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Clearly Written by Boys: A Woman's Guide to the Bible
What would the Bible look like if women mattered--really mattered? What if the women of the Bible could tell us their stories themselves, in their own voices? With humor, sharp wit, entertaining storytelling and a welcome dose of skepticism, Karis Burkowski and David Fitzgerald pull back the curtain and reveal that the Bible was Clearly Written by Boys. This expertly researched book is an invaluable resource and a powerful weapon—a must-have for everyone passionate about the fight against those who would weaponize the Bible.
Right now, as women are being stripped of their hard-fought rights, this important book is more vital than ever.
Right now, as women are being stripped of their hard-fought rights, this important book is more vital than ever.
- GenresNonfiction
511 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 1, 2026
Raised as a good Catholic girl, and thus having never read the bible, the authors do a fabulous job of showing just how the book I never read shaped my experience as a child, an adolescent, and a woman. I now better understand why I was taught that I didn’t really want to be a Lawyer, but a paralegal, certainly not a Doctor but perhaps I would make a great nurse and how I need to be desirable, but not too desirable. And as a bonus, how marriage offers the chance to gain security through subservience at least while my uterus is still in play. Lucky me! The authors hit the humorous release valve just as the Botox in my frown lines began to feel the strain of my indignation and rage. This book clearly illustrates the biblical roots of sexist and misogynistic views today and how to grab them with both hands and tear them out!
August 11, 2026
Pros: This is written specifically to women and is a great introduction to Bible criticism and history for women who are sick of those "women of the Bible" studies that are ubiquitous in Christian churches. Men, who usually have no idea how women are affected by religious indoctrination and the resulting historical oppression, would benefit from reading as well. There is an emphasis on how the stories of women in the Bible, written by men, have affected women's lives for centuries. It is entertaining, easy to read and to understand. There are loads of footnotes with references to other works which would be helpful for continued study. The art work is lovely and the cartoons are on point.
Cons: One of the authors is a boy. The cartoonist is a boy. I know, I'm quibbling, but still. The content is more broad than deep. If you have read some of the resources mentioned, this book may feel a bit derivative. Content from some of David Fitzgerald's other writings has been repurposed and, to be fair, duly noted. There are a few typos.
I do feel that this would be a valuable jumping off point for any woman who wants to familiarize herself with the history of how women are treated in the Bible texts by the men who wrote them, why they were treated that way, and the long term repercussions. I purchased this book because I wanted to support the authors and their reasons for producing it. I will be passing it on to someone else who can benefit.
Cons: One of the authors is a boy. The cartoonist is a boy. I know, I'm quibbling, but still. The content is more broad than deep. If you have read some of the resources mentioned, this book may feel a bit derivative. Content from some of David Fitzgerald's other writings has been repurposed and, to be fair, duly noted. There are a few typos.
I do feel that this would be a valuable jumping off point for any woman who wants to familiarize herself with the history of how women are treated in the Bible texts by the men who wrote them, why they were treated that way, and the long term repercussions. I purchased this book because I wanted to support the authors and their reasons for producing it. I will be passing it on to someone else who can benefit.
August 13, 2026
The woman's point of view is completely absent from the Bible. Imagine, however, that the Bible was written by women. What lessons and insights might there be? This book presents that femimine perspective as well as a
critique of the original Scripture.
Eve is the first woman in the Bible. When she arrived depends upon which version of creation one reads. In Genesis 1, man and woman are apparently created at the same time.
In Genesis 2, however, Adam comes first. God then creates the animals, but none is a suitable helpmate for Adam. Therefore, to create a helpmate, God takes a rib from Adam to create Eve.
So woman is an afterthought who came after the animals. Adam claims that women came from man (2:23) rather than man being born of a woman. “For Adam was formed first, then Eve…” (1 Timothy 2:13)
Genesis 2 is also where God's punishment is announced for all women forevermore because Eve ate the forbidden fruit. For one, husbands rule over wives. (3:16)
Do “not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” She must “learn in silence with full submission.” After all, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”(1 Timothy 2)
In other words, as Burkowski and Fitzgerald see it, "Once again, Eve ruined it for everybody, which means all women have to shut up, listen to the menfolk, and, as always, submit." That's because all women are equally gullible and to blame "for bringing sin and death upon all our heads." Because of Eve, Jesus had to die.
