For nearly 1800 years Christians interpreted texts such as 1Timothy 2:11–14 to confirm women’s inferior nature and proneness to sin, thus concluding women were not suited for leadership positions or public ministry[1]. So when a devout and eloquent female evangelist Phoebe Palmer became popular in 1859, a nearby minister Reverend Arthur Rees[2] was so incensed that he wrote a pamphlet denouncing a woman as a preacher of the gospel[3]. This attack outraged Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army, into writing a thirty-two page rebuttal, ‘Female Teaching’[4], systemically defending the equality of women in ministry. This essay will first examine the arguments Catherine presented in 'Female Teaching' in its defence, then analyse what role this understanding played in Salvation Army practice regarding the ministry of women.
Rees objected to female teaching on the grounds that it was unnatural and unscriptural[5]. Catherine argued that God gave woman a graceful form and attitude, winning manners, persuasive speech, and a finely-toned emotional nature, all of which are natural qualifications for public speaking[6]. To say female preaching is unnatural, Rees must prove either women do not possess this ability, or this ability unnaturalises her so that as soon as she steps on the platform, she loses the delicacy and grace of the female character and ceases to be a woman[7]. She wanted Rees to explain why women should be confined exclusively to the kitchen and the distaff any more than men to the field and workshop as God assigned men “to till the ground, and to dress it.” If Rees claims exemption on the ground of men possessing ability for intellectual pursuits, he must allow the same privilege for women, and that prior to the Fall at least, according to Genesis1:27-28, the human pair was equal in nature, position, and jurisdiction over the inferior animals[8].
Believing that her defence had to be justified biblically, the scriptures became the focal point of Catherine’s second general argument[9]. She argued that opposition to female ministry resulted from a mishandling of the biblical text[10]. Regarding 1Corinthians14:34-35, Catherine argued that Apostle Paul, the assumed writer of the text, could not be commanding women to remain completely silent, because he had just described, in chapter 11 of 1Corinthians, how women should pray and prophesy publicly[11]. Catherine’s assumption that the Bible could not contradict itself led her to conclude that 1Corinthians only precludes women from engaging in "imprudent or ignorant talking".[12]
Regarding 1Timothy2:11-14, Catherine put forward the views of commentators who suggested that this passage, when studied contextually and grammatically, was aimed at wives who usurped the authority of their husbands in the home[13]. She also weakened the argument linking women’s silence to the Fall by reminding Rees that man bore equal responsibility for introducing sin into the world, and “if, through her, sin first entered, through her also, without the concurrence of man, came deliverance.”[14] Catherine then put forward some positive biblical cases for female ministry[15].
Through quoting extensively from Phoebe Palmer’s book ‘Promise of the Father’, Catherine’s final argument was that success accompanied the efforts of female preachers[16]. If women bring people to Christ, then they are gifted by God and should be supported by their church[17].
However, women of the Victorian Era were constrained by a gender ideology that glorified sexual difference and equated certain tasks and spaces with the feminine[18]. Although Catherine’s writing encouraged women to assume a public role in ministry, it was not until 1860 that she found the courage to take on the role herself[19]. This initiated thirty years of preaching in Britain which, many agree, no man of her era exceeded in popularity or spiritual results, including her husband[20]. Furthermore, the Salvation Army expanded so rapidly and leaders were so urgently needed that its initial growth was the result of thousands of women recruited as military officers[21]. If convention had been allowed to stand in the way, its growth might well have been irremediably stunted.[22] When Annie Davis became the first women appointed to take charge of a mission station in 1875 there was opposition but she was so successful that the concept of equality became entrenched in the foundation deed[23].
Nevertheless, balancing scriptural and societal subservience to man as "head" with the concept of "equality of the sexes" has been the Army's greatest problem in following Catherine’s lead in female ministry[24]. In her letter to William Booth in April 1855, she stated she would not alter woman’s domestic position as God has told her to obey her husband, therefore she submits. But she cannot believe that inferiority was the grounds of it. This seemed to highlight that spiritual equality was separate from a husband’s rule in the household[25]. Despite Catherine’s impressive accomplishments, she rarely took the credit she deserved[26]. Murdoch[27] suggested that she was protecting the fragile ego of her husband. Also, in spite of Catherine’s insistence on equality in the Salvation Army's Orders and Regulations of 1886, the pay scale was not equitable[28]. Most of the officers believed the woman’s first duty was her home and children and it was not right for a woman to put public ministry and leadership ahead of the needs of her children[29]. This restricted women as male headship rarely sanctioned anything other than a modest public role for them in the life of the organisation[30]. Few married female officers were fortunate enough to receive their own appointments, and even fewer were given public duties that approached, met, or exceeded those of their husbands[31]. The ideal role of a female officer was one of service and submission rather than leadership and authority, and the average female Salvationist’s life involve service to other women, children and the suffering[32].
In summary, Catherine Booth presented three strong arguments for female preaching in that God gave females natural qualifications for public speaking, that it is supported scripturally, and named many examples of positive results from women preaching. The actual practice of the Salvation Army concerning the ministry of women was complicated. Without women, it would not have expanded so rapidly. Yet, most of those who supported female preaching did not challenge scriptural commands on wives’ submission to their husbands. Male headship and the Victorian gender identity stereotypes of female domesticity meant it was difficult for married women to put domestic duties ahead and still perform officer duties at the same time. This made the concept of equality of women in ministry difficult to implement in real practice.
