; hath He said,, and
shall He not do it?"
This is a strong proof
of inspiration.. The man
could not speak any
words but those God
gave him to speak con
cerning Israel's people.

Verse 40 :
And Balah offered
oxen and sheep.

Chap. 26, Verses 9, 10, 11
and 41 :
Those who strove
against Moses were
swallowed by the earth

Those who strive
against God will be de
stroyed, Their children

80

the dotted words

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.

with Korah
dren of Korah died not.
The sons of Benjamin
after their families were
45,600.Chap. 30 :
Vows are not to be
broken. Moses told the
children of Israel all that
the " Lord commanded
Moses.
Chap. 33 :
The journey of the Is
raelites.

NUMBERS— Continued.
The chil- if they obey God will not

die.

In the New Testament
I find vow not at all, but
if you make a vow keep
it.

Our life on this earth
is only a journey.

DEUTERONOMY.

Chap. 4, Verses 22, 23 :
Moses — " But" I must
die in this land." He
tells them : Take heed

Christ died on this
earth in the human body,
that we might live in

unto yourselves — make heaven.

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE.

81

Words with the mysteri- What 1 find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New 'Testament.
DEUTERONOMY— Continued.

no graven image which
God has forbidden thee.

Verse 25 :
The testimonies, the
statutes, the judgments.

Chap. 8, Verses ii, 12
Beware that thou for
get not the Lord thy God,
in not keeping His com:
mandments, and judg-

He told those who be
lieved Him, to take heed
unto themselves, that
they keep His command
ments. And when He is come,
He will reprove the
world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of
judgment. Of sin, be
cause they believe not on
Me. Of righteousness,
because I go to My
Father, and ye see Me no
more. Of judgment, be
cause the prince of this
world is judged.
And Jesus looked
round about, and saith
unto His disciples, how
hardly shall they that

82

THE DOTTED WORDS

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
DEUTERONOMY— Continued.
ments, and His statutes, have riches-enter into the
lest when thou prosper kingdom of God.
in everything thou for
get God.

Chap, io, Verse io :
Moses and I stayed in
the mount forty days and
forty nights, that the
Lord would not destroy
thee.

And Jesus was in the
desert forty days and
forty nights, bearing the
temptations, that the
Lord would not destroy
us.

Either Chap. 12, Verse
26, or Chap. 13,
Verse 26 :
Holy things in a holy
place. Directions about
money.

Give not that which is
holy unto dogs.
Cast not your pearls
before swine.
Give money to the tem
ple 6f God,

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE.

83

Words with the mysteri
ous dots in the Hebrew .

What I find them to mean
in the New Testament.

DEUTERONOMY— Continued.

Chap. 18, Verses 17, 18 :
And the Lord said unto
me : They have well
spoken. I will raise them
up a Prophet from among
their brethren, like unto
Moses, and I will put My
words in his mouth, and
he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command
him.

Jesus Christ is the
Prophet. He goes be
fore us in spirit, as Mo
ses led the people from
Egypt. He was of the
Hebrew people. He was
the word of God. He
spoke the words of God.
Jesus saith, " My meat
is to do the will of him
that sent me and to fin
ish his work."
"As the Father gave
Me commandment, even
so I do."

Chap. 22, Verses io, ii
and 12 :
About garments — not They parted the gar-
of woolen and linen to- ments of Christ when
gether. they crucified Him,

84

THE DOITED WORDS

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
DEUTERONOMY— Continued.
Chap. 26 :
Offer the first-fruits to Offer your first thanks
God, and remember that to God from a pure
God had given them a heart, and remember
land to dwell in, and be that He made us free by
free. Christ.

Chap. 29 :
Moses exhorteth them
to obedience by the
memory of the works
they have seen.

Chap. 30, Verses 8, 9 :
God will bless and
have mercy upon all who
keep His commandments
and statutes.

Christ said: The
works which the Father
hath given Me to finish,
the same works that I
do, bear witness of Me,
that the Father hath sent
Me. Those who keep the
words of Christ will God
bless and have mercy
upon.

Chap. 31 :
Moses spake to all Is- Christ foretold how He
rael. Told them his age, must die, and also said it

ts the Hebrew bible.

85

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean
ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament.
DEUTERONOMY— Continued.

and that he had been
told by God that he him
self would not go over
Jordan, but that they
would go to the promised
land and possess it.

was best for those who
loved Him, for then He
would send them the
Holy Ghost.

Chap. 32 :
Moses is to
Mount Nebo.

die in Jesus Christ , died on 1
Mount Calvary.

Chap. 33 :
Moses blessed the
children of Israel before
his death.

Christ, "while He
blessed them, He was
parted from them, and
carried up into heaven."
And He also said : " Go
ye, and teach all nations
baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost."

BOOK III.

THE
RELIGIONS OF THE EAST
OF THIS DAY :
WHAT THEIR ROOT DECLARES
THEM TO BE..
[87]

THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST.

BUDDHA.
If Buddha was born about 620 B.C. and died 543
B.C., he must have taught his disciples that Christ
was expected to come to this earth, and he must
have told them when to look -for Him. And these
disciples taught others, as they were taught.
So, this being true, " the wise men from the East"
came to find Christ at the right time.
" Where is He that is born King of the Jews, for
we have seen His star in the East, and are come to
worship Him ?" The star which they saw in the
East went before them, until it came and stood over
where the young Child was ; when they saw the
star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Certainly these wise men expected Christ, they
knew of the prophecy of Christ's coming.
Now the Buddhist's say that Buddha was a wise
man, pitiful, and honored; and in their ignorance
of Christ, they call Buddha the saviour of the world*
[«9]

90 THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST.
They knew a Saviour was promised, and that a
star would lead them to find Him. So in their book
of legends they speak of a star about the time of the
birth of their Buddha, and many other things which
were prophesied about Christ, which proves that
the}r knew of the prophecies of Christ.
How is it that they missed receiving Christ — that
is, understanding about prophecies ?
Their wise men who returned from Jerusalem
must have carried home the news of the birth of
Christ. If the Buddhists compare their Buddha to the
true Christ, they will find that their Buddha is with
out the Divine nature of Christ.
If their religion is so lost that extravagances dis
figure the record, should they not strive to look
back in their records, and see if it is not Christ
whose life and character as a man, whose miracles
and death and resurrection as God, whose great
mercy and love for mankind as a Saviour they have
in their mistake imputed to their Buddha ?
THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY
By H. P. Blavatsky.
Having read the above book, I turn to the New
Testament to think and study this book. I find

THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 91
this : Christ came to this earth by the Divine Spirit ;
which strove with mankind, which was dimly seen
by men, understood by no people, until Christ the
Divine took upon Him the nature of man. Because
churches and dogmas have lost their way from
Christ's teachings and life on this earth, is no reason
that His teachings and life were in vain. The self-
sacrifice of theosophy does not equal the self-sacri
fice which Christ teaches. The theosophy idea of
punishment for evil done by each individual corres
ponds to the purgatory idea.
All true thinkers realize that evil must have a
punishment here and in the next world.
As I believe in individual souls or spirits, I think
the punishment will be hereafter in the full percep
tion of the evil we have done, until circle after cir
cle of evil dies away, like the circles made by the
stone dropped into the placid lake — they extend
very far, but they at last die away. However, we
have been told that the soul that sinnest, it shall
die. Now if it is true that these Eastern religions are
obscure as to their commencement, there is but one
conclusion about it, which is this : The wise men
from the East who journeyed to Jerusalem to find
Christ, whom they called the King of the Jews, the
word king meaning the highest, the 'head of a

92 the religions of the east.
nation, the crown of the only one worthy of a
crown. These men knew the prophecies about
Christ, they were learned men, and they knew
partly what Christ's mission on this earth was to be
at His coming, and unless they had been taught of
God, and been spiritual men, besides learned, they
never would have expected at that time and looked
for the Christ. They must have taught when they
returned to the East all that they understood as to
what the coming of Christ was to mean.
Now the East, not having held fast to the true
teachings of these wise men, has lost the simple and
plain and beautiful rudiments of Christ's teachings.
It is hard to believe that those wise men after
finding Christ whom they had long expected, did
not take means to follow and know the life and
death of the same Christ whom they had found
when He was only a child — try to understand His
human and Divine life, human death, and at the
last Divine life. The East loosing what the wise
men taught them, their religion became obscure.
The theosophists say that they believe the soul,
after the death of the body, enters another body
here on earth, so as through sufferings to be purified
from former sins. As they cannot know that this is
so, it makes' very little difference. We know that
nothing is impossible to God, and all thinking souls

THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 93
know punishment of some kind is due to sin, that sin
cannot enter heaven, and that sin makes its own
punishment, and not that God makes the punish
ment, and that the soul that sinneth (which is so
much worse than the sins of the body) it. shall die.
No one but the soul and the spirit from God
knows that the soul has sin ; between these two is
the sin known. This is the inward mind and
thought towards God.
Theosophists say that prayer kills self-reliance.
We say on the contrary, prayer, secret and
silent, is the only thing to give self-reliance.
Prayer is almost always " Help me to do— or not to
do, a thing," " Help me to understand and judge
rightly," " Help me to act and think rightly," " Give
me courage, give me faith," " Direct and guide me,"
" Leave me not alone, support and comfort me."
And we say, " according to our faith it will be unto
us." If I have a case in which I' must act in haste
I must in soul ask in haste for judgment as to how
I must act. I believe I am guided, and I act. The
final result of my action I cannot see at once, but I
will see it sooner or later.
Those who have not the habit of making a quick
and sudden prayer, may say that prayer kills self-
reliance, but others know that it does just the re
verse. Theosophy has taken from the New Testa-

9_ THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST.
ment all that it has of good, and does not acknowl
edge that it owes all it knows of good to Christ.
IN NATIVE LIFE IN SOUTH INDIA.
By Henry Rice.
We find " the Brahmins belong to the Aryan
race, and came into South India about the begin
ning of the Christian era. They are fair featured,
handsome and well built, courtly and polished in
their manners, but haughty and crafty.
" Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, of
Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold there
came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying,
' Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? For
we have seen His star in the East, and are come to
worship Him.' And when they were come into the
house they saw the young Child with Mary, His
mother, and fell down and worshipped Him, and
when they had opened their treasures [what they
valued most] they presented unto Him gifts, gold
and frankincense and myrrh, and being warned of
God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, .
they departed into their own country another way."
They went to South India, not to the north of
India, and the pure faith of the Brahmins at its root
was faith in Christ.

THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 95
Now the wise men who went to Jerusalem guided
by a star, perhaps were the Brahmins from India,
where it is supposed that every one has a guardian
star — or that a star appears in the heavens for the
first time at the birth of some important person.
These men had heard through the prophets of the
promise that Christ should be born in the nation of
the Jews, and after finding the young Child they
returned to their country another way.
They did not wait to see and learn by the life of
Christ the full meaning of His birth and death, but
they carried back this much, that a Son had been
born who would save the race of mankind from
their sins, and through this Son alone mankind
would enter heaven. Hence their idea that a man
must have a son, and not a daughter, for the sake
of eternal life hereafter. This idea can be found in
" High Caste Hindu Women," a book written by a
Hindu woman — Ramaibai. .
Although the code of Manu contains a single pas
sage in which it is written " A daughter is equal to
a son " (See Manu, ix., 130), the context expressly
declares that equality to be founded upon the results
attainable through her son ; the passage, therefore,
cannot be regarded as an exception to the statement
that the ancient code establishes the superiority of
male children. A son is the most coyeted of all

96 THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST.
blessings that a Hindu craves, for it is by a son's
birth in the family that the father is redeemed.
" Through a son he conquers the worlds, through a son's
son he obtains immortality, but through his son's grandson
he gains the world of the sun." — Manu, ix., 1 37.
" There is no place for a man (in heaven) who is destitute-
of male offspring." — Vasishtha, xvii., 2.
If a man is sonless, it is desirable that he should
have a daughter, for her son stands in the place of a
son to his grandfather, through whom the grand
father may obtain salvation.
" Between a son's son and the son of a daughter there
exists in this world no difference ; for even the son of a
daughter saves him who has no sons, in the next world
like the son's son." — Manu, ix., 139.
Does not this mean that the Hindu race may
remember certain teachings and beliefs, come down
to them in their early religion, partly lost and not
fully understood ? Such as, it is by a son's birth on
this earth that mankind will be redeemed ; through
this son we will conquer the world, we will obtain
immortality ; we enter heaven through the son, but
our son is the Son of God. The Hindus seem to
have a dim idea of the great truth in what they
have to say about life in the next world.

THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 97
Some day the whole truth may break upon their
minds, and they will know that the true Son who
redeems the world is Jesus Christ, and by Him
alone they will conquer themselves and obtain im
mortality — and also understand that Jesus raised
woman to a great height, far above man, when He
was born of a woman.

VISHNU. SHIVA. SURAJA.
These three essences make the god of the Budd
hists. This is doubtless a dim idea of the Trinity.
Then, again, their legend of Buddha giving him
self to feed the starving tigress, so as to save the
life of the 'tigress and of her young, is also some
dim idea of Christ leaving heaven to give Himself
by death to save mankind alive, and a mankind
which was not much above a tigress and her
young. Also they say the prince of darkness sought to
shake their Buddha's mind. This is doubtless a dim
idea of Christ's temptation in the desert.
Their Nirvana means forgetfulness of this life's
evil ; they try to explain that their soul as well as
their body dies, but that their spirit lives forever.
They simply mean, what we believe, that the spark

98 THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST.
from God which is in us, be it called soul or spirit,
can never die, since it is a spark from God.
In all these Eastern religions, which I have care
fully read, I find at the root of them all is the same
belief — which is nothing more or less than the relig
ion of Christ — in fact, the best in all is taken from
the New Testament — that is, the books written
since the New Testament. In the " Key to Theo
sophy," they quote from the New Testament, use
the words found in the New Testament, and then
claim that an older religion than the Christian relig
ion has been quoted by the followers of Christ, for
getting that the Divine nature of Christ was before
the world was made.

BOOK IV.

REFLECTIONS.
[99]

REFLECTIONS.

"Totemism in the Evolution of Theology," by Mrs.
C. K. Barnum in Popular Science Monthly, Jan., 1893.
Here we find the old belief that we had animal
ancestors. This certainly proves that our belief is not
a wild one, and that our researches in the Bible
prove the same ; that is, that in our bodies of flesh
and blood we descend from animals, and we trace
animals to vegetable life, as science shows, and far
back to the pulse of life, a broken fragment of the
life once in heaven, and found on this earth on
account of the fall of Satan — that is, the fall of sin
from Heaven, or Eden to this earth.
In all of the above-written Totemism, and in the
account of the religions of the world, we see this :
the foreshadowing of Christianity. No one can travel
through Egypt without seeing the dim light of
Christianity foreshadowed by the old religion of
Egypt, unless one is determined not to see it. We
think in all these old religions, we see the struggle
in the minds of the people to find out God. They
TlCHj

102 REFLECTIONS.
found him not, 'until Christ came, and by his life
and teachings showed us* the way to find out God.
All the struggles in the minds of the people for
light on the subject were slowly answered by the
evolution of the mind. The evolution of the human
body having ceased, the evolution of the mind com
menced ; and this evolution has still much, very
much before it now. As purity of thought, and truth
of thought advance ; the expression and features of
our face will change ; they will be nobly calm
and impressive in expression, what I believe the
features of Christ were like, — nobly calm, they must
have been, though we are not told anything about
it. We are told much about His speech. " Never
man spake like this man." And when He said to the
soldiers who came to arrest Him, " Whom seek ye,"
and answered them, " I am He," we are told that
these soldiers went backward and fell to the ground.
When He spoke these words, we can but think that
the face of Christ, as well as the words, caused the
fright and terror of these soldiers.
We have just been reading the above, proving the
history of those old religions. We have, also, been
reading a history which proves to us that our belief —
or call it religion if you will — is true .• all others be
fore it only foreshadow it. The evolution of the mind
finally became ready for Christianity, and yet we

REFLECTIONS. 103
have much, much more to learn ; and the Holy
Spirit, which Christ promised us, will guide us to
a fuller truth, so that no law we break will be
changed for our benefit.
No matter how sad the case may be, the law will
not be changed ; as we sow so must we reap, and,
alas ! as we sow for others, so must they reap.
To expect good from our wrongdoings, is de
cidedly "tempting God" and to do so, we all know,
is a great sin.
It has often been asked : Does a good God send
suffering to his children ? Why is it that not only
the guilty, but the innocent so often suffer and have
to bear burdens grievous to be borne ? We know
that children suffer from the sins of their parents
and __oreTemote ancestors. The natural laws make
it so. Why, then, ask if it is God who has sent the
suffering ? Let us discriminate and lay not to Provi
dence what is due alone to man's ignorance or to
man's sin.
Sickness and death sometimes come from one's
own wrongdoing, sometimes from the wrongdoing
of others, sometimes from our own ignorance or
from the ignorance of others ; so that we should
not say that the evils are ordered by God, or sent
by God to us. We cannot expect a miracle to
happen for us.

104 UEFLECTIONSi
st. peter's gospel.
In the " Newly-recovered Gospel of Saint Peter,"
by J. Rendel Harris, we read this : In speaking of the
book of Enoch it is said, " It is probable that in some
form or other it was part of our Lord's own library."
Now, the Spirit which dwelt in the earthly body of
Christ, was the Spirit of God, and Christ knew all
things by that Spirit, for it is said in John vii. 15,
" And the Jews marvelled saying, how knoweth^this
man letters having never learned." Christ our Lord,
we think, had no library, and learned not as we
learn ; for when He was a child He was found in
the Temple "sitting in the midst of the doctors,
both hearing and asking them questions, and all that
heard Him were astonished at his understanding and
answers." He needed no library.
In reading on in this same St. Peter's Gospel, we
are glad to see that a woman, " blessed Perpetua," in
the year 203, had knowledge and learning in Scrip
tures. And, again, we read this : " There was unbelief in
the humanity of Jesus ; some said there was, indeed, a
man Jesus, upon whom the superior Christ descended
at his baptism, thus constituting him the son of God;
but they went on to teach, that at the Crucifixion
the man Jesus was deserted by the Being who had
descended upon him." We do not find this difficult to

feEPLEOTIONS. 105
understand, if we truly believe in the double nature
of Christ, His human nature the same as ours,
His Divine nature which was of God. His human
nature suffered death, and in His human nature, and
for it, he spoke the words, " My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me !" Jesus having died in the
flesh (human nature), can be with us in our death;
and by that death of His, we know and are sure, that
He knows what death in the flesh, or human body,
is to us.
But when Jesus cried in a loud voice, and said,
" Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit," it
was the Divine nature of Christ which spoke, and
by speaking thus he assured us that we have souls
or spirits, and that we should give them to God,
living or dying. As we read on we find this, — that
Christ, when tormented, was silent, as if in nowise
feeling pain. We think that being silent does not
mean that pain is not felt, it only means great con
trol over the human body. And that is the lesson
Christ has taught us ; we are told that when Christ
was reviled, that He reviled not again. We are told
but once in the Scriptures that Christ ever said any
thing near a complaint ; and it was this, if it can be
called a complaint, " Foxes have holes, but the Son
of Man hath nowhere to lay his head." Christ in the
flesh was the son of mankind, and that human body

106 REFLECTIONS.
had nowhere to la)' his head, or rest, on this earth.
He came to take a human body so as to be the
Saviour of human bodies. We have tried to show how
we believe that human nature descended from Satan
and brute beasts, and Christ came to be the Saviour
of these suffering descendants of brute beasts, des
tined to perish as brute beasts ; but within these
bodies was the soul, and the soul was struggling
with the flesh to be free, and to return to Heaven.
And Christ came to show us the way back to
Heaven, and so be the Saviour of mankind.
LOVE AND PASSION.
Love has lived on this earth but once. It is the
opposite of passion. Though the word " Love " has
often been used to express the affections of human
men and women, yet there is nothing of love in
the affection of a man for a woman, or a woman
for a man, or even in the affection of a mother
for her child. And why ? Because there is too
much of self-seeking in all these affections. It has
been proved that if you take a child from its moth
er as soon as it is born, and she sees it no more
until it is a man or woman, that the tender affec
tion, so often called Love, no longer exists in the
mother for her child. And, otherwise, the affection
is so mixed with self : the child is her child ; it
gives her much pleasure ; often the same as a

REFLECTIONS. lOt
doll would give a child pleasure. She can see no
faults in it, because it is her child. Nor is her affection
for it as strong when it becomes a man or woman.
It is self -pride that makes her wish the child to do
well in the world. Her instincts to feed it, care for it,
and defend it, are exactly the same as the instincts
in animals — the lioness, the tigress, what will they
not do for their young ? — they feed them, they care
for them, they fight for tnem.
The affection of sisters and brothers depends
upon their being together when young ; a family
pride which is praiseworthy, and which does not
always exist ; for often a jealous feeling between
them mars the family pride. Yet, even in the last
case, they sometimes stand by each other, above all
when it is best for self to do so — a three-fold cord
being stronger than a single cord. But self again
comes in here. Then the affections of man and
woman — passion, in other words — :is all self ,¦ the
purest married woman, if she speaks the truth,
will say so. Where is the man or woman who so
loves the other as to be willing to suffer for the
loved one, to live apart all their lives for the good
of others, others who are even yet unborn; who feed,
care for, defend and fight for the loved one, though
it brings no profit to self, no pleasure to self, no
gratification to self ; though it bring only sorrow

108 REFLECTIONS,
and suffering to self ? Is there no such man or
woman ? then call not passion love. Do the ani
mals love each other ? I think not. The man or
woman who dies for his country comes near to. love.
Still, there is self even in this ; it is his country ,• he
reaps some benefit should he return from the war
alive. No, Love has lived but once on this earth,
and that Love was Christ. Read His life and see
what He suffered ; how He lived and died ; see
if you can find self in anything He said or did.
What is Love ? It is this : Love suffereth long, and
is kind ; is not selfish or proud of self, does not
behave unseemly, is not easily provoked, thinkest
no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, beareth all
things, believeth all good, hopeth all good, en-
dureth all things. It never fails ; it is greater than
faith and hope. Love is Christ ; it came to this
earth with Him, it was never here before, and
those who follow Him triily have a semblance of
that Love. WOMEN.
Should it be said that women have nothing to do
with Church affairs, let us here make answer, that
it is women who for many years have filled the
Churches ; some congregations are wholly made up
by women. The women, then, are the ones who
have listened to the preachers, and hearing what was

REFLECTIONS. 109
preached they have increased in knowledge; it, then,
would be strange if, by this time, the women knew
nothing of Church affairs, or of- Church doctrines
and of dogmas. If they were still ignorant of these
things, how would it reflect on the teachers and
preachers ? Would it not prove that they, the preach
ers, knew nothing of Church affairs, if of these
things their congregations were ignorant. Now, all
congregations in Churches are more than two-thirds
women. Are not women, then, fit to have much work
in Church affairs ? JAPAN.
In reading about Japan, in a book by William
Elliot Griffis, in the chapter, " The Japanese Story of
, Creation," we find the names of the earth Deities :
Mud, Earth ; Lord, Mud ; Earth, Lady. This is very
similar to Science tracing back our origin to a
pulsating heart on a muddy beach.
Also, the Japanese idea of the god Izanagi find
ing his wife in a region of awful foulness, and his
wife a mass of worms.
Science also traces back to foulness and worms
as our origin.
Then heaven and earth,*united by a pillar, a dim
idea of Jacob's ladder or pillar, heard correctly
once, but lost in legends. Then, again, the expres
sions, " the mirror of her soul," " a sword of divine

110" REFLECTIONS.
temper," are Christian expressions. And, again, the
idea of a mysteriously born child, a son, is also Chris
tian. We think this is so, and we also read in this
book on Japan, " According to the old chronicles,
it was about the beginning of the Christian era that
the first rudiments of civilization began to appear."
The book also says that " many of the gods had
tails, and some of them had horns," — another small
proof that Science is right, when it says we are
descendants of the animals. The Japanese have
mixed truth with fiction, as a great many other
nations have also done.
THE IMAGE OF GOD.
" If we suppose a material relation between the
image and the object as well as between the shadow
and the object, it becomes evident that the savage
would comport himself similarly toward the image,
the shadow, and the object. From his point of view
the image and the object are in close relation, and
an action upon one would operate in the same wjay
upon the other. By this way of looking at things, as
Sir John Lubbock says, the savage is convinced that
an injury done to the image is inflicted upon the
original ; or, to use the words of Mr. Taylor, he
thinks that by acting upon the copy he will reach
the original. The evidences are many that demon
strate the importance attributed by savages to this
mode of action on the original. Waitz relates, after
Denghame, that in a tribe of western Africa it was
dangerous to make a portrait of the natives, because
they were afraid that by some kind of sorcery a
part of their soul would pass into their image.
" Such was the function of drawing at its origin.

