Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, "La Respuesta" [The Reply]
[Historical Note: Arguably one of the greatest divides in colonial society was that between the sexes. The patriarchal nature of Spanish rule and of the Roman Catholic Church ensured that legally, at least, women were restricted to inferior positions and to lives with few rights. This discrimination faced elite Spanish women as well as indigenous women. A brilliant and talented scholar, Sor Juana in 1690 wrote a daring critique of an earlier Jesuit sermon. Her critique prompted the Bishop of Puebla to admonish her for having overstepped the proper bounds for a woman. Sor Juana subsequently defended herself in a lengthy reply (respuesta) that challenged the foundations of the society in which she lived. Her 1695 response to the Bishop set off a struggle that highlighted not only divisions between the sexes, but also those within the Church, and between the Church and the Spanish government, in which Sor Juana found many powerful and influential supporters. See Additional Writings by Sor Juana for further biographical details.]
I see many and illustrious women; some blessed with the gift of prophecy, like Abigail, others of persuasion, like Esther; others with pity, like Rehab; others with perseverance, like Anna, the mother of Samuel; and an infinite number of others, with diverse gifts and virtues. . . For all were nothing more than learned women, held, and celebrated and venerated as well as such by antiquity. Without mentioning an infinity of other women whose names fill books. For example, I find the Egyptian Catherine, studying and influencing the wisdom of all the wise men of Egypt. I see a Gertrudis studying, writing, and teaching. And not to overlook examples close to home, I see my most holy mother Paula, learned in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and most able in interpreting the Scriptures. And what greater praise than, having as her chronicler a Jeronimus Maximus, that Saint scarcely found himself competent for his task, and says, with that weighty deliberation and energetic precision with which he so well expressed himself: "If all the members of my body were tongues, they still would not be sufficient to proclaim the wisdom and virtue of Paula."
The venerable Doctor Arce (by his virtue and learning a worthy teacher of the Scriptures) in his scholarly Bibliorum raises this question: Is it permissible for women to dedicate themselves to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and to their interpretation? and he offers as negative arguments the opinions of many saints, especially that of the Apostle: Let women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted them to speak, etc. He later cites other opinions and, from the same Apostle, verses from his letter to Titus: The aged women in like manner, in holy attire. . .teaching well, with interpretations by the Holy Fathers. Finally he resolves, with all prudence, that teaching publicly from a University chair, or preaching from the pulpit, is not permissible for women; but that to study, write, and teach privately not only is permissible, but most advantageous and useful. It is evident that this is not to be the case with all women, but with those to whom God may have granted special virtue and prudence, and who may be well advanced in learning, and having the essential talent and requisites for such a sacred calling. This view is indeed just, so much so that not only women, who are held to be so inept, but also men, who merely for being men believe they are wise, should be prohibited from interpreting the Sacred Word if they are not learned and virtuous and of gentle and well-inclined natures; that this is not so has been, I believe, at the root of so much sectarianism and so many heresies. For there are many who study but are ignorant, especially those who are in spirit arrogant, troubled, and proud, so eager for new interpretations of the Word (which itself rejects new interpretations) that merely for the sake of saying what no one else has said they speak a heresy, and even then are not content. Of these the Holy Spirit says: For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul. To such as these more harm results from knowing than from ignorance. A wise man has said: he who does not know Latin is not a complete fool; but he who knows it is well qualified to be. And I would add that a fool may reach perfection (if ignorance may tolerate perfection) by having studied his title of philosophy and theology and by having some learning of tongues, by which he may be a fool in many sciences and languages: a great fool cannot be contained solely in his mother tongue.
For such as these, I reiterate, study is harmful, because it is as if to place a sword in the hands of a madman; which, though a most noble instrument for defense, is in his hands his own death and that of many others. So were the Divine Scriptures in the possession of the evil Pelagius and the intractable Arius, of the evil Luther, and the other heresiarchs like our own Doctor (who was neither ours nor a doctor) Cazalla. To these men, wisdom was harmful; although it is the greatest nourishment and the life of the soul; in the same way that in a stomach of sickly constitution and adulterated complexion, the finer the nourishment it receives, the more arid, fermented, and perverse are the humors it produces; thus these evil men: the more they study, the worse opinions they engender, their reason being obstructed with the very substance meant to nourish it, and they study much and digest little, exceeding the limits of the vessel of their reason. Of which the Apostle says: For I say, by the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as God hath divided to every one the measure of faith. And in truth, the Apostle did not direct these words to women, but to men; and that keep silence is intended not only for women, but for all incompetents. If I desire to know as much, or more, than Aristotle or Saint Augustine, and if I have not the aptitude of Saint Augustine or Aristotle, though I study more than either, not only will I not achieve learning, but I will weaken and dull the workings of my feeble reason with the disproportionateness of the goal.
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