THE 
 
 SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE 
 
 OF 
 
 WOMEN'S PREACHING: 
 
 STATED AND EXAMINED. 
 
 BY Z. TAFT. 
 
 " 1 intreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help those women whicb 
 -laboured with me in the Gospel, (which iaboured) with Clement also, 
 and (which laboured) rcith other my fellow -labourers, whose names 
 >are in the Book of Life."...'...,.* P/ulippians, iv. 3. 
 
 YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR! 
 4BY R. AND J. RICHARDSON, HIGH-OUSEGAT£, 
 
 1820. 
 
 Price Threepence, 
 
#£3*X> 
 
 DEDICATION 1 . 
 
 To Mr*. Mar?/ To/?. 
 
 It is now some time since the substance of tils 
 following pages was put together ; it was written 
 chiefly for the comfort and encouragement of ait 
 eminently pious female, who thought it her duty 
 to call sinners to repentance. Had something 
 of this kind been put into your hand when you 
 first entered upon your* public work, it would, 
 no doubt, have saved you from many painfuf 
 anxieties, and distressing fears. Indeed, such was 
 your unwillingness tb enter upon that work which 
 God required at your hand, and such the coil* 
 descension of the Almighty, it might literally be 
 said that yau was ihrnst out. You have not for- 
 gotten, neither will you ever forget, " whilst tha 
 power of recollection remains," the Spirit saying 
 to you, (with as much clearness as it did to 
 Philip, when it commanded him to join himself to 
 the chariot of the Ethiopian nobleman) go to 
 Todmorden. That you was not deceived, was 
 evident by the effects produced there, as well ajs 
 at Epstonsta!, and Underbank : nor can you for- 
 get the application of those Scriptures, Jer. i. 17. 
 —Isaiah, xli. 18.— Micah r iv. 13.— Zech. ii. 8. — 
 1 Cor. i. 27. 28. 
 
 Many and singular have been the interpositions 
 of divine providence and grace in your behalf, 
 since that day of small and feeble things. Nothing 
 
 A3 
 
IV 
 
 of all that God hath promised you hath failed. 
 That the great Head of the Church has called you 
 to prophesy in his name, you have had a more 
 convincing proof than if an angel from heavea 
 had been sent to assure you of the fact. 
 
 A multitude of seals have been given to you, 
 and not a few in this place, " when you was here 
 23 years ago ;" some of which remain to this day, 
 but many have fallen asleep ; and of the 115 per- 
 sons now under your care, some no doubt will 
 one day rise up to call you blessed. Your- life of 
 public labour is nearly over, and yet I trust it 
 will still be said of you, as it was of another of 
 your sex, u that she did what she could" The 
 encouragement you have had in your work from 
 many eminent ministers of the Gospel, must be 
 to you a source of high gratification. What 
 Messrs. Pawson, Mather, Blackburn, Fenwick, 
 Bramwell, Bradburn, Crook, Shaw, &c. &c, 
 thought of your call, and the manner in which it 
 was fulfilled, their letters do abundantly testify. 
 That you may be long preserved, directed, and 
 comforted, by almighty power, infinite wisdom, 
 and boundless love — that your useful life may be 
 crowned with a triumphant end, is the desire and 
 prayer of yours— in endless love, 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 • Whitby, Jan, 1820. 
 
THE 
 
 Scripture Doctrine, <fe. 
 
 liET the case he fairly stated. " Whether 
 Women ministered in holy things in the primi- 
 tive church when invited, or only when under the 
 immediate influence of the spirit : whether they* 
 did this veiled or unveiled: whether they^ did 
 this to their own sex only, or to mixt companies 
 of men and women : whether there were many of 
 these women or only a few, I am not about to 
 contend. " The argument is, that God did in the 
 primitive church, and does to this day, occasion- 
 ally call, qualify, and commission his handmaids^ 
 or daufjj.fersy to prophecy (that is to preach) iti 
 his name. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 5. * But every woman that prayeth or 
 prophesielk with her head uncovered" &c. The 
 apostle has joined praying and prophesying toge- 
 ther ; and as praying* in a public assembly (for of 
 such he was treating) is universally allowed to be 
 a part, and indeed a very principal part of the mi- 
 nisterial afiice ; and women did exercise this part 
 of the ministerial function in being the mouth of 
 the people to God. Here we have a presumptive 
 proof, that prophesying means preaching; and, I 
 think, a demonstration, that the speaking in the 
 church, which the apostle reproves in women, 
 must be wholly confined to asking questions, 
 (whispering or chattering) ; otherwise it would 
 be a prohibition against their praying, as well as 
 preaching. For how could women pray in pub- 
 lic, if it was a shame for them to speak in the 
 church; m the sense wherein it is frequently ui£> 
 
 A3 
 
6 
 
 derstood. The apostle when he uses the word,. 
 46 prophecy," precisely fixes its meaning-, 1 Gor. 
 xiv. 3. 5. " He that prophesielh, speak eth unto 
 men to edification, exhortation, and comfort." 
 Ver. 4. " He that prophesielh, edifieth the church.'* 
 Ver. 31. " For ye may also prophesy, one by one, 
 (that is, all who were qualified for, and called to 
 the ministry) that all may learn, and all may be 
 comforted" All may learn from those who pro- 
 phesied ; and women did prophesy; therefore 
 women were teachers, by whom the church was 
 exhorted, edified, and comforted. 
 