Jezebel was a Canaanite who married Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and became his queen. Her name has become synonymous with evil, and she is the most infamous woman in the Bible.
There is reason to doubt the accuracy of what 1 & 2 Kings says about her. For one, the account was written hundreds of years after the fact. Two, the author did not get her name right. Instead of using her Phoenecian name, she is called “I-zevel” or “Izebhel,” which means woman of dung in Hebrew. In Greek, this became Jezebel.
Three, Jezebel purportedly told everyone of her deceptions, which seems unlikely because they wouldn't be deceived. Four, she worshipped Baal, so that alone made her evil in the eyes of the author.
The name Jezebel has been applied by Christians to women who are manipulative, independent, and reject patriarchy.
Ruth is another prominent female figure in the Old Testament. The story about her and Boaz is similar in many respects to that of the story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:6-26). The former may be copied from the latter.
Ruth's story has several fairy tale aspects. She is the heroine on a quest who encounters challenges and benefactors and enjoys a happy ending. There is an omniscient narrator who knows motives. There are also women of Bethlehem who already know that Obed will be the “the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (4:17).
Finally, in marrying Ruth, Boaz violates the anti-Moabite marriage rule in Deuteronomy 23:3-4. (“even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever.”)
In addition, Boaz had already consummated his marriage before he had the public meeting with another relative to see if he would marry her, and then announced he had married her.
The names of the story's players also suggests it is fiction. Naomi's sons who die early in the story have unusual names — Mahlon and Kilion/Chilion — which mean “Sickly” and “End/wasting away.” By the same token, "Ruth" means "friend" or "companion," while Orpah, Naomi's other daughter-in-law who did not go with her, means "stiff-necked." "Boaz" means "strength."
As with the story of Ruth, there is reason to believe the story of Queen Esther is also a historical novel. One hint is the omniscient narrator who purports to know what went on in private meetings such as between Haman and his wife.
There are also historical errors. For one, Persian kings could only marry into a small number of leading Persian families. For another, history records that Amestris, not Esther or Vashti, was Xerxes’ queen. Nor is there a record of Haman or Mordecai as viziers.
Mordecai was supposedly deported from Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar, but the deportation of Jews happened 112 years before Xerxes became king.
Next up is Delilah, Samson's lover. Samson had long hair because he was a Nazirite who took a vow to follow a strict purity code. But he regularly violated the code, cavorting with prostitutes and marrying a Philstine woman. The only thing that God removes his superhuman power for is when someone cuts his hair. It seems likely Samson and Delilah are fictional characters.
The Bible has several overarching themes. One is that nothing is more deceitful than a woman. The Bible depicts Femmes Fatales who seduce otherwise good men using their sexual wiles.
Salomé was the stepdaughter of King Herod Antipas, and Herodias was her wicked mother and the king's wife. After she performed a seductive dance at a party for the king, he promised to grant her any wish. Her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist.
One problem with this tale is that only prostitutes would entertain men at parties, not properly raised young women. Another problem is that the historian Josephus writes about the royal family and John the Baptist's execution, but makes no mention of either Herodias or Salomé being involvd.
The Book of Judith is in the Catholic Bible, though not in the Protestant version. Judith was a Jewish widow with exceptionally good looks. With her country under attack by the Assyrians, Judith uses her looks to get into the bedroom of the Assyrian general. After he passes out from too much alcohol, Judith cuts off his head.
The authors ask how to distinguish the female heroines from the villains. Both use their looks and deception to manipulate men. "At the end of the day, Delilah and Salomé don’t differ much from Esther, Jael and Judith."
In the Old Testament, menstruation is a state of impurity that requires ritual cleansing as well as atonement. Giving birth also causes impurity, and if the baby is a girl, it takes twice as long to regain purity than if it is a boy.