REFLECTIONS. Ill
An Indian song admirably explains this function
in the words " My drawing has made a god of me."
Faith could hardly be more vigorously expressed in
the power of the art of drawing as an instrument
by the aid of which primitive man obtained a super
natural power over his enemy or his game. Re
garding the works of the cave men in the light of
these facts, we perceive that the purpose that in
spired them had few points in common with the
sense of the beautiful or the tendency to imitation ;
and it is clear that if there existed in the mind of
the primitive man a material relation between a be
ing and its shadow or its image, that man thought
that the same relation was preserved between the
being and its image when transferred to any object
whatever. The purpose to be reached was to pos
sess the shadow of the coveted object, and the only
means of accomplishing it was to fix upon some
thing or another the silhouette of that shadow.
"Animals by instinct devour and destroy each
other in their pursuit of life. Men in uncivilized
states do the same thing in effect ; and it is quite
clear that we have not yet fully outgrown the ani
mal instinct in this direction. But we all under
stand that it is right to do so, and, if we do not, we
at least pretend that we do, and only eat each other
metaphorically. " Men have been slow to ask what is the better
and wiser course to pursue, and have inclined to
follow their more brutish instincts."
The above is from " The Origin of Painting," by
M. Lazar Popoff.
How did the savage first get this idea ? Some
dim idea of their forefathers, handed down to them.
Mankind was made in the image of God. The im-

112 REFLECTIONS.
age of God, being the soul of man, any injury done
to the soul of man is inflicted upon the original ;
that is, in trying to injure the soul of anyone,
you are trying to injure God. The Holy Spirit,
sent by Jesus to us, is fixed upon, our souls like the
silhouette of a shadow, and it draws us to God and
raises us above the animal in us, and helps us to
resist our brutish instincts.
knowledge.
Knowledge can come but slowly to those in the
flesh. We are told that we shall be judged accord
ing to our knowledge. As St. Paul writes it, " And
the times of this ignorance God winked at," he
means partly passed over.
Those who oppose new ideas, because they them
selves are ignorant, or who are mistaken through
thinking that they are preventing evil by doing so,
are in truth doing great harm, and are opposing the
Spirit of God.
If the ideas come to science or religion, it is wise
to look into the subject, and try these new ideas.
We have been told by St. John, " Believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God ;
those that confess that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh are of God."
Also, in Acts, we find this, " If this counsel or this
work be of men it will come to naught, but if it be,

REFLECTIONS. 113
of God ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply (by
chance) ye be found even to fight against God."
To oppose knowledge, then, is to be on the side of
Satan. Satan within us will always oppose knowl
edge from God. The wisdom or knowledge which
Satan tried to get, so as to put it to an evil purpose,
was wisdom or knowledge belonging wholly to God.
It has been proved by Satan's descendants in the
flesh to be dense ignorance in Satan and in us.
These opposers to knowledge or to new ideas do
a great deal of harm in one way ; at the same time
they unwillingly stir up pure minds to try the new
idea, and find out if it be of man or of God. What
is of God cannot die. . It will triumph over ignor
ance, opposition, ridicule, envy, disbelief, and over
Satan within us. Those who were faithful to the
knowledge they had of God in their generation, are
those who in the parable of the laborers (Matt. xx. 12)
received the same reward as those who had borne
the burden and heat of the day. The first were
true to the knowledge which they had of God ; the
last have gained in their generation more light, more
knowledge of God, and being true to the knowledge,
they labor accordingly, and receive from God the
same reward hereafter ; though they profit by the
knowledge gained by the first, who have borne the
burden and heat of their day, striving in their souls

114 REFLECTIONS.
for the knowledge of God ; for the vineyard of the
parable we are told, is the symbol of the kingdom of
heaven, and the parable was told to those who
heard it, by Christ, my Lord and Master.
LIGHT.
Matt. v. 16 : " Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven." Light can only
dwell in the human mind j therefore, if to your mind
has come a new and bright thought on any subject,
by giving it to the world you " let your light shine
before men." These are the words of my Lord and
Master, Jesus Christ ; therefore we obey his com
mand in trying to give our thoughts to the world.
Jesus, in teaching the multitudes, said to them,
to impress this command on their minds : " Ye are
the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill
cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and
put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick ; and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house."
KNOWLEDGE.
We must know for ourselves the God we believe
in. " And they shall not teach every man his neigh
bour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest." Hebrews viii. n.
.Has not this .timp_come ? Is it not possible, for all

REFLECTIONS. 115
who will, to know the Lord through Christ ? We
have our Bibles, we can study them ourselves ; we
have minds more enlightened than those of old days
gone by. We cannot, then, blame others if we
know not the Lord. ON IGNORANCE.
Ignorance is a very dreadful thing. If a child
can ask a question which an old person cannot
answer, what does it prove ? As we have said before,
no thought, on the side of wisdom, can come to any
human mind without the possibility that it is near
to the truth.
When Christ said that we must become as little
children, " Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he
shall not enter therein," we understand it to mean,
first, purity of thought ; undoubting faith in those
whom the child trusts, and straight forward ques
tions, prompted by wakening thoughts, which show
a desire to learn the truth and gain knowledge.
Having been a child, we can affirm that children
ponder in thought, and thinking those they love and
trust must know, they ask questions, and being re
buffed sharply, they sink into themselves. Some
ponder all their lives in silence ; others give up these
questions of their souls and think of other things,
^nd so .lose the power of deep questioning thoughts.

116 REFLECTIONS.
This is the reason that Christ said, " Suffer the little
children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for
of such is the kingdom of God."
Suffer them to ask questions about Christ and His
teachings, for their young minds receive deep im
pressions, which remain all their lives with them.
They may forget for a time in the battle for their
earthly life, but in old age the mind reverts to child
hood. Think, then, of the glorious blessing the con
viction of truths in their minds will undoubtingly
be to them then. Suffer little children to go to
Christ by your answers to their questions. On you,
who are the parents of children, this great and
everlasting responsibility rests.
Do not be ignorant, and then you will not be
under the influence of any one. That a woman
should be wholly under the influence of man or
woman, seems to us a most pitiable thing ; such a
condition could not exist but through ignorance. It
was Jesus who said, " The truth shall make you
free," you can not get truth by ignorance. To be
wholly ignorant is to be a slave ; a slave to yourself,
and easily made a slave to others.
SCIENCE.
There should be no warfare between Science
and Religion, for they go hand in hand ; as the
mjnd and thought grow stronger and clearer, it is

REFLECTIONS. 117
the continued evolution of ourselves. It is also a
gift from God ; for we all know how suddenly we
can lose our minds, by illness, by an accident, by
many causes not in our power to prevent ; and
though by study we gain knowledge, the power to
do so is not ours. See hOw slowly man has gained
his knowledge. Generation by generation we hand
down the knowledge gained, and another generation
adds to the knowledge more knowledge. Christ
said to those who heard him, that he had many
things to tell them, but they could not bear it then.
Their minds were not advanced enough to under
stand what he had to tell them. They^ would have
put a wrong meaning to his words, and done more
harm by it than good. So he told them not ; but
he certainly meant that we, and those who come
after us should, by searching the Scriptures, see, and
rightly understand by the help of our advanced
thought of strengthened minds. It is Christ who
told us: " Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and
ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you ; for everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he
that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened." This Christ said, adding that
God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him;
and the Holy Spirit is knowledge of all truths.
Science is a gift from God. By it he permits man-

118 REFLECTIONS.
kind to work the marvels of these days, things
which to the ignorant would surely seem as mira
cles. Those who study science have faith in their
study. They never would persevere had they not
faith to do so ; and we cannot believe that anyone
pursuing a mental study does not realize that the
gift is from God, when he suddenly sees by his
mind and comprehends that he has gained a thought,
which he sees is possible to be created in substance,
or which proves a truth, and which is totally new
to him, will he not be frank enough to say : " Not
by my might, or by my power, but by Thine, oh,
my God." We cannot believe, nor do we believe, that
anyone in his inmost soul, does not realize that it is
a gift, and a gift from God. He may not be noble
enough to say so, or he may have false pride and try
and persuade himself that by his own might and by
his own power he has gained the thought. He does
not realize his double nature ; Satan in the flesh, able
to think by the flesh ; and the other nature, the soul,
from God, that spark of life through which he has
in truth gained the noble thouglit which has just
given him light upon the study his mind is follow
ing. All Christ's teachings were to give us knowl
edge and faith to gain the knowledge of what is true.
Think good, do not think evil. Think, that is what we
find Christ tried to make everyone do to whom He

KEFLEoTIOtfg. 119
spoke. He asked them questions which caused
them to think before they could answer him. He
came to elevate their minds, to open their under
standings ; when He knew they could only under
stand by figurative spe.ech, He used figurative
speech ; but there were some whom He knew could
understand if they thought in their inward souls,
and he led them to do that. There are many things
we cannot understand about the life of Christ ; but
all this warfare, so called, between science and re
ligion, will bring many things, to the light. We
should never forget that the true warfare on this
earth is between good and evil, and the warfare is
within us, each individually. Individuals follow
each other ; and, not using the minds God has given
them, they follow the evil in others, and make up a
strong body of evils against which good must fight.
Ah! the battle will never cease ; for Satan, or sin,
or any name which means evil, is in our body of flesh
and blood, fighting the sparks of true life which is
in us, and which is the true I. As we conquer, so
we get nearer to the Heaven (Eden) which we lost
years and years ago when Satan, or sin, fell from
Heaven to this earth.

120 REFLECTIONS.
SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE,
The Bible tells us the truth ; if we do not see it, it
is because we will not, or if we are honest about it,
and still do not see it, it is because we have not
studied the Bible rightly— =we must iedrch the Bible.
We search for hidden truths in science, and inevery-
thing else in which we take a deep interest. We must
always remember the times and customs of the
world when the Bible was written, the nation, the
race, the knowledge of those days. They misunder
stood the Christ ; they were too weak and ignorant
to be taught in any way but by parables ; they asked
always for signs and wonders, miracles. If we boast
in these days of our intelligence, how is it that we
are not better than they ? It is the Holy Spirit who
works the miracles of these days and works in the
minds of men and women ; helps them slowly to
grow; to find out and work out new truths in science,
and medicine, and all things to '-elevate man
kind to a higher level. That these gifts for our
good are also used by evil persons to evil purposes,
is no reason why they are not good in themselves.
It has always been so, and will always be so, here.
For, look yourself and see ; is there any good thing
in the world that cannot also be used for evil?
Speaking of St. Luke, the physician, we have been

REFLECTIONS. 121
reading in Popular Science, " Miracles and Medi^
cine," a true and sad story how the watchmen who
watch for Christ's flock get negligent, and so get
blinded that they do not see. How different are those in
the ministry now from those whom Christ put there.
This, we think, has arisen first, from true Chris
tians justly wishing Christ's ministers to receive the
reverence due to their office,— in giving it to them
they gave it to Christ. In their love for Christ they
did not wish His priests or ministers to be poor and
despised, until they made them to stand on this
earth as high or higher than earthly kings, in all
earthly things, so that the priests and ministers
themselves forgot how poor the Saviour was on
earth, and at last lost sight of His glory and honor
in attaining their own glory, ease and riches ; hence
the reason that true Christianity has advanced only
in slow degrees and secret places. But, though small,
they leaven the whole. *Who, in his secret heart, will
say that any Christian nation, calling themselves
so, are in truth Christian ? Christ, we think, chose
all His apostles for many reasons. We know He knew
them as God knows them. We are told what their
trade or profession was. We know, somewhat, what
effect these professions or the ways they earned a liv
ing would have on their character (in those days which
are not these days). Now, Christ chose a physician,

12_ REFLECTIONS.
what we call a doctor, and in his presence He healed
many sick. Through the knowledge He sends to the
doctors {honest, of course), He sends to humanity His
blessings. How honest, how pure, how earnest,
should our women physicians be. We do not read that
Christ said that only those in the ministry should be
physicians ; we think we see just the reverse. But He
chose one ; so that this great gift to suffering people,
the knowledge to cure the suffering, to save human life,
is a gift from God, and should be rightly used. Yet
this knowledge to cure is often used for evil.
Also, the Saviour chose the doctor, St. Luke, to be
constantly with him on earth, as he could testify to
the miraculous in Christ's life on earth.
It is through pride and ignorance that the school
of physicians has been so put back, as " Miracles and
Medicine," by Andrew Dickson White, tells us. Alas,
we not do yet fully understand Christ's life and teach
ings. He did not try to retard knowledge. He
labored to teach it. It is ecclesiastic pride and jeal
ousy for self, and not as it should be for Christ, jeal
ousy for God's honor and glory and praise, that would
make them check any knowledge for good, which
comes to any man or women. They are proud of
their sect, not because it is doing good to mankind,
but because it is theirs. This, we think, has been the
evil which has retarded all knowledge and all good.

REFLECTIONS. 123
Christ, in His grand life, set the example that His
ministers should follow. Kill self in your efforts to
advance His religion and to do good in the world.
Be able to act and say of another who is advancing
Christ's religion that " He must increase, but I must
decrease." These were the words which John the
Baptist was able to speak, when he spoke of Christ
and of himself. If it is Christ you are working for,
and not for yourself, then you would be able to say
this of yourself.
We have read that science says that the present
formation of the earth, where Noah's flood was sup
posed to have taken place, shows that the flood was
impossible. It could not have been a very deep
thinker who said this, for if Science tells us that they
can tell where mountains of ice have changed the
formation of the land, such a flood as in Noah's time
undoubtedly would change the formation of the
land. The retreating of such a mass of water
would carry all dead matter with it to the sea, and
earth and stone. However, we know nothing of
science, we only give you our thoughts.
THE CHURCH.
In a review we have read a few words on ' The
Future of Christianity," by Mr. W. M. Salter. We
agree with him that the Churches do not understand
their Master. We are surprised to learn that liberal

124 REFLECTIONS.
Christians think it a great achievement to discover
that Jesus was a man ; but there is no special value or
inspiration in this discovery. From our very young
days we understood the double nature of Jesus and
the great value of his being a man like unto us, able
to understand us, to feel for us, to know by being like
us how to teach us to know God. Through His other
nature, the strong, pure, Spirit of God, divine be
cause of God, and by being divine, he was able to
lead our souls to God. We do not think that Jesus
would ever punish or abase, or put evil men in
chains. By his searching questions he would make
us use our own minds and thoughts ; and they,
aroused by him, would punish and abase us and put
evil men in the chains of their own conscience.
Jesus came to this world for evil men, for proud
persons, for wickedness of all sort ; for it was with
such persons that he passed his days, doing his
Father's will, wakening the soul so imprisoned
within the body, which has descended from Satan.
N ot until the soul of each person conquers his body
can the true religion stand ; it is not out in the
world, it is within each one of us that the battle goes
on. Ah ! yes, the people must understand that
justice to others, and not all for self, is the true
religion.

REFLECTIONS. 125
ST. PAUL.
Can it be believed (and yet it is true) that in these
days a man in his sermon, in a church full of
women, has said to them, "St. Paul .has told us
how a woman should be adorned ?" The women to
whom this was strictly addressed were dressed in
the deepest of black mourning, they did not have
braided hair, were sober, had no gold, or pearls, or
costly array. They did all the good work of the
church in which the sermon was preached. These,
aud other women, have all their lives learned in
" all subjection," and though St. Paul has said, " r
suffer not a woman to teach," yet women in these
days teach both boys and girls in the Church schools.
Now, let us say a few words concerning this mis
taken idea about women, and show, if we can, what
the Church has lost in throwing this yoke on the
women. Any reasonable person would understand that the
women to whom Paul addressed these words were
largely different from the women who in these days
fill the Churches. . Also, Paul says, " I suffer not a
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence." This is no command
from Christ ; every word uttered or written by Paul
is not inspired, nor does he in his Epistles say that
they are so. He frequently says they are bis own

126 REFLECTIONS.
words and thoughts ; for he said, " But I speak this
by permission, and not of commandment."
Paul says women should adorn themselves with
shamefacedness. Now, we think that there is but one
reason why women, also men, should show shame
in their faces, and that kind of men and women do
not fill the Churches ; yet these sayings of Paul are
thrown at all women, and are a yoke of great unjust-
ness. Now, Paul sa} _, " I suffer not a woman to teach."
We have shown you, in our chapter on the women
of the Bible, that Christ gave to men by women some
of IR&most precious teachings. '¦ I know that Messiah
cometh, and that he will tell us all things." Christ's
answer to the woman was, " I that speak unto thee
am He," also to the woman at the sepulchre, " Go,
and tell my disciples (men) that I am risen, and will
meet them."
Paul also writes about widows, " The younger
widows will marry, they learn to be idle, wandering
about from house to house, tattlers also, busybodies,
speaking things which they ought not ; some are
already turned aside after Satan, having damnation,
because the}'- have cast off their first faith."
Now, it is to save all women from living such lives
as this, that in these days we are giving the young
women college educations, so that they, also, can

REFLECTIONS. 127
have professions and honorable occupations ; and
a State, governed by women, — above all, unmarried
women, — would truly save them from having dam
nation and turning aside after Satan.
The word " Satan " we have tried to show you in
our chapter on the Origin of Sin, means our flesh and
blood bodies. What Paul meant by the word we do
not know, but he plainly gives his reason for say
ing that, " woman should be silent and in all subjec
tion ," and here it is : " For Adam was first formed,
then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived, was in the transgression."
These are decidedly not inspired words, for we read
in our Bible, Eve gave, the fruit to Adam, and he did
eat. Adam, therefore, was in the transgression also.
Paul says women will be saved by child-bearing.
Does he mean that all unmarried women will be
lost, because they are not mothers ? We see much
more in Paul's own words which we think were in
spired ; for the child born to save us was Christ,
and that is the saving child-bearing.
We have tried to show you what the story of
Adam and Eve means to our mind. Paul believed
the story aux pied de la lettre, and takes pride in the
fact that Adam was first formed, then Eve. In these
days of belief in evolution it is the other way. If

128 REFLECTIONS.
Eve evolved from Adam, she was higher than man
in the plane.
Now, we hope that we shall not be very much cen
sured for what we have written about St. Paul ; he
was not an eye-witness to the life of Christ. We pre
fer, as we have said before, to study the words of
Christ as given by his disciples ; they give them with
very few comments, and it is for us to study their
meanings within our own minds. Paul was a con
vert, so are we. We know that he was a learned man
and a great scholar for his day. The story of his
conversion may be true to the letter, and it may be
figurative. It certainly can be taken figuratively, —
the blindness of his mind ; the sudden light come
to his understanding ; the three days of reasoning
thought. However, we do not say that this is so.
Paul was a convert to belief in Christ, and sincere
as his Epistles show.
Paul entered every house in Jerusalem, and haling
men and women committed them to prison, and went
to Damascus with letters to the synagogues, to bind
all who believed in Christ, whether they were men
or women. Why was Paul so bitter against women ?
These Christian woman must have had great power
in teaching others to believe in Christ, otherwise they
would not have been cast into prison. Why does the
Church, which palls itself the Church of Christ,

REFLECTIONS. 129
believe Paul rather than Christ, and throw a heavy
yoke upon its women, and without its women in these
days, where and what would the Church be ? Had
not the yoke made by Paul been placed on women,
the Church of Christ would have spread and grown
over all the land.
It would be saying very little for Christianity if
the women of these days were no more advanced
than the women of Paul's time. In this same
Church a woman had given the organ, another had
given the Rectory and Sunday School. It is Paul
who tells us to take the whole armor of God, the
breast-plate, the shield, the darts, the helmet, the
sword. All this is figurative. The story of his con
version may be the same.
And now, let us speak for ourself . We believe all
things possible to God. We believe we cannot know
God but through the life and teachings of Christ. No
one who has ever lived on this earth do we wish to
see more fhan Christ. If we are with him hereafter,
we know it will be heaven.
A BELIEF IN HELL.
" They say the orthodox doctrine of hell is a tradi
tional abstraction and refuse to regard it as an
evangel. That it is intellectually inconceivable and
morally dangerous. That it is alike incredible to
the mind and intolerable to the heart. They
say it is the outcome of human cruelty and revenge
and wrong, and not of divine mercy, charity and

130 REFLECTIONS.
justice. That it is one of the results of the evil influ-
ence of priestly ambition and hierarchic greed upon
the sad docility of ignorance and superstition. That
it is of the milk of human kindness turned sour.
That it is wholly inconsistent with the gentle and
tolerant character of Christianity's founder, with
the pitying love of that great arbiter who said to the
adulteress, " Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin
no more." That it debases the character of man
and is a blasphemous representation of that of God.
That not even a Nero or a Phalaris could look with
complacency upon millions in eternal anguish on ac
count pf some ancestral crime pr some metaphysi
cal mistake. That the sweet love of Him whose ten
der mercies are over all his works is not to be discov
ered in burning coals. That if it be true that God
is a father, nay, the best of fathers, hell is a moral
impossibility. That it makes men callous or drives
them mad. That it paralyzes the best, the emo
tional part of humanity. That it destroys the pos
sibility of happiness for those in heaven and for those
on earth." — The Nineteenth Century.
Come, my soul, and you and I find out for our
selves, what we think is right or wrong in the above.
Hell does not mean the same thing in everyone's
mind. " He descended into hell, " says the Apostles'
Creed, meaning the place of departed spirits.
Hell — Dante's Inferno — is a place wholly invented
and conceived in the mind of man. Dante's time,.
and those who in Dante's time.taught him and oth
ers to invent the greatest cruelties to inflict upon
their enemies, calling all those their enemies who
dared to think on any subject independently of the

REFLECTIONS. 131
world's thoughts in those days. Could airy savage '
race think out greater cruelties and tortures than we
find in Dante's Inferno ? Did they not tremble to
say that these things are of God, when they so plain
ly bear the mark of Satan (Sin) within their own
hearts, conceived there.
Now, my soul, Is there an}' punishment for sin ?
We look round in the world and see that sin sooner
or later brings punishment here, therefore we think
it brings punishment hereafter. If we read the
words of Jesus, and if the translation gives us the
true English meaning, then He has told us that
there is a future punishment. The natural result of
sin we do not know ; we can only surmise what the
punishment is or will be. We have thought it may
be the full realization — to see, to feel, the full extent
and lasting effects of the evil we have caused in the
world for others, either to their souls or bodies, and
that not as we see it, but as God sees it.
And now, my soul, let me ask you, why, when
these words are ever quoted, " Neither do I condemn
thee, go and sin no more," that never but half of
what Jesus then said is quoted ? and why is it always
the adultress, the woman, whose example is brought
up, and not the many adulterers, the many men to
whom Jesus addressed himself ? The woman was
simply a means used by these Scribes and Pharisees

132 REFLECTIONS.
to tempt Jesus into saying something by which they
might accuse him. And this is the answer Jesus
gives them : " He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her." We are told that
every man present, from the eldest to the last, left
without casting a stone at her.. We are told that
they were '' convicted by their own consciences."
This lesson, given by Jesus, is given to the men; and
we understand what he says to the women to mean
this : that she was not wholly to bear the blame and
punishment of the sin ; every man present was as sin
ful as she, — and they knew it was so. And this is one
of those occasions when Jesus so clearly proves His
Divine nature. He at once saw and knew the secret
lives of each man present, — their reason for bring
ing this woman into the crowded temple, where
Jesus was teaching the people, and His telling them
if they had not ^sinned to cast a stone at her, was
spoken so that all could hear. But, at the same time,
Jesus had the power over their consciences. He made
them think and he made them feel, that He knew
their secret lives. This was so, otherwise they would
not have left, from the eldest to the last. It seems
strange that they did not realize that He was the
Son of God.
Now, my soul, why is the woman, because a
woman, spoken of in this account, and never these

REFLECTIONS. 133
men. It was the men who were convicted. The
woman speaks not a word in her own defense^ and
Jesus tells her to go and sin no more.
THE FAILURE TO MARRY.
" The failure of young men to marry has com
pelled hundreds of thousands of young women to
earn an independent living. All honor to the girls
who work ; but the Divine plan was that men should
be the bread-earners and that women should be the
center of homes. Whenever such a fundamental
law of society as this is violated retribution is inevi
table. There are to-day upward of 2,000,000 women
in the United States who make a living by profes
sional and personal services, such as the practice of
law and medicine, the teaching of music and art
work, clerical service of one sort or another in gov
ernment and other offices, quite apart from the army
of young women who serve in stores and toil at
mechanical labor. No one who can look back over
a generation of time has failed to observe the extent
to which women have become independent bread-
earners within comparatively recent years, and par
ticularly in those avenues which education and re
fined habits of life have opened up. It is, in fact, a
grave social problem where this thing will end.
"It would seem that this, among other causes, is
accomplishing the purpose which Malthus aimed to
teach ; for the inexorable conclusions of the statis
tician show that the American and Canadian family
is steadily growing smaller. If the average number
per family had been as great in 1890 as in i860,
there would have been 6,000,000 people in the
United States and 430,000 in Canada above what the
recent censuses revealed. This is a fact of far-reach
ing importance, and applies its force in other direc
tions than the subject of this article.

134 REFLECTIONS.
" Is there a remedy ? Certainly there is none
which can be easily and readily applied. Two hun
dred years ago, guided largely by the Jesuits, . the
zealous King Louis of France, made stern laws for
the government of this young colony in respect to
marriage. He decreed that every father having a
son eighteen years of age, or a daughter of fifteen,
should be held accountable to the state if they were
not married." — John Lambert Payne, in Ladies' Home
Journal. PROGRESSIVE TAX ON BACHELORS.
"The bill for staying the depopulation of France
which M. Le Roy is preparing to lay before the
Chamber, is by no means a laughing matter, as the
French bachelor of the future may discover. For
among its provisions is a proposal to put a progres
sive tax upon bachelors, while, on the other hand,
Greating a sliding scale of taxation, to be reduced in
proportion to the number of children in a family.
M. Le Roy proposes to follow English law in
reducing the legal age at which a man becomes his
own master to twenty-one, and in giving a woman
the right of compelling the father of her illegitimate
child to recognize and provide for his offspring. It
was none too soon that this last provision became
.French law as well as English law, but M. Le Roy
goes a long step further when he proposes to render
a husband committing adultery liable to imprison
ment. We confess we should not have thought
France to be the most favorable country for that
experiment.", — Pall Mall Gazette.
We would say one word about this Divine plan, by
Mr. John Lambert Payne. First, what proof can he
give that it is God's command that men should earn
the bread and women take care of a home for a

EEFLECTIONS. 135
man's comfort ? We are an old student of the Bible
and we see no such command. We see this, a woman
Whose value is far above rubies, and when we look to
see why she is called so, here is what we find; " She
worketh willingly with her hands ; she buyeth a field,
she planteth a vineyard ; she perceiveth that mer
chandise is good ; she maketh fine linen and selleth
it ; she openeth her mouth with wisdom." And we
also see this : " Give her of the fruit of her hands and
let her own works praise her in the gates."
There is no danger that children will not be born
into this world. When we speak of things as being
Divine, it is best to speak the truth, even if the
truth is hard to speak ; so, if the illegitimate children
were kept alive, and educated by their parents equal
to the parents' education, the world would be as
crowded as some persons wish it to be, but also a
little better off, if these children were educated, than
it is now.
Are the Eastern overcrowded countries the most
prosperous ?
France wishes many children born, as she must
have a standing army, so that they swell the army
and make food for the cannon ; that is all she cares
about it. Undoubtedly she has lost in not caring for
those children to keep them alive. Do you suppose
that there is one man in France who is not the father

136) REFLECTIONS;
of one or more children, or who was not so, for the
children may ail be dead.
Are women to be nothing but mothers of children
for all men ? or, if they refuse to be so, unless law
fully married, are they to starve ? The Divine has
taken compassion on the long-suffering virtuous
women, and opened a way for them to make a living
equal to man's.

BOOK V.

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ri37l

' A sacred burden is the life ye bear ;
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly";
Stand up, and walk beneath it steadfastly ;
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin : —
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win.
God guard ye, and God guide ye on your way,
Young pilgrim warriors who set forth to-day."
[138]

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

There is no religion on this earth more easy to
comprehend than the Christian religion, and none
more difficult to practice. What is more difiicult than
to conquer self ? The greatest conquerors of the
ages, if they ruled not their own spirits, lacked the
noblest courage to which the human soul can attain.
"He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that tak-
eth a city."
Ask the oldest living Christian whom you know if
she has indeed conquered self. Her intimate friends
those most closely associated with her in her dajly
life, may feel sure that hers is a spirit under the per
fect control of religious principles, so truly does she
exemplify the teachings and spirit of the Divine Mas
ter. Ask her : and in the clear light which shines
in her soul, bringing out in her thought ideals far
beyond the conception of most minds, she will see
some lack, some failure, unknown to those about
her. Some sudden trial to temper or feeling comes
up, and she is hurt — grieved, if not angry. Self is
there, and its demands are felt.'

