t against the flesh;" "they that are
Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts."" He
followed his own precepts, and did not marry. This hatred of the flesh
_is the hatred of woman, but also the fear of woman_, who--see the scene
in Paradise--is represented as the seducer of man. In this spirit did
the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church preach; in this spirit did
the Church work throughout the whole of the Middle Ages, when it reared
its cloisters, and introduced celibacy among the priesthood;--and to
this day it works in the same spirit.

According to Christianity, woman is the _unclean being_; the seducer,
who introduced sin into the world and ruined man. Hence Apostles, and
Fathers of the Church alike, have ever looked upon marriage as a
necessary evil,--the same as is said to-day of prostitution. Tertulian
exclaims: "Woman, thou should ever walk in mourning and rags, thy eyes
full of tears, present the aspect of repentance to induce forgetfulness
of your having ruined the human race. Woman, thou art the Gate of Hell!"
Hieronymus says: "Marriage always is a vice; all that we can do is to
excuse and cleanse it," hence it was made a sacrament of the Church.
Origen declares: "Marriage is something unholy and unclean, a means for
sensuality," and, in order to resist the temptation, he emasculated
himself. Tertulian declares: "Celibacy is preferable, even if the human
race goes to ground." Augustine teaches: "The celibates will shine in
heaven like brilliant stars, while their parents (who brought them
forth) are like dark stars." Eusebius and Hieronymus agree that the
Biblical command, "Increase and multiply," no longer fits the times, and
does not concern the Christians. Hundreds of other quotations from the
most influential Fathers of the Church could be cited, all of which tend
in the same direction. By means of their continuous teaching and
preaching, they have spread those unnatural views touching sexual
matters, and the intercourse of the sexes, _the latter of which,
nevertheless, remains a commandment of nature, and obedience to which is
one of the most important duties in the mission of life_. Modern society
is still severely ailing from these teachings, and it is recovering but
slowly.

Peter calls out emphatically to women: "Ye wives, be in subjection to
your own husbands."[27] Paul writes to the Ephesians: "The husband is
the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church