"Given how women’s menstrual blood is so demonized as a sign of woman’s inferiority, weakness and sinfulness, it’s interesting to see how differently the Bible treats the blood of men. Unlike the vile, shameful blood of womenkind, Man-blood, especially in the context of sacrifices, is associated with life, covenant, and redemption."
Circumcision, for example, causes bleeding, but not impurity that needs atonement.
The Bible is often invoked as the authority on Family Values. When the Old Testament was written, arranged marriages, bride prices and dowries were common. Romance was not. Neither was marrying for love.
Rape victims were required to marry their attackers so long as a payment was made to the fathers of the brides.
The New Testament tells women they are to be subject to their husbands who are the head of the wife. (Ephesians 5:22-23) Though 1Cor. 13 is often read at weddings, the context refers to a spiritual gift, not specifically to romantic or marital love. Elsewhere in the same letter Paul expresses indifference to marriage.
God wants women to have babies, twice commanding humanity to "be fruitful and multiply." But God warns his people against intermarriage with other tribes.
According to the law of Moses, there are several acceptable forms of marriage that give men many options:
• A man and a woman plus his concubines.
• A man and a woman plus any servants or slaves.
• A man plus his brother’s widow. • A man plus a woman or girl he has raped.
• A man plus a woman or girl he has captured as a prisoner of war.
As far as adultery goes, a husband who suspects his wife of infidelity could make her submit to a public and humiliating ritual in the temple to supposedly determine her guilt or innocence (Numbers 5:11-30). There is no corresponding ritual to expose philandering husbands. "The husband shall be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’"
Regarding divorce, in the Old Testament, a man could take more than one wife. He could also divorce his wife, even though God said that he hates divorce (Malachi 2:15).
Inheritance went to the firstborn son, who got a double share, while other sons got a single share. The surviving wife did not receive a share, leaving her financially dependent on male relatives.
In the Old Testament, women were treated as property, first of their fathers and then of their husbands. Fathers could sell their daughters as slaves (Exodus 21:7-10). Leviticus has a list of relatives men are forbidden to have sex with, but daughters are absent from the list.
Married men with means also had concubines. For example, Hagar was Sarah’s servant who bore Abraham’s child, and Bilhah and Zilpah were concubines of Jacob. Like other property, concubines were part of inheritance handed down to sons.
As far as women's sexuality, a bride could be stoned to death if her bridegroom found evidence she was not a virgin. (Deuteronomy 22:21) The fact is that half of virgins do not bleed the first time they have intercourse.
A woman who was raped could be stoned for not calling for help loudly enough. (Deut. 22:23-24) A man who rapes a virgin must marry the woman and pay the dowry to her father. (Exodus 22:16-17)
Feminists see this high value on female virginity as a way patriarchy controls and demeans women. The concept of God as male supports patriarchy.
The purity culture in other religions leads to female genital mutilation, also called female circumcision. The authors devote several pages to FGM, with no mention of the circumcision the Old Testament actually requires, which is not on baby girls.
The New Testament also reflects the norms of the time it was written. That meant an emphasis on male perspectives and authority, while women are encouraged to be submissive. Strong, independent women are rare in scripture. The fact is that "Biblical texts have been used to justify misogyny, domestic violence, and legal discrimination against women..."
Burkowski and Fitzgerald identify a dozen ways that John's gospel differs from the synoptics. While instructive, it isn't clear what relevance it has to the book's theme. Ditto for Bart Ehrman's revisionist view of scripture.
Human beings are invited into a relationship with Jesus. Does Jesus have attributes that entice women into a relationship?
The authors, who are atheists, suggest not, unless women are attracted to a controlling relationship with someone who expects strict obedience, who is always right, who says you are unworthy and need saving, and who threatens you with punishment if you reject him.
The authors leave out other Jesusian attributes such as being merciful and quick to forgive, being empathetic with the poor and marginalized, not retaliating, and expressing love even for enemies.
Was Jesus as misogynistic as the culture he lived in? He did speak to women, such as the Samaritan woman at the well. His treatment of them was otherwise not very respectful.