140 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
How was it with the Master ? Did He weep for
Himself ? No; He wept for the sufferings of others.
He wept over Jerusalem. He wept for those who
would not receive Him, and who had no heart to
weep for themselves in their ignorance and perver
sity. The hurt in his soul was for the sins of the
world. Who can attain to this standard ? Who can,
like Him, so forget self as to feel most of all
the hurt of others in her soul ? There are some
who come very near to this standard of Jesus, but
their number is small ; and with most persons, even
though they be professing Christians, self stands
first and clamors for its rights.
The struggle to conquer self is lifelong. The
Christian religion always puts others first, self sec
ond. Who is able to do this in her inmost heart, in
her interior life, which is visible only to the eye of
the Infinite ? Who is able to say to herself, " Let
them increase ; I will decrease ?" Who is willing
and ready to help others at a certain loss to herself ?
We must ask ourselves, as Christ asked once, "Are
we able ?" No earthly reward will be ours ; no mir
acle will turn away from us the evil which will
come to us in giving such good to others. But the
evil, or the loss, is only such in seeming. To hu
man vision, clouded by present earthly conditions,
it is evil, or it is loss. But seen from the higher lev-

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 141
els of spiritual life, from a heavenly standpoint, the
evil is good, veiled only from mortal sense ; it is
gain, and not loss ; it is life, and not death. It is but
giving up the shadow, that the real may be ours.
"Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink
of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with ?" This was the searching question
addressed to James and John and their mother by
the Divine Teacher, when asked by her that they
might sit, the one on His right hand, and the otlier
on the left, in His kingdom. But first He said : "Ye
know not what ye ask." The cup of which He was
to drink was great sorrow and death; the baptism
that He was baptized with was the baptism of the
Holy Spirit of God.
To his question they answered, " We are able."
Their idea of his kingdom was that of an earthly
kingdom. They believed He would establish Him
self as an earthly king, and they asked for earthly
honor, that they might be placed above others.
They did not understand Jesus nor his mission.
The mother, it is true, asked this for her sons, not
for herself personally. But they were her sons ; self,
therefore, prompted her wish ; the two sons asked
for self alone.
Jesus tells them that they will indeed drink of
sorrow and death, and be baptized with the Holy

142 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
Spirit. But they do not, and cannot understand
Him. He tells them that what they ask for is not
His to give ; " but it shall be given to them for
whom it is prepared of my Father. "
Then Jesus tells them what his religion is : " Who
soever will be great among you, let him be your
minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you,
let him be your servant : even as the Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and
to give his life a ransom for many."
Jesus here speaks of Himself in his human nature.
He is the son of mankind, the son of Mary ; his
divine nature He received from God.
In the above He gives a summary of the Christian
religion. As a human being He came to minister ;
to give, not to receive ; to give even his earthly life ;
to die in his human nature ; and, by so doing, He
was, and is, a ransom for those who accept Him
and follow Him.
But even yet his disciples did not understand Him.
They rebuked the blind men who cried out to Jesus
as he passed : " Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou
Son of David ! " What a lesson did the Divine
Master teach his disciples then. The blind men
asked that their eyes might be opened, and He
gave them their sight, thus carrying out, as He

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 143
ever did, in deeds of mercy, the holy meaning of
his words.
He gave but did not receive. How far below his
standard is that of the world, — even of those who
profess to follow Him. Where do we find a love so
perfect as His, a love in which self is so entirely laid
aside ; a love so broad as to take into its tender
ministry every created thing ? We look in vain for
it. We inherit, on the animal side of our nature,
the instinct of self-preservation, and we find it
almost impossible to overcome this. Christ possessed
full power to protect Himself from all harm, but He
did not use that power. He came in the flesh and
lived a life on earth that He might be an example
for all, that He might light the way through a
world of darkness, so that mankind, till then so
feebly groping through the shadows, might find
the way to God. He came to free us from the
bondage of self, and to bring us into the true liberty
of the sons of God. Why do we find it so hard to
follow Him closely ? Because we are bound to self
and sin. Only by receiving Christ's spirit in our
souls and becoming like Him in meekness and low
liness of heart, in purity of life, and self-sacrificing
ministry to others, can we break away from this
bondage, and rejoice in the freedom of his truth.
Only thus can we live as He lived, and give as He

144 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
gave. Only thus can we grow into that oneness with
Jesus and the Father, which reveals the beauty and
harmony of living, and which alone can hold us fast
in that "peace which passeth understanding." The
poet felt the truth of this when he penned the follow
ing lines : THE STATUE IN CLAY.
" Make me a statue," said the King,
" Of marble, white as snow :
It must be pure enough to stand
Before my throne, at my right hand ;
The niche is waiting — go."
The sculptor heard the King's command,
And went upon his way :
He had no marble, but he went
With willing hands and high intent,
To mould his thoughts in clay.
Day after day he wrought the clay,
But knew not what he wrought ;
He sought the help of heart and brain,
But could not make the riddle plain,
It lay beyond his thought.
To-day the statue seemed to grow,
To-morrow it stood still,
The third day all was well again :
Thus, year by year, in joy and pain,
¦' He wrought his Master's will.

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 145
At last his lifelong work was done —
It was a happy day :
He took his statue to the King.
But trembled like a guilty thing,
Because it was but clay.
" Where is my statue ? " asked the King;
" Here, Lord, " the sculptor said.
" But I commanded marble :" " True ;
But lacking that what could I do,
But mould in clay instead ?"
" Thou shalt not unrewarded go,
Since thou hast done thy best
Thy statue shall acceptance win ;
It shall be as it should have been.
For I will do the rest."
He touched the statue, and it changed —
The clay falls off, and lo !
A marble shape before him stands,
The perfect work of heavenly hands.
An angel, pure as snow !

BOOK VI.
JESUS CHRIST

I"i47]

JESUS CHRIST.

Jesus the Christ, human and divine, stands out in
history the one perfect character, the example for
all mankind, showing the possibilities of human
nature, when linked with the Divine. " Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
Heaven is perfect." This is his command to us.
We can be perfect within our mortal limitations, if
we will strive for perfection, take Jesus for our
guide and our example, follow Him closely, learn of
Him, and become like Him. Christ, the only-
begotten Son of the Father, came and dwelt in the
flesh, that we might, through Him, by becoming
like Him, receive " the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father," and are made " joint heirs
with Christ."
If we give up, or lose, the influence of Christ, the
reality of Christianity, what will be left to us ? We
must then go back to the God of the Jews.
" An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth " ; fierce
battles, where men, women and children were to be
[H9]

150 JESUS CHRIST.
put to death; vengeance on all who offend ; cruel
deaths. It is only by Christ that we know of the
God oi great mercy, of all that is gentle, loving and
kind, of all hope and bliss for us hereafter ; it is
only through Him that peace can be ours, even on
this earth, — this earth, which the Bible so distinctly
tells us is Satan's. Satan himself says that all the
power and glory of this world are his ; and he says
this to Christ, who does not say that it is not so.
On the contrary, Christ says, "I am not of this
world." (John viii. 23.) He says, " Ye are from be
neath ; I am from above." Christ's human nature
had nothing of man's human nature in it. He was
born of a pure virgin, thus possessing not what he
would have inherited from a human father. The pure
gentle nature of the woman alone gave the human
nature in the body of flesh and blood in which
Christ dwelt when on this earth. Read in the New
Testament for yourself the story, of the birth of
Christ. Therefore, in the feast of the Passover, which
Christ kept with his disciples, He, says the bread
and wine are his body, which He gives for them
and for us. The human body is kept alive by bread
and wine, is made of bread and wine. In other
words, food and drink make the human body. It
was this human body which Christ gave for us in

Jesus chris*. 151
his death on the cross, and the memory of which we
keep in our minds and nearts by the Communion
in our churches.
We must seek to understand what Christ meant.
Eating his flesh and drinking his blood is living in
our human bodies, as he lived in His ; ruling our
bodies as he ruled His body : for we must not forget
that Christ was tempted as we are, and that He
conquered in the flesh. Let whoever reads , this
have her Testament near her, and refer to it, if she
doubts these words. Christ came to this earth to
live in a body like ours, to show us the only way back
to Heaven, the only path to purity and bliss. Our
obedience in receiving the Communion of Christ is
blessed to us according as we receive it. What his
human body lived on, we live on — bread and wine,
or food and drink ; food for the body which it not
food for the mind or soul. " Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word of God." Here,
then, is the true bread of the true life. This bread
Christ gave us, and the life is life eternal. In those
days they did not understand the spiritual life ; the
natural life was all that they understood, so that
they could not receive Christ's spiritual teachings
unless he gave them an earthly type.
Christ knew mankind, and He kept the Passover
with them, because mankind forgets unless con-

15_ Jesus christ.
stantly reminded. One generation must remind the
next generation, that Christ be not forgotten until
his coming again. Therefore, as the Passover was
not .forgotten, we must, by the Communion of
Christ, remember that God has opened the way back
to Heaven through Christ ; that is, by his life here,
which we must follow ; his death, which we must
believe ; and his resurrection, which he has promised
to us.
Christ's body '' saw no corruption ;" it was too
holy to be given to this earth as our bodies are
given. We know that " all things are possible to
God," and it makes little difference to us whether
the earthly body rises to life again after death or
not. Of one thing we may be certain: that, at the
death of the human body, the spirit lives. At the
moment of the death of the body — which, when
buried is sown a corruptible body, — the soul is'
raised from this earth a spiritual body. Firm, calm,
positive, is the assurance which comes from within,
which comes from experience, which yet cannot be
put into earthly speech, that this is so. And may
it not be that, at the death of the body of clay, we
leave behind much of the evil, resulting from the
life in that body ? Not that we are fit for Heaven
without more progress in holiness, but that the evils
which existed in the body, and were faithfully

Jesus Christ. 153
fought by the spirit, die with the body of clay, so
that our spirits at death are freed from those sins
which tormented us here. The sinful body is left
behind, and from it the soul rises clothed with a
spiritual body; but this can only be to those who are
Christ's, to those who strive to follow Him. If the
soul loves and seeks after evil, then evil and sin
must follow it into the world to come. That every
Soul continues to live after death must be a fact,
even though it be only a spark, only a stunted soul
— for what is of God cannot die. When the de
scendants of Satan- sought after God, they received
this soul by the breath of God. The breath leaves
the body of clay at the moment of death. This
breath is the passing of the soul.
The knowledge that the soul lives after the death
of the body comes from interior perception, and
cannot be passed from one mind to another. Each
soul must gain this knowledge from its own experi
ence. I — my Soul — struggle with my body of clay.
We are enemies one of the other — my carnal, animal
body, a child of Satan, with all the sins inherited
from Satan, and my soul, as it grows to know God
by Christ. The battle becomes more fierce between
them; it will never end until the last day of my
body's life, when my soul will be free forever.
We have but one way to return, to Heaven, and

154 JESUS CHRIST.
that way is Christ's way. All who wish to know.
that way can find it in the Testament of Christ. He
has told us to ask, in his name, for the kuowledge
of these things, and He has told us that we shall
receive that knowledge.
" Thou art not far from the kingdom of God,"
said Christ to the scribe who had questioned Him
concerning the first commandment of all. To his
question the Heavenly Teacher had replied : " The
first is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord
is one; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and with all thy strength. The second is
this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
There is no commandment greater than these.
And the scribe said unto Him : "Of a truth, Master,
thou hast well said that He is one; and there is
none other but He ; and to love Him with all the
heart, and with all the understanding, and "with all
the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is
much more than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that He an
swered discreetly, He said unto him, " Thou art
not far from the kingdom of God."
" There is one God." Christ here quotes from
the Old Testament, thus sealing its truth. We have
one god, and by the Trinity we mean one God ; for

JESOS CHRIST. 155
in Christ we have God's spoken Word, and it is the
only way that we could hear God's Word. The Spirit,
God in Christ, which returned to the Father at the-'
death of the earthly body of Christ on this earth, is
God. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God in our
souls, sent after the death of Christ to dwell in us,,
and this is our soul, mind, conscience, our inward
self, — God in us. This Spirit is from God. There
fore God is one, as the sun in the sky is one. The
body of the sun, into which no human eye can look,
unless guarded by a shade of some sort ; the heat
of the sun, which we feel, but cannot understand ;
and the light of the sun, which we see, and cannot
understand ; these are three things and they are
one. We cannot separate them one from another,
nor can we understand them, how they are made, or
how they all three are one. So it seems that God
Christ and the Holy Ghost, are three in a certain
sense, and yet one. We are sometimes said to have
three Gods by those who do not understand the
doctrine, but this is false.
The kingdom of God we know is within us, if we
love God ; and we are to love him with all the heart
and strength and mind. No one else, and nothing
else, is to be loved more than God. The word love
should be used only to express our feelings towards
God, Affection or liking is strong enough for

156 Jesus christ.
earthly objects. We are to love God with our soul.
The soul only can love God, as it came from God.
And we are to love Him with our mind and with
strength,— the scribe said, " with all the understand
ing." This understanding God, which is worth more
than offerings, is what we all should strive to attain.
If we understand Him, and understand Him in Christ,
we cannot but love Him with mind, soul, and
strength. Having attained this, we shall find our
selves " not far from the kingdom of God." Search
the Bible, and try to understand God in Christ.
The word love for one's neighbor must not be taken
for the same thing as love for God. We are to regard
our neighbor, think of our neighbor, as of ourselves.
We do not love ourselves as we love God. Those
who know themselves could never do this. The
word, therefore, is translated wrong. It must mean,
do for thy neighbor, think of thy neighbor, as for
thyself, — a hard enough thing for one truly to do.
How can we find out God ? " Canst thou by
searching find out God ? (Job ix. 7.) Many think
that they find God in nature; but nature teaches us
that the end of all that is on this earth is death.
From the lowest herb to the highest tree, from the
smallest insect to the strongest animal, all decay and
die and vanish away.
Is death, then, your God ? Some tell us that they

JESUS CHRIST. 157
find God in the heavens. True, the sun, the moon,
the stars, all declare Him, for they are the work of
His hands, but do you find God there ? The savage
finds his god in the sun and moon and stars.
Where, then, can we find God ? Only in His
spoken Word, — the message that God Himself sent
to this world by the only way that we could receive
it, by the only way that we were able to bear it. For
no one can see God and live.
The Word, therefore, was God. God was not the
body of flesh and blood in which Christ dwelt when
on this earth ; He very plainly says so Himself.
" Why callest thou Me good ? None is good, save
one, even God." The young man who called Christ
" Good Master " was addressing Christ as a human
being, a man like himself. He was not addressing
the Word which was in Christ, and the Word was
God. Christ tells us to believe the works which He
did. " The works which I do in my Father's name,
they bear witness of Me. Though ye believe not
Me, believe the works ; that ye may know, and be
lieve, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
In no place do we find that Christ told His follow
ers that they were to worship Him ; He told them to
worship God. Up to His time there had been no one
in whose name they could ask of God ; but He told
them that after the death of His earthly body they

158 JESUS CHRIST.
were to ask in His name, because the Word, God's
Holy Spirit, dwelt in Christ.
" Verily, I say unto you, All their sins shall be
forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphem
ies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme : but who
soever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath
never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin :
because they said, He hath an unclean Spirit." The
Word in Christ was God — the Holy Spirit of God
which cannot die. The earthly body of Christ died,
but having held the Holy Spirit of God, it could not
mix with this earth of sin, and God took it and gave
it the life in which the apostles saw Christ again
after His death.
If any one could say that God was Satan, how
could that soul ever enter Heaven, from which Satan
fell ? Eternal damnation is never to be with God in
Heaven. As for the punishment, we are our own
punishment, both here and hereafter.
The punishment to which the Scriptures refer is,
doubtless, the full realization of our sins, and all the
loss and suffering they have brought upon ourselves
and others. We shall see and feel the full extent
and lasting effects of the evil we have caused in the
world for others, either to their souls or bodies, and
we shall see it as God sees it.
<« How did Jesus regard earthly things, as concern-

JESUS CHRIST. 159
ing Himself, when on this earth? He came not to
enjoy the pleasures, or even the comforts of this
earthly life. He put them all aside of His own free
choice; for His mission here was one of privation
and suffering that the world might be saved from
its ignorance and sin, that through Him mankind
might be truly blessed.
" Jesus answered : My kingdom is not of this
world. If my kingdom were of this world then
would my servants fight."
" Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the
inheritance with me. And Jesus said: Man, who
.made me a judge or divider over you ?"
" Martha said, Lord, dost thou not care that my
sister did leave me to serve alone ? Jesus answered:
Thou art anxious and troubled about many things.
Mary hath chosen the good part."
" The Son of man hath not where to lay his head —
no earthly home."
"When Jesus perceived that they would make
Him a king by force, He departed into a mountain
alone." " Concerning the tribute money, Jesus said : ' Why
tempt ye me ? Render unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.' "
It has been said that "Jesus the Christ did not
make use of or deal with problems of civil govern-

160 JKSUS CHRIST.
ment or material progress." Yet it was He who
said, "Render to Cassar the things which are Caesar's,"
as well as " Render to God the things which are
God's." He also bade His disciples to pay the tax
(Matt. xvii. 25). He also said, " The Scribes and
the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat : all things there
fore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe."
At the same time He condemned these lawgivers
and lawmakers individually, saying, " But do not ye
after their works, for they say and do not " (Matt.
xxiii. 1-3).
It has also been said that " Christ formulated no
system of theology, constructed no creed, origin
ated no plan for the preservation and dispensation
of His own teachings : that He was not a scientist,
philosopher or an inventor ; that He sanctioned no
particular system of education ; that He expressed
no opinion upon the burning questions of the day."
Theology. — "Jesus said, Ye do err, ^ not knowing
the Scriptures." "Did ye never read in the Scrip
tures, The stone which the builders rejected, the
same was made the head of the corner ; this is the
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"
" Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye
have eternal life, and they are they which testify of
me; and ye will not come to me that ye might haye
life " (John v. 30).

JESUS CHRIST. 161
"And the Scripture cannot be broken " (John x. 35).
Creed. — Jesus said, " For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have eter
nal life " (John iii. 16).
Did Christ indeed make no plan for the dispen
sation of His own teachings ? Let us see. Jesus
sent forth His disciples by two and two, to preach
the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. " When
they persecute you in this city, flee into the next."
" What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the
light : and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon
the housetops." And 1 the disciples departed and
went throughout the villages, preaching the gospel.
Read Christ's last words to his disciples, when He
met them by 'appointment in the mountain, before
his ascension. " All authority hath been given unto
me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
into the name of the Father, and of the son, and of
the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I commanded you : and lo, I am with
you alway even unto the end of the world."
It has been said that Jesus was not a scientist,
philosopher or inventor. But science, philosophy,
invention, all belong to God ; and it was only after
men began to seek after God, that they began to

162 JESUS CHRIST.
think in any of these lines. Christ's teachings were
drawn largely from nature. The lilies of the field,
the vine and the grapes, the unfruitful fig-tree, the
harvest-time, sowing and reaping, the falling
sparrow, the tokens of the sky at morning and at
eve, the various phenomena of nature on earth and
in the heavens ; all these were made object lessons
to convey his truth to mankind. Nor did he fail to
draw subjects of thought from the various avoca
tions of life. Mercantile pursuits, the various trades
and the learned professions, were all represented iu
his discourses, and each yielded some point with
which to fasten his teachings in the mind and
understanding of his hearers.
Education. — Jesus said, " Suffer the little children
to come unto me, and forbid them .not." Christ
came to teach. He continually taught by word and
example, and constantly made known to his hearers
the importance of searching the Scriptures.
Christ in none of his teachings favors ignorance.
The questions he puts to his hearers are all designed
to make them think for themselves. He tells them
that they will have more light, increased power to
Lhink within themselves, when He leaves the body ;
for the Holy Spirit will be sent to them, and they
will then better understand what He lias told them.
It is his will that we shall go onward in all knowl-

JESUS CHRIST. 163
edge, and that the light in us shall increase unto
the perfect day.
The Questions of the Day. — In truth, Christ con
tinually rebuked the prevailing selfishness, hypoc
risy and self-righteousness of the people around
Him. He went to the roots of men's lives. He laid
bare the hidden motives and mainsprings of action,
and spoke as no man dared to speak to those in high
places. Continually was he speaking on the ques
tions of those days ; and such is the breadth and
universality of his principles, such the broad, deep
foundation of the religion which he established, that
to-day He is the only safe and sure Guide and
Teacher in all matters pertaining to the welfare
and true prosperity of mankind ; and the only safe
and true Leader for individuals and for nations.
On every burning question of our day He speaks,
through his teachings given almost nineteen hun
dred years ago, and also through the " still, small
voice " of His Spirit, the Holy Comforter, which
utters its counsel tcevery pure and listening soul.
If we are linked to the Divine Spirit in purity of
heart and life, and unselfish love to all God's
creatures, then can we drink freely of the waters of
Truth, which shall be no longer to our thirsting
souls a sealed fountain, but shall be in us " a well of
water, springing up into eternal life."

164

JESUS CHRIST.

Strive, then, to understand Jesus Christ's words
for yourself. Do not be bound to what others have
told you ; that is only a help. Ask God to help you,
be independent of your fellow mortals, and when
you see clearly yourself, help others to see clearly
also. We cannot see God and live. It is only through
Christ's human nature that we can see his divine
nature. He came to human beings, not to angels.
Neither his disciples, nor we of the present day,
could have understood God's message to us, had He
come only as divine. We are not divine, but
human, very gross, and dull, and slow to under
stand divine things. The birth of Christ was of a
double nature, — human through his mother, divine
through the Holy Ghost. He was perfect man in
all things like ourselves, and taught us, by his •
example, that mankind can live without sin ; if we
cannot in our human strength, we can by the help
of the Holy Spirit. The death of Christ belonged
only to his human nature ; his body died and was
buried, but the Divine Spirit could not permit that
the body it had inhabited should ever see corrup
tion. We did not know God in his mercy, until we
knew him through Christ. He came to us in Christ,
to show us what it is possible for human nature to
be. Study Jesus' character from every standpoint.

JESUS CHRIST. 165
and you will find what it is possible for you to be ;
you will learn how to attain to a higher standard
than you have been able yet to reach ; you will learn
to know, and to love, and to do God's will, and how
to gain all good for yourself, and bestow blessings
on those around you. Christ performed his works,
which we call miracles, by the power of God within
Him. " The Father abiding in me doeth his works."
Miracles are not performed by breaking any of God's
laws. They are done by bringing into 'requisition
laws wholly unknown to us. Christ knew those laws,
and worked by them, healing the sick, raising the
dead, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the.
deaf. He fed the hungering multitudes, and walked
upon the sea, and stilled the tempest — not in
opposition to nature's laws, but in perfect harmony
with her higher laws, of which we as yet know
nothing. Although we are coming to understand
many things which were unknown to our fathers,
yet are we still but little children in the knowledge
of the laws of God. Do you \.now how, in the spring
of the year, the sap of the tree runs up to the
branches, and forms the leaves and blossoms ? What
makes it run up, notwithstanding the law of gravita
tion ? And what makes the sap turn into a leaf or a
flower ? You see it, so you believe it, but you cannot
explain it. What is the sap in the tree, and where

166 JESUS CHRIST.
does it come from ? You see the sun rise, you see
the sun set. You are told by astronomers that it
does nothing of the kind. They give their reasons
for their assertions, and you believe them, although
the sun seems to approach, cross the heavens, and
sink from view. The earth seems to you stationary,
yet you believe them when they tell you that it
moves at an astonishing rate of speed. Why, then,
doubt the miracles of Christ, which were wrought
in accordance with laws unknown to us ?
The double nature of Jesus was not understood
even by His disciples till after His ascension. They
could not understand that, in seeing Him, they had
seen the Father. It was only after they had received
His Holy Spirit into their hearts, and lived it in
their lives, that they were able to see God in Christ,
the Father manifested to the world in the Son. And
thus it is at the present day. It is only the pure in
heart who see God ; it is only the self-sacrificing,
loving heart that knows Christ.
We are continually reminded in the Scriptures of
the double nature of Christ. Jesus himself often
refers to it.
" The Son of God," " The Son of Man."— Man
kind. The angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, " He
shall be called the Son of the Most High." — Divine,

JESUS CHRIST. 167
" Thou shalt bring forth a son."— Human.
" That which is to be born shall be called holy, the
Son of God." — Divine.
" Spoken by the Lord through the prophets, Out
of Egypt did I call My Son." — Divine.
"Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's
house ? " — Divine
" He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." —
Divine. " Jesus was baptized of John." — Human.
"This is my beloved Son." — Divine.
The temptation in the wilderness was to His hu
man nature. Make these stones bread ; cast thyself
down ; seek the glory of the world. — Human.
" The Lamb of God."— Human.
John bore witness to the Son of God. — Divine.
" Nathaniel answered Him, Rabbi, thou art the
Son of God." — Divine.
" The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."
— Human.
"The Son of Man shall be delivered up." — Hu
man. " Even so shall the Son of Man also suffer of
them." — Human.
" Until the Son Of Man be risen from the dead."
— Human.

\

168 Jesus Christ.
His divine nature could not die.
A voice from the cloud : " This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased .-.hear ye Him." —
Divine. " The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His
Father." — Human and Divine.
His human nature will return to this earth with
the glory of His Divine nature.
Simon Peter said, " Thou art the Son of the living
God." — Divine.
"That he that beholdeth the Son and believeth
on Him, should have eternal life." — Divine.
" Of a truth, thou art the Son of God." — Divine.
" Till the Son of Man be come:" — Human and Di
vine. " Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God." — Divine.
" Son of Man shall send forth his angels." — Human
and Divine.
" He that soweth the good seed is the Son of
Man."— Human.
. "The Son of Man cometh in an hour ye think
not." — Human and Divine.
"The Son of Man came eating and drinking." —
Human. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save that
which was lost." — Human.

Jesus Christ. 169
" The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of '
jr.
God." — Divine.
" The Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins." — Human and Divine.
The devils cried out, " Thou art the Son of God."
— Divine.
" The Father loveth the Son."— Divine.
" Jesus said, Dost thou believe on the Son of
God ?"— Divine.
" Say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified
and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, be
cause I said, I am the Son of God ?" — Divine.
" The Son of Man must be lifted up." — Human.
"The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him."
— Human."Now is the Son of Man glorified." — Human and
Divine. " Father, glorify thy Son." — Divine.
" The Son of Man sitting at the right hand of pow
er." — Human and Divine.

BOOK VII,

SCIENCE.

