Misogyny in the Bible
Biblical Scholar April DeConick Explains How the Mother God and the Female Holy Spirit Got Spayed
Is God gendered as a male in the Bible? How could Scripture, the Word of God to so many Christians, be the product of patriarchy and its over-sexed values that are grounded in the perpetuation of male domination and the degradation of the female? How could Jesus be portrayed as someone who valued God as a male spiritual being? With these challenging questions, April DeConick begins her Biblical Views column in the September/October 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, exploring the possibility of misogyny in the Bible.
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To begin with, humans—whether ancient or modern—think within gender categories. In much of the ancient world, the female body was considered subhuman, imperfect. According to April DeConick, the Bible came into being within a cultural matrix where the female body was, by definition, substandard and dehumanized. Although ancient Israelites worshiped a Mother God and some early Christians believed in a female Holy Spirit, the dehumanization of the female body affected virtually every storyline of the Bible and affected the way in which the ancient people created their theologies and engaged in worship. Once the Church defined the doctrine of the trinity as consubstantial, there couldn’t be a female Holy Spirit as substantial s a male Father and Son.
To read more from April DeConick about the female Holy Spirit and possible instances of misogyny in the Bible, see her Biblical Views column, “How the Mother God Got Spayed,” in the September/October 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
Biblical studies professor April DeConick believes that some scholars may be too quick to apologize for misogyny in the Bible because of a religious belief in the sacred nature of the Bible. In fact, the Israelites worshiped a Mother God as well as a Father God, and some early Christians believed in a female Holy Spirit. But because the female body was considered imperfect in the ancient world, April DeConick says, it affected the theologies, worship and sacred texts that came out of that world.
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This article first appeared in Bible History Daily on August 31, 2012.
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No question ancient Israelites worshiped female daity. There were thousands statues found around Jerusalem. I am enjoying the idiots above who take concept of god seriously. Once they insists that the make belive daity is gender based, it’s not a god but magician with few tricks up its sleeve. We Jews, in antiquity, never consider god a male or real lbut more of the concept to argue about. Even the name Israel is based on story of Jacob fighting with god.
Always capitalize God stan
I’m very disappointed in the scholarship of this article. Where are your citations? Your ignorance of Biblical history and of Greek and Hebrew is stunning. What you’re describing is the pagan worship that was tolerated in Israel until God’s people were finally broken of this sin through captivity, as well as some later Gnostic influences that did teach that woman were inferior, as in the faux-Gospel of Thomas. The Old Testament is resplendent with celebrated images of heroines of the faith: Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Deborah, Esther, Jael, etc. Maybe we should stick to real academics.
@Stan I understand English is your second language, but perhaps a Spelling and Grammar Check program would be helpful? Also, you wrote, “We Jews, in antiquity.” How old are you anyway?
I’ve never commented on an article at BAR, but I fear what BAR is publishing now. I’m at least glad to see a consensus here that this is sensationalist at best. I agree with Patrick and add further that this is precisely the reason Israel adopted a masculine linguistic – to remain separated from neighboring religions.. Especially those involving goddess worship, fertility rites, shrine prostitutes, etc. It seems a little absurd to have to point this out.
The Word of God does NOT espress mysoginy at any place.
God blessed and enjoyed His creation at each and every step, so including man AND woman.
In His image are both, not just one.
So, there can be no claim by women, as of themselves, towards any “godly award”, same as there is none from male side. What would be the aim at, anyway? Aren’t we, or aren’t women, satisfied with the dignity that God set for us???
It’s a fact that Jesus calls God Father (and not mother), but what are exactly the qualifying attributes of a Father in the Jewish culture and in the NT view?
Stick to that and you’ll see that the quest towards a female (or a male) issue will disappear immediately, as it has no substance.
To the Sadducees, cahllenging Him on a typical “male” (and female!) issue, Jesus answered there is no gender in Heaven (“like angels”!!), see Matthew 22:25-33.
So, why even consider the gender issue about God??
P.S.
Or, you can turn to the Catholic church, where they worship an icon of Mary, as essential “stakeholder” of Redemption, if you need a “higher place” for women
BAR has been a trustworthy resource but now I have to keep my guard up on the articles coming in. I’m not a scholar but I know when bad resources and weak arguments are made. Interesting she writes about misogyny (hatred or dislike of women) and calls it the serpent in the Garden when she uses the method to hate and dislike scholars like Ben Witherington. I like how she rocked the boat a little! Good job Ape!
To April:
“In the beginning was the Word…”. This is the first phrase in the book that many believe to be first book of the NT. Look at
http://www.thechristianrabbi.org/mosesmemra.htm
The name, “Memra” is used commonly in the Targums, of which I have the complete collection in modern English available from the Liturgical Press.
In the French version of the first chapter of the gospel of John, “the Word” is “la parole”.
The definite article, “la” indicates
feminine. Also, according to Klein’s Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language”, Memra is feminine.
You seem to be locked into feminist notions. The LORD God is far above such manmade concepts. If He cares to portray Himself as masculine it is not for us to argue with Him or His son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Moses spoke to Him face to face and He passed before his face. I take his word on it that ‘He’ and not ‘She’ was the appropriate descriptor.