 In this common acceptation, we frequently find 
 the word prophesy in the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. Thus in Nehemiah, vi. 7. it is said, " Thou* 
 hast appointed prophets to preach " Hence pro- 
 phets were preachers, and to prophesy is to preach. 
 Gen. xx. 7. Where the Lord saith of Abraham to 
 Abimelecli, " He is a prophet, and will pray for 
 thee" Here it seems to signify a man well ac- 
 quainted with the supreme Being, capable of 
 leaching others in divine things, and especially a 
 man of prayer. Exod. vii. 1.2. " Aaron, thy 
 brother shall be thy prophet; that is, shall speak 
 %into Pharaoh" Acts, xv. 32. " Judas and Silas, 
 being prophets, exhorted the brethren with many 
 words" Luke, ii. 38. " Anna, the prophetess, 
 coming into the temple, gave thanks unto the Lord, 
 and spake of him (Christ) to all them who looked 
 for redemption in Israel" Luke i. 67. " Zacha- 
 rias prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord 
 God of Israel, who hath visited and redeemed 
 his people." Our blessed Lord stiles John the 
 ^Baptist a prophet, Luke vii. 26 ; and Zacharias, 
 the father of John, speaking of hijn by the Spirit 
 of the Lord, calls him a prophet oj the Highest, 
 Luke i. 76.; i. e. a teacher commissioned by the 
 Lord himself, to instruct the inhabitants of Judea 
 in the things which related to the manifestation of 
 the Me«sic\]b ; and his kingdom ; also 1 Cor. xhv££. 
 
In most of these places, prophesying has no other 
 meaning than preaching ; and among the preachers 
 we have a female. 
 
 Besides, should it be granted, that prophesying 
 means foretelling things to come, an insurmount- 
 able difficulty yet remains ; for if it was unlawful 
 for women, who had that gift, to speak in the 
 church, how were they to communicate what was 
 revealed to them ? 
 
 The simple fact seems to be, that though pro- 
 phesying sometimes means predicting, or foretell- 
 ing iuture events, it means preaching in the com- 
 mon acceptation of the word ; and whenever it is 
 used in the former sense, it includes the publishing 
 these predictions to those concerned. Hence, 
 under the law, such persons were styled Nabi 
 prophets, (from Ba, which signifies to come and 
 to go) because of their coining and going between 
 God and the people. So under the gospel dis- 
 pensation, they are called prophets, (from^roand 
 phetni, dieo, I speak, or utter forth) because mi- 
 nisters are the Lord's messengers, to publish his 
 word of reconciliation to the people. But what- 
 ever be the meaning of praying and prophesying, 
 as it respects the man, it has precisely the same 
 meaning as it respects the woman. Therefore 
 some women, as well as seme men, might speak ta 
 others to edification, exhortation, and comfort. 
 This kind of prophesying, or teaching, was pre- 
 dicted by Joel, ii. 28, and referred to by Peter, 
 Acts ii. 17. Had there not been such gifts be- 
 stowed on women, the prophecy could not have 
 been fulfilled. The only difference marked by 
 the apostle was, the man had his head uncovered, 
 because he was the representative of Christ : the 
 woman had hers covered, because she was placed 
 by the order of God, in a state of subjection to 
 the man. It was also customary amongst the 
 Greeks and Romans: but amongst the Jews it 
 wag an express law, that no woman should be seeu 
 
abroad without a veil. This was? and is, a corrf- 
 mon custom through all the East ; and none but 
 public prostitutes go unveiled; should a woman 
 appear in public without a veil, she would dis- 
 honour her head, her husband. — (Dr. Glark.) 
 On Acts ii. 17. the Dp* says, 4t The word pro- 
 phecy is not to be understood here as implying 
 the knowledge and discovery of future events; 
 but signifies to teach and proclaim the great 
 truths of God, especially those which concern 
 redemption by Jesus Christ.'' 
 
 Phil. iv. 3. u Help those women which laboured 
 milk me in the gospel " (fee. " In the Grecian and 
 Asiatic countries, women were kept much se- 
 cluded ; and it was not likely that even the 
 apostles had much opportunity of conversing with 
 them : it was therefore necessary that they should 
 have some Christian women \\'\i\\ them, who could 
 have access to families, and preach Jesus to the 
 female part of them. The apostle teHs us thatr 
 certain women laboured with him in the gospef^ 
 and were assistants to others also, who had assisted 
 him." (Dr. Clark.) 
 
 Rom. xvi. 1. u I commend unto y&u Pheb& our 
 sister, which is a servant of the c/nvrch which is 
 at Cenihrea." A deaconess. They were ordained 
 to the office by the imposition of the hands of the 
 Bishop. Theodorel says, *' The fame of Phebe 
 was spread throughout the world, and that she 
 was known, not only to the Greeks and Romans, 
 but also to the Barbarians;" which implies, that 
 she had travelled much, and propagated the gos- 
 pel in foreign countries. 
 
