INFLUENCE OF CBRISTIANITY ON THE POSITION OF WOMEN. 39 



souls to save. That was absurd. Women were indispensable 

 adjuncts, not whole personaHties. 



Turn now to Gal. iii, 28, and read, " There is neither Jew nor 

 Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor 

 female : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." In one short text 

 we have three blows of a sledge-hammer dealt out by the Spirit 

 of God, one blow for each lie that ruled unquestioned in the 

 whole world of antiquity. There they stand, and, to change 

 the metaphor, we may describe them as three seeds of eternal 

 truth dropped into the soil of the human mind and left there 

 to germinate ; the coming out into blossom has been slow, 

 very slow. 



If we take St. Paul as our exponent and leader in practical 

 Christianity we never go far wrong. Let us see how he dealt, 

 clause by clause, with these great principles. 



(1) " There is neither Jew nor Greek." Here he is fighting 

 a Hmitation of the Gospel of Christ not to be endured for an 

 hour. It would ruin the whole effort as a world-wide redemption, 

 and, next to preaching personal salvation and hoUness, St. Paul 

 gave his hfe to this one great truth. He nearly died for it several 

 times, for if you look at the causes of his suffering you will find 

 them generally due to this conviction. He persevered and he 

 attained at last. This proclamation could not wait. 



(2) " There is neither bond nor free." This truth could wait. 

 The very early Church consisted in great measure of Greek- 

 speaking slaves scattered among Roman citizens, and St. Paul 

 again and again bids them be content with their position. To 

 us it is a shocking thought that he went to stay with Philemon 

 in a large house full of slaves without a word of intercession for 

 their freedom ; but so it was. You can serve God as well in 

 the one position as in the other, and there is no need to fret. 

 The idea of the freedom of all men was enunciated, but, as it 

 was not essential to salvation, the seed germinated very slowly. 

 For us Enghsh it required eighteen centuries : on August 1st, 

 1833, Britain washed her hands free of slavery and America 

 followed suit thirty years later. 



(3) " There is neither male nor female." The other two 

 clefts were of man's making, but this one is the making of God, 

 permanent, inevitable, insuperable, and therefore far more difficult 

 than the others to estabhsh in all justice. How can it be done ? 



St. Paul has often been called a misogynist, but if you look at 

 the mission field of to-day you will understand every one of his 



