women, on the ground that they were meant to be the helpmeets of man.
They used to quote the earlier chapters of the Book of Genesis to show that
women were created for that purpose; and it was considered a very lofty
kind of appeal. I think it never failed to evoke the applause of those whom
you will forgive my calling a little sentimental. I do not think it ever
failed to arouse in myself a deep sense of resentment. The writer of the
_first_ chapter of the Book of Genesis speaks of humanity as being created
in the image and likeness of God, "_male and female created He them_";
there is no suggestion here that one sex was simply to be the servant of
the other. That occurs in the second chapter. The idea is persistent; it
is, of course, much older than the Old Testament. And it persists right
into the New Testament, where you hear a man of the intellectual and
spiritual calibre of St. Paul affirm that man was made for God, but woman
was made for man. Down the ages this message has come, and women have
been taught to consider themselves, and men to consider them, as primarily
instruments of sex, of marriage and motherhood, or of other forms of
serving men's needs. You do not find that feeling in Christ's attitude
towards women. When people speak as though it were one of the weaknesses
of Christianity that it appeals, or seems to appeal, more to women than
to men, I ask you to believe that sometimes consciously, often quite
unconsciously, women respond with passionate gratitude to Christ, because
of His sublime teaching that every human soul was made for God, and that no
part or section of society, no race, no class, and no sex, was made for the
convenience of another.

I want then to combat with all my power this ancient but un-Christlike
belief that women miss their object in life if they are not wives and
mothers. It may seem something of a contradiction that I should in a
previous chapter so have emphasized the need of women for the satisfaction
of their sexual nature, and now be arguing that we must not assume
that they have no right to exist if they do _not_ meet this particular
satisfaction; but I think you will realize that it is not a paradox when I
ask you to consider for a moment what your attitude to men on this subject
is. Many people hold that a man's passions are a tremendous factor in his
existence, so strong that he must always be forgiven if he cannot control
them; so strong that, on the whole, it is hardl