Female Scripture Biographies.
Vol. I.
by Francis Augustus c.o.x.
Preface.
Notwithstanding the variety of theological publications of a devotional cla.s.s, which are perpetually issuing from the press, the author concurs in the opinion of those who think they can scarcely be too numerous. It may reasonably be hoped, that in proportion to the multiplication of works of this kind, the almost incalculable diversities of taste will be suited; and that those who may be disinclined to one style of writing, or to a particular series of subjects, may be allured by their predilections to the perusal of others.
Amidst the general plenty, however, there is one department which experiences a degree of scarcity--a department to which these volumes properly belong. Pious families require a supply of religious reading, adapted to occupy the intervals of business, the hours of devotion, and the time which is often and properly appropriated to domestic instruction in the evenings of the Christian Sabbath. To have the minds of the young directed at such seasons, not only to the truths of religion in general, but the more attractive parts of Scripture in particular, seems highly important. By a happy combination of amus.e.m.e.nt and instruction, piety is divested of her formality, and clothed with fascination: the ear is caught, and the heart gained; while the narrative interests, the best lessons become impressed even upon the gay and the trifling; and he who, when summoned to the social circle, sat down with reluctance, may rise up with regret.
Whoever has been blessed with the advantages of a religious education, and recurs to his own years of juvenile susceptibility, cannot forget the strong impressions he received by these means; and must have had frequent occasion to remark the tenaciousness with which they have lingered in his memory, and sprung up amidst his recollections at every subsequent period.
In many cases they have proved the basis, of future eminence in piety, and blended delightfully with the gladdening retrospections of declining life. In those instances, where all the good effects which might be antic.i.p.ated did not appear, these early lessons have checked the impetuousity of pa.s.sion, neutralized the force of temptation, and cherished the convictions of an incipient piety.
The writer of the following pages is aware of the just celebrity acquired by some of his predecessors in the same line of composition, and he might have felt wholly deterred from pursuing his design, by an apprehension of having been superseded by the elegant and comprehensive lectures of HUNTER, and the simple, perspicuous, and devotional biography of ROBINSON, had he not remarked that their notices of the women in Scripture formed but a small proportion of their respective works, and that the present performance might be very properly considered as a continuation of their volumes, particularly of those of the latter author.
It will be seen, that some of the same characters which have been given in preceding writers, appear in the "Female Scripture Biography;" but the reader may perhaps be conciliated to this seeming repet.i.tion, by being reminded that they were necessarily retouched, in order to complete the series; while the writer satisfies himself with the reflection that, whatever subjects are deduced from Scripture, are not only unexhausted, but will forever remain inexhaustible. The "wells of salvation," from which preceding ages have drawn, still afford to us, and will supply to far-distant generations, the same spiritual, copious, and unfailing refreshment.
The Introductory Essay to the second volume, respecting the influence of Christianity on the condition of the female s.e.x, has been somewhat divested of that literary cast which it might have been expected to a.s.sume, the better to accord with the general drift of the work. The reader will, it is confidently antic.i.p.ated, deem, it no unacceptable addition.
Female Scripture Biography.
Eve.
Chapter I.
Superiority of Man in the Universe--Present Degradation of Reason--The mere Philosopher and the Christian Contrasted--G.o.d seen in all his Works--Creation of Man--His Corporeal and Mental Const.i.tution--Value of the Soul--Adam in Paradise--Alone--Supplied with a Help Meet--Revelation points out the True Dignity of the Female Character--One Woman given to the Man--The Fall--Aggravated and complex Nature of the Sin of Eve--Consequences, the Loss of Eden--Loss of the Favour of G.o.d--Loss of Life--Ruin of Posterity--Remarks to obviate some Difficulties attaching to this subject in general.
What a glorious pre-eminence in the creation, has Infinite Wisdom a.s.signed to the human species! As the skilful architect finishes his performance by the most exquisite specimens of workmanship, so "the great Builder of this varied frame," after the formation of _matter_, proceeded to impart _life_, to communicate _instinct_, and to inspire reason. "And G.o.d said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have _dominion_ over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So G.o.d created man in his _own image_; in the image of G.o.d created he him; male and female created he them."
The superiority of man to _matter_, however fair, to _life_ however pleasing, to _instinct_ however perfect, appears in this, that he only is capable of contemplating and admiring the works of G.o.d--he only has an eye that opens upon the heavens, and a mind adapted to receive impressions from their diversified glories.
