The Woman's Bible

The Woman’s Bible
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton published The Woman’s Bible in 1895 when she was 80 years old. She had hoped to have scholars work on more accurate (and favorable to women) translations, but the Bible, as published, consisted of passages with commentary by Stanton and other feminists.

The two forceful, central figures of the women’s movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, were in fierce disagreement over (at least) the timing of the publication. Stanton’s insistence that it was necessary to get rid of religious bigotry before trying to get voting rights, caused a serious rift. While I admire and agree with many of Stanton’s beliefs, I think Susan B. Anthony’s priorities were correct. Stanton’s raging against the churches could only loosen the focus of the women’s movement and slow down the progress toward suffrage. The post civil war rally for suffrage for the freedmen also became a distracting element.

I am in awe of how very progressive these women were in the 1800’s. If the two of them walked into just about any church next Sunday, here in this city, they would still probably be seen as radicals, especially Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She would be verbally tarred and feathered by women who today enjoy the results of her efforts. The Church would find Stanton far too outspoken and I can imagine Stanton’s horror at the women’s Sunday School classes where no one questions anything and a questioning spirit is seen as troublesome. If women had to erase religious bigotry before getting the vote, we wouldn’t be voting yet.

I wish that Stanton’s Bible had been able to attract the scholars she had hoped for. The commentaries are thought provoking and to the point. She is courageous in tackling the texts that have been used to denigrate women.

I am disappointed that Stanton refuses to deal with Lot’s daughters and Tamar. Stanton says they are “unworthy of a place in The Woman’s Bible.” On this, I strongly disagree, especially about Tamar. (It was not in churches but in literature that I first heard of David’s great love for Absalom.) And in churches, I have never heard anything about why he himself failed to defend his daughter, Tamar. I believe this is a powerful description of the treatment of women, and of their pain disregarded. I can understand that the subject of rape might be too indelicate for Stanton to handle at the time, but I wish she had not said that the story of Tamar was “unworthy.”