"When the convertibility of solar energy into any of the
various forms was discovered : sunlight into chemical
affinity, that into heat, heat into motion, motion into elec
tricity, electricity back again into sunlight, it seemed highly
probable that every seeming kind of energy was only one
. thing manifesting itself in various apparent forms. But
could this be demonstrated ? Could it be shown that elec
tricity is sunlight, and an explanation be given of the real
difference between the various forms of manifestation?
That has been .attempted. So far they show that light,
radiant heat and electricity have the following properties in
common : They move at the same rate of speed, one
hundred and eighty thousand miles per second ; they move
as waves or pulsations ; they, with gravitation, are under the
same law of diffusion, the square of the distance; they can
be reflected — -that is, arrested, and sent back over the
course which they came. A film of mercury held in place
on glass reflects light, a sheet of zinc reflects electricity.
" What is it which makes the difference ? It appears to
be demonstrated, beyond doubt, that the difference consists
in the differing lengths of the waves of propulsion — nothing
more. The shortest wave-lengths — the shortest distance,
so to speak, between the crowns of the waves — is mani
fested as chemical affinity ; the next longer appears as light;
the next longer gives us heat, the longest gives us elec
tricity. Is it possible that things apparently so utterly
diverse a*e really identical, and the differences between
them so marvelously simple ?
" Such discoveries, when demonstrated, give possibility to
further progress, and this intensely sharpens the spirit of
research. For every new truth raises scores of new Ques
tions." [172]

SCIENCE.

Science, rightly understood, does not conflict
in any way with true religion. It does, rather,
throw often upon revealed truth a light so
strong and clear as to bring it home to the mind
and soul with new meaning and added power.
Thus, we . learn that solar energy is expressed in
different forms. The light of the sun is converted
" into chemical affinity, that into heat, heat into mo
tion, motion into electricity, electricity back again
into sunlight." "Light, radiant heat and electricity
all move at the same rate of speed ; they move in
waves or pulsations ; they, with gravitation, are un
der the same law of diffusion ; they can be reflect
ed." They- seem to be but different forms or mani
festations of the one great, all pervading Energy
which is the expression of God.
Do we not see here a beautiful semblance
between the natural and the spiritual ?
Light is truly the type of Jesus, the Son of God,
who was " the Light of the world," the Redeemer
of mankind, " God manifest in the flesh." Radiant
£i73J

174 SCIENCE.
heat suggests the power of the Holy Spirit, its
brooding, warming sanctifying work upon the
human soul, making it reflect the warmth and
brightness of Heaven ; electricity symbolizes the
boundless might and infinite power, the all-pervad
ing purity and love and wisdom of God the Father.
This mighty energy, in its different forms, moves
in pulsations ; they denote life. It is subject to the
law of diffusion ; that is, it can be given to all. It
can be reflected ; sent back over its course. So does
the power of God in the soul fill it with new and
wondrous life; so does it give of itself continually
to all in need, only to be continually renewed ; so
does it reflect the image of God in the soul, and
enable it to return to its Divine Source.
Let us seek to know more of God's laws, — and
this knowledge is what we call Science. Let us
approach it reverently, prayerfully, knowing that
God is there, and that in learning of his eternal
laws we stand upon holy ground. Thus shall we
not go astray into foolish vagaries and wild con
ceits, but we shall learn humbly and meekly of the
wondrous things hidden from the foundation of the
world. Let us not forget that knowledge is the
gift of God. Let us not take credit to ourselves for
anything we may have gained of scientific knowl
edge, for so our minds would close in their vain

SCIENCE. 175
conceit, and the gates of science would be shut
against us. Only as the soul is receptive to the
higher truths, only as we come like little children
to be taught, can we learn the wondrous things of
God and his universe.
Neither let us be niggardly of our treasures of
knowledge. Let us give to others ; give freely
give always, and the more we give, the more we
receive. "Then said He unto them, therefore every scribe
which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is
like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth
forth out of his treasure things new and old."
Does not this mean that we are to get knowledge,
and help others to get it ? that the knowledge, at
that time hidden from human minds, would some
day be revealed to all ? that " the earth should be
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,"
and " as the waters cover the sea," God's truth would
yet permeate all humanity, and all hungering and
thirsting souls should be fed ? " For there is noth
ing hid, which shall not be manifested ; neither was
anything kept secret, but that it should come
abroad." This may also apply to hidden sin. Is it not true
that sin cannot be hid — that it reveals itself ? See
how sin writes itself in the face ; how it betrays it-

176

SCIENCE.

self in the voice, the gait, the movements of the
individual. It clings like an incubus to the unhappy
victims of intemperance, of sensuality, of greed,
avarice and hyprocrisy. In the light of science and
of a progressive spirituality, all things are made
manifest, and things are seen more and more as they
are, and not as they seem. Mankind is going more
and more to the heart of things, to the hidden
motives and mainsprings of life and action. This
is an age of judgment, when things are taken more
than ever before at their true value. Therefore get
knowledge, let the mind expand, and take in more
and more of God's free truth, " Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled."
Christ often spoke in parables. The world was
not ready for all the truth He had to give. He
clothed many of his truths in parables, according to
the universal custom of the East, that mankind
might get at the truth little by little, as they were
able to bear it. Let us study his parables, and we
shall find new meanings gleaming out from familiar
passages, in which they have long been hidden.
There is very much in Christ's teachings that the
world has not yet discovered. The truth lies hidden
there like the diamond in the ground. Some earn
est, pure soul will find it in the quest after truth.

SCIENCE. 177
" Ask, and it shall be given you ; Seek, and ye shall
find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you ? For
every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seek-
eth findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened." We have not yet been able to fathom the height
and depth of Christ's teachings. Simple and plain
as they are, we have not yet' made them our own.
We cannot fully recognize and realize their' won
drous beauty and harmony.
It was during a talk that JesUs had with His disci
ples that He said : "Hereafter I will not talk much
with you': for the prince of this world cometh, and
hath nothing in me."
Does the prince of this world mean the power of
evil ? Certainly, evil found no place in Christ.
Some think it refers to money or riches : but money
is used for good as well as for evil. In worthy hands
it is a means of great good to mankind. Every good
thing is used or abused according to the heart that
prompts to action.
Does not " the prince of this world " denote self
or selfishness ? We find no selfishness in Christ;
we do find it permeating human nature. It is very
hard to be wholly unselfish in this world. There
.are so many things that we must do for ourselves,

178 SCIENCE.
under the head of duty even, that necessarily there
is danger of self weighing in. the balance.
" Selfishness," writes C. Wilbrandt, " is the real
spring of creative power ; this creative power finds
pleasure and support in the extension of needs,
and the needs and exertion are balanced by a
changeless law of nature, which regulates the value
of everything according to the relation of supply
and demand. On this mode of valuation lies the
power of nature, which holds together all the cen
trifugal interests and renders them useful in the
service of the_ community. Society, if deprived of
this stimulus of selfishness, must lose the condi
tions of recuperation after a crisis. According to
this, the world reaps great advantage from individ
ual selfishness, and from a worldly point of view
this is true.
Selfishness, then, is " the prince of this world,"
and Jesus tells us that He is not of this world, and
this world has nothing in Him.
When Christ was speaking of His death, two or
three days before this, and the voice came from
Heaven, He said : " Now is the judgment of this
world ; now shall the prince of this world be cast
out." Again : " The Comforter, when He is come,
will reprove the world of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged." We cannot sue-

SCIENCE. 179
ceed in life, according to the standard of success
which exists in this world, unless we are selfish.
Selfishness is the foundation of worldly success. Is
it then, a thing to be so much desired ? This world
is transitory, its joys are fleeting ; its pleasures of
sense, that seem at first so attractive, become hard,
merciless fetters, binding the soul in a wretched
bondage, and overwhelming it in misery which no
words can portray. Choose, then, which shall be
yours : success in this world, or a life here of self-ab
negation, which will open to the soul a higher, surer
happiness here, and peace and joy in the world to
come. If we love Christ we shall grow to be like Him,
and selfishness will find no place in us. He loved
others ; He thought not of self. He loved those
even who did not love Him, who had nothing to
give Him in --return for all He gave. He loved
even His enemies so truly that He gave His life for
them. Can we grow to be like Him ? Let us try.
Let us strive for it. Let us put self aside, and open
our heart and soul, and our whole nature toward
Him, so that He will come and abide in us and fill
us with His Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost.
" In the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be
of good cheer ; I haye overcome the world/'

BOOK VIII.

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
[181]

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

SARAI, ABRAM'S WIFE.
(The name means " Princess.")
Sarai was a very handsome woman ; her beauty
got her into trouble. Abram made her say that she
was his sister when they went to Egypt. This he
did to save his life. He was afraid the Egyptians
would kill him to take Sarai; but the Egyptians seem
to have been moral men in those days, and sent
Sarai and Abram away. Sarai was the mother of
Isaac, and she died when 127 years old. She told
two falsehoods, and both out of fear ; the first to
please her husband, for fear the Egyptians would
kill him, and. the last out of fear, when she found the
angel of God knew she had not believed in the
power of God in regard to the birth of Isaac.
Lot's wife was disobedient to God's command,
and was punished with death, as she believed not
what the angel of God told ber.
mi

184 WOMEN OF THE OlD TESTAMENT.
REBEKAH.
(The name means " flattering.")
Was a wife chosen by God, asked for in prayer ; a
wife for Isaac. We know the story how she was
sought for, and how found. She was asked for a
drink of water, and she did more than she was asked
to do. She had courage, for she left her home for
_ long journey with a stranger as her guide. Now,
Rebekah had faults as Well as virtues, and the Bible
does not hide them. Also, Isaac Was forty years old
when he married Rebekah. We know the story of
Esau and Jacob, and how Rebekah deceived her.
husband and said, " Upon me be thy curse, my son,"
and Esau, her son, was going to kill his brother
Jacob, also her son ; so she had to send him away
from her, though he was the son she loved.
Here are Eve, Sarah, and Rebekah. We know
Eve must have been very beautiful. We are told
that Saria was so beautiful that her husband made
her tell a lie because he feared he would lose his
life, and Rebekah was so beautiful that Isaac loved
her at first sight.
. We would have the word obey taken from the
marriage service. Obedience must be learned by
all ; none can command it unless they obey first,
be it man or woman. Obedienceshould be enforced

WOMEN OE THE OLD TESTAMENT. 185
upon children, so as to teach Self-command, but not
upon the girl when she is old enough to understand
the consequences of obedience or disobedience to
God's laws, the laws of her country, the laws of
health, and all other laws which personally react on
herself for good or evil. Of course, the laws which
make her protect others as Well as herself, react on
her for good or evil.
In reading the account of Adam and Eve, we find
that Adam obeyed Eve— both disobeyed God.
" When the woman took of the fruit, and did eat, and
gave unto her husband, he did eat," he obeyed her.
If for good or evil, is not in the question now. The
same as a woman makes a sacred vow to obey her
husband in the marriage service, be it for good or for
evil is not in the case at all. Now, Abraham obeyed
Sarah, and the command to do so came from God :
" And God said unto Abraham, in all that Sarah
hath said unto thee, harken unto her voice," and
Sarah obeyed Abraham, and said she was his sister
when she was his wife, and this thing displeased the
Lord. Men, in those days, loved beautiful women
to such an end that they would kill the husband to
take the wife. Isaac also says his wife is his sister,
because " the men of the place should kill me for
Rebekah." Among the women we have the name of Deborah,

186 women oe the old Testament.
Rebekah's nurse, her death and place of burial.
Jacob obeyed Rebekah, his mother : " Now, there
fore, my son, obey my voice according to that which
I command thee ;" and he obeyed her.
Now, Rachel was another beautiful woman, and
for her beauty was loved. When will men love
women for their beauty of mind and character. We
are told that she, Rachel, envied her sister, and stole
her father's goods, and Leah was not loved because
she was not beautiful.

MIRIAM.("Strong.")
We are told that she was the elder sister of Aaron
and Moses ; she watched over Moses, sang at the
Red Sea, murmured against Moses and was smitten
with leprosy. This gives us the good and the bad.
We have the name of the mother of Moses, Joche-
bed. We are told she was a daughter of Levi.
" Miriam the Prophetess," Exodus xv. 20. Miriam
sinned through pride ; but she is named as equal with
Moses and Aaron in Micah vi. 4 : " For I brought
thee up out of the house of Egypt, and redeemed
thee out of the house of servants, and I sent before
thee Moses, Aaron and Miriam." She has been called
by some, " the grand patriotic old-maid,"

WOMEN OE THE OLD TESTAMENT. 187
RUTH.
(" Friendship.")
We are told she was a Moabitess who became the
wife of Chiblion, younger son of Elimelech and
Naomi, and afterwards of Boaz, to whom she bare
Obed, father of Jesse, father of David. This woman
redeemed the Moabites, that race whose ancestors
sinned : " Saith the Lord of hosts, surely Moab shall
be as Sodom." Ruth would not leave her mother-
in-law, but followed her back to her country ; and
Ruth obeyed her mother-in-law, and her mother-in-
law brought her a blessing, a very great one, as
from her descended David.
*
DEBORAH.
(" Bee.")
We are told that she was a prophetess who judged
Israel. Her name was an Egyptian symbol of regal
power, and among the Greeks it was applied not
only to the poets and those peculiarly chaste, but
especially to the priestesses of Delphi, Cybele and
Artemis. She was probably of Ephraim, though
some suppose her to have belonged to Issachar, from
the expression in Judges v. 15. The common version
calls her " wife of Lapidoth," but another render-

188 Women oe.thE OLD Testament.
ing of the phrase is Tennyson's, " the great dame
of Lapidoth," or one divinely illuminated, since
"lapidotte " is "lightnings." The rabbis, however,
say that she was one who tended the tabernacle
lamps. Let us hope she was an unmarried woman. De
borah destroyed the Canaanites ; let no one say
women cannot fight. She was a great political ruler;
she was the fifth judge and ruled all Israel ; she dis
pensed justice . and judgment and mercy to the
Israelites, and she ruled well, for after the victory
over her foes, "the land had rest for forty years.''
Why, then, cannot woman govern a woman's state ?
Here is a woman who was a prophetess, a general,
a judge, and a successful one.
Judges v. : " The inhabitants of the villages
ceased ; they ceased in Israel until that I, Deborah,
arose, that I arose a mother in Israel." " Awake,
awake, Deborah ; awake, awake, utter a song, arise."
" And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah,
even Issachar and also Barak : he was sent on foot
into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there
were great thoughts of heart." Deborah, the strong-
minded woman.

WOMEN OE THE OLD TESTAMENT. 189
JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER.
The consecrated maiden vowed to live a "single
life all her life. This was long before Christ was
born. When so much was thought of having descend
ants, children to bear the name, to continue a cer
tain prized race, to continue a generation, also to be
the human mother of Christ, must have been a holy
wish in every woman's heart.
This is the first woman we can find in the Bible
given to the Lord. It is true she was vowed to the
single life by her father, another and not herself ;
but she consented, so the gift of herself was partly
her own free act. How little could woman then
understand what the true giving of herself to God
meant. It is Christ who has taught us, it is Christ
who has called us, and it is Christ who has changed
what in the Old Testament days was considered a
disgrace, to be an honor and a glory, if given freely,
with no vows ; a consecrated single life, in imitation
of the life of Christ, to the glory of God, and the
good of mankind. It is not everyone who can so
live.

190 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
DELILAH.
Judges xv: 4. The bible gives the history of the
women, good and bad. We are to get the lesson they
teach ; we are to search for it and judge ourselves.
Here is a woman of those days, devoted to her
people and her nation. She uses her charms to win
the secret of Samson's strength. He is vanquished
by a woman. This was considered a great disgrace,
for in those days a woman stood very low.
So Sisera died by the hand of a woman, Jael, the
Wife of Heber the Kenite, and she was praised for
saving her nation. Judges v. 53. " And a certain
woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's
head." We are told that the men and women fled to
a strong tower, when the city was besieged. In
those days, when both men and women were barbar
ous, the women fought for their country and nation,
as well as the men. This man made his soldier draw
his sword and slay him, that it might not be said, " a
woman slew him." These woman were all courage
ous, as much so as the men, and would have made
good generals.

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 191
HANNAH.
(" Grace.")
One of Elkanah's wives, and the mother of
Samuel the prophet, while she also herself was a
prophetess, as is proved by the prophecy contained
in her hymn of thanksgiving for the birth of her
son. It is in the highest order of prophetic poetry.
It contains the first designation of the " Messiah "
under that name.
BATHSHEBA.
(" Daughter of an oath.")
Daughter of Eliam or Ammiel, wife of Uriah, and
mother of Solomon by David. She is also called
Bathshua. Jewish tradition has it that she composed
and recited Proverbs xxxi. as an admonition to her
son Solomon, on his marriage with Pharaoh's
daughter. Proverbs xxxi. : " Who can find a virtuous
woman, for her price is far above rubies," and the
rest of the proverb. x
When David was old, Adonijah exalted himself,
saying, " I will be king." But Nathan, the prophet,
and the mighty men he called not. Therefore
Nathan spake unto Bathsheba : " Let me give thee
counsel, that thou mayest saye thine own life, and

192 WOMKN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
the life of Solomon. Go to King David and say:
. . . . " She obeyed," and we are told : " And Godok,
the priest,took ahorn of oil out of the Tabernacle, and
anointed Solomon, and all the people said, God save
king Solomon." "And Adonijah came to Bathsheba
the mother of Solomon, to get her to ask the king
to give him Abishag the Shunamite for wife,
thinking that Solomon would grant what his mother
asked him, if it was good or if it was evil. So Bath
sheba was made a messenger by many who feared
to speak for themselves, but who sent a woman
who was favored, to speak for them.
ABIGAIL.
(" Source or cause of delight.")
Wife of Nabal the Carmelite. She met and pacified
David, and afterwards became his wife, and was the
mother of Daniel or Chileab. Samuel i. 15 : " And
Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is
David ? and who is the son of Jesse ? Shall I take
my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have
killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom
I know not whence they be ?" But one of Nabal's
men told Abigail that David and four hundred of
his men were coming to fight Nabal, and they feared
to speak to him, and that Nabal had railed on

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 193
David's messengers who had come to salute him.
" Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred
loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready
dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a
hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes
of figs, and laid them on asses, and said to her
servants, go on before me, I. come after you ; but she
told not her husband Nabal." And she met David and
his men, and she fell at his feet, and said, " Upon
me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be, and let
this handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience,
and hear the words of thine handmaid." Read for
yourselves the words of wisdom this woman spoke
after coming with so much courage to meet the army
of an enemy alone, and she a woman ; and read how
David spoke to her, and her wisdom in not speaking
to Nabal when he was drunken : " Wherefore she
told him nothing, less or more, until the morning
light," and after his death she became David's wife.
But this woman, so full of wisdom and courage was
very humble; she said, " Behold, let thine hand
maid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants
of my lord."

194 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
MICHAL, SAUL'S DAUGHTER.
(" Who is like God.")
The younger daughter of King Saul, who became
David's wife, saved him in his distress, and mocked
him in his triumph. When Saul went to David's
house to kill him, Michal put an image in the bed,
and she let David down through a window, and told
him to save his life. " But Saul had given Michal,
his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of
Laish, which was of Gallim." "And David sent
messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, de^
liver me my wife Michal." She was taken from
Laish, and her husband went with her, weeping
behind her ; and Abner said, go, return ; and he re
turned. The value of this woman was only that she
was Saul's daughter, for as the ark of the Lord came
to the city of David, Michal looked through a
window, and saw King David dancing before the
Lord ; " and she despised him in her heart," he"r
pride made her do so. " And David returned to
bless his household. Michal, the daughter of Saul,
came to meet David," and in her words she tried to
put him to shame through her pride: "Therefore,
Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the
day of her death ;" and in those days this was the
greatest fall her pride could have.

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 195
THE WIDOW OF ZAREPATH.
(I Kings xvii. 10.)
To this widow the Lord sent the prophet Elijah.
" I have commanded a widow woman there to sus
tain thee." And, behold, the widow woman was
gathering sticks to make a fire to cook the last food
she had in her house, for her child and herself,
" that we may eat and die," nevertheless she obeyed
Elijah and believed his promise : " The barrel of
meal shall not fail, neither the cruse of oil, until the
day that the Lord send rain upon the earth." A
great famine was in -the land, no rain, not even
dew. So this widow fed the prophet for many days.
Then we are told that after this, this woman's son
fell sick so that there was no breath left in him, and
we are told that Elijah prayed for the child and the
child revived. This is the woman of whom Christ
spoke when he preached in the synagogue at
Nazareth : " But I tell you of a truth many widows
were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, when great
famine was throughout all the land ; but to none of
them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow."

196 WOMEN OF THE OLD TKSTAMENT.

THE WOMAN OF SHUNEM.
This woman, we are told, was a great woman, and
when Elisha passed through Shunem, she gave him
bread to eat, and as often as he passed he rested at
her house. So she said to her husband, let us
make a chamber for the prophet ; and the prophet
said to her, you have taken all this care for me,
what shall be done for you ? A son was what she
wished. [This longing to have a son among these
early people, as well as among the people in India,
is without doubt from two things : The son, the
Saviour of the World ; and the mother of this Son,
the Generation from which Christ would come. Now
that Christ has come and died and risen for us, this
great wish for the honor of being the mother of a son
has passed away. Itwas the Old Testament ; the New
Testament has made all things new]. And a son is
given to this woman. The son falls ill and dies, the
mother goes to the prophet, and will not have any
one but the prophet to recall the child to life ; and
the child lived.
This woman has been called the " Hospitable
Matron."

Women of the old Testament. 197
QUEEN OF SHEBA.
I. Kings x. i : " And when the queen of Sheba
heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of
the Lord, she came to prove him with hard ques
tions." She came to Jerusalem with much riches, and
communed with Solomon. Now, this woman was a
learned woman ; she had wisdom and was so wise
that she took the long journey to see the king of
whom she had heard, to ask him questions " con
cerning the name of the Lord," and he told her all.
And when she had seen Solomon's wisdom there
was no more spirit (pride) in her, and she said :
" It was a true report that I heard in my own land
of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed
not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen
it : thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame
which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are
these thy servants, which stand continually before
thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the
Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee
on the throne of Israel : because the Lord loved
Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do
judgment and justice." And " She turned and went
to her own country, she and her servants." Now,
where was Sheba ? was it in North Ethiopia ? a.

198 Women oF the old Testament.
land southwest of Arabia ; or in Africa, near the
Straits of Babel Mandeb ? If she returned to India,
she carried back with her the knowledge of the
Lord, and all the wisdom she gained from her visit
to Solomon.
Christ speaks of this queen and praises her.
" The queen of the south shall rise up in the judg
ment with this generation, and shall condemn it ;
for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a
greater than Solomon is here." St. Matthew.
" The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment
with the men of this generation and condemn them ,¦
for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to
hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater
than Solomon is here." St. Luke. Was this queen
the queen of the Ethiopians ? If so, was her name
Candace ?* She taught her people all the wisdom
Solomon taught her " concerning the Lord, " and
here we have the proof. This eunuch, a man of Ethio
pia, of great authority under the queen, whose name
was Candace (Acts viii. 27), " had come to Jerusalem
for to worship," and returning he was reading Esias
the prophet, and Philip preached unto him Jesus.
Into Ethiopia this man must have taken the knowl-
* The little maid who waited on Naaman's wife. II.
Kings v.

women of the old testament. 199
edge of Jesus Christ that he is the Son of God.
Have they lost this knowledge ? If so, how came
they to lose it ?
" Naaman was a great man in Syria, honorable and
mighty in valor, but a leper."
This little maid was a captive, she was young and
a slave, not thought much of even in these days,
still less in those days"; yet this little maid said unto
her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the
prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover
him of his leprosy." This child was not ignorant ;
she was exceedingly wise; her words were repeated
to Naaman, and he at once followed her advice, and
in the end was cured. Who was this little maid
whose knowledge and wisdom and faith led this rich
and mighty man to be cured of the leprosy ?"

VASHTI.
(The Book of Esther.)
A queen whom Ahasuerus repudiated, and
whom Esther succeeded. We are told : " This is
Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto
Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty
provinces." The name of his palace was Shushan ;
he made a great fea'st ; " the power of Persia and
Media being before him, his queen -also made a

_00 WOMEN of the old testament.
feast for the women in the royal house which be»
longed to the king ; and when " the heart of the
king was merry with wine/' he sent to the queen
that she should come before him with the royal
crown to let the people see her beauty, "for she
was fair to look on." The queen refused, so the
king was very angry, and consulted what he should
do with Vashti.
Now this is a book in which the word " God "
does not appear, so we are going to write just what
we think. In these days, if men were feasting and
drinking, and a wife refused to appear before them
to be judged for her beauty and rich dress, to add
to the glory of the drinking men, we would say
she had done well to refuse ; modesty and virtue
forbade her to obey, self-respect and dignity of
character also forbade her to do so. This was a
woman asserting herself ; she was more than the
gold and silver of the king ; she was a woman.
Here, we think, is the first time that the woman, the
wife, was divorced for asserting herself. The men in
council say, If all women know what the queen
has done they shall despise their husbands ; thus
shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
All the wives shall give to their husbands honor,
both great and small, and that every man should
bear rule in his own house. And this was to be

women o_ The old testament. 201
published according to the language of every
people." Ah ! Vashti, the time had not come ;
women went back by your act; though it was not
meant that it should be so for God made man
and woman equal. ^

ESTHER.
(The Planet Venus.)
* Now in Shusham was a Jew, Mordecai, a captive,
carried away from Jerusalem. He brought up
Hadassah, that is Esther. Here again the knowl
edge of God must have been taught in Ethiopia.
Is India the old Ethiopia ? Have they, then, in India
the knowledge of God, as the Jews of old had?
We all know so well the story of Esther and
Mordecai, her deep humility and fear, when unbid
den she went before the king. No wonder she said,
"If I perish, I perish." She knew what had hap
pened to Vashti, and she feared even death would
be her lot. This young woman had great courage,
and loved her nation and her people enough to
die for them. Also, she had been taught obedience.
But her uncle sends her threatening words, " Think
not that thou shalt escape, more than all the Jews,
forif thou holdest thy peace, deliverance will come
some other way, and thoU and thy father's house

202 WOMEN of THE OLD TESTAMENT.
shall be destroyed." Poor Esther! she was to meet
death either way, if she spoke and if she spoke
not. So, by the self-sacrifice of this woman, the
nation of the Jews, or rather those in captivity
in the land of Ethiopia, were to be saved alive.
And it was so.
There were two women whom men thought were
created for their pleasure alone — to obey them the
same as a slave must, to be used to their interest
alone. It is true that this was in the land of Ethi
opia. We are not told that they knew God, but they
sent out a decree in regard to women, which was
readily adopted by all nations; man, because man,
was superior to woman only because a man. And so
a yoke fell upon woman-kind, which only a physi
cal battle could have raised from them. And even
the Jews, God's chosen people, made use of brave
Esther. She was given to a heathen king ; and,
though she pleaded for her life, she was threatened
with death if she made not a willing sacrifice of
herself for the Jews.
Now, Vashti fell by pride — for the qualities we
give above are modern and Christian; she could not
have had them.
Esther — the Persian name. Hadassah, daughter of
Abihail, son of Shimer, son of Thish, a Benjaminite
(Mordecai), and cousin of Mordecai. She was an

Women of the old testament. _03
orphan captive, and was selected by Ahasuerus
(Xerxes, son of Darius Hystaspis,) as his queen,
instead of Vashti.

