If, now, we examine the writings of the Church Fathers, we shall see these ideas elaborated with all the vehemence of religious zeal.

The general opinions of the Fathers regarding women present a curious mixture.  They are fond of descanting on the fact that woman is responsible for all the woes of mankind and that her very presence is dangerous.  At the same time they pay glowing tribute to women in particular.  St. Jerome held that women were naturally weaker, physically and morally, than men.[227] The same saint proves that all evils spring from women[228]; and in another passage he opines that marriage is indeed a lottery and the vices of women are too great to make it worth while.[229] “The sex is practiced in deceiving,” observes St. Maximus.[230] St. Augustine disputes subtly whether woman is the image of God as well as man.  He says no, and proves it thus[231]:  The Apostle commands that a man should not veil his head, because he is the image of God; but the woman must veil hers, according to the same Apostle; therefore the woman is not the image of God.  “For this reason, again,” continues the Saint, “the Apostle says ’A woman is not permitted to teach, nor to have dominion over her husband.’” Bishop Marbodius calls woman a “pleasant evil, at once a honeycomb and a poison” and indicts the sex,[232] something on the order of Juvenal or Jonathan Swift, by citing the cases of Eve, the daughters of Lot, Delilah, Herodias, Clytemnestra, and Progne.  The way in which women were regarded as at once a blessing and a curse is well illustrated also in a distich of Sedulius:  “A woman alone has been responsible for opening the gates of death; a woman alone has been the cause of a return to life."[233]

That women should be in subjection, in accordance with the dictum of Paul, the Church Fathers assert emphatically.  “How can it be said of a woman that she is the image of God,” exclaims St. Augustine,[234] “when it is evident that she is subject to the rule of her husband and has no authority!  Why, she can not teach, nor be a witness, nor give security, nor act in court; how much the more can she not govern!” Women are commanded again and again not to perform any of the functions of men and to yield a ready and unquestioning obedience to their husbands.[235] The Fathers also insist that marriage without a paternal parent’s consent is fornication.[236]

Marriage was looked upon as a necessary evil, permitted, indeed, as a concession to the weakness of mankind, but to be avoided if possible.  “Celibacy is to be preferred to marriage,” says St. Augustine.[237] “Celibacy is the life of the angels,” remarks St. Ambrose.[238] “Celibacy is a spiritual kind of marriage,” according to St. Optatus.[239] “Happy he,” says Tertullia[240] “who lives like Paul!” The same saint paints a lugubrious picture of marriage and the “bitter pleasure of children” (liberorum amarissima voluptate) who are burdens and just as likely as not will turn