 Rom. xvi. 3L " Greet Prtecilla and Aquila 9 
 my helpers in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Acts xxk 9. " And the same man (Philip the 
 evangelist) had four daughters, virgins, which 
 did prophesy" Probably they were no more' 
 than teachers in the church ; for we have already 
 seen that this- is frequently the meanh&g $i t^e 
 
9 
 
 word prophecy : and this is undoubtedly one thing 
 meant by the prophecy of Joel. " If Philip's 
 daughters might he prophetesses, why not teach- 
 ers." (Dr. Clark.) 
 
 Acts xviii. 26. " Whom when Aquila and 
 PrisciUa had //^«rc?( A polios) they took him unto 
 them, and expounded unto him the way of God 
 more perfectly" * This eloquent man, and 
 mighty in the scriptures, who was even a public 
 teacher, was not ashamed to be indebted to the 
 instructions of a christian woman, in matters that 
 not only concerned her own salvation, but also 
 the work of the ministry in which he was en- 
 gaged." (Dr. Clark.) 
 
 We have a most successful female preacher ia 
 the Samaritan woman, John iv. 39. " Many of 
 the Samaritans believed on him for the saying of 
 the woman" This woman was the first apostle 
 for Christ in Samaria! She went and told her 
 fellow-citizens that the Messiah was come ; and 
 gave for proof, that he had told her the most 
 secret things she had ever done. 
 
 Mary Magdalene, is another instance of Christ's 
 choosing whom he pleases to bear his commission. 
 John xx. 17. " Jesus saith unto her" after his 
 resurrection, " touch me not; for I am not yet 
 ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, 
 and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and 
 your Father, and to my God and your God" 
 Magdalene is a new apostle, and the first who 
 was commissioned to preach Christ risen. All her. 
 delight was to do the will of her master ; and she 
 hasted, as it were, on the wings of love, to execute 
 her commission, by making known his resurrec- 
 tion to his disconsolate disciples. 
 
 if the nature of Society, its good and prosperity 
 in which women are jointly and equally con- 
 cerned with the men ; (if, in many cases, their 
 fitness and capacity for instructors being admitted 
 to be equal to that of the other sex ; ) be not rca- 
 
Id* 
 
 sens sufficient to convince the candid reader of 
 women's teaching and preaching, because of two 
 texts in Paul's Epistles, (1 Cor. xiv. 34, and 1 Tim. 
 ii. 12.) let him consult the paraphrase of Locke, 
 where he has proved to a demonstration, that the 
 apostle, in these texts, never intended to prohibit 
 women from praying- and preaching in the church, 
 provided they were dressed as became women 
 professing godliness, and w T ere qualified for the 
 sacred oflice, Nor is it likely that he would, in 
 one part of an epistle, give directions how a wo- 
 man, as well as a» man, should pray and prophesy 
 in public; and presently after, ih the very same 
 epistle, forbid women, endowed with the gifts of 
 prayer and prophecy, from speaking 1 in the church, 
 when according* to his own explication of pro- 
 phecy, it is k" speaking unto ether s for edification, 
 exhoriuiionj and comfort" Besides, the apostle 
 in this epistle to the church at Corinth, says, 
 " Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts y 
 but rather that ye may prophesy. Again, " 1 
 would that ye all spake with tongues v but rather 
 that ye prophecied !-." Here the apostle speaks to 
 the church in general ; and the word all, must 
 comprehend every individual member ; and since 
 he had. just before given directions about a^«?o- 
 man's praying and prophesying, we conclude 
 that his desire extended to women as well as to 
 men. Certainly the word all includes both men 
 and women, otherwise the mind of Paul, " who 
 was made a minister of the Spirit " would have 
 been more narrow than that of Moses, who was. 
 only a minister of the Eaw: for when Joshua; 
 came and told Moses that Eldad and Medad pro- 
 phesied in the camp, and desired him to forbid 
 them ; Mosessaid unto him, " envfest thou form?/ 
 voice? would God, that all the Lord's people 
 mere prophets, and thai he would put his spirit 
 upon themP Now all the Lord's people must 
 
11 
 
 ■certainly comprehend the Miriams and Deborahs 
 in the camp, as well as the Eldads and Medads. 
 
 Rom. xvi. 12. " Srdufe Tryphena and T?\t/phosa, 
 who laboured in the Lord. Salute the beloved 
 Versis, who laboured much in the Lord.*' " Two 
 holy women, who it seems, wore assistants to the 
 apostle in his work ; probably by exhorting, ri- 
 jitling the sick, &c. Persis was another woman, 
 who it seems, excelled the -preceding; for, of her 
 it is said, she laboured much in the Lord. We 
 learn from this, that christian women, as well as 
 men, laboured in the ministry of the word. In 
 those times of simplicity, all persons, whether 
 men or women, who had received the knowledge 
 of the truth, believed it to be their duty to pro- 
 pagate it to the utmost of their power. Many 
 have spent much useless labour, in endeavouring 
 to prove thatthese women did not preach. That 
 there were seme prophetesses, as well as prophet*! 
 In the christian church, we learn ; and that a wo- 
 man might pray or prophesy, provided she had 
 -her head covered, we know ; and that whoever 
 prophesied, spoke unto others -to edijication, ex- 
 iiortation, and comfort, St. Paul declares, 1 Co/, 
 xiv. 3. That no preacher can do more, every 
 person must acknowledge ; because, to edify, ex- 
 hort, and comfort, are the prime ends of the gos- 
 pel ministry. If women thus prophecied, then 
 women preached.'' (Dr. Ciarjt) 
 
