When God Was a Woman

Every woman needs to read this book. It’s eye-opening. it’s empowering. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.

I can't exactly put my finger on why this book changed me. I've spent the last few years attempting to be a successful corporate executive and entrepreneur and continually felt frustrated that where others (men) seem to be failing up, I couldn't work hard enough to justify my work and elevate my status. Reading this reminded me that the impression that women are oppressed is a social construct. A quote I heard the other day reinforced this: "Men feel it's their duty to keep women humble." I won't spoil the story for you, but I will tell you to keep an open mind. This is not a story book: it is an academic dissertation, written largely without emotional or manipulative expression. It's just 95% facts and historical accuracy. Enjoy!

For the longest time, gender equality feels like a futuristic idea. A hope that may or may not come true. Though I want to believe in it, hope alone wasn't enough to counter the message of "natural male dominance" that is so rampant in our society. This book shows me that male dominance is not the natural order of things. This book gives me the knowledge frm which my confidence in my experience and inner knowledge grows and allow me to become more immuned to the sexist and misogynistic messages I encounter everyday in our society. In my experience, it always feels like the world started with the Bible, even for a non-Christian like me (I'm from Thailand but have lived in the US for over 10 years). I often wonde how to raise a daugther in this world that constantly bombards men and women with the idea that women are naturally worth less than and inferior to men. I have always wished I was born a man, and it has been a long journey to learn to accept and appreciate my female self. This book has helped with that tremenduously. I hope that this book will reach many women, and hopefully many men, so that we can head together help each other build an equal society.

Amazing book. I'll try to keep this short: Very mind blowing, the symbolism in the bible (the story of Adam and Eve) being dissected and shown for what it is blew me away. It changed my view of, and relationship with God (as a young "christian" man, using the middle term loosely). I have always wanted a feminine aspect of God, and seeing why it was removed, and how, was quite eye opening. The author pointedly reveals the bias of archeologists, historians, and of course the founding fathers of christianity. I have two small gripes about this book however: 1. Sources - the author briefly mentions the source of the points she pulls together, but there are so many external sources, and the quotes are pretty short on average, it is hard to tell if it is cherry picking, or the intended meaning of the source author. It would take ages to dig through the sources and read it all, so you really have no choice but to trust Merlin Stone for her word. 2. The ultra feminist view point - Please don't stone me for this: I agree 100% with the points being made in the book, the religion of christianity was created as a method of suppressing female rights, and her book illustrates that beautifully, and clearly. However It must be addressed that Merlin Stone (a much smarter person than I am, so take this review with a pile of salt) brings some amount of bias with her on the journey. The only reason this matters to me is this: the book serves as an anti-religion text, rather than the spiritual awakening that I got out of it. And that isn't the authors fault, perhaps I assumed it would have a different message, and that is on me. The message I pulled from this book is: God has always been what humans have wanted (him/her) to be, when child bearing was seen as magic, women were seen as divine, and God was made in HER likeness. And when it was discovered that men played a role, men shut it down with their own religion, and a God made in THIER image. that has led me to decide on who God is to me, whether God be male, female, or aspects of both. This is heresy in the christian (jewish, and muslim) faith, but it is what made sense to me, and has deepened my connection with God. to add to this: it seems to me that men (may have) felt oppressed during the reign of the Goddess, (when there was matrilineal descent, and they couldn't be sure who was their child and who wasn't) and when they corrected it, the pendulum swung too far. this is purely conjecture, but my point with it is that it is finally time for balance. we must all work together to find it. This is ultimately where the last paragraph of this books ends off, with a call for men and women to "eat the forbidden fruit" together. And that is a sentiment I agree with. anyway great book, do yourself a favor and buy it, read it, and share it with a friend. It opens a dialogue that is more than 2000 years late, and it must be had. Thanks.

