The theme of religion often appears in Wollstonecraft’s work, especially in Original Stories. The character Ms.Mason often teaches about morality and virtue in the context of being a creation of God. Below is a excerpt out of Original Stories where the governess Ms. Mason spends a chapter talking about the importance of prayer.

Wollstonecraft’s Background with Religion:

Mary Wollstonecraft lived in an era of unrest between various religious and political groups. 

At this time, the Church of England was receiving some backlash for being corrupt and controlling. The Test and Corporation Acts were passed in 1661 and carried on through 1828 and claimed that only members of the Church of England could serve in government positions. At this time, many people were beginning to oppose the Church of England and question some of the religious doctrines it stood by.

One of these groups that turned from the Church of England were the Dissenters. A Dissenter was “a person who did not conform to the religion of the Established Church and subsequently joined a sect which fostered different religious views and ideologies from those of the Established Religion – in England this was Anglicanism” (Morgan, 2007). A man named Reverend Richard Price was a main figure among the Dissenters and became a mentor to Mary Wollstonecraft. Though never officially joining a Dissenters group, Mary Wollstonecraft was impacted and influenced by her contact with this environment and community.

Wollstonecraft VS. The Church’s View of Feminism:

In the church, theological arguments argued that females should naturally be subordinate and religious figures like Martin Luther argued that it is God's will for women to be mothers and wives, and are the only people fit to raise children (Morgan, 2007). All this being said, Wollstonecraft interpreted scripture differently, believing in the equality of men and women as part of God’s will. Many Christian traditions believe men should be spiritual leaders and responsible for his family's spirituality and connection with God. However, Wollstonecraft wanted to overturn the idea that women needed their husbands to have a spiritual relationship with God because she believed that God created man and women morally and mentally equal.

Wollstonecraft also focused a lot on moral virtue to help women be seen as moral and virtuous beings in society like men were. Morality and virtue were concepts Wollstonecraft believed to be given by God, however, were not an important part of her society at the time (Mendoza, 2007). Wollstonecraft also believed that human rights and political rights were deserved by both men and women because God gave them the ability to have moral discernment. She believed both men and women were accountable to “God’s law and held moral duties and rights derived from it, independent of their station, sex, or contribution to general welfare” (Botting, 2018).

Some scholars believe that the influence of religion on Wollstonecraft made her an “incoherent thinker who could confusingly appeal to both God and utility as the basis of her theory for women’s rights” (Botting, 2018).

Below is a path to a section in the Bible which describes what some Christians call the "Proverbs 31 Woman". This can provide an interesting perspective for what some Christians expected the role of a woman to be.