Personal opinion on women balancing scriptural and societal subservience to man as "head" with the concept of "equality of the sexes":
I strongly disagree with the Victorian gender stereotypes. For example, I see sensuality vs sensibility or emotional vs rational as personality traits, not gender traits! Some people are suited for domestic duties, some people are not. What a person is suitable for depends on their personality, not their gender. Who does what needs to be worked out prior to marriage. This was exactly what Catherine Booth did as she expressed her thoughts in her letters to William Booth prior to their marriage. She was lucky that William allowed her to preach. And for a guy with ego problems to allow such a thing to happen in the Victorian era, he must have loved her like Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
Looking at ‘The Valiant Wife’ in Proverbs 31: This provides an idealised view of what would constitute the writer’s (Solomon’s) perfect wife. It offers an intriguing glimpse of domestic responsibilities and expectations, although the woman does not merely run her household, but also apparently grows food herself and runs a profitable business selling clothes. She earns respect, moreover, for her wisdom, industry and piety.
Some women do have the capacity to achieve both domestic and career success, like ‘The Valiant Wife’, and like Catherine Booth. I think it’s better to aim high.
Bibliography:
Anderson, Cora. “Shall women preach: Principles and practices in the Salvation Army and in the Methodist Church in Ontario 1882-1900”, Conrad Grebel Review, 8 (1990): 275-288.
Booth, Catherine. Female Teaching, 1859. Accessed July 26, 2014. http://www.jesus.org.uk/christian-classics/catherine-booth
Eason, Andrew M. Women in God’s Army: gender and equality in the early Salvation Army, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003.
Gariepy, Henry. Christianity in action: the international history of the Salvation Army, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009.
Haddad, Mimi. “Egalitarian Pioneers: Betty Friedan or Catherine Booth?”, Priscilla Papers, 20 (2006): 53-59.
Murdoch, Norman H. “Female ministry in the thought and work of Catherine Booth”, Church History, 53 (1984): 348-362.
Murdoch, Norman H. “Wesleyan influence on William and Catherine Booth”, Wesleyan Theological Journal, 20 (1985): 97-103.
Rader, Paul A. and Rader, Kay F. “Lest We Lose Our Legacy: Officer Women in The Salvation Army”, Priscilla Papers, 22 (2008): 19-22.
Sandall, Robert. The history of the Salvation Army: Volume II 1878-1886, London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, 1950.
[1] Mimi Haddad, “Egalitarian Pioneers: Betty Friedan or Catherine Booth?”, Priscilla Papers, 20 (2006): 53.
[2] Andrew M Eason, Women in God’s Army: gender and equality in the early Salvation Army, (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003), 103.
[3] Henry Gariepy, Christianity in action: the international history of the Salvation Army, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 34.
[4] Catherine Booth, Female Teaching, (1859), Accessed July 26, 2014, http://www.jesus.org.uk/christian-classics/catherine-booth
[5] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 103.
[6] Booth, Female Teaching, 3.
[7] Booth, Female Teaching, 4.
[8] Booth, Female Teaching, 5.
[9] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 104.
[10] Booth, Female Teaching, 31. The oppositions took isolated passages, separated from their explanatory connexions.
[11] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 105.
[12] Norman H Murdoch, “Female ministry in the thought and work of Catherine Booth”, Church History, 53 (1984): 353. Catherine took the Greek word, lalein (to speak), to mean "imprudent or ignorant talking," not to be confused with Paul's earlier recognition of woman's right to "prophesy".
[13] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 106.
[14] Booth, Female Teaching, 21.
[15] Booth, Female Teaching, 17-18. Examples of women described in the scriptures that prophesised and revealed God’s will to Israel include Deborah and Huldah, examples of women being classified as equal to men in their leadership roles include Miriam and Anna.
[16] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 107.
[17] Mimi Haddad, “Egalitarian Pioneers: Betty Friedan or Catherine Booth?”, Priscilla Papers, 20 (2006): 57.
[18] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 79.
[19] Gariepy, Christianity in action, 35-36. On Pentecost Sunday, 1860, a crowd of more than a thousand had gathered. Catherine said, “It seemed as if a voice said to me, ‘Now if you were to go and testify, you know I would bless it to your own soul as well as to the souls of the people’.” She preached her first sermon, “Be Filled with the Spirit”.
[20] Murdoch, “Female ministry”, 354.
[21] Murdoch, “Female ministry”, 355-356. April 1878: 16 of the 20 wives have already taken a great part in the public service. By the last Christian Mission Annual Conference in August 1878, seventeen of the forty-seven evangelists were women, as were 355 of the 1,086 lay speakers.
[22] Sandall, Robert. The history of the Salvation Army: Volume II 1878-1886, (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, 1950), 12. In September 1878, forty-one out of ninety-one officers on the field were women.
[23] Cora Anderson, “Shall women preach: Principles and practices in the Salvation Army and in the Methodist Church in Ontario 1882-1900”, Conrad Grebel Review, 8 (1990): 281.
[24] Murdoch, “Female ministry”, 359.
[25] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 113. In ‘Female Teaching’, she asserted that a woman had a right to preach and teach, “except when, as a wife, silence is imposed upon her by her own husband.
[26] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 110.
[27] Norman H Murdoch, “Wesleyan influence on William and Catherine Booth”, Wesleyan Theological Journal, 20 (1985): 98. She saw that he was a man of as many doubts and insecurities as he was a man of pride, and that his boasts were a veneer for his persistent anxieties.
[28] Murdoch, “Female ministry”, 358. In 1896 single women captains received fifteen shillings, single men eighteen shillings, and married couples twenty-seven shillings a week. Only since the 1950s have single men and women received equal pay.
[29] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 132.
[30] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 114.
[31] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 90.
[32] Eason, Women in God’s Army, 154.