For example, Jesus at first ignored the pleas of a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter. Then he called her a Gentile dog, twice refused her help, and said he is there only for the Jews. When she persisted, Jesus finally cured her daughter.
By contrast, when a centurion asks Jesus to heal his sick daughter, Jesus does not ignore, demean and refuse the Gentile man. Instead, Jesus instantly agrees.
When Jesus was asked about divorce, he said, "anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matt. 19:9)
Jesus does not say a wife can divorce her husband for adultery. Nor does he permit any other reason for divorce such as domestic violence, rape, abandonment, alcoholism, etc.
In addition, none of the 12 apostles were women, and there is no record of his female followers ever performing miracles, though the men did.
The women who discovered the empty tomb were instructed to tell the disciples. "The women are not the recipients of the message, just the conduit."
The most striking example of Jesus standing up for women is the Woman Caught in Adultery. Jesus, after all, forgave her and spared her life.
On the other hand, the man who committed adultery with her was not brought for punishment. Besides, this story is not found in the synoptics, and was added to John long after the gospel was written, suggesting it may have been fabricated.
In short, the authors argue that depicting Jesus as a feminist is an exaggeration. "If God isn’t sexist, then why is the Bible so sexist?"
In sum, the Bible tells women they were made for and from man, that women are responsible for original sin, that the female body is unclean, that the husband is the authority wives must submit to, that church leadership is male, and that women must be silent in church,
Today, many churches perpetuate unequal treatment by forbidding women from becoming ministers or priests.
"Clearly written by the Boys" is readable and informative. It brings a perspective most Christians have not considered. That the Bible reinforces patriarchy is hard to deny. -30-
critique of the original Scripture.
Eve is the first woman in the Bible. When she arrived depends upon which version of creation one reads. In Genesis 1, man and woman are apparently created at the same time.
In Genesis 2, however, Adam comes first. God then creates the animals, but none is a suitable helpmate for Adam. Therefore, to create a helpmate, God takes a rib from Adam to create Eve.
So woman is an afterthought who came after the animals. Adam claims that women came from man (2:23) rather than man being born of a woman. “For Adam was formed first, then Eve…” (1 Timothy 2:13)
Genesis 2 is also where God's punishment is announced for all women forevermore because Eve ate the forbidden fruit. For one, husbands rule over wives. (3:16)
Do “not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” She must “learn in silence with full submission.” After all, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”(1 Timothy 2)
In other words, as Burkowski and Fitzgerald see it, "Once again, Eve ruined it for everybody, which means all women have to shut up, listen to the menfolk, and, as always, submit." That's because all women are equally gullible and to blame "for bringing sin and death upon all our heads." Because of Eve, Jesus had to die.
Jezebel was a Canaanite who married Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and became his queen. Her name has become synonymous with evil, and she is the most infamous woman in the Bible.
There is reason to doubt the accuracy of what 1 & 2 Kings says about her. For one, the account was written hundreds of years after the fact. Two, the author did not get her name right. Instead of using her Phoenecian name, she is called “I-zevel” or “Izebhel,” which means woman of dung in Hebrew. In Greek, this became Jezebel.
Three, Jezebel purportedly told everyone of her deceptions, which seems unlikely because they wouldn't be deceived. Four, she worshipped Baal, so that alone made her evil in the eyes of the author.
The name Jezebel has been applied by Christians to women who are manipulative, independent, and reject patriarchy.
Ruth is another prominent female figure in the Old Testament. The story about her and Boaz is similar in many respects to that of the story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:6-26). The former may be copied from the latter.
Ruth's story has several fairy tale aspects. She is the heroine on a quest who encounters challenges and benefactors and enjoys a happy ending. There is an omniscient narrator who knows motives. There are also women of Bethlehem who already know that Obed will be the “the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (4:17).
Finally, in marrying Ruth, Boaz violates the anti-Moabite marriage rule in Deuteronomy 23:3-4. (“even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever.”)
In addition, Boaz had already consummated his marriage before he had the public meeting with another relative to see if he would marry her, and then announced he had married her.