But even _reason_, in its present state, is so degraded, that the wonders of creative wisdom are, in a considerable degree, overlooked or undervalued. The heavens, with all their stars, and suns, and systems, exhibit few beauties to the great ma.s.s of inattentive spectators; and the observance of them, by day and by night, excites no correspondent emotions. All is a blank! Plunged into an abyss of cares and anxieties, chained to the oar of constant, unvarying labour; and solicitous only "to buy and sell, and get gain," to _them_ "the heavens declare the glory of G.o.d, and the firmament showeth his handywork" almost in vain!
Nor can it escape observation, that valuable as the discoveries of philosophy are, the _mere discoverer_ who converts his knowledge to no pious purpose, is the most infatuated of human beings. While he contemplates distances, magnitudes, and number--while he investigates the laws of motion, and the phenomena of nature--while he points the telescope to gaze on fiery comets, to pursue wandering planets in their orbits, to detect hitherto undiscovered globes of matter in the fields of s.p.a.ce, merely to gratify curiosity or to acquire fame--the Christian contemplates the scene with another eye, and with far different sentiments. He sees G.o.d in all. "This," says he, "is _his_ creation--this the work of _his_ fingers--these the productions of _his_ skill"--"by _his_ spirit he hath garnished the heavens"--_he_ hath appointed "the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and looseth the bands of Orion"--_he_ "bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his season, and guides Arcturus with his sons." Yonder sun was formed and fixed by _his_ mighty power--that moon, which walks forth in brightness, and those stars, which glitter on the robe of night, were kindled by _his_ energy, and shine by _his_ command.--"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold WHO hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names."
The G.o.d of _nature_ is the G.o.d of _truth_, the G.o.d of _revelation_, and the G.o.d of _Israel_. If the Christian contemplate the firmament, or look into the Bible, he sees the same Being. His operations are diverse, but it is the same G.o.d. If he go, like Isaac, "into the fields to meditate at the eventide," he meets with G.o.d in every leaf, in every stream, and in every star; if he enter into his closet to read the Scriptures, still he finds G.o.d in every page and in every truth; or if he pray, it is to "his FATHER who seeth in secret." He may change his place, but he can never remove from this lovely presence. "Nevertheless, I am continually with thee."
Hence nature shines with new glory in his eyes. G.o.d in the _sun_, conducts him by a delightful a.s.sociation of ideas, and a frequent train of reflection, to "G.o.d in _Christ_, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespa.s.ses unto them."
[Sidenote: Years before Christ, 4004.]
Creation was the work of six days, upon the third of which, the earth was formed, and clothed with vegetative fertility; on the last "the Lord G.o.d formed MAN of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." It is for this reason that Eternal Wisdom is represented as "rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and her delights were with the sons of men." The _uninhabited_ part of the earth is surely worthy of divine complacency. It forms a portion of that universe which the Supreme Architect at first p.r.o.nounced to be "very good." The most retired places of this terrestrial globe, those extensive deserts which were never printed by the human foot, those dens and caves, deep valleys and cloud-encircled mountains, where silence and solitude have reigned from the beginning of time, contain innumerable manifestations of wisdom, power, and goodness. Wisdom might rejoice in a thousand wonders that lie concealed within the bowels of the earth, or in the caverns of the ocean, a world of mineral productions which our utmost research fails to discover; but the _habitable_ part of the earth has ever excited the highest interest, as the residence of his intelligent creature, and the antic.i.p.ated scene where the mediatorial work of his beloved Son was to be accomplished.
Man has been called "an abridgment of the universe," [1] uniting in himself in the extremes of being; in his body connected with the material, in his soul with the spiritual world;--by his corporeal const.i.tution a fit inhabitant of the earth; by his intellectual faculties, a suitable tenant of the skies.
The soul of man const.i.tutes the perfection of his nature, being destined to survive the dissolution of his body, and capable of everlasting progression in knowledge and felicity. And here a vast, an illimitable field of observation presents itself to view; but we must pa.s.s by it with only one practical remark. The welfare of this immortal soul ought to become the object of our princ.i.p.al solicitude. Considering the extent of its capacities, the indissoluble nature of its const.i.tuent principles, the novel and interesting circ.u.mstances under which it will hereafter exist, its total incompetency to provide for itself under those amazing vicissitudes which it is destined to undergo in a change of worlds, and the unalterable perpetuity of its future condition, how inconsiderate and how presumptuous must that individual be who neglects its interests, and acts in constant hostility to the first great law of nature, SELF-PRESERVATION! The protomartyr of the Christian age evinced a wise anxiety when he exclaimed in his dying moments, "Lord Jesus, receive my _spirit_." He was aware that his body would soon be consigned by the fury of persecution to its native dust; but this excited comparatively little concern. To him it was of no importance whether his grave was with the rich or the poor, whether his burying-place were an obscure or an ill.u.s.trious spot: he was anxious for the salvation of his _soul_.