Interesting and eye opening

Merlin Stone has put together the best debunking of the male myths that underlie the foundations of our current world. If you read archaeologists or prehistorians, or especially HIStorians, you will never find the breadth of vision and conciseness of argument as are presented here in "When God Was A Woman". And thank goodness Merlin Stone had the brilliance and fortitude to put this together for us. I was a product of a leftist, interracial, non religious home, and I have always found myself not fitting into the mainstream. As an older man today, I find increasing fascination with the myths that hold this hot air balloon of ours up right. How can people believe these myths? I have asked myself this for years. Women came from a rib? Jesus was born of a virgin? What's so bad about a snake? What sense did it make to forbid us the fruit of the trees? Stone reveals how all of these implausible myths served a purpose in the ancient world to help destroy the Goddess religions that had ruled human minds for thousands of years up to the beginning of "civilization". For those holding the club of patriarchy in their hand, this news is upsetting. For those of us trying to dodge that club, this news shows us a new way to orient ourselves, to find a new balance and to keep on our feet while moving towards the next phase of history in which patriarchy bites the dust. Pardon the metaphor. What is not here and what is very hard to find anywhere is a parallel discussion of how the rise of civilization not only coincided with the rise of patriarchy, but also with the rise of private property. Could it be that the societies that predate history and that were matrilineal and matrilocal also did not have private property? Could it be that the rise of private property was the reason that men had to destroy the Goddess who upheld the unity of all life, including the unity of human beings with the natural world? And once men embraced this new God along with their private plot of land, they had to betray the ethos of human kind that the Goddess represented and that had held us all together for thousands of years. Thus arose the enmity against the Goddess, a self justifying meanness that still pervades religions all around us. A friend betrayed is your worst enemy. Isn't private property today the underlying force of patriarchy driving us to destroy the living planet? If we are ever to unravel this knot, Merlin Stone's writings have to be read and understood. The fate of human society and the living planet itself hang in the balance.

Holy crap… I just got this book along with several other and being drawn to this one started with it… and then read almost this entire book tonight… my mind is blown… EVERYONE should read this before choosing a religion… just wow. Several parts made me feel physically ill knowing what has been done. I think I always felt it on some level and that’s why I was always searching for truth, questioning religious leaders even as a child, and unwilling to attend church as an adult. It felt fake. It makes sense now. I will never be the same knowing this and understanding it on a deeper level. We are not what we were meant to be. We live in a constructed lie that was violently enforced upon us, not through love, but through ego. I will never believe God operates this way, pure evil what they did, the work of the devil. I will never accept male religions again. None of us are sons or daughters “of man” .. we came from a woman. We are sons and daughters of a woman. I hate that we have been brainwashed to the beliefs we have and most never question it. I applaud ANY man that attempts to read this book because the level of awakening he would have to be at is rare… given that the current system “seemingly” benefits men… to be willing to realize living a lie rooted in a past based on evil and violence benefits NO ONE takes immeasurable courage. This is a painful realization even for women… I can only imagine the inner journey a man would have to go through reading this. This is necessary for all of us though. We cannot live blindly in lies anymore. We have to be willing to face the pain and break free. This is a start. Ahimsa.

I did some research on this book before I purchased it as it was suggested to me by a friend. This part of reviewing this book is not based on the information in the book but by the product I received. The book is exactly as described and and the print is easy to read. It is a paperback book with a laminate cover. Now as for the context of the book, I knew what to expect when it came to the writing itself. I enjoyed the research style of the book along with the way the author presents the information. However, take everything with a grain of salt and do your own research as well. But if the idea of what it was like before the patriarch appeals to you this is a good place to start.

I purchased this book in English and Italian to make sure everyone in my family has this important reference book. For anyone expecting a narrative, do know that this is history book and will take some time to get through and digest. Absolutely life-changing.

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I love this book. The insights, the history etc.

Not written by a historian nor archeologist, but by an early feminist, lots of incorrect speculation and spurious linguistic ponderings.

Women of the world, read this book. This is your legacy, your power, your truth. It explains what men with the help of church and organized religion have taken from us, and have suppressed and persecuted for thousands of years (this book was published in 1976, the year I was born, but it was an eye opener for me, as I'm only now starting to read the work of feminists). It's important we learn the facts about the early female religions and clear up the confusion, misunderstanding and suppression of information that has shaped human history and politics for over six thousand years, regarding the very creation of human life as something unnatural—as a sin (think about that for a moment). Once we understand it, we'll be able to treat each other with respect and live our lives freely regardless of our gender. And if we do that, perhaps we'll finally be able to call each other civilized. I sure hope to live to that day, so spread the word. Share this book. Buy it for your friends. Educate, educate, educate.