THE WITCH OF ENDOR.
(Endor — " Fountain of Dor.")
" Dor was a city of Manasseh, four miles south of
Tabor, or at the south of the sea of Galilee in Issa
char." It is now called Endur, and the rock on which
it stands is hollowed into caves. From the slopes of
Gilboa to Endor is seven or eight miles, over rugged
ground. " And Saul had put away those that had
familiar spirits, and wizards, out of the land." I. Sam
uel. Though he had done so, and rightly done so,
yet, when he got no answer from God by the pro
phets concerning the army of the Philistines, he
said to his servant, seek me a woman that has a
familiar spirit, that I may inquire of her. And Saul
disguised himself. "And when the woman saw
Samuel, she cried with a loud voice, saying, why
hast thou deceived me, for thou art Saul." And
Saul answered Samuel and said, " God is departed
from me, and answereth me no more." This man,
finding that God had departed from him, trusted in
witches; he got no answer from God simply because
he would do evil. If we wish knowledge from God

204 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
we will not get it unless in the depth of our soul we
do and wish ior good. However, Saul, a man, sought
the woman- witch, when there were also men wizards.
Now, about the Witch of Endor, we would say this.
we beg you to read what we say, only as our idea
about it. We may be wrong, but this is what we
think. It was only what is called hypnotism in these
days. A man who has delirium from firing his brain
with intoxicating drinks, believes certainly that what
he sees in his mind is visible to others, and verily
true ; the same with a man under the effect of opium.
You cannot be hypnotized unless you yield yourself
to it. That is, you yield your mind to the stronger
mind. If you resist it, it cannot overcome you
if you are in strong health, and in your right mind.
Now, Saul, when he saw the host of the Philistines,
he was afraid and his heart greatly trembled. His heart,
means his mind was greatly troubled. Now, Saul
knew that he had not obeyed the voice of God to
execute God's wrath upon Amalek, and that there
fore the Lord had done this thing unto him. He
knew that the Lord had rent the kingdom from his
hand and given it to David. Saul went willingly
to put his mind under the spell of the witch. She
is' represented in pictures with a boiling kettle,
the fumes of which may have had the same effect
on Saul as opium. In his mind he had thought

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 205
long and earnestly of Samuel. He wished to see him;
saw him in his deranged thoughts, and heard him
speak, just as he knew, all the time, that Samuel
had spoken when alive, and would speak again, if
alive.

ATHALIAH.
("Jah is strong.")
II. Kings, viii. A daughter of Jezebel, wife of
Omri, King of Israel, who became the wife of
Jehoram, King of Judah, and ruled in Judah after
the death of her son Ahaziah. Now, this woman also
sinned through pride. She wished to rule in Judah.
She let nothing stand in her way, for " when she
saw that her son was dead, she arose and destoyed
all the seed royal." Many a king had been as
wicked as she, but we are telling all we know, good
or evil of women.
Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of
Ahaziah, took Joah, the son of Ahaziah, and stole
him from among the king's sons which were slain,
and they hid him and his nurse so that he was not
slain. Athaliah reigned six years..
" And when Athaliah heard the noise of the
guard and of the people, she came to the people
into the temple of the Lord, and when she looked

206 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
the young king was crowned. And Athaliah rent
her clothes and cried, Treason, Treason. And the
priest said, Take her out, let her not be slain in the
house of the Lord ; and she was taken by the way
the horses came into the king's stables, and there
was she slain." Now in II. Chron., we have this : •
" The inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah
king." The Arabians had slain all the eldest sons
of Jehoram. His mother counseled him to do
wickedly, and Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, and when
Athaliah saw that they had slain her son, she
destroyed all the royal children of the house of
Judah. In those days, when they killed each
other and fought for the throne, this woman,
who was wicked, does not seem to be more
wicked than the men. She was proud and ambi
tious ; so were the men proud and ambitious,
and we have a long list of kings " who did evil in the
sight of the Lord," and so died.
THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON BETWEEN
TWO WOMEN.
I. Kings iii. Solomon had a dream in which he
heard God ask him to • Ask what I shall give thee.'
He asked for wisdom. As soon as he came to Jeru
salem two women came before him, each claiming

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 207
to be the mother of a child. The true mother was
willing to part with it ; the other wished it dead
rather than see the other woman happy. Solomon's
first just judgment was given to women.

JEZEBEL.
A daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidonians, and
the wife of Ahab and mother of Joram, kings of
Israel. This woman's husband, Ahab, " did evil in the
sight of the Lord, above all that were before him;"
and, as if it had been alight thing for him to walk
in the sins of Jeroboam, that he took to wife Jeze
bel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians,
who served Baal; and Ahab did more to provoke
the Lord to anger than all the kings' of Israel; and
in his days Hiel built Jericho; he laid the founda
tion thereof in Aboriam his first born, and set up
the gates in his youngest son Tegab, according to
the word of the Lord which he spake by Joshua, son
of Nun. A famine was sent in their reign, which
lasted three years. " And Ahab told Jezebel all
that Elijah had done, and how he had slain the
prophets of Baal." Then Jezebel sent word to Eli
jah that she would slay him ; so he fled. And Jezebel
put to death the prophets of the Lord; one hundred

208 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
were hid in a cave. And she fed four hundred and
fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets
of the groves. And Jezebel came to Ahab when he
was sick, because he could not get the vineyard from
Naboth ; and this wicked woman forged the king's
name. She wrote, proclaiming a fast, and set Naooth
on high among the people, and set two men of
Belial to bear witness against him, to say he blas
phemed God and the king, then stone him that he
might die. Then she told Ahab to go and take the
vineyard, as Naboth was dead. Then the prophet
of the Lord met him and told him how he should
die, and " the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of
Jezreel." This Ahab, who was so wicked, we are told
," Jezebel his wife stirred up." " When Joram (Jez
ebel's son) saw Jehu, he said ' Is it peace, Jehu ?' "
and he answered, "What peace, so long as the
whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witch
crafts are so many."
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel Jezebel
heard of it, and she painted her face and tired her
head, and looked out of a window; and as Jehu
entered she said, " Had Gimri peace, who slew his
master?" and Jehu said, "Throw, her down," and
they did so. And he said, " Go see now this cursed
woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter."
We have written of this terrible woman, as she has

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 209
so often been spoken of ; so many women since
her day have been called "painted Jezebels " most
unjustly. We have shown you, by the Bible, what
this Jezebel was; there is no redeeming point in her,
she is utterly vile. She is one of the women of the
Bible most spoken of by men. We have often heard
her name as given to women living in our days.
Jezebel's father worshipped Baal ; her husband,
Ahab, was utterly wicked; and Joram, her son, also
wicked. This one wicked woman: — for her coun
terpart read the long list of kings in the Bible, of
whom we are told that they " did evil iii the sight
of the Lord."

JOB'S WIFE AND DAUGHTERS.
His wife was a foolish woman, and his first daugh
ters all die; and the three whom God afterwards
gave him — Jemima, Kezia, Karem-happuch : — the
first means " pure, fortunate day;" the second means
" cassia." And in all the land were no women found
so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave
them inheritance among their brethren. Here is the
good example that girls should inherit equally with
the boys.

210 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
JUDITH.
This took place in the reign of Nabuchodonosor,
king of Nineveh ; aud Holofernes besieged the
Israelites ; and they, the Israelites, were so hard
pressed that they decided to surrender within five
days. Now, Judith heard of it. She was the daugh
ter of Merari, and fourteen generations are given
of her father's family, and her husband's name was
Manasse, and Judith was a widow three years and
four months; she wore sackcloth and widow's appa
rel, and she fasted all the days of her widowhood.
We are told she had a goodly countenance, and was
very beautiful to behold. Her husband had left her a
large fortune, and no one gave her an ill word, "for
she feared God greatly." When she heard that the
city was to be given up within five days, this woman
risked her life and her honor to save the lives of her
people. She was courageous and patriotic. She
prayed to God for help and guidance. She took her
maid, and the food her religion permitted her to
eat, and she put on her rich apparel, and went forth
alone from the gate of her city. Read the story of
what she did, and see how, in the camp of the ene
my, she saved her honor. She destroyed the enemy
and returned to her people. This woman, of those
barbarous days, had worldly wisdom. Read her

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 211
speech to the governors and the inhabitants of
Bethulia, before she takes her life in her hands and
goes forth to almost certain death or dishonor.
Read how wisely she acts and speaks when in the
camp of the enemy; how she manages not to eat
anything but what she brought with her. She might
have been poisoned ; she might have been drugged ;
but her wisdom, her worldly knowledge, saved her.
She fought the battle single-handed. The
Assyrians cried " one woman of the Hebrews
hath brought shame upon the house of King Nabu
chodonosor, for behold Holofernes upon the ground
without a head." "And fear and trembling fell
upon them, so that there was no' man that durst
abide in the sight of his neighbor, but rushing out
all together they fled into every way of the plain
and of the hill country. " So this woman was a
general and so fought this battle and won ; and we
are told they got many spoils, " for the multitude
was very great. " Then Joacim, the High Priest,
and the ancients of the Children of Israel that
dwelt in Jerusalem, came to see the good things
that God had showed to Israel, and to see Judith
and to salute her; and when they came to her, they
blessed her with one accord. " Read the blessing,
and also the song of thanksgiving which Judith

212 WOMEN OF TUE OLD TESTAMENT.
sang : " Begin unto my God, exalt him, and call
upon His name."
Judith refused to marry, lived to be 105 years
old, lived in her husband's house, made her maid
free, was buried with her husband, and Israel
lamented her seven days, and before she died she
gave away her goods to all them that were nearest
of kindred to her husband and herself, and by her
wisdom she kept her nation in peace.
T,his woman's story of her saving her country is
very much like David and Goliath. And both gave
God the praise.
THE HISTORY OF SUSANNA.
(Set apart from the beginning of Daniel because it is not in
the Hebrew.)
This is the first judgment of young Daniel,
and this woman's character is a very pure one
though living in those barbarous days. Her hus
band's name was Joacin; he was very rich and hon
orable, and he was a judge. Susanna, his wife, was
the daughter of Chelcias ; she was very beautiful
and feared the Lord. We are told of the lovely
garden joining the house, and how Susanna never
went there until all the people had departed from
her husband's house. Then we are told of the con-

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 213
duct of the elders and how they falsely accused her ;
how death was the punishment either way ; how she
said she would rather die than sin in the sight of
the Lord. We are told that Susanna was " a very
delicate woman, and beauteous to behold," and she
went through a public and hard trial, and was con
demned to death. Now, Susanna cried out aloud to
God for her innocence, and the Lord heard her ;
therefore, when she was led to be put to death, " the
Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young youth,
whose name was Daniel, " who cried, " I am clear
from the blood of this woman. " Read his judg
ment. The first defense of woman's honor. So on woman
men laid the safeguard of purity and woman's honor,
without giving her the liberty to equally defend
herself. And as the world went on they despised her
weakness to defend herself against them (the ^men)
and stoned her if she was not strong enough to
fight them, until Christ came and forced them to
see that they were as despicable as they thought the
woman to be.

THE MOTHER OF THE MACCABEES.
This woman is like a Spartan mother and stands
equal to the Christian martyrs, for she. saw her

214 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
seven sons put to most cruel deaths rather than
disobey her God and deny him. These young men
exhorted one another, with the mother, to die man
fully, saying : " The Lord God looketh upon us, and
in truth hath comfort in us, as Moses in his song
declared, saying: 'And he shall be comforted in
his servants,' " and* " Thou like a fury takest us out
of this present life, but the King of the World shall
raise us up, who have died for his laws, unto ever
lasting life. "
We are told of how bravely these men died. " But
the mother was marvelous above all and worthy of
honorable memory, and she was also put to death."
RIZPAH.
II. Samuel. This woman was one of Saul's wives.
Her two sons were put to death with five other sons
of Saul.
This strong-minded woman, spirited, and of the
physical strength of those days, did this :
"And Rizpah, the daughter Aiah, took sack
cloth and spread it for her upon the rock, from the
beginning of harvest until water dropped upon
them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds
of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of
the field by night. And it was told David what

WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 215
Rizpah had done, so he gave her sons a royal
burial. When Joab was beseiging the city of Abel, and
all the people that were with Joab battered the wall
to throw it down, then cried a wise woman out of
the city. She called Joab to speak to him, and
when he was come near, she said : " Art thou
Joab ?" and he said " I am he," and she said " Hear
the words of thine handmaid," and he said " I do
hear." Then she spake, saying, " They shall surely
ask counsel at Abel." And so they ended the matter.
This undoubtedly was a prophesy, and this learned
woman knew it. She said, " I am one of them that
are peaceable and faithful in Israel. Thou seekest to
destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why wil t thou
swallow up the inheritance of the Lord ?" And Joab
answered and told her that he did not wish to
destroy the city, only one man, who had lifted up
his hand against King David. Then this woman
" went unto all the people in her wisdom" and they
cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and cast
it to Joab, and the army of Joab retired from the
city, and returned to Jerusalem.

216 women of the old testament.
So this one woman, by her courage and wisdom,
saved the city, and all in it, except one guilty man.

A MOTHER OF ISRAEL
Undoubtedly nleanS a woman of wisdom, able to
guide and direct, to counsel, to encourage, to govern,
to direct a battle, to take part in her country's wel
fare, therefore, what we call a country's' politics.
In these old times women did not count for
much ; and yet, now and then, we find a woman of
such grand and strong character, now called strong-
minded, that the whole nation, the whole army, lis
tened and obeyed her.

BOOK IX.

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
[217]

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

And now we come to the women of the New Tes
tament. We must remember that all things were
changed after the birth, teachings, and death of
Christ. The women of the Old Testament were
painfully, slowly working their way upward from
the level to which they fell after the fall of Adam
and Eve. Very slowly, for it was generation by
generation, and they were the counterpart of the
men of their days — as evil, as wicked, as good, as
wise, as learned as the men. They were praised for
very different things; those we have already spoken
of were said to be very beautiful; they made use of
their beauty for good or for evil ; they had great
courage, and fought the battles of their countries.
They outwitted men for good and for evil. They
also were inspired, and prophesied. They preached,
they taught, they rebuked, the same as the men
did; they gaye ad~rice for the good of their nation.

_20 WOMEN OF THE new TESTAMENT.
MARY.
(" Bitter.")
The Mother of Jesus, and wife of Joseph ; the
Virgin Mary ; how can we say all that should be said
of this woman, so pure, so chosen to be the Mother
of Christ, who gave him his human nature alone !

ELIZABETH.
Of the daughters of Aaron, the wife of the priest
Zacharias, she was righteous before God, walking
in all the commandments and ordinances of the
Lord, and blameless. She was the mother of John
the Baptist, whom the angel Gabriel said would be
filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's
womb. She was the cousin of the Virgin Mary.
Elizabeth, also, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and
prophesied. When she heard the salutation of Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, she spoke out with a loud
voice, " Blessed art thou among women, and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb ; and whence is this to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me ;
for, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded
in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy,
and blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a
performance of those things which were told her

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 221
from the Lord." Elizabeth had great humility,
for she knew that the angel Gabriel had certi
fied that her child would be filled with the Holy
Ghost, even from his mother's Womb, and^she
prophesied that the child to be born of "Mary, the
mother of Jesus," was her Lord, and the Lord of her
child. She also told Mary that she, " Mary," was
blessed, because she believed what the Lord had
told her. • *
Peter's mother-in-law was sick of a fever. Jesus
touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she
arose and ministered unto them. Cured by Jesus,
ever gentle, full of compassion to all women, greatly
were they blessed by Christ, our Lord ; being cured,
she at once arose, not idle, but ministered unto
them. A woman, whose name we have hot, was diseased
twelve years, came behind Christ, touched the hem
of his garment, and said within herself, if I may but
touch his garment I shall, be whole ; but Jesus
turned him about, and when he saw her, he said,
'¦'Daughter, be of good comfort ; thy faith hath made
thee whole." And the woman was made whole from
that hour. This woman was humble ; she came
behind; touched but the hem of his garment. Jesus
calls her " Daughter "; she, then, in spirit and soul,
was a daughter of God, This woman is spoken of

222 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT'.
in Mark ; we are told that the physicians and all
the money she had could not cure her. This woman,
though in fear, told all tHe truth. St. Luke, the phy
sician, also tells'of this woman ; he may have tried
to cure her as a physician, so we must take his word
that she could not be cured by any one but Christ.
Both accounts tell us that Jesus perceived that vir
tue had gone out of him. To whom did it go ? It
went to this woman ; this timid, fearing woman at
once had strength and courage to fall before Jesus,
and declare, before all the people, why she had
touched Jesus, and how she was healed. We hear
no more of this woman, but we can well understand
that a woman who had received virtue from Jesus
must have lived and died a noble and virtuous life.
Who are the mother and sister of Christ ? Jesus
said, " Behold my mother and my brethren, for
whosoever shall do the will of my Father which. is
in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and
mother." We speak of the wicked as well as the good
women, for so doth the Bible, and here we have
Herodias and her daughter. Herod had taken to
himself his brother's wife. John the Baptist had told
him that it was not lawful for him to have her. It is
this woman who plans the death of John the Baptist,
#nd here is an account of dancing with a great sin

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 223
as the result. This dance was by uo means an inno
cent one. She knew what effect it would have on
Herod, and she gained her end. The mother used
her daughter to gain her end, which was to live on
in sin. Do women know now that such a thing is
not lawful ; spoken by pod's prophet, the one who
came to prepare the way for Christ.
How much can be said on this subject in these
days ! ' The gossip of our friends, the papers of the
day, all tell us how women will have their way,
carry their end at any cost, when they give way to
their passions. It is hard to find a divorced
woman in these days who has not married again.
How are their children to be Christian children ?
They have the disgrace first of having a divorced
mother ; then of a mother married according to
the world's code of morals, to whom John the
Baptist would certainly say : " It is not lawful for
you to have him." Do these women know that
the evil they are doing will hereafter be fully
realized and felt by them on and on, from one gen
eration to another. They will die, but their works
will follow them. They gratified their passions
regardless of the evil it brought to others and the
evil it brought into the world. Their punishment
will be that they will realize to the utmost what
they have done so long as the epif lives in this world,

224 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
They, the originators, will feel the evil as long as
the world lasts.
These are two women unto whom Christ showed
great mercy. To the mother he said : " O woman,
great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt, "
and her daughter was made whole from that very
hour. .Christ here gives this woman the power to
cure her daughter by her will. Great truly was her
faith, for Christ does, not say here, Your daughter is
cured, or, I will come and cure her by a touch, but
he says, " As thou wilt." Now, he says to us in
answer to our prayers " As thou wilt," and he knows
what it is we truly will in our hearts, the end we
have in view, the object we wish to accomplish. Is
that end only good to others as well as ourselves ? If
evil, he would not give us the power to have it, " as
we will. " Would we wish it ? When Christ fed
the four thousand men we are told he fed, besides
men, women and children. They were equal in his
sight and in his blessing.
The mother of Zebedee's children (her two sons)
asked Jesus that " one may sit on thy right hand
and the other on thy left in thy kingdom." Jesus
told her she knew not what she asked ; then said he,
"Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink
of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with," They say, "We are able;" aud he

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 225
saith unto them, ye shall drink indeed of my cup,
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with ; but to sit on my right hand and on my left, is
not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for
whom it is prepared of my father. " This woman's
ambition was for her sons, and only for herself
through them ; that is, they were her sons. What
earthly idea had they of Christ's kingdom. The
cup of sorrow and suffering on earth, the baptism
of death, could not have been in their thoughts, for
Christ says, " Ye know not what ye ask." In a
great many of our prayers we know not what we
ask, for we cannot foresee.
Christ, in one of his parables, speaks of the ten
virgins; mark they are virgins, five wise, (then woman
can be wise /) five were foolish. We are told so often
in these days that women can be foolish, that we
also know they can be so. We are told how
five were ready with their souls, to. enter heaven at
any moment, though they also slept with the others,
in the long waiting for Christ's coming. There was
not enough oil for all among these virgins. Each
soul is individual, by her goodness alone does her
soul pass into heaven at the last moment. She can
not take the soul of the foolish with her. They all
knew for whom they waited.

226 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."
No doubt women were listening to Christ when he
spoke this parable, some wise, some foolish. He
speaks the parable; they, the wise, are the ones to lay
it up in their minds and to get thereby courage to
continue patience to wait. The foolish had time to
become wise, but were too lazy and foolish to think
of serious things. These ten virgins are of no mean
repute, for the Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto
them, and it is Christ, the bridegroom, whom
they go forth to meet, the spirit of Christ which
is working in the world — it is these virgins, all
women, who go forth to meet the spirit. We read
that their call to meet Him was sudden, when
not looked for, in the night, the night of ignorance,
and the call was " Go out and meet 'Him." Shut up
you cannot meet him; go out in the world and meet
Him. We know, then, that the foolish wished the
wise to help them when it was too late. We are
told all arose.
The call is heard by all. The wise women who
were ready went in with Christ, and the door was
shut. We are told they were all virgins.
St, Matthew tells us of the woman with the ala
baster box of very precious ointment, which she
poured on the head of Jesus, as he sat at meat in

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 227
the house of Simon the leper, in Bethany. The
disciples had indignation against the woman, sa)T-
ing, " To what purpose is this waste ; this ointment,
might have been sold for much and given to the
poor." How like men of these days, who accuse
women of waste ! AU four of the Gospels speak of
this woman, for Jesus said : " Wheresoever this
gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there
shall also this, that this woman has done, be told
for a memorial of her." And so it has been and will
be told. And Jesus said to the men, " Why trouble
ye the woman ? for she hath wrought a good work
upon me; for ye have the poor always with you, but
me ye have not always ; for in that she poured this
ointment on my body, she did it for my burial."
St. Mark tells us that she brake the box, and that the
ointment might have been sold for three hundred
pence, and that Jesus said, " Whensoever ye will ye
may do the poor good," and that the woman had done
what she could. St. Luke (the physician) tells us the
woman was a sinner, and that Simon was a Pharisee,
that the woman stood at Jesus' feet, behind him
weeping, and washed his feet with her tears, and
did wipe them with the hair of her head,' and kissed
his feet and anointed them with the ointment. We
are told that the Pharisee spoke within himself, yet
Jesus knew it. This man said to himself, "This

228 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who
and what manner of woman this is that toucheth
him, for she is a sinner." So this woman had only
heard things said about her by the men who were
there. Then Jesus, who had not accused this
woman of anything, takes her defence himself, and
tells Simon the Pharisee how much better this
woman is than Simon himself. And does He
accuse this woman at all ? No ; all he says to her is
this : " Thy sins are forgiven, thy faith hath saved
thee, go in peace."
St. John tells us this woman was Mary, the sister
of Martha and Lazarus, and that the house was
filled with the odor of the ointment ; that it was
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who betrayed him, who
said the ointment should have been sold and given
to the poor. We are told that he did not care
for the poor, that he was a thief, and had the bag,
The four accounts in other respects are the same.
How quick these men were to accuse this woman,
how surprised they were that Jesus even spoke to
her, and forgave her sins. If this is the story of the
same woman in all the gospels, and the sister of
Martha and Lazarus, then we hear of her again as
sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning the wisdom
from Him which He said should not be taken
from her, and as long as the Gospel of Jesus is

WOMEN OF THE NEW TK'S'l 'AMENT. _29
preached, she shall be spoken of, what she did shall
be told to the whole world as a memorial of her.
St. Mark and St. Matthew tell us of the woman of
Canaan who cried to Jesus, " Have mercy on me,
O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is griev
ously vexed with a devil," and Jesus tried her faith,
first. He answered not. The disciples (men) said,
"Send her away, for she crieth after us." .Read,
then, how Jesus tried lier, and her wise and humble
answer. Also, this woman had patience, courage';
and perseverance, and Jesus said, " O woman, great
is thy faith ;*be it unto thee even as thou wilt."
According to her will and faith in Jesus — she had
will enough to have faith — her daughter was cured
in 'that hour. Now we have Jairus's daughter,
even now dead ; but Jesus took her by the hand
and said, " Damsel, I say unto thee arise," and she
arose and walked. We are told she was twelve
years old, and Jesus told them to give her some
thing to eat ; she arose, therefore, in perfect health.
And here we have the poor widow who for the
support of" the temple cast into the treasury two
mites, which make a farthing. Now, Jesus thought
enough of this to call his disciples (men) to impress
this lesson on them — that this poor widow had
given more than all who had given, for they gave
of their abundance, she gave all she had.

230 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,
Let us here say, that we should take account of
how many women Christ spoke of, in giving to his
disciples and to us

HIS PRECIOUS TEACHINGS.
" Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spik e-
nard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus,
and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was
filled with the odor of the ointment.
" Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, which should betray him,
"Why was not this ointment sold for three hun
dred pence, and given to the poor ?
" This he said, not that he cared for the poor ; but
because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare
what was put therein.
" Then saith Jesus, Let her alone : against the
day of my burying hath she kept this.
" For the poor always ye have with you ; but me
ye have not always."
" And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the
leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman
having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard,
very precious ; and she brake the box, and poured it
on his head.

W0JI1W OF THE NEW THSTAMENf. _31
"And there were some that had indignation with
in themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the
ointment made ?
" For it might have been sold for more than three
hundred pence, and have been given to the poor.
And they murmured against her.
" And Jesus said, Let her alone ; why trouble ye
her ? she hath wrought a good work on me.
" For ye have the poor with you always, and
whensoever ye will ye may do them good ; but me
ye have not always.
" She hath done what she could : she is coming
aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
" Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel
shall be preached throughout the whole world, this
also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for
a memorial of her."
" And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of
the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David ; my
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
" But he answered her not a word. And his
disciples came and besought him, saying, send her
away ; for she crieth after us.
" But he answered and said, I am not sent but
unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

23_ women of this new testament.
"Then came she and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, help me.
" But he answered and said, It is not meet to take
the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.
" And she said, Truth, Lord : yet the dogs eat of
the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
" Then Jesus answered and said unto her, 0
woman, great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour."
" And behold, there came a man named Jairus,
and he was a ruler of the synagogue : and he fell
down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he
would come into his house :
" For he had one only daughter, about twelve
years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went,
the people thronged him.
" And a woman having an issue of blood twelve
years, which had spent all her living upon physi
cians, neither could be healed of any,
" Came behind him and touched the border of his
garment : and immediately her issue of blood
stanched. " And Jesus said, Who touched me ? When all
denied, Peter, and they that were with him, said,

WoMEtf oF'THfi nEw testament. _33
Master, the multitude throng thee, and press thee,
and sayest thou, Who touched me ?
" And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me :
for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
" And when the woman saw 'that she was not hid,
she came trembling, and falling down before him,
she declared unto him before all the ^people for
what cause she had touched him, and how she was
healed immediately.
" And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good
comfort : thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in
peace. " While he yet spake, there cometh one from the
ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy
daughter is dead: trouble not the Master.
" But when Jesus heard it, he answered him say
ing, Fear not : believe only, and she shall be made
whole. " And when he came into the house, he suffered
no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John,
and the father and the mother of the maiden.
"And all wept and bewailed her : but he said,
Weep not: she is not dead but sleepeth.
" And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that
she was dead.
" And he put them all out, and took her by the
hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise."

