Holy Misogyny: Why the Sex and Gender Conflicts in the Early Church Still Matter

by April D. DeConick

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441124029
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/22/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University (Houston, Texas). She specializes in early Christian history and theology, noncanonical Gospels, and gnostic and mystical traditions. Her books include Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (1996); Voices of the Mystics: Early Christian Discourse in the Gospels of John and Thomas and Other Ancient Christian Literature (2001); Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and Its Growth (T&T Clark, 2005); and The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation, with Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel (T&T Clark, 2006) and The Thirteenth Apostle: what the Gospel of Judas really says (Continuum, 2007). She has also edited the collection of papers, Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (2006).
April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University (Houston, Texas). She specializes in early Christian history and theology, noncanonical Gospels, and gnostic and mystical traditions. Her books include Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (1996); Voices of the Mystics: Early Christian Discourse in the Gospels of John and Thomas and Other Ancient Christian Literature (Sheffield Academic, 2001); Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and Its Growth (T.&T. Clark, 2005); and The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation, with Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel (T.&T. Clark, 2006) and The Thirteenth Apostle: what the Gospel of Judas really says (Continuum, 2007). She has also edited the collection of papers, Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (SBL, 2006).

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Lady God?
1. Where did God the Mother Go?/The Jewish Spirit/The Angel Sophia/A Hebrew Goddess/The Recovery of God's Wife
2. Why was the Spirit Neutered?/Introducing Jesus' True Mother/Carried up Mount Tabor
In the Name of the Mother Spirit/Born from the Womb of Water/Milking the Breasts of God/The Mother's Erasure/God's Gender Crisis
3. Did Jesus Think Sex is a Sin?/A Double Message/Sex Limits/Sex according to Jesus/A Women's Advocate
4. Did Paul Hate Women?/The burgeoning of chastity/To veil or not to veil/Vanishing women
5. Is Marriage a Sin?/Rereading Genesis/The Devil made me do it/In defiance of the Creator/
It's the end of the world
6. Is Marriage Salvation?/Sacred Sex/The Law is a joke/Soul Collectors
7. Once a Woman, Always a Woman?/The Church is a household/Brides of Christ/
The Devil's Gateway
8. How do we Solve a Problem Like Maria?/Mary caught in the crossfire/The Male Mary
The Sexual Mary/The Apostolic Mary
9. Because the Bible Tells Us So?/Further Reading
Notes

Editorial Reviews

'[This book] is a superbly researched 200-page compendium by [the author] presenting the origins of such Christian doctrinal issues as to why God is male, the association of women with sin, the denial of priesthood to females, and more. Informed and informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking [this book] is a strongly recommended read for anyone concerned with the origin of gender equality issues within the contemporary Christian community.'-The Midwest Book Review
Vigiliae Christianae

In this compelling book April D. DeConick applies her characteristic interest in marginalized early Christian groups to a topic that has drawn considerable scholarly attention in the past several decades: the study of women, sex, and gender in early Christianity. Holy Misogyny is an accessible and imaginative historical reconstruction of the textual and extratextual conflicts behind early Christian displacement of both 'the female aspect' of deity and women's bodies, identity, and authority.
Near Eastern Archaeology

In this lucid and logically arranged book, April D. DeConick, professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, makes a presentation of the ways in which women appear or don't appear in the ancient religious record ... DeConick canvasses a broad range of sources and presents complexities that will interest advanced readers and provoke reflection among them ... The relevance of this book to questions of religion and gender is unquestionable.
Religion and Gender

From the Publisher

[Deconick] is an expert in her field, and this book should serve as a good, basic introduction for any course on ancient religion and gender. It will likely raise more questions than it answers for most readers, but shouldn't a good book do that? I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning a little bit more about the history of women in Christianity.

Association for Mormon Letters Jeffrey Needle

Though one may argue with her historical reconstructions at many points, and sometimes with her method, the case is otherwise well made."- William Loader, Murdoch University, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly "[Deconick] is an expert in her field, and this book should serve as a good, basic introduction for any course on ancient religion and gender. It will likely raise more questions than it answers for most readers, but shouldn't a good book do that? I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning a little bit more about the history of women in Christianity.

Jeffrey Needle

DeConick (Isla Carroll & Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies, Rice Univ.; The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says) begins her new book by briefly tracing the hints of a "lady God" in the Hebrew scriptures, noting a few echoes in the Wisdom literature, the Kabbalah, and elsewhere, before her disappearance altogether. The author then notes similar trends in Christianity, beginning with Jesus's call of female disciples—a departure from Jewish tradition and practice—to increasing restrictions upon female leadership as the early church developed. She articulates clearly the progressive degradation—partly under the influence of Roman culture—of women's bodies and women's leadership in the second and third centuries C.E. She then demonstrates how views of women have influenced Christian Trinitarian doctrine, polity, and subsequent Christian history even into the 21st century. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers willing to look at recent archaeological evidence to question traditional religious beliefs and conclusions.—Carolyn M. Craft, formerly with Longwood Univ., Farmville, VA

Library Journal