

Loading... When God Was a Womanby Merlin Stone
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. I wasn't terribly impressed, but there is some interesting historical information. One of many books I read in my late twenties and early thirties as part of an exploration of feminist theologies and histories. Merlin Stone wrote about an interesting topic: how the goddess-centered religions of early peoples in the area from Egypt and Greece to India gave way to the male god-centered religions that came to predominate in these areas and what the change did to the status of women. This is a book first published in 1976 and has a definite feminist flavor. Also, if written today there would be later archaeological evidence for her to cite. Nevertheless, the author did hold my attention although occasionally I felt that she was pushing a bit too hard to make her points. The material on the origin of Biblical stories was very interesting, especially the Creation and events in the Garden of Eden. I really enjoy Stone's approach to Goddess worship. The one problem I have with the book is that it provides a lot of information in a short amount of space, and I have a hard time keeping it all straight, especially as I am unfamiliar with many of the places she is describing. Her book, however, is wonderful, and it provides a different look at what people worshiped before the Judeo-Christian God took over. no reviews | add a review
Here, archaeologically documented,is the story of the religion of the Goddess. Under her, women’s roles were far more prominent than in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures. Stone describes this ancient system and, with its disintegration, the decline in women’s status. Index; maps and illustrations. No library descriptions found.
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)291.211 — Religions Other Religions Comparative Religion; Mythology (No Longer Used) Theological Conceptions and Doctrines / Comperative religion Various Objects of Worship Gods & GoddessesLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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This book was really in-depth and informative regarding the earliest religions, which have all but been forgotten in light of conquest. The amount of research needed to really give us a deeper look into what it means to be a woman in a religion which does not respect your autonomy was so well done that I didn't realize at first just how old this book is. It continues to hold up. I will definitely be reading several of the books and articles referenced in the bibliography. (