Divine Femininity in "When God Was A Woman"

Reflections on my research.

One of my goals for the fellowship was to expand my knowledge about religion, specifically about the religion that I grew up learning: Christianity. I hoped that expanding my knowledge would put me back into the headspace that I inhabited while first writing this book, as well as helping to mature my own ideas on the subject. To that end, I’ve assigned myself a short reading list to better understand the power of religion and how Christianity, specifically, deals with violence. The first book that I read from this list was Merlin Stone’s When God Was A Woman. 

Written in 1976, the book explores a unifying theme in many early religions: the worship of a supreme, female deity. Known by many different names in the many different cultures that existed in the Near East and Mediterranean region — like Ishtar, Isis, and Ashera — this goddess was hailed as the creatress of life and civilization. As a result of this belief, as Stone explains, women held far greater power in society than they did in the male-dominated social order that followed it. For example, Stone points out that these societies were matrilineal, meaning that young people inherited their power, wealth, and familial identity through their maternal (not their paternal) figures. She points out the high correlation between the arrival of the Indo-Europeans into this region and the ascension of a supreme male deity, who overthrew — and often killed — the supreme female. The book ends with a discussion of how the Bible’s Old Testament contains a social code much more oppressive and violent towards women, as well as passages dedicated to describing the violent conquests of people who continued to worship the supreme female deity. She asserts that, although the influx of Indo-Europeans into the Near East had weakened the prehistoric religion of the female goddess, it was the Abrahamic religions that killed it. 

As a staunch feminist, I’ve always felt at odds with the more misogynistic passages within the Bible, as well as the disenfranchisement of women within most branches of the Church. Frankly, I was lucky enough to grow up in a woman-dominated church. My rector was a woman, and we almost always had at least one woman serving as associate rector at a time. However, that didn’t keep them from selecting passages such as God’s punishment of Eve in our yearly lessons. This past Easter, my sisters and I were all equally horrified to hear a little girl’s high soprano recite how God had forever condemned Eve and all women forever to lives of pain and suffering (Gen. 4:16). How this little girl, who was maybe nine, would be forced to obey her husband in all things because she had inherited Eve’s sin. It’s a story that makes my blood boil, and makes me wonder why I would want to be part of a religion so committed to inflicting pain on anyone, especially my own body and mind.

Reading Stone’s work deepened this fissure in my heart. After finishing the book, I sat in silence resenting the fact that this was my cultural heritage and wondering what a world that wasn’t so oppressive to women might look like. The past couple days after reading it, I was really angry. I had decided to read the Bible next, and joked that, if I didn’t find the New Testament theologically satisfying, I might no longer call myself a Christian. I didn’t know whether I would find a niche within it. 

Then, somehow, Mary Magdalene came to mind. For those who are not familiar with the stories of the Bible, Mary Magdalene is an infamous figure intimately connected to Jesus. With her significance undercut by a centuries old rumor that she was a prostitute, which the Catholic Church quietly corrected in 1969, her presence appears again and again in the most crucial passages of the Bible: the crucifixion. In John 19:25, the text explicitly states that she, along with two other women, witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion. While the text vaguely mentions another disciple, who has male pronouns, it does not name him. She also features in John 20, when she goes to visit Jesus’ tomb, and he reveals himself in his risen form to her. Whether prostitute, wife or patron, Mary Magdalene was the only person who witnessed the most important two moments in the New Testament. 

For me, at least, this is so significant. I bought into everything Merlin Stone wrote, hook, line and sinker. I inherited a world where little girls are, even in 2024, being conditioned to accept pain and discomfort, because we are still seen as lesser than our male counterparts — and it's a religion, which I subscribe to, that perpetuates this cruelty. However, that’s not the full story. Women play an integral role in the story of Jesus, and have a powerful presence within the Church, whether the Church likes it or not. Attending Fordham I learned a lot about Catholicism, and I find it really amazing that Mary, Mother of God, as well as other women, hold such reverence. The worship of women has never fully disappeared from Christianity, and maybe that’s in spite of it, but I don’t think so. 

In thinking about how bad actors can use religion to oppress people (in the case of Merlin Stone’s argument, violent misogynists using it to oppress women), this book was really eye-opening. However, my reflections after it have been equally as revelatory. There are some truths within these stories that shine through the layers of human manipulation, like the indomitable human spirit, which refuses to accede even when put under the most intense pressure. Regardless of how much women were reminded to shut up and accept their lot, people have always felt a call to honor the powerful women around (and within) them.