Unhappily, mankind in general lavish all their cares upon the body, to embellish or preserve it, to pamper its appet.i.tes, or to minister to its artificial necessities: but what an infatuation is it, to provide for that which perishes, and to be careless of that which is immortal--to decorate the walls, and to despise the furniture--to value the casket, and to throw away the jewel!
The situation of Adam in the garden of Eden, shows that his Creator had adopted every proper expedient to promote his felicity. The place selected for his residence was in the highest degree rich and fertile, furnished with every suitable accommodation, and "well watered" by a large river which ran through it, and afterward divided itself into four considerable branches. In being directed to "dress" and to "keep" the garden, the goodness of G.o.d appears in providing him with an employment adapted to a state of primitive innocence, and calculated by a proper occupation of his time to promote his happiness. A slothful inactivity is not only incompatible with true enjoyment in our fallen state, but would have been inconsistent with the bliss of original paradise; and even when our nature shall have attained its greatest perfection in a future world, an incessant exertion of our intellectual powers and moral capacities, is represent as essential to the joy of heaven. There "his servants shall _serve_ him."
"When we think of Paradise," observes bishop Horne, "we think of it as the seat of delight. The name EDEN authorizes us so to do. It signifies PLEASURE, and the idea of pleasure is inseparable from that of a garden, where man still seeks after lost happiness, and where, perhaps, a good man finds the nearest resemblance of it which this world affords." "What is requisite," exclaims a great and original genius, "to make a wise and a happy man, but reflection and peace? And both are the natural growth of a garden. A garden to the virtuous is a paradise still extant, a paradise unlost." [2] The culture of a garden, as it was the first employment of man, so it is that to which the most eminent persons in different ages have retired, from the camp and the cabinet, to pa.s.s the interval between a life of action and a removal hence. When old Dioclesian was invited from his retreat, to resume the purple which he had laid down some years before, "Ah," said he, "could you but see those fruits and herbs of mine own raising at Salona, you would never talk to me of empire!" An accomplished statesman of our own country, who spent the latter part of his life in this manner, has so well described the advantages of it, that it would be injustice to communicate his ideas in any words but his own.
"No other sort of abode," says he, "seems to contribute so much both to tranquillity of mind and indolence of body. The sweetness of the air, the pleasantness of the smell, the verdure of plants, the clearness and lightness of food, the exercise of working or walking; but above all, the exemption from care and solicitude, seem equally to favour and improve both contemplation and health, the enjoyment of sense and imagination, and thereby the quiet and ease both of body and mind. A garden has been the inclination of kings, and the choice of philosophers; the common favourite of public and private men; the pleasure of the greatest, and the care of the meanest; an employment and a possession for which no man is too high nor too low. If we believe the Scriptures, we must allow that G.o.d Almighty esteemed the life of man in a garden the happiest he could give him, or else he would not have placed Adam in that of Eden." [3] Traditions of this state of primeval felicity are current among all nations; they are discoverable in the Roman and Grecian fables of the gardens of Flora, of Alcinous, and of the Hesperides; and in the pleasing fictions of the poets respecting the golden age.
Thus the Lord G.o.d formed the nature of man pure, placed him in a garden of delights, and poured around him rivers of joy. The heavens and the earth, the visible and invisible worlds, animate and inanimate, material and spiritual beings, conspired to replenish his cup of bliss; and, as the perfection of his felicity, G.o.d himself condescended to visit his creature.
Human transgression has disturbed the peace of human life; but man, in his primeval state, was exposed to no changes; his cup had no bitterness, his day no cloud, his path no thorn; the _past_ had no regrets, the _present_ no guilt, the _future_, no terror; the stream of mercy flowed into Paradise with uninterrupted course, and the beam of prosperity shone with unfading brightness and unsetting splendour.
In this exalted condition there was neither corporeal nor mental debility; and the body and soul were not more closely connected in the const.i.tution of their being, than in the harmony of their friendship. There was no opposition between the flesh and the spirit, no internal warfare, no unhappy disagreement; the dictates of a pure mind were unreluctantly obeyed by the faculties of an uncorrupted body; for it appears to have been the established order of Infinite Wisdom in the const.i.tution of the universe, that matter should be in subjection to spirit, body to soul, animals to rational creatures, and man to G.o.d; his understanding was clear, his judgment correct, his affections holy, his will free, his reason upright; he desired only what was desirable, he loved only what was lovely; the whole moral machinery was in the most complete order, the fine-toned instrument constructed by omniscient skill, was in perfect tune!
