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Holy Misogyny: Why the Sex and Gender Conflicts in the Early Church Still Matter
In Holy Misogyny, bible scholar April DeConick wants real answers to the questions that are rarely whispered from the pulpits of the contemporary Christian churches. Why is God male? Why are women associated with sin? Why can't women be priests? Drawing on her extensive knowledge of the early Christian literature, she seeks to understand the conflicts over sex and gender in the early church―what they were and what was at stake. She explains how these ancient conflicts have shaped contemporary Christianity and its promotion of male exclusivity and superiority in terms of God, church leadership, and the bed.
DeConick's detective work uncovers old aspects of Christianity before later doctrines and dogmas were imposed upon the churches, and the earlier teachings about the female were distorted. Holy Misogyny shows how the female was systematically erased from the Christian tradition, and why. She concludes that the distortion and erasure of the female is the result of ancient misogyny made divine writ, a holy misogyny that remains with us today.
DeConick's detective work uncovers old aspects of Christianity before later doctrines and dogmas were imposed upon the churches, and the earlier teachings about the female were distorted. Holy Misogyny shows how the female was systematically erased from the Christian tradition, and why. She concludes that the distortion and erasure of the female is the result of ancient misogyny made divine writ, a holy misogyny that remains with us today.
200 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2010
20 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
April D. DeConick
20 books21 followersApril D. DeConick, Ph.D. (Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, 1994), is Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Chair of the Department of Religion at Rice University. She is also Co-Founder and Executive Editor of GNOSIS: Journal of Gnostic Studies published by Brill.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 10, 2013
Ever wonder how in spite of the liberal treatment of women by Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospels, the majority of Christendom perpetuates misogynistic views and discrimination of women? DeConick, a professor of Biblical Studies, travels through time in search of what happened to "Lady God", and in so doing provides historical Judeo-Christian perceptions of women, their elevation in the early church, the degradation of their status quickly thereafter, and their continued subjugation.
September 18, 2017
A good short overview of the inherent misogyny in the formation of Judean-Christian scripture. I was expecting a more theological discourse but was pleasantly surprised that this was something more in-line with historical investigation. Note that the author does not state (in the book) her credentials (does she have a PhD in Religious Studies or...?). But this book is a much easier read than slogging through pretty much any feminist (or non-feminist, for that matter) historical-theological interpretation of scripture. I would summarize this book as being written by a well-learned author who has studied the cool-aid, but never drank it. Decently foot-noted...not what I am used to from my theological studies or historical methodology, but this just makes the book all-around easier to read. (If that makes any sense.) Deconick's last chapter titled "Because the Bible Told Me So" (or something along those lines) excellently summarizes why, as the subtitle states, sex and gender conflicts in the early church STILL. MATTER.
January 20, 2016
A valuable overview of the precise misogynistic influences that can be traced from the original sources and artifacts that led to the compilation of modern bibles and their interpretations. It is particularly illuminating to go through the historical development of each particular fragment, and see how prominent misogynistic philosophers of each period left their marks on the modern religious psyche.
October 5, 2016
Read for my academic course. Excellent introduction to the erasure of the feminine within western Christianity. I was particularly interested in the parts dealing with the thoughts of the early Church Fathers on the subject, and it has given me some topics to pursue further. It was well written, lots of evidence to back up her points, and a good read. Rating: 4 stars.
February 13, 2019
i read this for my women in early christianity course and it was so great, it has really cool chapters about women and how originally christianity was super inclusive to women and a lot of the stories in the bible are super subjective and not totally applicable to what was going on with women at the time!
September 25, 2011
I am sorry Continuum changed the title from Holy Misogyny to this Sex and the Serpent. In this rather short read is a digest of the systematic removal of the feminine from a clear person of God to something to be tolerated, and only embraced in camera.
March 23, 2013
DeConick doesn't pull any punches here. Misogyny in western culture has roots deep within the religious traditions that otherwise seem benign. See a fuller review at Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.