 Chrysostom and Theophilact take great notice 
 of Junta, mentioned in the apostles salutations. In 
 our translation it is, Rom. xvi. 7. " Salute And ro- 
 nicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow- 
 prisoners, who are of note among the apostles?' 
 By the word kinsmen, one would take Junia not 
 to have been a woman, but a man. But Chrysostom 
 and Theophilact were both Greeks, consequently, 
 they knew their mother tongue better than our 
 translator-, and they say it was a woman ; it should 
 ^hprefore have been translated, " Salute Andrg- 
 
12 
 
 nicus and Junta, my kinsfolk " The apostle sa* 
 lutes other women who were of note amone; them, 
 particularly Tryphena and Tryphosa, who la- 
 boured in the Lord; and Persis, who laboured 
 much in the Lord. Agrain, if we look into Eccle- 
 siastical History, we shall find women very emi- 
 nent in the church, lone; after the days of the 
 apostles ; I say women who were distinguished for 
 their piety, their usefulness, and their sufferings ; 
 witness the story of Perpelua and Felicilas* mar- 
 tyrs for the christian faith ; which contains traits 
 that touch the most insensible, and cannot be read 
 without a tear. Esebius, who speaks of Potominia, 
 Ammias a prophetess in Philadelphia, and others, 
 who were equally distinguished by their zeal for 
 the love which they bore to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Justin Martyr, who lived till about A. D. 150, 
 says, in his Dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, 
 <; That both women and men were seen among 
 them who had the gifts of the Spirit of God, ac- 
 cording as Joel the prophet had foretold, by 
 which he endeavoured to convince the Jew that 
 the latter days were come ; for by that expression, 
 Manassah Ben Israel tells us, all their wise men 
 understood the times of Messias." 
 
 Dodwell, in his Dissertations on Irenseus, says, 
 " (hat the extraordinary gift of the spirit of pro- 
 phecy, was given to others, besides the apostles; 
 raid that not only in the first and second, but in 
 the third century, even to the time of Constantine, 
 men of all sorts and ranks had these gifts, yea 6 
 and women too." Therefore we may certainly 
 conclude, that the prophetic saying of the Psalmist, 
 Jxviii. 11. was verified; " The Lord gave the 
 word, and great was the company of those that 
 published it" In the original Hebrew it is, 
 iC Great was the company of the women publishers^ 
 or women evangelists" Grotius explains Psalm 
 lxviii. 11. " Dominus dabal sermonen; id est, 
 maieriam loquendi uberem, nempe ut feminarwq 
 
IS 
 
 pr&dhantium (Victorias) midtnm agmen diceret, 
 scilicet caqnre sequuntur" The Lord shall give 
 the word, that is, plentiful matter of speaking; 
 so that he would call those which follow the 
 great army of preaching women, viz. : Victories, 
 or female conquerors. 
 
 OBJECTIONS. 
 
 First, 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35. " Let your women 
 Keep silence in the churches % for it is not permitted 
 unto them to speak; but- they are commanded to 
 be in silence, as also saiih ike law. And if they 
 if ill learn any thing, lei them ask their husbands 
 at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in 
 the church" " Evidently is that they were to 
 be silent, unless they had an extraordinary reve- 
 lation to communicate made to them by the Holy 
 Spirit, which revelations was chiefly predicting 
 future events. — (Benson.) By the word chiefly, 
 Mr. Benson admits that sometimes they might 
 speak by way of edification, exhortation, and 
 comfort, though only when under the immediate 
 influence of the Holy Spirit; and it will be diffi- 
 cult to prove that the apostle* themselves preached 
 without that extraordinary influence of the Holy 
 Spirit. But i <am inclined to think the silence 
 here enjoined ,by the apostle, signified that the 
 women were.no/ to ask questions in the church, 
 which is evident from a great variety of parti- 
 culars, as well as from the context. " Please to 
 read the chapter, and mark the connexion." The 
 apostle had been treating of the gift of tongues, 
 and of persons prophesying one after another. 
 It is evident in these public assemblies, there 
 were people of different nations, as on the day of 
 Pentecost ; . and that one minister had the gift of 
 one tongue, and a second of another, in the same 
 diversity, as they had the other miraculous gifts. 
 That they all had not a universal knowledge of 
 ..all languages, is clear from the apostle Pauls 
 