The names of the story's players also suggests it is fiction. Naomi's sons who die early in the story have unusual names — Mahlon and Kilion/Chilion — which mean “Sickly” and “End/wasting away.” By the same token, "Ruth" means "friend" or "companion," while Orpah, Naomi's other daughter-in-law who did not go with her, means "stiff-necked." "Boaz" means "strength."
As with the story of Ruth, there is reason to believe the story of Queen Esther is also a historical novel. One hint is the omniscient narrator who purports to know what went on in private meetings such as between Haman and his wife.
There are also historical errors. For one, Persian kings could only marry into a small number of leading Persian families. For another, history records that Amestris, not Esther or Vashti, was Xerxes’ queen. Nor is there a record of Haman or Mordecai as viziers.
Mordecai was supposedly deported from Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar, but the deportation of Jews happened 112 years before Xerxes became king.
Next up is Delilah, Samson's lover. Samson had long hair because he was a Nazirite who took a vow to follow a strict purity code. But he regularly violated the code, cavorting with prostitutes and marrying a Philstine woman. The only thing that God removes his superhuman power for is when someone cuts his hair. It seems likely Samson and Delilah are fictional characters.
The Bible has several overarching themes. One is that nothing is more deceitful than a woman. The Bible depicts Femmes Fatales who seduce otherwise good men using their sexual wiles.
Salomé was the stepdaughter of King Herod Antipas, and Herodias was her wicked mother and the king's wife. After she performed a seductive dance at a party for the king, he promised to grant her any wish. Her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist.
One problem with this tale is that only prostitutes would entertain men at parties, not properly raised young women. Another problem is that the historian Josephus writes about the royal family and John the Baptist's execution, but makes no mention of either Herodias or Salomé being involvd.
The Book of Judith is in the Catholic Bible, though not in the Protestant version. Judith was a Jewish widow with exceptionally good looks. With her country under attack by the Assyrians, Judith uses her looks to get into the bedroom of the Assyrian general. After he passes out from too much alcohol, Judith cuts off his head.
The authors ask how to distinguish the female heroines from the villains. Both use their looks and deception to manipulate men. "At the end of the day, Delilah and Salomé don’t differ much from Esther, Jael and Judith."
In the Old Testament, menstruation is a state of impurity that requires ritual cleansing as well as atonement. Giving birth also causes impurity, and if the baby is a girl, it takes twice as long to regain purity than if it is a boy.
"Given how women’s menstrual blood is so demonized as a sign of woman’s inferiority, weakness and sinfulness, it’s interesting to see how differently the Bible treats the blood of men. Unlike the vile, shameful blood of womenkind, Man-blood, especially in the context of sacrifices, is associated with life, covenant, and redemption."
Circumcision, for example, causes bleeding, but not impurity that needs atonement.
The Bible is often invoked as the authority on Family Values. When the Old Testament was written, arranged marriages, bride prices and dowries were common. Romance was not. Neither was marrying for love.
Rape victims were required to marry their attackers so long as a payment was made to the fathers of the brides.
The New Testament tells women they are to be subject to their husbands who are the head of the wife. (Ephesians 5:22-23) Though 1Cor. 13 is often read at weddings, the context refers to a spiritual gift, not specifically to romantic or marital love. Elsewhere in the same letter Paul expresses indifference to marriage.
God wants women to have babies, twice commanding humanity to "be fruitful and multiply." But God warns his people against intermarriage with other tribes.
According to the law of Moses, there are several acceptable forms of marriage that give men many options:
• A man and a woman plus his concubines.
• A man and a woman plus any servants or slaves.
• A man plus his brother’s widow. • A man plus a woman or girl he has raped.
• A man plus a woman or girl he has captured as a prisoner of war.
As far as adultery goes, a husband who suspects his wife of infidelity could make her submit to a public and humiliating ritual in the temple to supposedly determine her guilt or innocence (Numbers 5:11-30). There is no corresponding ritual to expose philandering husbands. "The husband shall be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’"
Regarding divorce, in the Old Testament, a man could take more than one wife. He could also divorce his wife, even though God said that he hates divorce (Malachi 2:15).