But notwithstanding the diversified means of enjoyment with which Adam was furnished, his paradise was still incomplete; one ingredient was wanting to his cup of joy. Although the place of his residence was, us the greatest of poets describes it,
"A happy rural seat of various view,--"
although diversified with "groves," and "lawns," and "level downs," and "flocks," and "irriguous valleys," and "umbrageous grots and caves of cool recess," and "murmuring waters," and "airs, vernal airs--"
"while universal Pan, Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance, Led on th" eternal spring--"
the favoured lord of this unrivalled dominion was ALONE. The inanimate creation spread before his view its unparalleled beauties, and nature furnished a table to supply all his wants; the animal world acknowledged his superiority, and went to him to receive their names: his Maker condescended to hold communion with this excellent and intellectual creature, admitting him to that sacred intercourse, and imparting some of that divine knowledge which will no doubt const.i.tute the future felicity of emparadised believers: still he had no COMPANION, no one to share his pleasures, no one upon equal terms to whom he could communicate his sentiments. Endowed with a social nature, he had at present no social means; he seemed as if placed in that solitary point, that fair, but desolate region, where he saw thousands of creatures below him and above him, but none upon that pleasing _level_ which conduces to a delightful and profitable familiarity.
This defect, however, scarcely existed before the goodness of his Maker supplied it. "And the Lord G.o.d said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him." The process by which this merciful intention was accomplished appears truly wonderful: Adam was put into a profound sleep, and the Lord G.o.d took out one of his ribs, from which he made a woman, and closed up the flesh. What must have been the emotions of our great progenitor, when, upon awaking from his supernatural slumber, this help meet was presented to him! He had, it seems, an intuitive perception of the kind purpose for which this female companion of his future days was made; or some immediate revelation disclosing both the manner of her formation, and the reason of his being presented with this invaluable gift. In the first transports of grat.i.tude he exclaimed, "This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman (or _Ishah_,) because she was taken out of man." This name was afterwards changed by him to _Havah,_ or EVE; a.s.signing, as a reason, that "she was the mother of all living." This name we have placed at the head of the list of female characters in the present work; and while her brief history is replete with instruction, it possesses an additional interest, from the consideration of her being the _first_ woman. We are conducted back to the infancy of time, to the origin of human being, to the cause of the present degradation of our race, to an impressive exhibition of the evil of sin, and to the dawn of redeeming mercy upon this world of transgressors. In this history we shall perceive reasons both for humiliation and triumph; we shall see human nature in ruins, and provision made for its reparation; we shall witness the effects of infernal agency, the loss of primeval glory, the power of female influence; and, above all, the INFINITE GOODNESS of our Creator.
It very much enhances the dignity of the female character to reflect, that of all created things the woman was selected as the only suitable companion of the first and fairest of men; she was made expressly to contribute to his mental and social pleasures, and not to be the slave of his will; if the _mother_, she was intended also as the _instructor_ of his children; his a.s.sistant, at least, in the "delightful task" of "rearing the tender thought," and "teaching the young idea how to shoot:"
she was qualified to counsel and co-operate with him in his daily occupations, to aid in the investigation of those laws which regulated the new-made world, to unite with him in acts of worship, and to enliven, as well as to partic.i.p.ate, his devotional hours.
Revelation is the only system that a.s.signs to woman her natural and proper elevation in the scale of being, and inspires a consciousness of her real dignity. The moment that an intelligent being is by any injurious treatment, or by any prevailing error, induced to form a degrading estimate of itself, that moment it begins to approximate a state of meanness which was. .h.i.therto only imaginary. Let such an one be conscious of being held in no esteem, or prized solely as the tool of servitude or the food of appet.i.te, and all majesty of character is lost; all aim or wish to rise above the brute, to aspire after a station or character, to the occupation of which a tyrannic impiety has opposed an insurmountable barrier, is gone; and those great principles which confer a superiority upon the human kind, and point to a n.o.ble pre-eminence, cease to operate, and expire for want of action. This state of things is unnatural, contrary to the original purpose of creation, and in fact, more dishonorable to the usurper than to the degraded sufferer. In Mahometan and Pagan countries the rights of women have been sacrificed to the caprices of men; and, having plucked this fair flower of creation from its original and highly elevated situation, its beauty has faded, its glory been lost in the sacrilegious hands of its barbarian possessor. Abject slavery or base flattery have existed where woman has been displaced from her proper and original character, and the most mischievous consequences have ensued.
