Elizabeth Cady Stanton Criticism and Edition of the Bible - Research Paper Example

due: Elizabeth Cady Stanton Criticism and Edition of the Bible Stanton’s role in the editing of the bible is an eventthat is controversial to the gender and sexuality in the bible. Her role illustrates the development and changes that have been experienced by the Christian faith. The discussion of Stanton’s contribution to the bible is best started in 1888 (Gabel 328). In this year, the Church of England was engaged a new translation of the bible. This adaptation of the bible was significant as it followed the King James Version of 1611 (Gabel 328). The council of scholars that was engaged in the translation of the bible was comprised on male members only. Therefore, no female gender representation as none of the biblical scholars was a woman. By considering this statement, the importance of Stanton in the biblical translation is emphasized, as she would get involved in the translation of the bible with the interest of women integrated. The biblical translation had an obvious overlook of the women, and ignored their suffrage. A review committee that included Stanton was constituted because of the chauvinistic approach to the translation. The members of the Revising Committee, apart from Santon included ” Frances A. Williamson, Helen Morris Lewis, Annie L. Diggs, Carrie Chapman Catt, Rachel Foster Avery, Henry B. Blackwell, Laura M. Johns, Elizabeth U. Yates, Katie R. Addison, Alice Stone Blackwell and Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, speaking for the resolution; and Charlotte Perkins Stetson, Mary Bentley Thomas, J. B. Merwin, Clara B. Colby, Harriette A. Keyser, Lavina A. Hatch, Lillie Devereux Blake, Caroline Hallowell Miller, Victoria Conkling Whitney, Althea B. Stryker, and Cornelia H. Cary” (Stanton 216). The committee resolved to make another translation to the bible, with the intention being limiting their goal to the biblical scope of a woman. The aim of the committee was to concentrate on the parts of the bible that addressed issues that targeted the women. The efforts made by the committee were the publication of The Woman’s Bible, which was produced in two volumes (1895 and 1899) (Gabel 328). This approach had a personal and social impact on women in their affiliation and interaction with the church. Stanton and the committee had one specific reason as to the review of the bible’s content. The impact that the bible had on a woman in the western society was evidence of the need to ensure that the woman was well covered in the publication (Gabel 328). The women had been struggling with the recognition in the society, much less in religion. There was a consensus that women were undervalued in society, and there was a need to establish their position in the church as well as in society (Bach 19). Addressing the plight of women in the bible was a means by which women in society could be reached effectively, without engaging in any political or social mass protests to communicate the relevance of women in the family and society. The view of Stanton translating the bible to suit her personal perspectives on women stems from the tendency of the biblical content straying from the view of what the woman represented in society. It had taken the women two millennia to get the men to recognize their importance to society. The committee felt there was a requirement to have the woman incorporated in the translation of the most popular book, at that time (Newsom & Ringe 55). Considering that Christianity, based on the bible, was a popular religion, it was vital that the committee influenced the woman’s way of thinking by emphasizing on the evolving roles and responsibilities of a woman. The bible, as it was translated by the gender imbalance committee engaged traditional principles of men-women relationships (Rogers, Para 34). The consequence of publishing of the Woman’s Bible was a lot of opposition, concerning the revised content that empowered women within the social setting. The other basis for opposition to the conventional bible was the literature value that the bible represented. The bible was considered as the literature foundation and a tool for the appropriation of men for personal interests. The chauvinistic nature of the bible and utilization of the bible as a tool by men to popularize their interests is based on the fact that, the authors were male and claimed a special relationship with God. The bible, in its original format, is argued as a perpetration of men’s dominion over women. According to Stanton, no man ever saw or conversed with God (Gabel 328), nor was the Mosaic code an inspiration of God (Gabel 328), nor informed the historians on what to do with the women, especially considering the common degradation showed by various religions (Demers 46). The need to translate the bible to a version friendly to the women came from Stanton noting that the conventional bible did not dignify the woman (Gabel 330). The bible was authoritative to begin with, and it commanded the Christians what to do and not to. It represented a way of life, which without any intervention would mean a continuous degradation of the woman. Considering the adoption of the bile in life, as manifested by different kingdoms and communities, the woman had a grim future and be subjected to oppressive policies established by the male leaders (Cheney 34). Conversion of the Holy bible from Hebrew or Greek to English took an authoritative tone determining the basis of society and social stratification. Stanton had a different view of what the bible is to most faithful, and thus championed the