Читать книгу Woman Triumphant - Rudolf Cronau - Страница 19

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Just at the time, when the capitals of Hellas and Rome were reservoirs for all the streams of wickedness and infamy, there originated in Palestine a religious sect destined to exercise an enormous influence upon the moral and political life of the world. Its adherents called themselves Christians, “the Annointed,” and followed the doctrines of Jesus, who, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, was condemned for his teachings by Pilate, the Roman governor of Judæa, and crucified.

As Jesus left no records or gospels written by himself, we do not know his personal views about woman, home, marriage, and maternity. We must rely on the accounts which were written by his followers many years after his death, and now are called the New Testament. After the death of Jesus some of his followers drifted from Palestine to Syria, Greece and Rome, where for their pure and austere morals they attracted the attention of numerous persons who stood aghast in views of the vices that surrounded them.

For the spread of a new religion such as Christianity, the Roman world was wonderfully ripe. As it had been the politics of Rome not to interfere with the religions of the peoples subdued by her armies, there had been added to the already overcrowded pantheon of Rome many of the principal deities of the conquered nations. But there existed also a longing for some religion, which would have more individuality and personal power in it then were supplied by the thoughts of a supreme spiritual fate, or by the mere materialistic conception of the genius of Rome. There was a decided thirst for information about sacred things. Men discussed the claims of the various conflicting religions philosophically, and amid all the gross materialism of the time there were longings for some deeper, truer religion than any they had known.

This longing was satisfied by the simple but sublime conceptions of God held by the Christians, and also by the noble purity of their life. These Christians had no settled form of doctrine, no settled rule of discipline, no body of magistrates. They were merely an association of believers in a common faith, with common sentiments, feelings, emotions and convictions. To women this new religion was particularly appealing, as it preached many important reforms. First of all, it granted to woman the full right of disposing of herself. By making her consent necessary for marriage, woman remained no longer a piece of property, which might be sold or disposed of at will by the father, brother, husband or other relatives. She also was not compelled any more to accommodate, with her own body, some visiting strangers. There was no hierarchical prostitution, either, but matrimony was elevated to a sacred ceremony, of which the benediction of a priest formed a necessary part. Chastity was regarded a supreme law, which governed the whole family life.

The majority of these Christians consisted of poor illiterate people, who tried to lead a clean and honest life. Their simple manners and frugal habits contrasted strongly with the luxury of those Greek and Roman patricians among whom they dwelt. They regarded such extravagance with contempt, and the unlimited emancipation and licentiousness of the rich women filled them with horror.

Accordingly they applied to themselves strict rules which would protect them against any temptation. For this reason their women never adorned themselves with jewelry or gaudy dresses of dyed cloth, silk, and embroideries; they never wore false or colored hair. If married, they took care of the house, attended to the children, and were devoted to their husbands, whom they respected as the head of the family. The only occasion for their going out was when they went to church, or to visit some poor or sick neighbor.

Depending on one another, husband and wife endeavored to form that union recommended by the scriptures as the goal of married life.

Such happy nuptial ties inspired Tertullian, a Carthaginian, who came in contact with Christians in Rome, to the following lines: “Whence are we to find language adequate to describe the happiness of that marriage which the church cements and the oblation confirms, and the benediction signs and seals, which angels report and the Father holds as ratified? Together they pray, together prostrate themselves, together they perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually exhorting, mutually sustaining.”

Commemorations of conjugal happiness, and commendations of such female virtues as modesty, chastity, prudence and diligence, we also frequently find in many sepulchral inscriptions of the Catacombs, those famous subterranean cemeteries excavated by the early Christians of Rome for the express and sole purpose of burying their dead. There are inscriptions as for instance: “Our well deserving father and mother, who lived together (for 20, 30, 50 or even 60 years) without any complaint or quarrel, without taking or giving offense.”

During the first centuries of Christianity women took a prominent part in all affairs of the church and they were allowed to be active wherever there was a chance to spread the Gospel. In particular, they taught the children, took charge of the orphans, and acted as door-keepers in the assembly rooms, directing the worshipers to their places, and seeing that all behaved quietly and reverently.

The new sect, which in every respect contrasted so strongly with Roman customs and conceptions, could not fail to attract the attention and inquisitiveness of the people as well as of the Government. But also suspicion and hostility were aroused. As the Christians met secretly in private houses, people suspected that they were conspirators banded together for criminal purposes, that they occasionally slaughtered infants, poured their blood into a cup, and that passing this cup around they all drank of it. Their insistance in only one God, that of the despised Jews, and their aim to discredit and overthrow all other creeds of the world in order to fuse all mankind in their own faith, were decried as contempt of those deities, under which Rome had become great and prosperous. Naturally, their enmity against these deities was regarded as enmity against the State, which stood under the protection of these deities. Accused of being apostates and revolutionists, the Christians soon enough became the objects of much bitter persecution; such as has been described by Sienkiewicz in his famous book “Quo Vadis.”

During these persecutions the Christian women shared with their husbands, children and brothers all the horrible cruelties Roman ingenuity could invent. In the arena they were thrown before lions, tigers, bears and other savage beasts. They were crucified, or besmeared with pitch and publicly burned. Worst of all, many of those women who regarded chastity as their highest virtue, were handed over to the keepers of brothels and made victims to the voluptuous passions of the lowest class of people.

But in time the pure and noble ideals which inspired the hearts of those first Christians, began to appeal to the masses of the people. The scriptures of the great apologists Tertullian, Justin, Origenes and others were read and studied with growing interest. And when later on Emperor Constantine, surnamed the Great, for motives of political expediency, favored and adopted the new faith, the triumph of Christianity was secured.

ARABIC WOMEN IN ANCIENT TIMES.