234 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house
of Simon the leper,
" There came unto him a woman having an ala
baster-box of very precious ointment, and poured it
on his head as he sat at meat.
" But when his disciples saw it, they had indigna
tion, saying, To what purpose is this waste ?
" For this ointment might have been sold for much,
and given to the poor.
"When. Jesus understood it, he said unto them,
Why trouble ye the woman ? for she hath
wrought a good work upon me.
" For ye have the poor always with you ; but me
ye have not always.
" For in that she hath poured this ointment on my
body, she did it ior my burial.
" Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel
shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also
this, that this woman hath done, be told for a
memorial of her."
" And from thence he arose, and went into the
borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an
house, and would have no man know it: but he could
not be hid.
" For a certain woman, whose young daughter had

Women of the new testament. 235
an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell
at his feet :
" (The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenecian by
nation,) and she besought him that he would cast
forth the devil out of her daughter.
" But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first
be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's
bread and cast it unto the dogs.
"And she answered and said unto him, Yes,
Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the chil
dren's crumbs.
" And he said unto her, For this saying, go thy
way ; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
"And when she was come to her house, she
found the devil had gone out, and her daughter lay
upon the bed. "
"And behold, a woman in the city, which was a
sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the
Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster-box of oint
ment. " And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and
began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them
with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and
anointed them with the ointment.
" Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him
saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man,

236 Women of the new testament.
if he were a prophet, would have known who and
what manner of woman this is that toucheth him,
for she is a sinner.
" And Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I
have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Mas
ter, say on.
"There was a certain creditor, which had two
debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the
other fifty.
" And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly
forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of
them will love him the most ?
" Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to
whom he forgave most. And he said unto him,
Thou hast rightly judged.
"And he turned to the woman, and said unto
Simon, Seest thou this woman ? I entered into
thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet:
but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped
them with the hairs of her head.
" Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman, since
the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
' ' Mine head with oil thou didst not anoint : but
this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
" Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are
many, are forgiven ; for she loved much : but to
whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 237
"And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
" And they that sat at meat with him, began to
say within themselves Who is this that forgiveth
sins also ?
"And he said to the Woman, Thy faith hath
saved thee ; go in peace."
" And when Jesus was passed over again by ship
unto the other side, much people gathered unto
him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
" And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of
the synagogue, Jairus by name ; and when he saw
him he fell at his feet,
"And besought him greatly, saying, My little
daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee,
come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be
healed ; and she shall live.
"And Jesus went with him ; and much people fol
lowed him, and thronged him.
" And a certain woman which had an issue of
blood twelve years,
''And had suffered many things of many physi
cians, and had spent all that she had, and was noth
ing bettered, but rather grew worse,
" When she heard of Jesus, came in the press
behind, and touched his garment ;

238 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I
shall be whole.
*And straightway the fountain of her blood was
dried up ; and she felt in her body that she was
healed of that plague.
" And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself
that virtr "•, had gone out of him, turned him about
in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes ?
"And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the
multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, who
touchest me ?
" And he looked round about to see her that had
done this thing.
" But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing
what was done in her, came and fell down before
him, and told him all the truth.
" And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath
made thee whole ; go in peace, and be whole of thy
plague. " While he yet spake there came from the ruler
of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy
daughter is dead : why troublest thou the Master
any further ?
•'As soon as Jesus heard the word that was
spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue,
Be not afraid, only believe.

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 239
"And he suffered no man to follow him, save
Peter,' and James, and John the brother of James.
" And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that
wept and wailed greatly.
" And when he was come in, he saith unto them,
Why make ye this ado, and weep ? the damsel is not
dead, but sleepeth.
"And they laughed him to scorn. But when he
had put them all out, he taketh the father and
mother of the damsel, and them that were with him,
and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
" And he took the damsel by the hand, and said
unto her, Talitha-cumi : which is, being interpreted,
Damsel, (I say unto thee) arise.
" And straightway the damsel arose, and walked ;
for she was of the age of twelve years. And they
were astonished with a great astonishment.
"And he charged them straitly that no man
should know it ; and commanded that something
should be given her to eat. "
Here is a woman whose memory will last as long
as the four gospels are read and taught in the world.
It was Jesus who said it should be so. This woman
had possessed something that they all said was very
precious s she gave it to Jesus, The men present all

240 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
said it was a waste, because it had been given to
Jesus. And to cover their mean thought they pre
tended to think of the poor. One we are told, was a
thief ; and Jesus tells them all, that the poor they
have always with them, and can do them good
whenever they wish. He also defends this woman.
" Let her alone, why trouble ye her ; she hath
wrought a good work on me. She hath done what
she could."
The woman of great faith — her daughter " vexed
with a devil," we now call ill, with a great illness
or insane ; this woman was not of the Jewish
nation, and Jesus tries her faith. Her answer could
not be more humble : " Yes, Lord, yet the dogs
under the table eat the crumbs which fall from the
master's table." Jesus says, " O woman, great is thy
faith, for this saying go thy way, the devil is gone
out of thy daughter."
The daughter of Jairus, and the woman ill for twelve
¦ years, are both examples of faith in Jesus, that He
is the Son of God. He had powrer to cure and to
raise from the dead. Women, not men, are the exam
ples here. The woman who touched the hem of
his garment was humble, and very sure of being
cured ; also she had great courage, for we are told
that there was a great multitude of people and that
the woman trembled with fear. When Jesus said

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 241
" somebody touched me, for virtue has gone out of
me," she had courage to face the multitude, to fall
at Jesus' feet, and declare- all that was done for her
before all the people, and Jesus said to her " thy faith
hath made thee whole, go in peace."
Now, two of the gospels tell us that the woman
with the box of ointment poured it on Jesus' head,
two tell us she anointed his feet. She may have done
both ; or it may be the account of two different
women. The last account says she was a sinner, and.
that the Pharisee, thinking himself very pure of all
sins, accuses this woman, accuses Jesus for not
knowing that the woman was a sinner. When we
say a woman is a sinner, we generally mean one
thing — impure. But a Pharisee meant this : " I i_i
not as others, extortioners, unjust, adulterers* I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess."
This woman may not have been impure in her life ;
but the Pharisee may have called her a sinner
because he thought himself so perfect. Jesus, in his
gentle way, first gets the Pharisee to bid him
" Master, say on," then he shows him how much
better the woman is than the proud Pharisee ; for
having forgiven many sins of this woman, owing to
her great desire to be forgiven, this woman had
out of gratitude brought '.the ointment to Jesus.

242 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, .
Again Jesus says, " Thy faith hath saved thee, go in
peace." "There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw
.water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
" (For his disciples were gone away unto the city
to buy meat.)
" Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him,
How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of
me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews
have no dealings with the Samaritans.
" Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have
ft
asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water. " The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast noth
ing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence
then hast thou that living water ?
" Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which
gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle ?
" Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh of this water, shall thirst again :
" But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him. shall never thirst ; but the water that I

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 243
shall give him, shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life.
"The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this
water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to
draw. "Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband,
and come hither.
" The woman answered and said, I have no hus
band. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I
have no husband :
"For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom
thou now hast, is not thy husband: in that saidst
thou truly.
" The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that
thou art a prophet.
" Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and
ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men
ought to worship.
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the
hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this moun
tain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
" Ye worship ye know not what : we know what
we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
" But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and
in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship
him.

214 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" God is a spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth.
"The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias
cometh, which is called Christ ; when he is come,
he will tell us all things.
" Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto thee am
he. '
" And upon this came his disciples, and marvel
led that he talked with the woman : yet no man
said, What seekest thou ? or, Why talkest thou with
her ?
" The woman then left her waterpot, and went
her way into the city, and said to the men,
" Come, see a man which told me all things that
ever I did : is not this the Christ ?
" Then they went out of the city, and came unto
him." " And many of the Samaritans of that city
believed on him for the saying of the woman
which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
" So when the Samaritans were come unto him
they besought him that he would tarry with them :
and he abode there two days.
"And many more believed, because of his own
word ;
"And said un,tp .the woman, Now we believe,

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 245
not because of thy saying : for we have heard him
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ,
the Saviour of the world. "
"Jesus said to Martha, Whosoever liveth, and be
lieveth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this ?
" She saith unto him, Yea, Lord : I believe that
thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should
eome into the world.
"And when she had so said, she went her way;
and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The
master is come, and calleth for thee.
" As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and
came unto him.
' " Now' JesUs was not yet come into the town,. but
was in that place where Martha met him.
"The Jews then which were with her in the'
house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary
that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her,
saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
" Then when Mary was come where Jesus was,
and saw him," she fell down at his feet, saying unto
him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had
not died.
" When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the
Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned
in the spirit, and was troubled.

246 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" And said, Where have ye laid him ? They say
unto him, Lord, come and see.
"Jesus wept.
" Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him !
" And some of them said, Could not this man,
which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused
that even this man should not have died.
"Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, com
eth to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon
it.. " Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha,
the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him,
Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he hath been
dead four days.
" Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that
if thou wouldst belieye. thou shouldest see the glory
of God ?"
" And early in the morning he came again into
the temple, and all the people came unto him ; and
he sat down and taught them.
" And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto
him a woman taken in adultery : and when they had
set her in the midst,
" They say unto him, Master, this woman was
taken in adultery, in the very act.

Women of the NEW testament. 247
" Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such
should be stoned : but what sayest thou ?
"This they said, tempting him, that they might
have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and
with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he
heard them not.
" So when they continued asking him, he lifted
up himself, and said unto them, He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
" And again he stooped down, and wrote on the
ground. " And they which heard it, being convicted by
their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even unto the last : and Jesus was left
alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
" When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw
none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman,
where are those thine accusers ? hath no man con
demned thee ?
" She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto
her, Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no
more." We first have here the woman of Samaria, a woman
by no means ignorant — read and see. She speaks of
our father Jacob ; she at once perceived that Jesus
was a prophet ; she knew that the Jews said that

248 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.'
Jerusalem was the place to worship, and that the
Samaritans worship in their mountain. She knew
that Messias wais to come, would be called Christ,
and when come, would tell her all things. Now,-
Jesus' talk with this woman is recorded ; the disciples,"
we are told, are not present ; to the woman, therefore
we are indebted for knowing what Jesus said. He
makes her think. He knows how much of the truth"
she knows, so leads her on to find it herself by
thinking it out. She does not understand at first
what the " living water " means. " The gift of
God'" was Jesus himself ; "the living water'' the
Holy Ghost, spiritual knowledge, which would give
her everlasting life. Now, Jesus makes this woman
think ; and in thinking she accuses herself. Jesus
is very gentle with her, and only tells her that He
knows the life she is living then. The woman per
ceiving him to be a prophet asks him an indirect,'
religious question. Her life of sin, brought to her
mind by a prophet, turned her thoughts to the way
tarbe forgiven, the' worship of God, and she wishes
to find out the right place to worship.
Then Jesus tells this woman this precious truth :
"True worshippers shalt worship the Father in
spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to
worship him." " God is. a spirit, and they that wor^

women of the new testament. 249
ship him, must worship him in spirit (soul) and in
truth." Jesus, we think, would not have told this woman
this great truth, had he not known that she was
capable of understanding it. Jesus then tells her
"that salvation is of the Jews." Jesus the Saviour
was a Jew, and he tells this woman that he is Christ.
This woman forgot she came to draw water from
the well, went at once back to the city, and said to :
the men, " Come and see the Christ." A woman carried
this lesson and teaching of Christ to the men of a
city. The men did as she said and left the city to
come to Christ. If any woman who has influence of
any kind over men reads this, let her pause and
think within herself : Is it for good or for evil the
influence was given, her; is it good or evil she is
working in the world. The Holy Spirit from jesus
knows just how she is living, and can through her
mind ask her some questions, which will make her
understand that her life is not hid from Him.
" Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall
never die. Believeth thou this ?" This question
was asked by Jesus of a woman, in one of the hard
est trials of faith ever given on this earth ; by a
grave Where a man had been buried four days, who
had died of a disease — truly dead. This sister had
seen him die, and seen him buried ; she knew not

2^0 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
what Jesus was going to do, she could not have
understood that her brother was to live again on
this earth. She tells Jesus she believes he is Christ,
the Son of God, which should come into the world,
therefore able to do all things. Did she understand
then, as we can now, that whosoever's soul liveth and
believeth in Christ it shall never die. She gives us
those beautiful words, " The Master is come, and
calleth for thee." These sisters (women) are the
means that the Jews (men) witness this miracle.
Mary gives her testimony that she believes that had
Jesus been there her brother would not have died.
She believes this fully. Jesus groaned in spirit
because of their unbelief. They wept because they
did not believe that Jesus could bring their brother'
back to this life. Jesus said to this woman, " I told
thee if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the
glory of God."
On the same page we have the woman taken in
adultery, A woman cannot sin in adultery alone.
Where, then, was the man in this case ? They let
him go free ; the woman they wished to stone to
death. I understand this to have been done by
these men, after seeing how forgiving Jesus was to
women ; how gentle, how compassionate to women.
They could have stoned the woman, without taking
her to Jesus. Jesus was in the Temple, teaching a

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. _5l
large crowd of people. These men wished to try
him, both by the law of Moses and his compassion
to women.
The law of Moses — a sinning woman who had
broken the law. The man had also broken the law
of Moses, but Jesus in many cases had taken the
defence of women. Women counted so low, so of
no account in those days. What would he do now
about this woman taken prisoner when in adultery ?
What he does is this : he forces them to judge them
selves, not one man there but that had sinned in
adultery. They dared not stone the woman. This
woman was a sinner, but no worse than the men.
We think we may be very sure that being forgiven
by Christ, she sinned no more, however tempted to
do so by the men.
How strange it must have seemed to the men ; a
woman of no account, so low, so in their power,
that they could prove to be a vile sinner, this
woman the means of making them feel that they
were as vile as she. . They deserved to be stoned as
much as she did. So ashamed did they feel, that
they left.
And Jesus asked her, " Hath no man condemned
thee. Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no
more." He does not say that she has not sinned ; on
the contrary, he decidedly says she has ; he does not

252 women of -the new testament.
condemn her to be stoned to death, but tells her to
go, and sin no more.
" And there followed him a great company of
people, and of women, which also bewailed and
lamented him.
" But Jesus turning unto them, said, Daughters of
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for your
selves, and for your children.
" For behold, the days are coming, in the which
they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the
wombs that never bare, and the paps which never
gave suck.
" Then shall they begin to say to the mountains,
Fall on us ; and to the hills, Cover us.
" For if they do these things in a green tree, what
shall be done in the dry ?"
"The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou
hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath
loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him
away to watering ?
" And ought not this woman, being a daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the
sabbath-day." "Either what woman haying ten pieces o£ silver,

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 253
if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and
sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
"And when she hath found it, she calleth her
friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice
with me ; for I have found the piece which 1 had
lost." " And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the
kingdom of God ?
" It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in
three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. "
" Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened
unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went
forth to meet the bridegroom.
" And five of them were wise, and five were fool
ish. " They that were foolish took their lamps, and took
rjo oil with them :
" But the wise took oil in their vessels with their
lamps. " While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered
and slept.
" And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold,
the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him.
"Then all those "virgins arose; and £rirpnied their
lamps.

254 WOMEN OF THE ,NEW TESTAMENT.
" And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of
your oil ; for our lamps are gone out.
" But the wise answered, saying, Not so ; lest
there be not enough for us and you : but go ye
rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
" And while they went to buy, the bridegroom
came ; and they that were ready went in with him
to the marriage : and the door was shut.
" Afterward came also the other virgins, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us.
" But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you,
I know you not.
" Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."
" And they did all eat, and were filled : and they
took up of the fragments that remained twelve
baskets full.
" And they that had eaten were about five thous
and men, beside women and children."
" That he entered into a certain village : and a
certain woman, named Martha, received him into her
house. " And she had a sister called Mary, which also
sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
" But Martha was cumbered about much serving,
and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 255
that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? bid her
therefore that she help me.
" And Jesus answered, and said unto her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful, and troubled about many
things :
" But one thing is needful ; and Mary hath chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away from
her." " Saying, There was in a city a judge, which
feared not God, neither regarded man.
" And there was a widow in that city ; and she
came unto him,, saying, Avenge me of mine adver
sary. " And he would not for a while : but afterward
he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor
regard man,
" Yet, because this widow troubleth me, I will
avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary
me. " And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge
saith. " And shall not God avenge his own elect, which
cry day and night unto him, though he bear long
with them ?"
" Then came to him his mother and his brethren,
and could not come at him for the press.

256 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" And it was told him -by certain, which said, Thy
mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to
see thee.
" And he answered and said unto them, my mother
and my brethren are these which hear the word of
God, and do it."
"And behold, there was a woman which had a
spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed
together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
" And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him,
and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from
thine infirmity.
" And he laid his hands on her : and immediately
she -was made straight, and glorified God."
" Another parable spake he unto them ; The
kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till
the whole was leavened."
" And forthwith, when they were come out of the
synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon
and Andrew, with James and John.
" But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever ;
and anon they tell him of her.
"And he came and topk her by the hand, and

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 257
lifted her up ; and immediately the fever left her,
aud she ministered unto them."
"And he answered them, saying, Who is my
mother, or my brethren ?
" And he looked round about on them which sat
about him, and said, Behold, my mother and my
brethren !
"For whosoever shall do the will of God, the
same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."
" Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's
children, with her sons, worshipping him, and desir
ing a certain thing of him.
" And he said unto her, What wilt thou ? She
saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may
sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the
left, in thy kingdom.
" But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what
ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall
drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I
am baptized with ? They say unto him, We are able.
" And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed
of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I
am baptized with : but to sit on my right hand, and
on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to
them for whom it is prepared of my Father."

258 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King
cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and
a colt the foal of an ass."
" And he looked up and saw the rich men casting
their gifts into the treasury.
"And he saw also a certain poor widow, casting
in thither two mites.
" And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this
poor widow hath cast in more than they all.
" For all these have of their abundance cast in
unto the offerings of God : but she of her penury
hath cast in all the living that she had."
" Which devour widows' houses, and for a pre
tence make long prayers : these shall receive greater
damnation. " And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and
beheld how the people cast money into the treasury :
and many that were rich cast in much.
" And there came a certain poor widow, and she
threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
" And he called unto him his disciples, and saith
unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor
widow hath cast more in, than all they which have
cast into the treasury.
" For all they did cast in of their abundance : but

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 259
she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all
her lmng."
" And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered
into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was
taken with a great fever ; and they besought him
for her.
" And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever ;
and it left her : and immediately she arose and min
istered unto them."
"Now w-hen he came, nigh to the gate of the
city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow : and
much people of the city was with her.
" And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion
on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
" And he came and touched the bier : and they
that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man,
I say unto thee, Arise.
" And he that was dead sat up, and began to
speak : and he delivered him to his mother."
In all these records Jesus teaches a truth, a moral,
a lesson, and it is by a woman, through a woman
to the world; the example is a woman. He speaks
to a woman, the reproof is to women, the praise given
to women, the sick cured are wo?nen.

260 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
First we have the women who followed Christ to
his death and lamented him. To the women he
speaks these words: "Weep for yourselves and your
children." This refers to the destruction of Jeru
salem. It also has a spiritual meaning. In those
days it was thought a reproach to a woman not to
be married and have children. They could not rise
above this. They could not realize that the purity
of a woman would ever be the possession of herself,
the strength of her soul over her body. There is a
higher life than being married. All women cannot
receive it, but those who can, doubtless stand high
est in the world and understand it.
Then we next have Christ saying to the man Who
would not have a woman cured on the "Sabbath day:
" Thou hypocrite." This man showed more com
passion to his ox and ass than to a woman who had
been ill eighteen years. Then we have this woman
the means of Christ's lesson that we should do
good on the Sabbath-day and not strain the com
mandment of keeping the Sabbath-day, as refus
ing to relieve suffering on that day.
Now we have the careful woman who hunts the lost
piece of silver. She seeks diligently until she finds
it, and rejoices when she has found it. This is told
them to make them understand that there is joy in

Women OF The new testament. _6l
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth.
Again, " the Kingdom of God is like leaven which
a woman took . . . till the whole was leavened." A
woman, then, by her good life, can make all who see
how she lives be better in their lives by her exam
ple. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened
unto ten virgins. We know the story of the wise
and foolish ; the reward to the wise, who were
ready and fit to enter the Kingdom, the utter fail
ure of the foolish. There are other things to live
for than foolishness. The virgins seem to be all
alike, except that the Wise thought to be ready
before they slept, or waited, so that they were ready
before the doors closed forever. Young girls who
love pleasure and think of foolishness, of flirting
with men, and marry without thinking, you will be
called the same as the others, and your soul will
not be ready.
When Christ fed the five thousand men we are told
he also fed women and children. This was earthly
bread ; but the spiritual bread to our souls- is also
given to women as well as to men. Then we have
Martha ; she had a house and received Jesus. She
was a caretaking housekeeper. She overdid it,, for
we are told she was cumbered about much serving.

262 Women of The new testament.
Now Jesus did not upbraid her, he only tells her that
she is careful and troubled about many things
and that only one thing is needful, and that her
sister Mary has chosen it, and it shall not be taken
from her. We are told that Mary sat at Jesus
feet and heard his words. " Sat at his feet," of
course, means was taught by him, the same as
Paul had sat at the feet of his teacher. Then, if
Mary was taught by Christ of the Kingdom of God,
how fit she must have been to teach others, certainly
as much so as his diciples.
Now Jesus chooses a woman again to teach a
lesson, which is, that God will hear and avenge his
own elect that pray to him day and night, though
he bear long with them. The wo?nan (a widow) went
to a judge to be freed of her adversary. The judge
was a man who feared not God or man, but because
the widow did not cease to ask him, he did what she
asked him to do to get rid of her. (How true this
is even in our days !) This was an unjust judge ;
therefore what this woman wished was only justice
to herself. This woman prayed to be delivered from
the man who persecuted her. Therefore it is right
to try and free ourself from persecution, or from an
enemy. Then we come to where Jesus tells us who is his

women of the new testament. %63
mother and brethren : those who hear the word of
God, and do it.
Then Simon's mother-in-law, sick of a fever, and
Jesus cures her.
Then we have the mother of Zebedee's children,
and she asks for her sons, not for herself, Jesus
answered by asking them a question. Were they
able to suffer and die with him ? They answer, Yes.
Then Jesus says they will suffer and die ; but he
cannot give what they ask for ; but it will be given
to them to whom the father will give it. They asked
for a spiritual gift, though they may not have
understood it so. In fact, Jesus says they did not
know what they were asking. They thought the
kingdom of Christ was to be an earthly kingdom.
How little they then understood what the kingdom
of Jesus was to be !
The church is named a woman: " Tell ye the daugh
ter of Sion."
Then we have the poor widow, a woman whom
Jesus speaks of to give those who heard him, and us
through them, the lessons He teaches. The rich
men gave their gifts to the treasury ; they gave of
their abundance. Jesus says the two mites given by
the poor woman counted more in God's sight than
the large gifts of the rich men or women. Jesus
had just been accusing those who devour widows'

264 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
houses, rob the widows and unprotected, and pray
only for a pretense, and make long prayers only for
a show outwardly. Then he speaks of the poor
widow who had just given her two mites, and call
ing his disciples he bids them note " this poor
widow, " and by her act he gives the lesson.
Then we have the widow with her dead son. And
the Lord had compassion on this woman and said,
" Weep not." And he gave back the human life to
the son, and delivered him to his mother. Now we
do not read that Jesus blamed any of the women.
If they are wrong he asks them a question which
makes them think before they can answer it. If they
are wrong they see it by thinking over Jesus' question.
To all the above women he shows great mercy,
compassion, kindness, gentleness and certainly
shows that He thinks them able and worthy to
understand his teachings, which are spiritual and not
carnal. What a surprise this must have been to
the scribes and Pharisees !
" For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold
upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias'
sake, his brother Philip's wife : for he had married
her. " For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful
for thee to have thy brother's wife.

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 265
" Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him,
and would have killed'him ; but she could not :
" For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a
just man and an holy, and observed him : and when
he heard him, he did many things, and heard him
gladly. "And when a convenient day was come, that
Herod on his birth-day made a supper to his lords,
high captains, and chief estates of Galilee ;
"And when the daughter of the said Herodias
came in, and danced, and pleased Herod, and them
that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel,-
Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it
thee. " And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt
ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my
kingdom. " And she went forth, and said unto her mother,
What shall I ask ? And she said, The head of John
the Baptist.
" And she came in straightway with haste unto
the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give
me, by and by, in a charger, the head of John the
Baptist. " And the king was exceeding sorry ; yet for his
oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him,
he would not reject her.

_^6 WOMEN 01* THE NEW TESTAMENT.
"And immediately the king sent an executioner,
and commanded his head to be brought : and he
went and beheaded him in the prison ;
" And brought his head in a charger, and gave
it to the damsel ; and the damsel gave it to her
mother." •' But a certain man named Ananias, with Sap-
phira his wife, sold a possession.
" And kept back part of the price, (his wife also
being privy to it,) and brought a certain part, and
laid it at the apostles' feet.
" But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled
thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep
back part of the price of the land ?
" While it remained, was it not thine own ? and
after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?
why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart ?
thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.
" And Ananias hearing these words, fell down
and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on
all them that heard these things.
" And the young men arose, wound him up, and
carried him out, and buried him.
" And it was about the space of three hours after,
when his wife, not knowing what was done, came
in.

WOMEN OF Tl-I_ NEW TESTAMENT. _()7
" And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether
ye sold the land for so much ? And she said, Yea,
for so much.
" Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have
agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ?
behold the feet of them whieh have buried thy
husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
"Then fell she down straightway at his feet,
and yielded up the ghost. And the young men
came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth,
buried her by her husband,"
" And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him,
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife ? tempt
ing him.
" And he answered and said unto them, What did
Moses command you ?
" And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of
divorcement, and to put her away.
" And Jesus answered and said unto them; For the
hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept :
"But from the beginning of the' creation, God
made them male and female.
" For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother, and cleave to his wife ;
" And they twain shall be one flesh : so then they
are no more twain, but one flesh.

26 S WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" What therefore God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder.
" And in the house his disciples asked him again
of the same matter.
" And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put
away his wife, and marry another, committeth
adultery against her.
"And if a woman shall put away her husband,
and be married to another, she committeth adul
tery." " Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, hav
ing no children, his brother shall marry his wife,
and raise up seed unto his brother.
" Now there were with us seven brethren : and
the first, when he had married a wife, deceased ;
and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother.
" Likewise the second also, and the third, unto
the seventh.
" And last of all the woman died also.
" Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall
she be of the seven ? for they all had her.
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err,
not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
" For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor
are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God
in heaven."