translation to incorporate modernist view of a woman. Stanton’s view considers the bible as a collection of human compositions that represents concerns of the world, as opposed to God’s unerring word (Gabel 330). Using this assessment of what the bible was, it could be questioned, analysed and interpreted, but such approaches to the bible were left for the men only. It is this perspective of men-based evaluation of the bible that Stanton questions and feels that it is selective and leans towards the benefit of the men only. Using the bible as a pillar in the Christina faith proved that women would continue being oppressed by the society (Brenner & Fontaine 82), since she considered past events as proof; founding her argument that the bible is a creation of humans. The book appears as an attempt to justify mistreatment of women in society, by ensuring that the position of a man is secured by religion as well as society. Other women scholars shared the feeling that the bible had been crafted to suit men. Among the women was Mathilda Joslyn Gage, who expressed her criticism of the bible in an Annual Meeting of the National Women’s Suffrage Association in 1878 (Gabel 330). She had the feeling that every woman had a right to interpret the scripture as she saw fit, which was characteristic to the woman’s bible. The woman’s bible became popular among women since it was interpreted to target the people who were most harmed by society in the books historical interpretation. The committee that was involved in the translation of the bible was not comprised of trained specialists. However, characters that had a knack for reading and were well versed with literature styles and techniques such as metaphors, symbolism, and allegory among others (Rogers, Para 35). Stanton’s perspective of the bible, although shared by many women scholars, was unpopular with the elite in the society, considering the impact and meaning it had to the existing structures of governance and politics (Baker 15). The Woman’s bible was thus unpopular following the impact it would have on politics and theology such that the popularity of the bible came about in the twentieth century with scholars interested in investigating the publication. Margaret Brackenbury Crook conducted a study of women in religion while writing her book Women and Religion which set the stage for feministic approaches to the bible (Gabel 330). Stanton’s interest in the translation and popularization of her ideals in the mid-1900s (Ginzberg 51) led to an increment of women scholars interested in the content in the bible. This gave rise to questions and new approaches to reading the bible. The motive of Stanton in translating the bible to encompass the role of a woman is based on her feminist theory (Rogers, Para 37). Despite her background, she was more adept to how the society relates with the woman, and the challenges, which she faces in everyday situations. Her character was fuelled by liberal humanist principles in individual autonomy and egalitarianism (Rogers, Para 2). A philosophical approach to life suggested a likeness to Benjamin Franklin as the principles of philosophy applied to common life situations. The approach she used did not target development of a theory for theory’s sake, but focused on improving life via political and social constructs (Rogers, Para 3). The content in the woman’s bible praises the woman, as in the case of Eve in the Garden of Eden, where she is praised for her thirst for knowledge irrespective of the consequences (Rogers, Para 3), “Fearless of death if she can gain wisdom [she] takes of the fruit” (Stanton 26). The bible’s interpretation of the role of women in the life of Jesus, contribution to freedom (Miriam), judiciary (Deborah) as well as the marriages to patriarchs were critical to the women’s position in the church and society. It may be argued that Stanton interpreted he bible to suit her personal needs, but by incorporating the daily womanly struggles and perspective by the church, she was able to introduce cultural feminism (Davis 48), in society as well as the church. The interpretation of the bible to the Woman’s Bible considered the challenges faced by women, which represented a general trend in society as opposed to an individual’s view. Works Cited Bach, Alice. Ed. The Pleasure of her Text: Feminist Readings of Biblical and Historical Texts. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990. Print. Baker, Jean. Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists. New York: Hill and Wang, 2005. Print. Brenner, Athalya and Carole R. Fontaine. Eds. A Feminist Companion to Biblical Methodologies, Approaches, and Strategies. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. Print. Cheney, Emily. She Can Read: Feminist Reading Strategies for Biblical Narrative. Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1996. Print. Davis, Sue. The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Print. Demers, Patricia. Women as Interpreters of the Bible. New York: Paulist Press, 1992. Print. Gabel, B. John. The Bible as Literature. 5th Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Ginzberg, D. Lori. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An American Life. New York: Hill and Wang, 2009. Print. Newsom, A. Carol and Sharon H. Ringe. Eds. Womens Bible Commentary. Expanded, with Apocrypha. Louisville WestrninsterlJohn Knox Press, 1998. Print. Rogers, Dorothy, ‘Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815—1902).’ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. Stanton, C. Elizabeth. The Woman’s Bible. New York: European Publishing Company, 1895. Print. Read More