Recently I heard a journalist comment that because so much had been said and written in the last several years about the women's movement and womanhood, it was an especially difficult subject to write about and avoid cliché and repetition.
A lot has been said, but an understanding of Christian Science brings an important dimension to the discussion. The Christian Science movement was founded by a woman at a time when theological and world leaders were generally, and almost exclusively, men. Because it was nurtured by Mary Baker Eddy's meekness and spiritual courage, the light Christian Science brings to the subject of womanhood offers a unique challenge to men and women at the close of the twentieth century.
Take, for example, the spiritual insight Mrs. Eddy includes in Science and Health regarding the Bible allegory of Adam and Eve. After the couple eats the forbidden fruit, the Lord God asks Adam if he has eaten what he was commanded not to eat. Adam replies, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." When God asks Eve, she says, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."Gen. 3:12, 13 A traditional interpretation of these two answers has cast woman as a temptress luring man into evil, and the man has been somewhat justified in his actions.