[4]
The first woman is said to have been formed _out of man_; hence, as a _part of himself_, it seems the law of creation, that man should cherish the most affectionate sentiments for the woman:--"Therefore," says the inspired history, "shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh."
It is observable, that the woman was neither taken out of the _head_, nor from the _feet_, but from the _side_, and near the _heart_! If, therefore, on the one hand, she ought not to a.s.sume pre-eminence, on the other she is not to be trampled on and despised, but received as an equal and a friend.
As the original arrangements of Infinite Wisdom were the most perfect in their respective kinds, the appropriation of _one_ woman only, as the companion and _wife_ of the first created man, indicates both the will of the Creator respecting marriage, and the circ.u.mstances in which it is most likely to produce the greatest sum of domestic felicity. Man is neither to live _alone_, nor to indulge that depravity of taste, which, by seeking enjoyment in diversity, not only ensures disappointment, but generates discord.
The advocates for celibacy and for plurality, equally betray an ignorance of Scripture and of human nature, and can find few supporters, except amongst the infidel or the barbarian cla.s.ses of mankind. "They that will not connect their interests, lest they should be unhappy by their partner"s fault, dream away their time without friendship, without fondness, and are driven to rid themselves of the day, for which they have no use, by childish amus.e.m.e.nt or vicious delights. They act as beings under the constant sense of some known inferiority, that fills their minds with rancor and their tongues with censure; they are peevish at home, and malevolent abroad; and, as the outlaws of human nature, make it their business and their pleasure to disturb that society which debars them from its privileges. To live without feeling or exciting sympathy, to be fortunate without adding to the felicity of others, or afflicted without tasting the balm of pity, is a state more gloomy than solitude: it is not retreat, but exclusion from mankind. Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures." [5]
The original law is enforced in the New Testament by an infallible commentator: "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, G.o.d hath joined together, let no man put asunder." Thus Jesus Christ sanctions marriage by his authority, virtually interdicts polygamy, and absolutely prohibits divorce.
As the bestowal of one woman upon one man, at the creation of the human species, was sufficiently indicative of the divine will, so the near equality of the two s.e.xes is a strong presumptive argument in favour of this division of society: if a different proportion were better calculated to replenish the world with population, the circ.u.mstances of Adam seemed particularly to require such an arrangement; or if it were calculated to promote human happiness, the Divine Being, who created Eve for the very purpose of enhancing the bliss of our first parent, would have superadded this to his paradisaical possessions. The reverse, however, was obviously the case. Polygamy violates the const.i.tution of nature, and produces contests, jealousies, distracted affections, a voluptuousness which dissolves the vigour of the intellectual and corporeal faculties, neglect of children, with other lamentable evils, for which it furnishes no compensation. "Whether," says Dr. Paley, "simultaneous polygamy was permitted by the law of Moses, seems doubtful; but whether permitted or not, it was certainly practised by the Jewish patriarchs, both before that law and under it. The permission, if there were any, might be like that of divorce, "for the hardness of their heart," in condescension to their established indulgencies, rather than from the general rect.i.tude or propriety of the thing itself. The state of manners in Judea had probably undergone a reformation in this respect before the time of Christ, for in the New Testament we meet with no trace or mention of any such practice being tolerated." [6]
Though man was created in the state we have been representing, encircled with the divine favour, rich in all the requisites of happiness, and the tenant of a glorious palace, a melancholy alteration soon occurred.
Seduced by infernal temptation, he forsook his G.o.d and forfeited his paradise; and from the narrative of his fall in the book of Genesis, which immediately succeeds the account of his felicity, we learn that the WOMAN was the first transgressor. a.s.suming the form of a serpent, Satan presented himself to Eve, and entered into familiar conversation with her.
To his artful inquiry respecting the divine interdiction of one of the trees of the garden, she at first gave a very proper answer. Satan insinuated that the terms which G.o.d had prescribed, were severe, if not capricious: but she replied in a manner indicative of her perfect acquiescence in the commandment, her untainted purity of mind, and such a sense of the beneficence of G.o.d, as prevented even a momentary doubt of his wisdom or goodness, in the denial of "one tree in the midst of the garden."
The tempter, in making a second attack, became more positive. In contradiction to the divine a.s.surance, he affirmed, with unhesitating effrontery, that they should _not_ die, even though they tasted the fruit of the interdicted tree; but on the contrary, that they should be "as G.o.ds, knowing good and evil." By the very same representations do the ministers of satanic malice in every age seduce mankind, suggesting that the commands of Heaven are extremely rigid, and flattering them that sin may be committed with impunity.