When God Was a Woman
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4.5 • 11 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The landmark exploration of the ancient worship of the Great Goddess and the eventual supression of women's rites.
In the beginning, God was a woman…
How did the shift from matriarchy to patriarchy come about? In fascinating detail, Merlin Stone tells us the story of the Goddess who reigned supreme in the Near and Middle East. Under her reign, societal roles differed markedly from those in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures: women bought and sold property, traded in the marketplace, and inherited title and land from their mothers. Documenting the wholesale rewriting of myth and religious dogmas, Merlin Stone describes an ancient conspiracy in which the Goddess was reimagined as a wanton, depraved figure, a characterization confirmed and perpetuated by one of modern culture's best-known legends—that of the fall of Adam and Eve. Insightful and thought-provoking, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the origin of current gender roles and in rediscovering women's power.
This audiobook is expertly read by Jo Anna Perrin, and was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Audio engineering by Matthew Kulewicz, MPSE.
Copyright (C) 1976 by Merlin Stone (P) (2024) EPBM.
Customer Reviews
“Archeology is the search for fact…”
The most poignant thing to say about this book is from Indiana Jones: “Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. If it's truth you're interested in, Dr. Tyree's philosophy class is right down the hall... 70% of all archaeology is done in the library. Researching. Reading. We cannot afford to take mythology at face value.”
The questions I had from this book when I sped through it became glaring issues that made getting through this book impossible. Translation issues, biases, conjecture, and jumping to conclusions for one’s own needs is a problem for ancient abrahamic religions, but not for her work? How about, no? She uses the phrase “may have” way too much and pretty much uses the argument that because we can’t really know for sure, she’s right. It’s painful, really. This piece of pseudoscholarship is still hurting female scholars, especially female historians and archaeologists, today.