January 10, 2022
Poor Lady God Could Use Some Love
A short but juicy history of patriarchal suppression of early Judaism and Christianity’s sacred feminine side, and the misogynistic rationalizations for that suppression, continuing on to the present day. Check it out:
- A consort wife for Yahweh, Ashenah (Hebrew for “wisdom”), worshipped for centuries as orthodoxy, accused by diehard monotheists post-Babylonian exile as idolatrous, refashioned into the Holy Spirit (!!), and then finally quietly masculinized and neutered;
- Jesus’ proto-feminist leanings, placing the responsibility for controlling sexual urges onto men, his anti-marriage, anti-divorce, and overall anti-sex stances;
- The Gnostic Christian sects, whose interpretation of Genesis led them to sanctify marriage and sex as the symbolic union between male and female selves of the Godhead, allowing women take up leadership roles in the church and providing political-spiritual opportunities for them to “become male,” eventually attacked as heretical by the Apostolic/Catholic Church;
- The slandering of Mary Magdalene, apostle and disciple, the first eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection per Matthew, hastily erased by later gospel writers when confronted with Greco-Roman skepticism, and at last demonized as a repentant whore;
- Women’s leadership roles in the early church in general, as well as their financial contributions, opposed fiercely by Paul, and eventually driven out by interpretations of women’s role as a subordinate to man.
In the effort to woo and accommodate Roman and Greek sensibilities and culture, as well as maintain male rule, the early Apostolic/Catholic Church had to do a lot of intellectual fudging and sledgehammering, leading to many fights of (spiritual) fanon versus canon. All heady, meaty stuff, even tough to get through, and yet I’m left with wanting more—the cult of Mary, Jesus’ mother, for instance. No matter. All the important stuff is here, in almost painful detail.
It’s a pity. The Romans and Greeks at least had its female deities. Judaism and Christianity, for all their iconoclasms, has been greatly weakened by the discarding of its feminine, and only now, after two thousand years’ worth of subjugation and the resulting liberation movements, those chickens have come to roost.
A short but juicy history of patriarchal suppression of early Judaism and Christianity’s sacred feminine side, and the misogynistic rationalizations for that suppression, continuing on to the present day. Check it out:
- A consort wife for Yahweh, Ashenah (Hebrew for “wisdom”), worshipped for centuries as orthodoxy, accused by diehard monotheists post-Babylonian exile as idolatrous, refashioned into the Holy Spirit (!!), and then finally quietly masculinized and neutered;
- Jesus’ proto-feminist leanings, placing the responsibility for controlling sexual urges onto men, his anti-marriage, anti-divorce, and overall anti-sex stances;
- The Gnostic Christian sects, whose interpretation of Genesis led them to sanctify marriage and sex as the symbolic union between male and female selves of the Godhead, allowing women take up leadership roles in the church and providing political-spiritual opportunities for them to “become male,” eventually attacked as heretical by the Apostolic/Catholic Church;
- The slandering of Mary Magdalene, apostle and disciple, the first eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection per Matthew, hastily erased by later gospel writers when confronted with Greco-Roman skepticism, and at last demonized as a repentant whore;
- Women’s leadership roles in the early church in general, as well as their financial contributions, opposed fiercely by Paul, and eventually driven out by interpretations of women’s role as a subordinate to man.
In the effort to woo and accommodate Roman and Greek sensibilities and culture, as well as maintain male rule, the early Apostolic/Catholic Church had to do a lot of intellectual fudging and sledgehammering, leading to many fights of (spiritual) fanon versus canon. All heady, meaty stuff, even tough to get through, and yet I’m left with wanting more—the cult of Mary, Jesus’ mother, for instance. No matter. All the important stuff is here, in almost painful detail.
It’s a pity. The Romans and Greeks at least had its female deities. Judaism and Christianity, for all their iconoclasms, has been greatly weakened by the discarding of its feminine, and only now, after two thousand years’ worth of subjugation and the resulting liberation movements, those chickens have come to roost.
November 17, 2021
A lot of good information and research went into this volume, but I wish she had explored more options for overcoming misogyny in today's Church.
August 31, 2012
I also did a formal book review of this book, corresponded with the author about bits of it. Most importantly for my interests are the references to early Church doctrines and ideas about the Holy Spirit being female, or material remains pointing to a belief in femaleness being present in the divine being (the Trinity), as well as DeConick's handling of the early Christian thoughts about sex and marriage -- groups of early Christians on "both sides" if you will: sex and marriage are evil and to be avoided; marriage is salvation. It does help us to see that there are vestiges of both strands today, and helps to put conversations about sex in a wholly different light. Delightful.
Want to read
November 30, 2011Recommended by Jessica.
June 18, 2015
Amazing history of the erasing of the feminine from the faith history and bible of the Christian faith.
March 8, 2013
Didn't read it all. Dense content and very academic. Certainly worth a read for the scholar or for a more casual interest in the feminine within the Christian paradigm.
January 7, 2021
An intresting read after one has read Cynthia Westfall Paul and Gender.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews