Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 30:4 (Autumn 2016)
Article: A Life Of Study, Prayer, And Action: The Feminist Christianity Of Josephine Butler
Author: Asa James Swan

PP 30:4 (Autumn 2016) p. 5

A Life Of Study, Prayer, And Action:
The Feminist Christianity Of Josephine Butler

Asa James Swan

Asa James Swan serves as Chief of Staff for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. He is pursuing a PhD in Modern European History at the University of Kentucky. Asa is from Campbellsville, Kentucky, and is married to Allison Joy Ball, the state Treasurer of Kentucky.

Since the beginning of the feminist movement over a century ago, historians have debated the role religion played in the lives of the great British women’s rights leaders. Olive Anderson dismissed any agency religious experience gave to these women, contending that it “contributed nothing to the spread of feminist ideas.”1 Gail Malmgreen described their spirituality as a “central paradox” that historians struggle to keep in context while discussing their subjects’ lives and work.2 She went on to point out that religion is a neglected part of feminist history, yet historically there is a direct connection between faith and political activism within the feminist movement.3 In response to these works and others, Helen Mathers made a simple yet profound point: many of the nineteenth- and early twentieth- century feminist leaders were devout Christians who drew upon faith as their main source of inspiration and strength, so a study of their beliefs is crucial to understanding their lives.4 Josephine Butler was one of these leaders.

Josephine Butler was born in 1828, the daughter of Anglican parents who sympathized with the evangelical movement. Her passionate faith in God birthed her political activism; she entered the world of national politics by advocating for greater educational opportunities for all women and more property rights for married women in particular.5 In 1869, she began campaigning against the Contagious Diseases Acts and remained to fight for greater equality and social justice for women until her death in 1906.6 The support of her husband and her intimate relationship with Jesus Christ sustained her during these hard years of struggle, relationships that have proven difficult for modern historians to grasp when considering her political beliefs.

Helen Mathers summarizes the “minefield” that surrounds Josephine Butler, where “there is still no consensus among historians about [her] religion.” Historians like Moberly Bell, Nancy Boyd, and Jane Jordan have documented the details of Josephine’s life in their biographies, but they either a...