依利莎伯．凱狄．史丹頓和她的《婦女聖經》

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and The Woman’s Bible

研究女性神學的人，多少都曾聽過《婦女聖經》的名字，還有環繞在它周遭許許多多的小故事。事實上，它的作者依利莎伯‧凱狄‧史丹頓（Elizabeth Cady Stanton）算得上早期美國婦女運動（即19世紀第一波）的知名人物，她不僅參與黑奴解放運動，還是早期美國婦權運動的健將，在1870年主導美國婦女投票權的立法爭取。但是，史丹頓的一生，最不可思議的一件事，卻是她幾乎獨力完成的一部聖經評註：《婦女聖經》（在1895／1898年出版，共上下兩卷）。這是西方宗教史上第一部出自女性之手、以女性角度全面性地批判基督宗教的男權結構的聖經評註，這在當時根本是一件不可能的事，但是史丹頓卻是個例外。在爭取女性權益的過程中，她先知性地看見當時西方女性不自由的情況與基督教義所代表的父權意識的關係。一時間，她恍然大悟，要在意識上改變西方文化仇視女性的思想，唯一的方法只有重新詮釋聖經，揭示它的父權色彩，以及它違反神意的地方。本文旨在追蹤《婦女聖經》的寫成及它的主要作者依利莎伯‧凱狄‧史丹頓的生平事業，並打算作出一些評估。為達到這樣的目的，我們必須把《婦女聖經》放回當日的社會場合去。我打算從十九世紀女性社會政治運動講起，一窺十九世紀末女權運動者的宗教背景和社會參與。史丹頓的家庭背景，和宗教背景，尤其是她參與婦權運動的歷史，對《婦女聖經》的寫成也有一定的影響，最後，我還要從科學、性別、宗教、政治等各方面評斷這一本在今日基督宗教女性神學上仍然深受注目的《婦女聖經》。

Those who are familiar with feminist theology must somehow know The Woman’s Bible. The author of the book, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, is generally esteemed as one of the leaders in the early American woman’s rights movement (the so-called “first wave” in the 19th century), taking lead in its long struggle for the vote of woman suf-frage. But the most incredible thing in Stanton’s life is the composition, almost by her-self, of the first feminist biblical commentary, The Woman’s Bible (published in 1895/1898, in 2 volumes). This, in the age of patriarchal religion, is impossible since the oppressive structure of the Christian church and its connection to the dependent situation of the western women were still not recognized. But Stanton is prophetic in the sense that she not only perceived clearly this connection but also resolved in com-posing The Woman’s Bible so as to disclose its underlying patriarchal disposition, which, for Stanton, is contrary to the divine will. The aim of this article is to investigate the composition of The Woman’s Bible and its main author’s life and religious thoughts. We will situate the book in the social con-text of America in the 19th century, during which the woman suffrage was on the way to legislation. Stanton’s family and religious backgrounds as well as her participation in woman’s rights movement are all crucial in understanding her work. Finally we will comment on the book from the perspectives of science, gender, religion and politics.