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.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: A Lady God? Chapter 1. Where did God the Mother Go? The Jewish Spirit The Angel Sophia A Hebrew Goddess The Recovery of God's Wife Chapter 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 Chapter 3. Did Jesus Think Sex is a Sin? A Double Message Sex Limits Sex According to Jesus A Women's Advocate Chapter 4. Did Paul Hate Women? The Burgeoning of Chastity To Veil or Not to Veil Vanishing Women Chapter 5. Is Marriage a Sin? Rereading Genesis The Devil Made Me Do tI In Defiance of the Creator It's the End of the World Chapter 6. Is Marriage Salvation? Sacred Sex The Law is a Joke Soul Collectors Chapter 7. Once a Woman, Always a Woman? The Church is a Household Brides of Christ The Devil's Gateway Chapter 8. How do we Solve a Problem Like Maria? Mary Caught in the Crossfire The Male Mary The Sexual Mary The Apostolic Mary Chapter 9. Because the Bible Tells Us So? Further Reading Notes

About the Author :
April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University, USA. She is the author of numerous books on early Christian history, including The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says.

Review :
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. 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. ‘[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 ‘The book is academically rigorous, but at every point DeConick interprets her data in the light of her intended conclusion...This volume is suitable for libraries at the intersection of women's studies, the history of Christianity, and theology.'—Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries ‘Despite the fact that the subject is well-known, almost cliché in certain circles, DeConick brings some new information and insights to the table in her analysis...The most important anthropological message in her eye-opening work is that every tradition, including its scriptures (which claim the greatest authenticity and authoritativeness) is diverse and historically constructed...' April DeConick has collected materials from a wide range of early Christian evidence. The result is a brave book, in a straight-forward style accessible to a non-specialist audience, on an uncomfortable subject. An intriguing, important, and appropriately dangerous book. DeConick brings her study of the difficult canonical and apocryphal texts into conversation with contemporary concerns in a satisfying and accessible way. Her style is both technical and easy-going. This is a book for the general public as well as the academic classroom. I learned a great deal from it and am left with many questions to chew on happily and to discuss. The reader is aided in the search for 'Lady God,' and in the struggle to create societies that abhor and reject violence to the female body. April DeConick, a world class scholar, has written a must-read book for those interested in gender issues in relationship to God. By integrating her vast knowledge of extra-canonical and canonical texts, she expansively analyzes the effect of misogyny on conceptions of the female body and the profound difference such marginalization has made, even today for women's ecclesiastical leadership and ordination. The near-programmatic downgrading and degrading of women is one of the most shameful aspects of traditional Christianity. In this powerful book, DeConick rejects conventional theological and hermeneutical attempts to soften the absence of the divine and human female by challenging head-on the vilification of women and the othering of their bodies in early Christianity. This bold discussion makes for uncomfortable but essential reading - and rightly so. DeConick's research traces the root of the problem beyond he usual interpretations of scripture, theology, and the social structures of the times to something deeper and much more perverse... Though DeConick is a scholar and this book the fruit of her scholarship, her writing is remarkable accessible for lay audiences, and even quite humorous. Holy Misogyny is an invaluable resource for those looking to find the historical roots of the ongoing struggle for women's equality in the Christian tradition. --Jamie L. Manson DeConick... has done a wonderful service for all readers interested in the history of women in the early church and provides a helpful, if at times painful, analysis of why the fight for equality in the church is so challenging. Overall, DeConick has a lot of interesting things to say about gender and sexuality in the early church... I do think her account is appropriately dangerous, and can hopefully jar Christians into action to reverse the long tradition of misogynistic interpretation of Scripture and misogynistic action in the Church. Highly recommended for readers willing to look at recent archaeological evidence to question traditional religious beliefs and conclusions. This book may be singled out as a model of a popular though, at the same time,sound scholarly work. Its author, well known for her leading contributions to the study of early Christianity, outlines the story of women in the early church … In nine chapters the story is told with an impressive command of the original sources ... A book like this deserves a wide circulation.