14 
 
 words, 1 Cor. xiv. 18, " I" speak with tongues 
 more than you all" How reasonable it is then to 
 conclude that there were a few inquisitive women 
 in the assembly, who, not understanding' what 
 was said, but prompted by curiosity, (perhaps by 
 a belter motive) might ask questions to the inter- 
 ruption of the speaker and the auditory. There- 
 fore the apostle gives this admonition ; " Lei your 
 women (that is wives) keep silence, anel if they 
 -will learn any thing, let them ask (heir husbands 
 at home," clearly shews that the prohibition was 
 not a general one, and that it must be confined to 
 asking questions; at lea^st the silence here en- 
 joined, was never intended to prohibit those pious 
 females from instructing and comforting the Co- 
 rinthian church, to whom he had before given 
 directions respecting their adorning while thus 
 employed ; for what has women preaching to do 
 with asking questions; wanting information} 
 and asking husbands at home? However, if un- 
 derstood jn any other sense, it has jiothing to do 
 with single women, with widows, with learned 
 women ;' with those that understand, are prepared^, 
 and called of.God to teach the things of religion: 
 as it refers to married women, and those married 
 women only, that are ignorant what they should 
 say. I ^hink the emphasis should be laid on your 
 women, and on let them ask their husbands at 
 home; then the meaning is plain. There were 
 at Corinth, it appears, some married women who 
 were frequently asking bold, impertinent ques- 
 tions, occasioning debates, contention, and con- 
 fusion. Let such women keep silence, and ask 
 their husbands at home, for it is a sframe for such 
 women to speak in the church. 
 
 2nd. 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12. " Let the women learn 
 in silence, with all subjection. But I suffer nol 
 a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the 
 man" &c. " Unless they are under an extra- 
 ordinary impulse of the Spirit."— (Wesley.) " Sine 
 
J5 
 
 parrilu, without chattering. This was a precept 
 of the synagogue. It is not allowed, says Mai- 
 monides, for women to whisper, or trijle, because 
 of the reverence they should have for the con- 
 gregation.' 7 (Poli Synop. in loc.) 
 
 The subjection which is due from women to 
 men in general, and to their husbands in parti- 
 cular, recommended by St. Paul, does not relate 
 to matters appertaining to her own personal sal- 
 vation, or what is her duty in order to promote 
 the salvation of others. In matters of conscience, 
 both of faith and practice, women as well as men 
 stand accountable to God. 
 
 That St. Paul allowed women to edify the 
 church by prophesying or preaching, or speaking 
 unto others to edification, exhortation, and com- 
 fort, we have before proved. 
 
 I think the passage ought to be read thus: I 
 suffer not a woman to teach , by usurping authority 
 0ver the man. 
 
 Most enemies to women preaching understand 
 from this passage, that no women is to teach, and 
 that all teaching by women is usurping authority 
 over the man. But this grants too much, in as 
 much as it involves the following difficulties:—* 
 1. No woman is to keep a school. 2. No woman, 
 is to teach her children to knit, or sew, or cook, 
 or read, or write, &e. 3. No woman is to write 
 books, for this is one excellent method of teach- 
 ing. 4. No woman is to pray in public; for 
 praying is one method of conveying instruction 
 upon doctrinal, experimental, and practical re- 
 ligion. 5. No woman is to prophesy, even sup- 
 posing the term applies only to foretelling future 
 events; while that knowledge lies hid in their 
 own mind, there is no teaching: but if God 
 commands them to prophesy aloud and they obey 
 him, by this they teach to others that knowledge 
 which before lay hid in their own breasts. 
 
 b2 
 
16 
 
 If it be objected to this that the leaching here 
 forbid, means only that they are not to teach the 
 science of religion : still all the difficulties re- 
 main, except the two first, for the things belong- 
 ing to religion may be taught by the pen as well 
 as by the mouth; on our knees as well as in any 
 other position. 
 
 But if it be objected that the teaching here 
 forbid, only means face to face^ (but I ask, is not 
 this taking too great liberties with the text? St. 
 Paul does not say that this is the only kind of 
 teaching which he forbids, but supposing it was,) 
 then the apostle evidently contradicts himself. 
 That he admits and encourages this kind of teach- 
 ing is plain from 1 Cor. xi. 4. For in whatever 
 sense we understand prophecy, it must of ne- 
 cessity, imply teaching. Again, the sense of the 
 text, "as objected," is contradicted in Acts, xviii. 
 26. — Aquila, a female, expounded the word of 
 God to A polios. I defy any man to split that 
 hair, and prove that expounding is not teaching. 
 But all these difficulties will be removed by un- 
 derstanding the passage thus: " / suffer not a 
 woman to teach, by usurping authority over the 
 man ;" and pray who does? I have not heard of 
 any such usurpation in the church. 
 
 Mr. Wesley, in the former part of his life, was 
 opposed to women preaching, but never so much 
 an enemy to it as he was to lay preaching ; but 
 no sooner was he convinced that God was with 
 them, that sinners were converted by them, than 
 he not only ceased to forbid them, but gave them 
 encouragement. 
 
 " In the first attempts of a Layman to preach, 
 Mrs. Wesley heard his discourses. Mr. John 
 Wesley was at this time absent from London, but 
 the thing being quite new, and appearing extra- 
 ordinary, he was immediately acquainted with it. 
 He hasted up to London with a full determination 
 to put a stop to so glaring an irregularity. H$ 
 
17 
 
 conversed with his mother on the subject, and 
 told her his intention. She said, " I charge you 
 before God, take care what you do, for that man 
 is as much called to preach the gospel as ever you 
 were." This kept him from a hasty execution of 
 his purpose; and it being- found, upon inquiry, 
 that good was done, the practice was suffered to 
 continue." (Whitehead's Life of Wesley, vol. 1, 
 page 60.) 
 