Inheritance went to the firstborn son, who got a double share, while other sons got a single share. The surviving wife did not receive a share, leaving her financially dependent on male relatives.
In the Old Testament, women were treated as property, first of their fathers and then of their husbands. Fathers could sell their daughters as slaves (Exodus 21:7-10). Leviticus has a list of relatives men are forbidden to have sex with, but daughters are absent from the list.
Married men with means also had concubines. For example, Hagar was Sarah’s servant who bore Abraham’s child, and Bilhah and Zilpah were concubines of Jacob. Like other property, concubines were part of inheritance handed down to sons.
As far as women's sexuality, a bride could be stoned to death if her bridegroom found evidence she was not a virgin. (Deuteronomy 22:21) The fact is that half of virgins do not bleed the first time they have intercourse.
A woman who was raped could be stoned for not calling for help loudly enough. (Deut. 22:23-24) A man who rapes a virgin must marry the woman and pay the dowry to her father. (Exodus 22:16-17)
Feminists see this high value on female virginity as a way patriarchy controls and demeans women. The concept of God as male supports patriarchy.
The purity culture in other religions leads to female genital mutilation, also called female circumcision. The authors devote several pages to FGM, with no mention of the circumcision the Old Testament actually requires, which is not on baby girls.
The New Testament also reflects the norms of the time it was written. That meant an emphasis on male perspectives and authority, while women are encouraged to be submissive. Strong, independent women are rare in scripture. The fact is that "Biblical texts have been used to justify misogyny, domestic violence, and legal discrimination against women..."
Burkowski and Fitzgerald identify a dozen ways that John's gospel differs from the synoptics. While instructive, it isn't clear what relevance it has to the book's theme. Ditto for Bart Ehrman's revisionist view of scripture.
Human beings are invited into a relationship with Jesus. Does Jesus have attributes that entice women into a relationship?
The authors, who are atheists, suggest not, unless women are attracted to a controlling relationship with someone who expects strict obedience, who is always right, who says you are unworthy and need saving, and who threatens you with punishment if you reject him.
The authors leave out other Jesusian attributes such as being merciful and quick to forgive, being empathetic with the poor and marginalized, not retaliating, and expressing love even for enemies.
Was Jesus as misogynistic as the culture he lived in? He did speak to women, such as the Samaritan woman at the well. His treatment of them was otherwise not very respectful.
For example, Jesus at first ignored the pleas of a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter. Then he called her a Gentile dog, twice refused her help, and said he is there only for the Jews. When she persisted, Jesus finally cured her daughter.
By contrast, when a centurion asks Jesus to heal his sick daughter, Jesus does not ignore, demean and refuse the Gentile man. Instead, Jesus instantly agrees.
When Jesus was asked about divorce, he said, "anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matt. 19:9)
Jesus does not say a wife can divorce her husband for adultery. Nor does he permit any other reason for divorce such as domestic violence, rape, abandonment, alcoholism, etc.
In addition, none of the 12 apostles were women, and there is no record of his female followers ever performing miracles, though the men did.
The women who discovered the empty tomb were instructed to tell the disciples. "The women are not the recipients of the message, just the conduit."
The most striking example of Jesus standing up for women is the Woman Caught in Adultery. Jesus, after all, forgave her and spared her life.
On the other hand, the man who committed adultery with her was not brought for punishment. Besides, this story is not found in the synoptics, and was added to John long after the gospel was written, suggesting it may have been fabricated.
In short, the authors argue that depicting Jesus as a feminist is an exaggeration. "If God isn’t sexist, then why is the Bible so sexist?"
In sum, the Bible tells women they were made for and from man, that women are responsible for original sin, that the female body is unclean, that the husband is the authority wives must submit to, that church leadership is male, and that women must be silent in church,
Today, many churches perpetuate unequal treatment by forbidding women from becoming ministers or priests.
"Clearly written by the Boys" is readable and informative. It brings a perspective most Christians have not considered. That the Bible reinforces patriarchy is hard to deny. -30-
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