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 269
"The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting
him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to
put away his wife for every cause ?
" And he answered and said unto them, Have ye
not read, that he which made them at the beginning,
made them male and female.
" And said, For this cause shall a man leave father
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife : and they
twain shall be one flesh ?
" Wherefore they are no more twain, but one
flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder.
ft*"*.
"¦They say unto him, Why did Moses then com
mand to give a writing of divorcement, and to. put
her away ?
He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hard
ness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your
wives : but from the beginning it was not so.
" And I say ufito you, Whosoever shall put away
his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry
another, committeth adultery : and whoso marrieth
her which is put away, doth commit adultery.
" His disciples say unto him, If the case of the
man be so with' his wife, it is not good to marry.
• " But he said unto them, All men cannot receive
this saying, save they to whom it is given.
" For there are some eunuchs, which were, so, born

270 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
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. He that
is able to receive it, let him receive it."
" There is difference also between a wife and a
virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things
of the Lord, that she may be holy, both in body and
in spirit : but she that is married, careth for the
things of the world, how she may please tier hus
band. "And this I speak for your own profit ; not that I
may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is
comely, '. . . "
" So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth
well ; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth
better. " The wife is bound by the law as long as her hus
band liveth ; but if her husband be dead, she is at
liberty to be married to whom she will ; only in the
Lord. " But she is happier if she so abide, after my
judgment : and I think also that I have the Spirit
of God."
The above is so plain any one can understand it :

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

271

adultery, with all its hideous consequences ; the
anger of the woman against John, for being told
that she was living in sin ; the trick she played on
Herod with whom she sinned, by making him kill
John the Baptist, and she used her daughter to
charm this crime from the king. Are there any
adultresses in these days who would be pleased to
have the head of their accuser brought to them?
It is the head of their own conscience which they
must cut off.
Here we have the distressing story of a woman ;
equal, but equal in wickedness to a man. They
both lied, and lied in the worst way, for they lied
to God, wanting the Apostles to believe that they
gave all the money for which they sold the land.
They did not wish them to know that they kept
back part of it. They were told they had done
a foolish and wicked thing : sinned against God."
The land was theirs, they sold it of their own free
will ; the money they sold it for was their own, no
one forced them to give it, or retain it.
The lesson is very plain to us all ; and if we are
true in secret things to God, we will do well ; for we
cannot be untrue in secret things without God
knowing it.
Now we have the question of divorce, and Jesus'
words are very plain. In the beginning God made

272 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
them equal, male and female ; and to the men, Jesus
very plainly says, " for the hardness of your heart,
Moses wrote you this precept." Then he says what
no one can twist into any other meaning. " Whoso
ever shall put away his wife, and marry another,
committeth adultery against her, and if a woman
shall put away her husband, and be married to
another, she committeth adultery."
Now, these men who think after death they are
to have wives, are no better than the followers of
Mohammed. They could not rise to any higher bliss
for the future than having wives. Jesus tells them
they do not know the Scriptures. They had no
idea of their souls, no spiritual thought, no spiritual
f t joys. How hard it was for the Saviour to raise the
minds of these men from carnal things ! We have
here what they thought of women — one woman to
bear children for seven men. No other use, and
this they thought was her duty.
Then we have again the question of divorce and
Christ's plain words about it. He gives the one reason
why it could be granted, and very plainly tells them
who are guilty of adultery. Then Jesus tells them
that all cannot understand or live the single life ;
those who of their own free will do so, have one
reason, " the kingdom of heaven's sake," that all are
not able to understand this. These words of Jesus,

Women of the new testament. 273
come directly after what he has said about adultery
and divorce.
Then we have the difference between the married
and unmarried woman. These words the apostle
speaks, and he very plainly tells us that she who
does not get married cares for the things of the
Lord, both in body and spirit, and does better than
she who marries.
There can be no doubt about the early Christians
believing that a single life was following the teach
ings of Jesus, as single life in those days was thought
to be a curse or punishment or disgrace. Christ
came to do away with those old ideas and raise
mankind to a higher level, above earthly things.
The life of the soul is worth more than the life of
the body, and what they thought to be a disgrace he
told them was an honor, above the understanding
of most men and women.
" Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named
Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas ;
this woman was full of good works and alms-deeds
which she did.
" Aud it came to pass in those days, that she was
sick, and died : whom when they had washed, they
laid her in an upper chamber.
"And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh tojoppa, and

274 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they
sent unto him two men desiring him that he would
not delay to come to them.
"Then Peter arose* and went with them. When
he was come, they brought him into the upper
chamber : and all the widows stood by him weeping,
and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas
made, while she was with them.
" But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down,
and prayed, and turning him to the body, said,
Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes : and when
she saw Peter, she sat up.
"And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up;
and when he had called the saints and widows, he
presented, her alive.
" And it was known throughout all Joppa : and
many believed in the Lord."
" I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a
servant of the church which is at Cenchrea :
" That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh
saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business
she hath need of you : for she hath been asuccourer
of many, and of myself also.
" Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ
Jesus :
" WbP haye for my life laid down their own necks ;

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 275
unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the
churches of the Gentiles.
" Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
Salute my well-beloved Epenetus, who is the first-
fruits of Achaia unto Christ.
" Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.
" Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and
my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the
apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
" Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.
" Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys
my beloved.
" Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them
which are of Aristobulus' household.
" Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that
be of the household oi Narcissus, which are in the
Lord. " Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour
in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which
laboured much in the Lord.
" Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother
and mine.
"Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas,
Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.
"Salute Philologus and Julia, Nereus, and his

276 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are
with them."
" Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of
Onesiphorus. " Erastus abode at Corinth : but Trophimus have
I left at Miletum sick.
" Do thy diligence to come before winter.
Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and
Claudia, and all the brethren."
" When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith
that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother
Lois, and thy mother Eunice ; and I am persuaded
that in thee also.
" Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that
thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the
putting on of my hands."
" To Timothy, my dearly beloved son : Grace,
merey, and peace, from God the Father and Christ
Jesus our Lord.
" I thank God whom I serve." *
" And on the sabbath we went out of the city by
a river side, where prayer was wont to be made ;

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 277
and we sat down, and spake unto the women which
resorted thither.
" And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of
purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped
God, -heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that
she attended unto the things which were spoken of
Paul. " And when she was baptized, and her household,
she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be
.faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide
there. And she constrained us."
First, we here have a woman, Tabitha, who
passed her time doing good works and helping the
poor, who when she died was brought back to life
by St. Peter. We are told where she lived and that as
she was known by many through her good deeds, she
was the means, when brought back to life, of mak
ing many believe in the Lord.
Phebe : in the ministry : commended for that reason,
a servant of the church. St. Paul calls himself a
servant of the church, which means in the ministry.
They were to assist her in whatsoever business she
hath need of. Here is a list of women in the ministry
in those early Christian days: Priscilla — the churches
thank her, and she has a church in her house. Greet
Mary, she bestowed much labor.

278 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Priscilla was the wife of Aquila. They had been
driven from Rome by Claudius. They accompan
ied Paul a little and afterwards instructed Apollos
of Alexandria. Then the mother of Rufus — salute
her. Salute Julia, and the sister of Hermes; and
Claudia. Here are many women spoken of by
Paul. They were equal in the church even in
those days.
" O Timothy, my dearly beloved son ;" he had
great and true faith and he got it from his mother
Eunice and grandmother Lois — a good inheritance
from good women. Does a woman know that she can
give her child, and by the child give the grandchild,
faith in Christ. Not only do you give them health
in their bodies but health in their souls, or ill-health
for their bodies and ill-health for their souls ; and
this is the punishment for your sins. As long as
the suffering caused by both body and soul lasts in
the world, you will suffer it ; for those who die are
followed by their works.
Lydia, a seller of purple, in those days a rich
trade. She was rich, she was baptized with her
household and she received in her house the Apos
tles. They were poor and travelling.
"According to the custom of the priest's office,

Women of" th_ new Testament. 279
his lot was to burn incense when he went into the
temple of the Lord.
"And the whole multitude of the people were
praying without at the time of incense.
" And there appeared unto him an angel of the
Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of
incense. " And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled,
and fear fell upon him.
" But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacha
rias : for thy prayer is heard ; and thy wife Elisa
beth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his
name John.
"And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and
many shall rejoice at his birth.
" For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink ; and
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from
his mother's womb.
"And many of the children of Israel shall he
turn to the Lord their God.
"And he shall go before him in the spirit and
power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to
the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just ; to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord. "And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby

280 Women of the new testament.
shall I know this ? for I am an old man, and my
wife well stricken in years.
"And the angel answering, said unto him, I am
Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God ; and am
sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these
glad tidings.
" And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not abie
to speak, until the day that these thing shall be per
formed, because thou believest not my words, which
shall be fulfilled in their season.
" And the people waited for Zacharias, and mar
velled that he tarried so long in the temple.
" And when he came out, he could not speak
unto them : and they perceived that he had seen a
vision in the temple ; for he beckoned unto them
and remained speechless,
" And it came to pass, that as soon as the days of
his ministration were accomplished, he departed to
his own house,"
" There was in the days of Herod the king of
Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the
course of Abia : and his wife was of the daughters
of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
" And they were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless.

Women of the) new Testament. 281
" And they hadno child, because that Elisabeth
Was barren ; and they both Were now well stricken
in years."
" And after those days his Wife Elisabeth con
ceived, and hid herself five mouths, saying,
" Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days
wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach
among men."
" And all went to be taxed, every one into his
own city.
" And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of
the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was
of the house and lineage of David,)
" To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being
great with child.
" And so it was, that while they were there, the
days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
: " And she brought forth her first-born son, and
wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in
a manger ; because there was no room for them in
the inn."
" And in the sixth month the angel -Gabriel was
sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Naza
reth,

282 Women of the New testament.
" To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David ; and the virgin's
name was Mary.
" And the. angel came in unto her and said, Hail,
thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee ;
blessed art thou among women."
"And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser : she
was of a great age, and had lived with an hus
band seven years from her virginity ;
" And she was a widow of about fourscore and
four years, which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and
day. " And she coming in that instant, gave thanks
likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."
What was the prayer of Zacharias ? not for a son
I think, since he believed not what the angel told
him. But the answer to the prayer was this : " Thy
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt
call his name John, and many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God." He
was to have the spirit and power of Elias, and make
ready a people prepared for the Lord, those pre-

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 283
pared to receive Christ. John was to make them
ready, prepared, that is expectant. Elisabeth (a
woman) was the mother of this prophet, greater than
all prophets ; and she was of the daughters of Aaron,
that is of the family of priests ; therefore she knew
and expected Christ to come to this earth. She was
righteous before God, walking in all the command
ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Men
in those days reproached women if they had no
children. Then we come to the Virgin Mary, of
whom we have written on another page.
Then Anna : some think she was the mother cf
the Virgin. She was the daughter of Phanuel, the
tribe of Aser. She was very old, and served God
with fastings and prayers night and day. She lived
to see and know Jesus Christ.
The Second Epistle of JOHN.
" i He exhorteth a certain honourable matron, with her
children, to persevere in Christian love and belief, 8 lest
they lose the reward of their former prof ession . io and
to have nothing lo do with those seducers that bring not
the true doctrine of Christ Jesus.
" The elder unto the elect lady, and her children,
whom I love in the truth ; and not I only, but also
all they that have known the truth ;

284 women of the new testament.
" For the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, and
shall be with us for ever.
" Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God
the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Father, in' truth and love.
" I rejoiced greatly, that I found of thy children
walking in truth, as we have received a command
ment from the Father.
" And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I
wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that
which we had from the beginning, that we love one
another. " And this is love, that we walk after his com
mandments. This is the commandment, That, as
ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk
in. " For many deceivers are entered into the world,
who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh. This is a deceiver, and an antichrist.
"Look to yourselves, that we lose not those
things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward.
" Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in
the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abid
eth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the
Father and the Son.
"If there come any unto you, and bring not this

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 285
doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him God speed :
" For he that biddeth him God speed, is partaker
of his evil deeds.
" Having many things to write unto you, I would
not write with paper and ink : but I trust to come
unto you,, and speak face to face, that our joy may
be full.
"The children of thy elect sister greet thee.
Amen." Here we have one whole Epistle addressed to a
woman. We are told that she was elect ; also her
children ; and that all who knew the Truth loved
her, because she also knew the Truth. This Truth,
which she had, dwells in us, and shall be with us for
ever. That is the Holy Spirit sent by the Lord
Jesus Christ to dwell within those who know the
Truth. St. John sends this woman grace, mercy, and
peace from God. And he rejoiced because he found
the children of this woman walking (living) in the
Truth, following the commandments of God. And
the love St. John speaks of, is in the true meaning of
the word; that is, to obey God's commandments.
He tells her " Look to yourselves, that we lose
not the things we have wrought ; but that we
.receive a full reward." They, then, were to have a

286 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
reward of the good they had done, also they were
not to receive an evil person" or to have anything
to do with evil, by themselves or through another.
Another woman is spoken of as being also elect, and
having good children.
Here is a woman worthy even in those days of
being mentioned in an Epistle, and offered to us
and to all the world as an example worthy to be
followed. A lesson to all mothers to bring up their
children in the fear and love of Truth, and to know
and follow Christ.
" And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magda
lene, and Mary the mother oi James, and Salome, had
bought sweet spices, that they might come and
anoint him.
" And very early in the morning, the first day of
the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising
of the sun :
"And they said among themselves, Who shall roll
us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ?
" (And when they looked, they saw that the stone
was rolled away,) for it was very great.
" And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a
long white garment ; and they were affrighted.
"And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted ; ye

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 287
seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified : he
is risen ; he is not here : behold the place where
they laid him.
" But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter,
that he goeth before you into Galilee : there shall
ye see him, as he said unto you.
" And they went out quickly, and fled from the
sepulchre.; for they trembled, and were amazed :
neither said they anything to any man ; for they
were afraid."
" Now when Jesus was risen early, the first day oi
the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out
of whom he had cast seven devils.
" And she went and told -them that had been with
him, as they mourned and wept.
"And they, when they had heard that he was
alive, and had been seen of her, believed not."
" In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week, came Mary Mag
dalene, and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
" And behold, there was a great earthquake : for
the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and
came and rolled back the stone from the door and
sat upon it.
" His countenance was like lightning, and his rai
ment white as snow.

2S8 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT;
"And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and
became as dead men.
"And the angel answered and said unto the
women, Fear not ye : for I know that ye seek
Jesus, that was crucified.
" He is not here : for he is risen, as he said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
" And go quickly, and tell his disciples, that he
is risen from the dead, and behold, he goeth before
you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him : lo, I have
told you.
" And they departed quickly from the sepulchre,
with fear and great joy ; and did run to bring his
disciples word.
" And as they went to tell his disciples, behold,
Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came,
and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
" Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid : go
tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there
shall they see me."
" And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other
Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre."
"And many women were there (beholding afar

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 289
off) ' Which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering
unto him :
" Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary
the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of
Zebedee 's children,"
" Now upon the first day of the week, very early ,
in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre
bringing the spices which they had prepared, and
certain others with them.
" And they found the stone rolled away from the
sepulchre. " And they entered in, and found not the body of
the Lord Jesus.
" And it came to pass, as they were much per
plexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments.
" And as they were afraid, and bowed down their
faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek
ye the living among the dead ?
" He is not here, but is risen. Remember how
he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
" Saying, the Son of man must be delivered into
the hands of sinful men, and be crucified; and the
third day rise again.
" And they remembered his words,

290 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
" And returned from the sepulchre, and told all
these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
" It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary
the mother of James, and other women that were with
them, which told these things unto the'apostles.
" And their words seemed to them as idle tales,
¦ and they believed them not."
" But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weep
ing : and as she wept she stooped down and looked into
the sepulchre,
" And seeth two angels in white, sitting, the one
at the head, and the other at the feet, where the
body of Jesus had lain.
" And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest
thou ? She saith unto them, Because they have
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they
have laid him.
" And when she had thus said, she turned herself
back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it
was Jesus.
" Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why_ weepest
thou ? whom seekest thou ? She, supposing him to
be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him,
and I will take him away.
." Jesus saith unto her, Mary, She turned herself

WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 291
and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say
Master. " Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not : for I am
not yet ascended to my father : but go to my breth
ren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father
and your Father, and to my God and your God.
"Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples
that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken
these things unto her."
" The first day of the week cometh Mary Magda
lene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre,
and seeth, the stone taken away from the sepul
chre. " Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter,
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and
saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord
out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they
have laid him."
Mary Magdalene, a woman of Magdala in Galilee.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (the four gospels)
all speak of her. She is mentioned first here as
bringing with the other women spices to anoint
Jesus early in the morning. She and the others
entered .the sepulchre, and to the women the angel
gave the message to be given to Peter and the dis-

292 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
ciples. It was to Mary Magdalene that Jesus first
appeared after he had risen. He had pardoned and
cured Mary Magdalene of seven faults which
amounted to sins. She told the disciples (men)
that she had seen Jesus, and they believed her not.
She was only a woman, they were men. These
women were told by the angel not to fear. Why ?
Because they sought Jesus. Which we can do now,
and if sincerely, we are not to fear. This is a great
honor to women. Christ appeared and spoke first to
them, before he spoke to the men ; the message was
sent by women to men.
They understood Jesus, then, better than the
men. Do they not do so now ? Women stood very
low in the world's opinion then. What thought the
disciples then, " all men, who had been with Jesus
all through his ministry," that women, weak and
ignorant, were the first that Jesus appeared to after
he rose from the dead.
This was the most important thing in Christ's
birth and death. He had conquered death. He
had died in his human nature, as a ransom for all
.human nature. We who believe in his double
nature understand this. He had now risen in his
Divine nature, which so triumphed- over his human
nature that his flesh " saw not corruption."
- The spark of divinity within us is not strong

Women of the new Testament. 293
enough to keep our human nature from corruption
in death. We rise a spiritual body, and we do that,
we think, af our death, the death of our natural body.
But to return to Mary Magdalene. She, a woman,
was the first to hear this great truth, and to give it to
the men, and through men and women to the world.
Here is the message from the angel : " Go, tell the
disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead and
that he will meet them in Galilee." From Jesus :
" Go, tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee and
_there shall they see me. Go to my brethren and
say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your
Father, and to my God and your God."
Now, we read that before Mary Magdalene was
fit to receive this great honor from Christ, to under
stand theredemption and be trusted with the mes
sage to the world, Christ had cured her of seven
sins. We all have natural sins, and by trying our
selves by the Bible, we can find out what they
are. You cannot understand spiritual things but
by the Spirit. Carnal things are understood by car
nal nature ; so says the Bible. Therefore, if we have
a mental sin, use the right remedies to 'cure it ; if a
natural sin, use the right remedies to cure that. Go
to an honest, intelligent woman doctor, and be cured
in an honest way. By both remedies you will
understand the life and death of Christ. You will

294 woMeN of" the New testament.
see and understand spiritual things. How purified
this woman was, for out of her were cast seven sins ;
the seven senses which can all run into sin; Ungovern-
ed, unwatched by our parents when we are children,
by ourselves when we are women, this battle within
ourselves never ceases. This woman ungoverned,
untrained had let her senses run into sin. If in all
her senses she was purified by Christ, and she knew
it, how ready she was to understand that Christ had
risen from the dead ! She followed him through that
perilous time of his death ; she could not doubt, for
had not Christ purified all her senses ? She was a
spiritual woman — a redeemed and living soul now,
and this account is a great help to all sinning
women. In these days you cannot be ignorant,
that if you will you can conquer your senses and
not be a slave to them. If you are a slave to them
you yourself are to blame. If you love to have it
so, you must take the consequences. They will
be sure to be evil to you, sooner or later, no matter
how small they may seem to you now.

BOOK X.

SONGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
[>95]

SONGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.

Then Judith began to sing this thanksgiving in
all Israel, and all the people sang after her this song
of praise:
" And Judith said : Begin unto my God with tim
brels, sing unto my Lord with cymbals, tune unto
him a new psalm, .exalt him, and call upon his
name. " For God breaketh the battles, for amongst the
camps in the midst of the people, he hath delivered
me out of the hands of them that persecuted me.
" Assiir came out of the mountains from the north,
he came with ten thousands of his army, the multi
tude whereof stopped the torrents, and their horse
men have covered the hills.
" He bragged that he would burn up my borders,
and kill my young men with the sword, and dash
the sucking children against the ground, and make
male infants as a prey, and my virgins as a spoil.
"But the Almighty Lord hath disappointed them
by the hand of a woman.
" For the mighty one did not fall by the young
[297]

298" songs- of th_ Women of the iHb__.
men, neither did the sons of the Titans smite him,
nor high giants sit upon him ; but Judith the
daughter of Mecari.
" Then my afflicted shouted for joy, and my weak
one said aloud ; but they were astonished, they
lifted up their voices, but they were overthrown. I
will sing unto God a new song. Oh Lord, thou art
great and glorious, wonderful in strength and invin
cible. " Let all creatures serve thee, for thou spakest, and
they were made, thou didst send forth thy spirit, and
it created them, and there is none that can resist thy
voice. "For the mountains shall be moved from their
foundations with the waters, the rocks shall melt
as wax at thy presence, yet thou art merciful to
them that fear thee.
" For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour
unto thee, for he that feareth the Lord is great at
all times."

son_s of The woM_n o_ The bible.

THE SONG OF HANNAH, THE MOTHER
OF SAMUEL,
And Hannah said :-
"My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is
exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over
my enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation.
There is none Holy as the Lord, for there is none
beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God.
" Talk no more so exceeding proudly-, let not arro-
gancy come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God
of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
" The bows of the mighty men are broken, and
they that stumbled are girded with strength, they
that were well have hired out themselves for bread,
and they that were hungry ceased, so that the bar
ren hath borne seven ; and she that hath many chil
dren is waxed feeble.
" The Lord killeth, and maketh alive, he bringeth
down to the grave,, and bringeth up.
"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lift-
eth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them
among princes, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory ; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's
and he hath set the world upon them.
" He will keep the feet of his saints, and the

SOO SONGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
wicked shall be silent in darkness ; for by strength
shall no man prevail.
" The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to
pieces, out of heaven shall be thunder upon them.
The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he
shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn
of his anointed."

• THE SONG OF MIRIAM.
"And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron,
took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went
out after her with timbrels and with dances.
" And Miriam answered them : Sing ye to the
Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse
and his rider hath He thrown into the sea."
THE SONG OF DEBORAH.
" Then sang Deborah : Praise ye the Lord for the
avenging of Israel. I, even I, will sing unto the
Lord ; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased
in Israel, until that I, Deborah, arose, that I arose
a mother in Israel. [This mother in Israel does
not mean a mother of children, but is the same as
we say that Washington was the father of his coun
try. A mother in Israel is a mother of her country >

SONGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE, BIBLE. 301
having saved it from the enemy, who would have
utterly killed it.J Awake, awake Deborah, awake,
awake, utter a song ; arise. The Lord made me
have dominion over the mighty. O my soul,
thou hast trodden down strength. Blessed above
women shall Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite be,
blessed shall she be above women in the tent."
This woman, by God's wisdom, saved her coun
try ; she was the instrument and she gave God the
praise.

SONG OF THE VIRGIN MARY.
" My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit
hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath
regarded the low estate of his handmaid, for behold
from henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed. " For He that is mighty hath done me great things
and holy is His name, and His mercy is on them
that fear Him from generation to generation. He
hath showed strength with His arm, He hath scat
tered the proud 'in the imagination of their heart. He
hath put down the mighty from their seats, and
exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the
hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent
empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel.

BOOK XL

THE PRAYER-BOOK.
\303]

THE PRAYER-BOOK.

A COUNTRY CHURCH.
August, 1 89 1.
We were at church this morning. The clergyman in
his sermon said that the answer to prayers returned
on those who prayed, to the individual, that all
prayer was in a certain way selfish : the soul that
prayed, prayed for itself. Now, we were very much
pleased to see that this man thought as we did
though he did not not think just what we were
thinking, which was this : The congregation was
made up of women. We saw but three men in the
congregation, so that the answer to all those church
prayers, if sent at all, was sent to the women, and
would certainly make them fit to teach aud to
preach by the mighty spirit of God, in a word, to be
ministers in God's church. In this same sermon
the Clergyman said, " Who was it that gave praise to
Christ ?" He mentioned several men in the Bible,
but not one woman, and yet it was a woman above
all women who praised God : " My soul doth mag
nify the Lord," and the rest of this grand praise
I3°5J

306 THE PEAYER-BOOK.
given to God. It was her soul, by the spirit of God,
that gave this praise and thanks.
The women in this congregation prayed these
prayers: " Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are
open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets
are hid, cleanse" the thoughts of our hearts by the
inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may per
fectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name,
through Christ our Lord, Amen." The women, to
each commandment, prayed, " Lord have mercy
upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law."
They, then, are helped to keep the ten command
ments. " Accept our alms and oblations, receive
these our prayers, inspire continually the universal
church with the spirit of truth, unity and concord ;
dispose the hearts of all Christian rulers, that they
may truly and impartially administer justice to the
punishment of vice, the maintenance of virtue.
Give grace to all bishops and other ministers, that
they may set forth thy true word and rightly admin
ister the Holy Sacraments to all people; give thy
heavenly grace to this congregation here present [the
congregation were all but three of them women\
that they may hear and receive the word." And they
(the women) prayed that this might be all granted to
fhem, for Jesus Christ's sake our only mediator.