 The conversion of sinners by the preaching of 
 any person, whether male or female, was a strong 
 proof in Mr. Wesley's judgment, of a divine call 
 to the great and important work ; this will ap- 
 pear from his most excellent sermon on Mark ix. 
 08, 39. It was no doubt from a conviction of the 
 success attending the efforts of his mother, Mrs. 
 S. Wesley, to promote the spiritual advantage of 
 the inhabitants of Kpworth, that caused him to 
 gay " that even she, as well as her father and 
 grandfather, her husband and three sons, had 
 been, in her measure a preacher of righteousness ." 
 The fact was this, when Mr. Wesley's father was 
 from home, Mrs. W. used to read sermons, and 
 pray with the people in the Vicarage-house at 
 Kpworth on the Sunday evenings, to as many as 
 the room would contain ; sometimes there were 
 200 present on these occasions, and much good 
 was donev 
 
 What were Mr. Wesley's opiuion of the preach* 
 ing of Mrs. Johnson and Miss Sarah Mallet, may- 
 be gathered from his Journal : " At six, I preached 
 in the Presbyterian-meeting, a large and commo- 
 dious building. And I was now with the most 
 lively Society that I have seen for many days ; 
 owing chiefly to the good providence of God 
 bringing sister Johnson here. She came, indeed, 
 in an acceptable time; for J. W. and his wife, 
 who fer many years had been pillars, had left the 
 Society. They had one child, a son, about nine- 
 teen years old, of whom they were fond enough ; 
 
 B3 
 
18 
 
 by a fell from his horse he was killed in a mo- 
 ment, leaving his parents inconsolable ; just then 
 she came to Lisburn, and visited them. God 
 opened her mouth, both in exhortation and prayer. 
 They saw and acknowledged his hand. She was 
 enabled to give np her child to God ; he cried 
 out, " Surely God has sent an angel from heaven 
 to comfort us !" Both of them joined the Society, 
 and are more in earnest for salvation than they 
 have been for many years. " (Wesley's Works, 
 vol. 6, page 34. 
 
 " Monday 4th, I was strongly importuned by 
 Gur friends at Long Stratton, to give them a ser- 
 mon there. I heard of a young woman in that 
 country who had uncommon fits, and one that 
 had lately preached, but I did not know that it 
 was one and the same person. 1 found her in the 
 very house to which I went, and talked with 
 her at large. I was surprised : Sarah Mallet, 
 two or three and twenty years old, is of the same 
 size that Jane Cooper was, and is, I think, full 
 as much devoted to God, and of as strong an un- 
 derstanding. Of the following relation which 
 she gave me, there are numberless witnesses.— 
 #Some years since, it was strongly impressed upon 
 her, that she ought to call sinners to repentance. 
 This impression she vehemently resisted, believing 
 herself quite unqualified, both by her sin and her 
 Ignorance, till it was suggested, " If you do it 
 not willingly, you shall do it whether yeu will or 
 no." She fell into a fit, and while utterly sense- 
 less, thought she was in the preaching-house at 
 Lowestoffe, where she prayed and preached fop 
 nearly an hour, to a numerous congregation. 
 She then opened her eyes, and Recovered her 
 senses. In a year or two, she had eighteen of 
 these fits : in every one of which, she imagined 
 herself to be preaching in one or another con- 
 gregation. She then cried out, " Lord, I will 
 obey thee, I will call sinners to repentanQe. 
 
19 
 
 She has done so occasionally from that time; 
 and her fits returned no more." (Wesley's Works, 
 vol. 6, p. 80, 81.) 
 
 Mr. Wesley's opinion will be more clearly 
 shewn, from his letters to Mrs. Crosby and Miss 
 Bosanquet. Part of Miss R,'s letter, and part of 
 his answer are as follow :. 
 
 Cros^IIall, near Leeds, 1771. 
 ** Yery dear and honoured Sir,, 
 
 Various have h^en my hinderanceg in writing, 
 but none sufficient to have kept me so long silent to you, 
 had i not been at a loss on one particular subject, i 
 want your achice and direction in an important point, 
 and to know if you approve my light in it. 
 
 When we first settled at Laytcn-stone, sister Ryan 
 and I began with little kind of: prayer-meetings, &c, 
 and they were productive of a blessing. Afterwards, 
 on coming into Yorkshire, sister Crosby and I did the 
 lame — God was with us, and made it known by the 
 effects in many places— but several object to them. 
 
 1** Objection. 2 Tim. ii, 12. " Let the zcomen learn 
 in silence," &c. I understand that text to mean no 
 more than that a woman shall not take authority over 
 her husband, but be in subjection, neither shall she 
 teach at all by usurping authority, she shall not meddle 
 with church discipline, neither order, nor regulate any 
 thing in which men are concerned in the matters of the 
 church ; but I do not apprehend it means she shall not 
 intreat sinners to come to Jesus, nor say, " Come } and 
 1 uill tell you whut God hath done for my soul." 
 
