Women write the gospel according to Eve

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 17

Women write the gospel according to Eve

Eve, it was revealed last week, was the heroine of the garden of Eden. She showed courage, dignity, and lofty ambition. The villain of the piece was Adam. His behaviour was nothing short of dastardly. Instead of taking upon himself the task of discussions with the serpent he remained silent and, when God challenged him about eating the apple, he blamed Eve. This feminist gloss on Genesis forms part of “The Woman’s Bible,” republished after an interval of nearly 100 years. The commentary was first printed in America in 1895 but its contents show that age has not withered the controversy over the biblical interpretation of women’s position in society and the Church. A feminists’ committee led by Ms Elizabeth Cady Stanton set out to attack those offending passages of scripture which had been used to keep women in their place. First, there was Genesis in which Eve is cursed with the words: “Your desire shall be to your husband and he shall rule over you.” Considering Adam’s whining and cowardly conduct, the committee was “amazed that upon such a story men have built up a theory of their superiority.” The idea that God cursed women with pregnancy is soundly rejected. ‘Some clergymen speak of maternity as a disability and then chant

By

JUDITH JUDD,

the London “Observer”

religious affairs correspondent.

the Magnificat in all their cathedrals round the globe.” Then the Ten Commandments are taken to task. These, say the commentary, are chiefly for men. For instance, “Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work,” is obviously a silly instruction for women. It goes on: “Men of all classes can make the Sabbath a day of rest ... but for women the same monotonous duties must be performed ... Men must have good dinners on Sundays as above all other days as then they have plenty of time to eat. If the first-born male child lifts up his voice at the midnight hour, the female attendant takes heed to his discontent.” Among such chauvinistic stuff the Fifth Commandment to “honour thy mother” is neither here nor there. The committee is equally scornful of the view that the Old Testament supports women’s obedience to men. Take Sarah and Abraham. A reading of their story shows, they say, that in both instances in which Sarah obeyed Abraham, God had to intervene with a miracle to save them from the result of that obedience. Abraham comes out of the com-

mentary no better than Adam. His conduct is described as “to the last degree reprehensible.” He surrendened his wife to Pharaoh to make money, then took her back when she left the king. “Like many a modern millionaire he was not a self-made man but a wife-made man.” The women’s committee to revise the Bible was set up in the wake of the Church of England’s revision committee — composed entirely of men — which began work in 1870. The women argued that the Bible was man-made and should be treated like any other book. The reaction was predictably fierce. One clergyman wrote: “It is the work of women and the devil.” As the second part of “The Woman’s Bible,” published in 1898, pointed out, this was a grave mistake. “His Satanic Majesty was not invited to join the revising committee which consists of women alone.” Indeed, the committee suggested, he had been so busy attending Synods and General Assemblies of the Church that he had no time to assist them.