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 307
THE PRAYER-BOOK.
IT IS THE WOMEN WHO PRAY.
In church to-day, when two of our beautiful
prayers were read by the clergyman, and followed
closely in our heart and mind, as our voiceless spirit
prayed before our God in heaven, who is a spirit,
this idea came to us in this prayer : " Almighty and
everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and
perfect gift, send down upon our bishops, and
other clergy, and upon the congregations committed
to their charge, the healthful spirit of thy grace, and
that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the
continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for
the honor of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus
Christ, Amen."
First, the congregations are made up of women, (one
or two men only are found in any congregation in
churches) therefore the blessing prayed for, for our
bishops, is prayed for in the hearts and spirits of
women. If the blessing comes to the bishops, it is in
answer to the pra)',ers of women. Also, to the other
clergy, and this means clergy of all Christian denom
inations. Now, the congregations of women have for
years (centuries we may say) prayed for some such
blessing as our prayer asks for the wpmen ,- " The

308 THE PRAYER-BOOK.
healthful spirit of thy grace ; that they [the women]
may truly please Thee, pour upon them' [the women]
the continual dew of thy blessing." If this prayer is
answered, which we believe it to be, the women can
not go wrong if they become ministers in the
church. They have a healthful spirit ; and if the
prayer is answered, they cannot fail to please God,
for this blessing has been poured on them (the
women) like a continual dew. Now, some good and
great result must' come to the congregations of
women who pray for these things, and they have
asked it for the honor of their Advocate and Media
tor, Jesus Christ.
Then, in the prayer for all conditions of men. It
is the women who pray in the churches, and in this
prayer they pray for all sorts and conditions of men.
They ask that men may know God's ways ; perhaps
some men have come to this knowledge through the
prayers of the women. They (the women) also
pray for nations, for the holy church, for those in
any way afflicted or distressed ; these are the prayers
of the women.
In the general Thanksgiving, the women {for
they are the congregation) pray, or give thanks to
God, for His goodness to them (the women) and to all
men, and they (the women) beseech God to help
them to show forth His praise) and to give them-

THE PRAYER-BOOK, 309
Selves to His service,' and to walk before Him in
holiness and righteousness all their days. Now, are
they not fit to be ministers in God's Church, where
they show forth His praise, and where tliey give
themselves to His service ? And in the Collect for
Peace, the women (they are the congregation) pray,
"Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our
enemies (the men), that we (the women who are pray*
ing in the churches) surely trusting in thy defence,
may not fear the power of any adversaries (the men)
-through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord ;" and as
God has promised that where two or three are
gathered together in His name He will grant their
requests, He will fulfill the desires and petitions of
His servants (the Women) as may be most expedient
for them. Granting them what? the knowledge of
His truth while they are in the world, and in the
world to come life everlasting.
Now, if God grants to these women, who ask for
truth in His Churches from their souls and hearts,
are they not to minister in the churches and teach
the truth of which God has given them the knowledge.
Now, a pure virgin, who has given her life to the
study of this knowledge of truth — a single woman,
living in prayer and good Work's, ordained to the
ministry — is certainly a fit person to declare the ab
solution, or remission of sins, to .those who.are peni-

810 THE PRAYER-BOOK.
tent, and who truly repent. The churches are filled,
the absolution declared; but God, who alone sees into
the heart and mind of all, can alone know who the
absolution truly descends upon. It is the women
who pray for " holy desires, good counsels, and that
their hearts may be set to obey the commandments,
and that being defended from the fear of our
enemies (the men) we may pass our time in rest
and quietness. And defend us from all perils and
dangers of this night."
And all this is granted when two or three are
gathered together in God's name !
And Who are those gathered together in God's
name in the churches but the women ? And God has
promised to grant their requests. It is so we pray in
the churches. A woman among women, we pray for
ourself and women.
Now, God does not despise the sighing of a con
trite heart, nor the desire of such as are sorrowful.
Who are sorrowful, -who sigh of a broken heart, but
women ? He will therefore mercifully assist us in
our prayers, which we make in our troubles and
adversities. "That those evils which the craft and subtilty
of the devil (or man) worketh against us (the
women) may be brought to nought; that we (the
women) may be hurt by no persecutions."

THE I-jaYer-booK. 311
The women, also, pray, "Mercifully look upon
our infirmities, turn from us all evils, give us con
fidence in thy mercy," and they (the women) thank
and bless God for the redemption of the world by
the Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and
for the hope of glory.
It is the women who pray for congress, for rain, for
fair weather, in time of dearth and famine, in
time of war and. tumults, for those who are to be
admitted into holy orders. So far only men are
admitted ; so they here pray for the men. In a
short time there will be women who are to be
admitted into holy orders. It is the women who
pray in time of great sickness and mortality for
a sick person, for a sick child, for a person or per
sons going to sea, for a person under affliction, for
malefactors. It is the women who give thanks
givings for women after child-birth, for rain, for
fair weather, for plenty, for peace, for deliverance
from our enemies, for restoring public peace at home,
for deliverance from great sickness and mortality)
for a recovery from sickness, for a safe return from
sea. If these prayers are answered, the answer is to
the women, for it is they who pray.
It is the women who ask God to give them grace
to cast away darkness, and pray for light, now, in

812 The _rayer-_oo:K.
this mortal life. If it is granted, it. is the women
who pray who receive it. Fit, then, are they to be in
the ministry, for they have the. light to .each them, .
It is thewomen Who believethat the holy scriptures
were written for their learning, and who pray that
they may read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest
•them* and that by patience and by the comfort of
God's word they may ever hold fast the blessed
hope of everlasting life. It is the Women who pray
and it should be for the women in the ministry, and
the women who should be the stewards of God's
mysteries, and who should, and who do, prepare
and make ready God's way, and who are able
to turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom
of the just.. It is the women who pray, " O Lord,
raise up, we pray thee, thy power ; and come among
us [the women], and with great might succor us, as we
are hindered in running the race that is set before
us [we are hindered by the men] ; may Thy grace
and mercy speedily help and deliver us." It is the
women who pray, and with good reason, "Al
mighty God, who hast given us thy only begotten
son, to take our nature upon him, and to be born of
a pure virgin, grant that we, being made thy children
by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by
thy Holy Spirit." It is the women who pray, " Grant
that our hearts -and -all our members, being moufci-

The pkaYeR-Booe. 313
fied from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in
all things obey thy blessed will." This prayer
being answered to those who pray, may explain
why women in the mass are purer than the men,
free from carnal lusts and worldly lusts, and obey
God's will, It is the women who pray, " Grant
that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this
life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead." It
is the women who pray God" to receive these prayers
of thy people (women) who call upon thee, and
grant us to perceive and know what things we ought
to da, and to have power to do the same, and who
pray for God's peace all the days of their lives. It
is the women who pray God to be merciful to their
infirmities, and in all their dangers and necessities help
and defend them. It is the women who pray, " O
God, who knowest us to be in the midst of many
and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of
our nature we cannot always stand upright, grant
us such strength and protection as may support us
in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations."
Those who pray receive the answer ; so women pass
through temptations and dangers when men fail
and fall. It is the women who pray that the Church
maybe kept in true religion ; why, then, are they not
to be in the ministry of the church, when their
prayers keep the Church >in the true religion ? It is

314 The piuyer-booK.
the women who pray, " Grant that we may purify
ourselves as Christ is puref and when Christ shall
appear again with power and great glory, we may
be like unto him in his eternal and glorious king
dom." It is the women who pray, " Favorably hear
us, that we, who are justly punished for our offences,
maybe mercifull}' delivered." It is the women who
pray, " O God, who seest that we put not our trust in
anything that we do, grant that by Thy power we may
be defended against all adversity." It is the women
who pray for the excellent gift of charity, and this
prayer has been answered to the women in abun
dance. It is the women who pray, "Almighty and everlast
ing God, who sent thy Son to suffer death, that all
mankind should follow the example of his great humil
ity, grant that we may follow the example of His
patience. Grant, O Lord, that as we are baptized
into the death of thy Son, our Saviour, so by con
tinually mortifying our corrupt affections we may be
buried with him, and pass to our joyful resurrection
for His merits. Put in our minds good desires so by thy
help we may bring the same to good effect. Grant
us to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness
that we may always serve Thee in pureness of living
and truth ; grant that we may daily endeavor to
follow the steps of the holy life of Jesus Christ,

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 315
Almighty God, who showest to them that are in
error the light of thy truth ; so that they may
return into the way of righteousness." It is the
women who for many years have filled all churches
and prayed this prayer. To them, then, will the
prayer be granted ; and it is the women who will
receive the light of God's truth, and by that light,
will show God to them who are now in error.
It is the women who pray for new and contrite
hearts, that they may obtain mercy and forgiveness,
and who pray for those who confess their sins, that
they may be absolved. It is the women who pray
that they may use abstinence and that the flesh may
be subdued by the Spirit, and that they may ever
obey godly emotions, in true holiness. It is the
women who pray, " O God, who Seest that we have
no power of ourselves to>help ourselves, keep us
outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls,
that we may be defended from all adversities which
may happen to the body, and from all willful
thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul." God
grant this prayer may always be answered. It is
the women who pray, " Stretch forth the right hand
of thy majesty tobe our defense against all enemies;
grant that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily
deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace
may mercifully be relieved through our Lord and

316 the _raYer=Book.
Saviour Jesus Christ. Mercifully look upon thy
people, that by thy great goodness they may be
governed and preserved evermore, both in body and
soul." It is the women who pray, " O God, who alone
canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful
men, grant that they may love the things which
thou commandest and desire that which thou dost
promise, that so among the sundry and manifold
changes of the world, our hearts may surely
there be fixed, where true joys are to be found.
Grant that by thy holy inspiration we may think
those things thai are good, and by thy guiding may
perform the same; send to us thine Holy Ghost to
comfort us. Grant us by thy Holy Spirit to have a
right judgment in all things." (It is the women who
ask for this' right judgment in all things. If this
prayer is granted it is to those who ask it, there
fore women should have a right judgment in all
things.) They pray, " Keep us steadfast in faith and
defend us from adversities. O God, the strength of all
who put their trust in thee, mercifully accept our
prayers, and because through the weakness of our,
mortal nature we can do no good thing without
•thee, grant us thy help, that in keeping thy com
mandments we may please thee, both in will and
deed.!'

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 317
It is the women who pray, " O God, the protector
of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is
strong, nothing is holy, increase thy mercy and be
our guide, so that we may pass through things tem
poral, so as not to lose things eternal. Grant that
the course of this world may be so peaceably
ordered by thy governance. [Here the women
pray for the governance of the world ; surely they
should know how to govern and order the things of
this world, and it is the women who believe that God
has prepared for those who love Him such good
things as pass, mans understanding .] Give us the
increase of faith, hope and charity, and that we may
obtain that which thou dost promise ; make us to
love that which thou dost command. Keep, O Lord,
thy church with thy perpetual mercy, and because
the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep
us from all. things hurtful, and lead us to all things
profitable." It is women who fill the churches ;
it is the women, therefore, who pray this prayer :
"O Lord, let thy continual pity cleanse and de--
fend thy Church." Now, does our church need
cleansing? Why do doubts and unbeliefs arise all
around us ? If the women pray to have this
changed, to them will be given the power to do so.
If the men have failed to cleanse and govern the
churches, to preach and teach the truth, the Spirit

318 THE PRAYER-BOOK.
of God will go to the women, and through them
guide all into the truth. Grant thy people grace
to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh
and the devil.
The women still pray, " O Lord, we beseech Thee
absolve thy people from their offences ; and stir up,
we beseech thee, the wills of thy faithful people-
Grant unto us all, that we, being called by thy holy
word, .may forthwith give up ourselves obediently
to fulfill thy holy commandments. Grant that we,
forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be
evermore ready to follow thy holy command
ments. Grant unto thy Church to love the Word,
' and both to preach and receive the same."
It is the women who pray this prayer, therefore
as they make up the Church, being members there
of, they should preach.
The women pray, " Almighty God, who calledst
Luke the Physician, whose praise is in the Gospel, to
be an Evangelist and Physician of the soul." (See
how closely the cure of the- body is to the cure of
the soul. Christ called Luke the Physician, to be a
disciple. The diseases of the body must be cured
or prevented before you can cure the soul. Sin
then causes disease, and must be cured if you will
have the pure and wholesome soul and body.

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 319
Women should have women physicians, and men,
men physicians. " Grant that we may be joined to
gether in unity of spirit, that we (the women) may be
made a holy temple acceptable unto thee. Grant that
we may so follow thy blessed saints in all virtuous liv
ing, that we may come to those unspeakable joys
which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly
' love thee. We beseech thee, to direct, sanctify and gov
ern both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws,
and in the works oi thy commandments, that through
thy mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be
preserved in body and soul."
It is the women who pray, " We acknowledge
and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which
• we have committed by thought, word and deed
against thee. We do earnestly repent, and are
heartily Sorry ; have mercy upon us, and forgive us
all that is past."
To those who pray the forgiveness comes. Who,
then, pray ? The women. And they ask all this to
be given to them through Jesus Christ our Lord, to
be granted for His sake.
Now, we have tried to show you, how for years and
years the women who fill the churches have prayed
— the answer to prayer must descend on the one who
prays — and as God alone can see into the heart

320

THE PRAYER-BOOK.

and mind and soul of her who prays — to these
sincere women must come the blessing. As the
men have left the churches, and those who are our
guides therein seem to be losing their power to
guide, it is now time that our young women should
study for the ministry. Alas ! would that we had
the money to found and endow a woman's college
to train them for the ministry. We would have them
understand that no married woman could teach and
preach in a church. The young girls who come
must understand that we do not forbid marriage.
As soon as she knows that she is not master enough
of herself to fight the battle which comes to all
women ; that the disease called passion is stronger
than herself — will not permit her to give her soul
and body to the study of Holy things ; then let her
leave the college of ministry, and marry. What
she has learned there will return to her mind some
future day, will be sure to guide her through her
life, and do her and her children untold good. But
our college must follow Jesus Christ. He blessed
with his presence the marriage ; but he has plainly
told us if we are His, — he has given us the example
of his life on this earth, — our spirits must hold our
bodies, our minds cannot be free on spiritual things,
unless free from emotions of the body. We
do not think anything plainer in the New Testa-

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 321
ment than this. The spirit alone knows the spiritual
things. All are not called to this high state ; but
those who would teach and guide in spiritual
things must rise above passion and marriage. It
was so understood by Christ's followers. As much
as perfect self sacrifice Christ's , life must be fol
lowed, totally clear of any self-seeking. Did He
have the praise of others ? Were not his rewards on
earth sufferings inflicted by men ? Do not the best
of religions on this earth and at all times teach the
same thing ? Vestals, virgins, ask any woman,
physician, or any honest person, if it is possible for
you to applyr your mind unto wisdom, above all,
spiritual, mental wisdom, if you give way to the
. disease called passion. You' are in unsound mind,
as well as unsound body. We would not force
any girl to give up marriage ; but we know that
there are hundreds of girls who do not wish to get
married, who care for none of those things, who,
even if they wish it, will never marry — lovely and
charming as they may be. Men always marry for
fortunes. A girl cannot have a free choice. They
are taught that they also must, marry money ; if
they do not succeed, " tant pis 'J?lor them.
Now, girls, are you going to lose your chance in
life of making a true, happy life for yourself ? You
are individuals ; you may some day be left singu-

322 THE PRAYER-BOOK.
larly alone in the world, with your battle to fight. You
will feel and know that youth does not last always ;
and when gone, if every one is not against you, still
no one will care for you. Get a profession, and be so
independent that you can map out your lives with
wisdom and knowledge. The Ministry is coming to
you in this changing time on earth. Into your hands
Come truth, purity, knowledge, to keep, to preach, to
teach, to live, before the whole world, " Quit you-
like Christians. Have your lamps trimmed -and
burning."
SOME RULES FOR OUR WOMEN CLERGY.
These are only our ideas on the subject ; experi
ence will work-out many good rules for our young
women who will study for the ministry. We would
say, haye some age set, when a girl should enter the
college. Have no vows for. a single life, but make it
a rule that no married woman can enter into the
study for the ministry,, and no girl engaged to be
married. Both the married and engaged are hypnor
tized— their minds cannot be given to spiritual
things- if. both mind and body is not wholly in their
own keeping and perfectly free from the natural
feelings which both married and engaged, to be
married would give them. Have a given number

„ THE PRAYER-BOOK.' 323
of years for the study, allowing the girl or Woman
to leave at any time, if. she. finds she has made a
mistake in taking up the study ; fill her plaCe at
once with another girl. The knowledge the girl
gains makes her a better wife, or business woman,
and will be a great gain to the world at large and
worth the cost of the short study. A girl w<h'o goes
through the whole study should serve as a minis
ter a given number of years, and then, if she wills
it, leave the ministry— or remain. Have no com
pulsion. Of one thing we are very sure,- which is this : No
married woman should be in the, ministry. The
Spirit is clogged by the flesh— that animal part of
us which we get from our forefathers and which
they got from Satan in brute disguise. Christ has
¦shown us that to fully understand spiritual things
and teach them, we must be as He was when He
lived on earth. So, in -our college for the ministry,
have .no compulsion, but make it like a soldier's
duty, who receives the education, owes to the world
so many years given in teaching others for the min
istry. Spiritual -things will only gain spiritual
things in this world When given as Christ gave
.them.

324 THE PRAYER-BOOK.

MARRIAGE.

In our woman's state and woman's church, we hope
one thing will be changed in the prayer-book, in the
form of solemnization of matrimony.1 Why make the
woman take a vow before God, and before the con-
gregation, which in nine cases out "of ten is a per
jury. " To love :" love is a divine thing, and has
been once, and once only on this earth ; it lived in
the Saviour Jesus Christ ; it gave its life in the
body for us, it lives in heaven now for us. Does
any woman so love the man she marries until
death ? Does she give her life, for the eternal life of
the man ? " Cherish " means to support, to shelter,
to treat with tenderness, to nourish, -the treatment
that a child and not a man should receive. " And
to obey." This last is almost wicked. No woman
should vow to obey any one but her God. If she fol
lowed this out, she might be forced to commit
crimes and sin against her God, sin against her
soul, sin against her children, sin against the world,
and say to her God in the judgment : " I am not
responsible for all the sins I committed, for. I took a
sacred vow that I would obey the man I married."
The last, " until death us do part," needs no comment
in these days.

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 325

WOMEN IN THE MINISTRY.
/ We have tried to show how the Episcopal Church
owes Its spiritual life to the women, who -for years
filled the churches and did the true heart and earn
est praying, using the beautiful prayers of our
prayer-book. If we believe in the answer to prayer,
let me ask whose prayers were they in the churches
filled with women ? Who did the work in the Sun
day schools ? the work among the poor ? the prayers
at home in the closet in secret ? Who believed in
earnest in Christ and His teachings ?
Apostolic succession is spiritual not physical. It
was St. Paul who said, " There is neither male or
female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." If St.
Paul, who was so hard on the women of his day, said
that much, he understood that the Spirit of God was
in women as "well as men. In spiritual things a
woman is stronger vthan a man, and apostolic suc
cession is spiritual. Besides, who in these days will
say " a woman shall not teach ?"

APPEAL TO WOMEN1 OF THE WORLD.
In my study of the women of the Bible, and in
what I have written, I have tried to show what
women are capable of being and doing. I beg all
women to study the subject. Up to this day, ser
mons have been preached, but never about the
women of the Bible, it has always been the, men of
the Bible, the lessons their lives have taught us,
and the truths which Christ gave to them (the men);
and yet, if you look into the Bible, you will see much,
very much "about the lives of the women, and the
lessons which their lives teach ; and you will be
surprised to see how many of the most precious
truths Christ gave to women. If women had not
been repressed by men Christianity would to-day be
stronger and far more spread over the earth. We
have not been much better off than the women
of unchristian nations, not even the women of
Japan. In a book on the subject I read that in
Japan the natives think that education for girls
makes them unwomanly. Many in our own land still
think the same in regard to bur Christian girls. It

APPEAL TO WOMEN OF THE WOliLD. 327
is only very lately that this idea of education is
changing ; but the new idea is obliged to struggle
even to get a foothold in the minds of Christian '
people. Education, it is said, will but aggravate the
trouble of the Japanese women to a point beyond
endurance. No evil is ever done away with until
education' does make the evil of ignorance beyond
endurance. When it reaches that point the remedy
is sought for. When no remedy is thought to be
possible, the evil goes on and is endured. Oh, ignor
ance, ignorance ! what have you done fbr the women
on this earth ? We are told, with all you r getting,
get understanding, get knowledge. Love, God with your
mind, and if Christ thought that women were able to
receive and understand the divine truths which he
taught on this earth, why is it that women, instead of
teaching these truths, have become weak enough to
submit to be taught by men the things which it is
theirs to teach ?
Qh, woman ! Whom Christ has honored by taking
his human body from a woman, to whom He taught
the truths of heaven when he was here on earth,, to
whom He said, "1 that speak unto you am He,"
(when he answered woman when questioned upon
this subject by men); to whom He first appeared^
after His resurrection, and by whom He sent the
message of his resurrection to the men, his disciples.

£28 Knowledge From THE biblk.
Oh, women ! if Christ thought you able to advance in
knowledge and truth and holy lives, to be of great
good to this'earth, how is it that Satan has kept you
back in all these things ? Shake off the bondage of
the flesh inherited from Satan, and so govern your
bodies by your soulS' from heaven that it may
increase, and the desires from Satan may decrease,
, until the soul conquers.

KNOWLEDGE FROM THE BIBLE.
Psalmsxciv. 10. " He that teacheth man knowledge, shall
not he know ?"
Solomon asked' for wisdom and knowledge.
Proverbs. " Wise men lay up knowledge."
" Knowledge is easy to him that understandeth."
" He that hath knowledge spareth words."
"A man of knowledge iocreaseth strength."
Daniel. " God gave them knowledge."
" Knowledge shall be increased."
Habakkuk. " For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea." Hosea. " My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject
thee."

KNOWLEDGE FROM THE BIBLE. 329
St. Luke. " Woe unto you, ye have taken away the key
of knowledge."
Romans. " Zeal not according to knawledge. -
Colossians. " The mystery of God and^of the Father and
of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." Timothy.. Our Saviour,, who will have all men to be
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
Hebrews. " For if we sin willfully after that w,e have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth 'no
more sacrifice for sin."
Peter. " Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowl
edge." " Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." All these tell us to get knowledge, the sin of
ignorance, the use and blessing of knowledge. Who
then should keep us in ignorance, if God commands
us to get knowledge, and to put it to a good use ?

TO THE READER.

And now, Reader, I am going to say farewell. I
do not ask. you to believe as I do, as I think that
all intelligent persons must decide the question of
religious belief for themselves. I feel that I have
only done my duty by giving these thoughts to the
world, and declaring that Christ is my Lord and
Master.^ ,
Do not say that I have said, what I have not said ;
do not, willfully misunderstand me; do ndt make
pictures of animal bodies with human heads or the
reverse, for that is a worn-out trick.
If you have no animal instincts within you, and
think that you are a direct descendant of an
angel, and if this is so, why., so much the better for
this world, and, for you, Reader ; for you will be a
model for all to follow, and the world will be
blessed by your living in it, for then you will do no
evil, but will by nature do God's will the same as
it is done in heaven. However, you know better
than I do what your inward nature in the flesh
truly is. If you have no battle to fight within,

TO THE READER. 331
happy are you. You have no reason to say,
"When I would do good, evil is within me."
If you think it would have been better had I left
> this book to be published after my death, let. me tell
you that it is better to do what you wish done before
you die. Do I hear you say that I might have left
money to haVe it published after my death ? I
answer, I could not be eertain that the money
' would be so used. Do you still say, why do I give
my name so plainly ? My answer is, I am not
ashamed of doing so, nor am I afraid of the conse
quences. Ridicule, evil report, misunderstand
ing, I fear not, for I have done my duty to my
God: Do I hear you say, How could I have the courage
to write and give my thoughts to the world ? My
answer is this : In what other way could I give my
thoughts to the world ? I know that there are
many strong men in the Church of Christ, strong in
body and mind, and that some men boast of the
strength of their minds, and that I am only a weak
ignorant woman. Nevertheless, I have a soul, and
my soul is loyal to Christ. , A woman is not permitted
to speak in a church, or give her thoughts to the
world in that way ; but in these days when the
world has. attacked Christ, if the men have not the
courage openly to defend Christ, when they have all

332 To the reader;
the advantages of knowledge, learning, "colleges,
libraries, training in church matters, new ideas given
to them by God, then 1, a, woman deprived of -all
those advantages, dare, by my loyalty to Christ, my
gratitude to Christ, my courage and faith in Christ,
yeS, I dare write, have printed and give to the world
my thoughts.

NOTE.

ORIGIN OF A FAMOUS PRAYER. .
" A characteristic mistake was recently commit
ted by two renowned Jewish scholars in Paris,
James Darmestetter and Grand Rabbi Zadok Kahn.
The former discovered lately a fragment of a Par-
see prayer in. the Zend language : ' I thank thee, O
Creator of light, for having made me of the blessed
race of the Aryans ! I thank thee, O Ormuzd, for
having made me a free man and not a slave ! I
thank thee, O God of light, for having made me a
man and not a woman.' . Of course, any one famil
iar with the Jewish liturgy must be struck with the
resemblance of these three prayers to the three
recited by the pious Jew every morning from the
Prayer-book : ' Be blessed, O Lord, that thou didst
not make me a heathen ! ' 'Be blessed, O
Lord, that thou didst not make me a, slave !'
Be blessed, O Lord, that thou didst not make
me a woman!' Leaving it to the apologetic wri
ters to defend this rather ungenerous and tingal-
lant attitude of the devout worshipper, we are
chiefly concerned with the -question, where the
originator of these three peculiar prayers is to be
sought? On the Jewish or on the Persian side?
Professor Darmestetter, the Zend-scholar, found
the language to point to the third or fourth century,
and Grand Rabbi Kahn being to him authority
enough for ascribing the Jewish prayers in accord
ance with the Talmud (Menachoth 43b) to R. Meir

33_ note.
of the second century. He therefore, believes that
the Parsees adopted' these formulas from the Jews
and altered them to suit their own view.
" How strange that Diogenes Laertius, a Greek
writer of the second century, in his • Lives of
Philosophers,' quotes an older Greek author that
' Thales,' the first Greek philosopher, and some say
that Socrates used to thank the jgoddess of for-,
tune for three things : First of all, that he had
been born a man and not a beast ; secondly,- that
he was a man and not a woman; and thirdly, that
he was a Greek and not a barbarian.' (Thales, ch.
vii.) These' three prayers, then, must have been
quite common among certain philosophical -schools
long before the Christian Era, and the question is
only whether these philosophers or preceptors, the
Oriental sages, the Magi, the pupils of Zoroaster
and the like, originated them. The probability is
that the latter did, since the Pythagoreans derived
rnany of their practices from them. The Jewish
sages, then, must have also copied them from the
Zoroastrians. And we are in the fortunate position
to be able to prove that these same formulas were
familiar to the Jews in the time of Jesus. For it
can only be in reference to these three benedictions,
of the synagogal liturgy that Paul writes to the
Galatians (iii. 28)—" There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bondman nor free, there is
neither man nor woman, for ye are all one in the
Messiah Jesus, and through him Abraham's seed
and heirs according to the promise.' It is of inter
est to note that the almost identical expression
regarding the Holy Spirit, that 'it rests alike on
Jew or Gentile, omnan and woman, on male slave
or female slave, if the person but lives in full
accordance with the dictates of the spirit ' is found
in the mystic — or Essene — work ascribed to Elisha
the prophet. The sentiment, implied in the one

NOTE. 335 ,
benediction, of disregard of woman's claim com
pared with man's, certainly is the outcome of asce
ticism, and both Jesus (John iv. 27) and the Rab
binical sages endeavored to counteract it.
"At. any rate, the origin of these prayers is far
older than was assumed by' James Darmestetter and
Zadok Kahn. — Rev. Dr. K. Kohler in the Menorah for
July,:'

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 08867 7928