 %nd Objection. Nay, but the apostle says, 1 Cor. xiv. 
 34. *• Ltt your women keep silence ," &c. I answer, 
 was not that spoke in reference to a time of dispute and 
 contention ? So that his saying, 4fc they are not permitted 
 to speak," here seems to me to imply no more than the 
 tther, she is not to meddle with church government i 
 
 3rd Objection, Nay, but it means literally not to 
 tpeak by way of edification, while in the church, or 
 ctmpany of promiscuous worshippers, Answer. Then 
 
20 
 
 why is it said, 1 Cor. xi. 5. <' m Every woman that pray • 
 cth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonouretk 
 her head." Can she prophecy without speakiug ? or 
 ought she to speak, but not to edification. 
 
 Ath Objection. She may now and then, if under a pe- 
 culiar impulse, b&t never else. Answer. Hut how often- 
 is she to feel this impulse I Perhaps you will say, two 
 or three times in her. life. Perhaps God will say, two 
 •or three times in a week, or day • and where shall we 
 find the rule for this I 
 
 bth Objection. But it is inconsistent with that modesty} 
 the Christian religion requires in women professing god-, 
 liness. Answer. It may be, and is painful to it, but I 
 (\o not see it inconsistent with it ; and that for this rea. 
 son, does net christian modesty stand in these two par- 
 ticulars — purity and humility ? 1st, I apprehend it con- 
 sists in cutting off every act, word, and thought, which 
 in the least infringes on the purity God delights in. — - 
 '2nd, in cutting off every act, word, and thought, which 
 in the least infringes on humility; knowing throughly 
 our own place, and tendering to every one their due ; 
 endeavouring to be little, and unknown, as far as the 
 order of God will permit, and simply following that 
 order, leaving the event to God, Now J do not appre. 
 hend Maru sinned against either of these heads, or could 
 in the least be accused of immodesty, when she carried 
 the joyful news of her LORD'S resurrection, and in 
 that sense taught the teachers of mankind. Neither 
 was the woman of Samaria to be accused of immodesty f 
 when she invited the whole city to come to CHRIST. 
 Neither do J think the woman mentioned in 2 Sam. xx, 
 could be said to sin against modesty^ though she called 
 to the General of the opposite army to converse with, 
 her, and then went to all the people to give them her 
 ad?ice, and by it the city was saved. Neither do I 
 suppose Deborah did wrong, in pubMcly declaring the 
 message of the LORD and afterwards accompanying, 
 Barak to war, because his hands hung down at going, 
 without her* 
 
 6th Objection. But all these were extraordinary 
 calls i sure you will not say, yours is »a eitraordiiiarj 
 
21 
 
 call ? Answer. If I did not believe so, I would m>t 
 
 act in an extraordinary manner. 1 praise God, I 
 
 feel him near, and 1 pioye his faithfulness every day. 
 
 1 am, &c. 
 
 M. B/* 
 
 MR. WESLEY'S ANSWER TO THE ABOVE. 
 
 Londonderry, June 12, 177L 
 u My dear Sister, 
 
 I think the strength of the cause rests there^ 
 in your having an extraordinary, coll;, so 1 am p*r. 
 suaded has every one of Gur Lay. preachers* ; otherwise 
 I could not countenance his preaching. at all.. It is 
 plain to me, that the work of God* termed Methodism, 
 is an extraordinary dispensation of 11 IS providence, 
 Therefore 1 do not wonder, if several things occur 
 therein, which do not fail under the ordinary rules of 
 discipline. St. Paul's ordinary rule was, *« / permit 
 not a woman to speak in the congregation," yet in 
 extraordinary cases, he made a few exceptions j at: 
 Corinth in particular. 
 
 1 am, my dear Sister, 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 J. WESLEYV* 
 
 The fruit which has followed women V preach- 
 ing, if not a positive, it is at least, & presumptive 
 proof, that those highly useful and laborious in* 
 struments, are called of God to publish salvation by 
 Jesus Christ. And that there have been, and now 
 are such instruments, I assert in the name and 
 fear of God ; and if require*, can produce a cloud 
 of signatures and witnesses to confirm it: and 
 some of the seals to Female Ministry are now 
 among the Methodist Itinerant Ministers, and 
 very many more are acting as Local Preachers, 
 and others as Glass Leaders among us» And se- 
 veral are labouring in the word and doctrine 
 among other denominations. The late pious aud 
 useful Mr, J. Cousins, was awakened by bearing 
 
