5 Women Who Used Their Faith to Shape Our History
Posted 6 years ago - Mar 9, 2021
From: John OsburnIt can be easy to forget how recently American women were allowed to do things like vote, get a credit card, or run a marathon. Still, in much of the world, women have very little rights themselves. They are often abused, oppressed, and over-looked, yet many of them have found ways to change the world against all odds.
One of my favorite things about history is learning about times when people with very little influence or political power changed the world, and these are 5 examples of women, inspired by their faith, who did just that.
1. Harriet Beecher Stowe
There were many reasons the American Civil War started, but some of blame (credit?) can be given to Mrs. Stowe. Why?
She wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and ignited a fire that could not be put out. She met President Lincoln, who said to her, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!”
Stowe was the the seventh child of Lyman Beecher, a preacher and evangelist. She believed deeply in the power of the Gospel to save and transform every human, including Black people. Even as a young girl she couldn’t understand how good, Christian people could seek to save the souls of their slaves, but still put them on an auction block so other men could bid on their body.
She published “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852, and it sold more than 1 million copies in the next decade. It instigated conversations at church, inspired arguments in taverns, and was the final impetus for a war. Stowe didn’t shy away from incorporating faith into her book which is what made it so hard to ignore, and even made it’s titular character a Christ-like figure fo those around him.
Many of her ideas would still scandalize us today, I think:
“On the shores of our free states are emerging the poor, shattered, broken remnants of families…from a system which confounds and confuses every principle of Christianity and morality. They come to seek a refuge among you; they come to seek education, knowledge, Christianity. What do you owe to these poor, unfortunates, O Christians? Does not every American Christian owe to the African race some effort at reparation for the wrongs that the American nation has brought upon them?”
2. Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was an amazing woman of fortitude, courage, wisdom, and grace. Wells risked her life to chronicle and fight the common act of lynching, co-founded the NAACP, and was an early suffragist.
Wells was born a slave in 1862. At 16, her parents died so Wells took on the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings. Wells did not let the adversity in her life keep her back from success. She became a teacher, then a journalist, and eventually owned two newspapers.
Wells became more outspoken about social justice after she took a train ride to Nashville. She had purchased a first class ticket, yet the company asked her to move to the back of the train with the other Black people. She refused, was removed, and sued. She was the original Rosa Parks.
Wells eventually settled in the Chicago area, and attended Grace Presbyterian Church. Within a short time of being there, they asked her to teach a Men’s Bible study.
Wells was one of the most influential people on the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s even though she died 30 years prior. Her bravery and eloquence still echo today.
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
3. Katharina Von Bora
There’s a common saying I’m not particularly fond of, but it happens to be true of Katharina Von Bora: “Behind every great man there stands a great woman.”
Katharina Von Bora was nun for most of her early life, until she escaped her nunnery with the help of a man named Martin Luther. Yes, the famous protestant reformer.
Katharina is an excellent example of a woman suing her considerable talents to change the world while being doubted, gossiped about, and generally disliked. She was married to one of the most famous men of her time, and it was because of her skill and hard work that Luther was able to continue his academic and theological pursuits.
Katharina brought in as much income as her husband did by being wise in all business matters, even while running a household with 6+ kids and lodgers.
Without Katharina, Martin Luther would have struggled to maintain his life of travel, influence, and teaching. It is quite possible that without her dedication the reformation would have ended up looking very different.
She was in attendance at most of the table talks Luther had with other reformers, but later editors removed or edited her contributions, so most of ideas are lost to history, but her faith in the Grace of Jesus was stronger than anything else in her life.
“I will stick to Christ as a burr to cloth.”