22 
 
 Miss Newman, afterwards his wife. Hence he 
 would often pleasantly say, that he had married 
 his mother. The usefulness of these women, not 
 only in the conversion of souls, but in every other 
 way which concerns the comfort and prosperity 
 of the church, is in my judgment, incalculable. 
 It was from this conviction, Mr. A. Mather writes 
 to one of these female preachers : " Your call is 
 of God, I would have you go in at every opening 
 door, but do not wait until the door is thrown 
 wide open; go in if it be on the jar." Mr. 
 Pawson writes : " When (Mr. Wesley) saw that 
 the Lord owned and blest the labours of Mrm 
 Crosby, Mrs. Fletcher, and the late Miss florral, 
 fie was obliged to allow that the Lord is pleased 
 to go out of his common way sometimes, for the 
 good of his poor creatures, and thereforehe would 
 say nothing against women's preaching, in ex* 
 traordinary cases. A# to myself, I have long 
 thought, that it is-far more difficult to prove that 
 women ought not to preach, than many imagine* 
 Let any one seriously consider 1 Cor. xi. 5, 
 ! -" Prophesieth with her head uncovered.'' Now 
 prophesying there has generally been understood 
 of preaching. If then the womennever did preach 
 at all, why did the Lord, by the apostle, give 
 these instruct ions respecting their heads being 
 covered or uncovered?" $c. Mr, S. Bradburn 
 gays : '■* For my own part, I durst not hinder a 
 woman herein (from preaching) when 1 clearly 
 discover nothing contrary to genuine piety— when 
 I discover far greater abilities, then I do in very 
 many travelling preachers — when thousands of 
 good and wise people are for women 's preaching ; 
 and when there is much good done by it wherever 
 theygor 
 
 1 would finish by observing, if we condemn ail 
 women's preaching or prophesying to edification,, 
 exhortation, and comfort, in the church of Christ, 
 we at once condemn that respectable body ef 
 
23 
 
 people called Quakers, who universally allow and 
 approve of it ; thus all those women who labour 
 among- them in word and doctrine, and who pro- 
 fess to be influenced by the Spirit of God, will 
 be branded as hypocrites and impostors, having 1 
 taken upon them an office that does not belong 
 to them, and whose profession is a lie to the Holy 
 Ghost. And by such conduct, we condemn those 
 bodies of people that have broken off from us, 
 and who universally allow of this practice ; and 
 with all the imperfections we discover among 
 them, we must acknowledge that much good has 
 been done, and that by the preaching of both 
 men and women. By admitting the impropriety 
 of women's preaching-, &e., we condemn that 
 most useful body of people called Methodists; 
 both that part of them which allows women may 
 be endowed with authority from on high to preach, 
 as well as that part of them which totally denies 
 all such authority, seeing the whole body of them 
 allow and approve of women's speaking- to edi- 
 fication and comfort. Witness 4heir love-feasts, 
 class and band meetings; they are all religious 
 services ; and I cannot see how we can allow the 
 .one, and reject the other. 
 
 Lastly, let all those daughters and handmaidens 
 of the Lord, who think it their duty to pray, 
 prophesy, or preach in his name, occupy the 
 talent God has given them, to his glory. As long 
 as you are sensible that your hearts are sincere, 
 your intentions pure, your lives holy, that you 
 have no other end in view than gaining pro- 
 selytes to. Jesus Christ; continue to follow the 
 openings of providence, and the immediate teach- 
 ings of his Spirit. If devils are cast out ; souls 
 saved ; and the people willing to hear you ; let 
 no man stop you, without producing his authority 
 from the King of Heaven ; and giving you good 
 and sufficient security that he will answer for 
 yojur neglect of service in the church of Christ, 
 
24 
 
 •at the divine -tribunal, in the day of awful ^and 
 righteous retribution. Let the case of Miss Mallet 
 be ever fresh in your memory. And if it should 
 happen that the preachers, stewards, &c, are op- 
 posed to your prophesying or speaking* unto the 
 people by way of exhortation-, do not ', I beseech 
 you, hastily leave the connexion as some have 
 clone; and above all, do not attempt to speak at 
 those seasons, or in those places, where the re- 
 gular preachers preach, but rather speak in some 
 private house, to % those who are willing to hear 
 you, and at a time when there is no meeting held 
 in the neighbourhood. From what has been ad- 
 vanced, J think it appears, (at least to me) that 
 female preaching, in some extraordinary cases, 
 (and this is all I contend for) is both reasonable 
 and lawful, consonant to Scripture, and the prac- 
 tice of primitive times ; and I certainly think if 
 any person eouiu so far divest himself of any pre- 
 conceived opinion on this subject, -so as to* weigh 
 impartially in the balances of the sanctuary the 
 scriptures cited til this pamphlet, would be led to 
 decide in the same way ; but I /hope I am no 
 bigot, all my differing brethren have an equal 
 right to their -opinion with myself. I conceived 
 it my duty to publish this tract at this time, and I 
 • am satisfied with, my motive. I. have no sinister 
 ends to serve, no party to please, no. system that 
 must be supported, because it ha* long been esta- 
 blished by men ; I trust I am endeavouring to 
 follow scriptural truth wherever it may lead me. 
 I know the conversion of sinners is the work of 
 God — it \s his to begin, carry on, and establish it. 
 It is his to choose the instruments, and means of 
 doing it. And all the glory must be ascribed to 
 him. 1 -commend the reader to God, and to the 
 word of his grace, praying that both he and the 
 writer may be led into all savings truth here, and 
 at last brought into his eternal kingdom. Ame», 
 
 #♦ & J, ftichardsoo; Printer?, Yoik,