Member Review

A fascinating, scholarly book about the divine feminine in Judaism and Christianity. The authors show that - despite our assumption that monotheism has existed since the time of Abraham (at least) - there has always been a "goddess" figure who was worshipped in Judaism. This "goddess" figure was also a part of early Christian sects as well.

Anyone who is interested in a scholarly approach to the Bible should read this book. Much of the book is focused on the Old Testament and addresses many highly interesting topics related to the ancient Hebrews, who they were, and how they viewed God. The authors cover the feminine divine of the New Testament as a continuation of the goddess figures of the Old Testament, focusing on Mary Magdalene. Surprisingly, Mary of Nazareth (the mother of Jesus) was only addressed at the very end of the book. Given the veneration of her by the Roman Catholic Church, I would have expected much more discussion of her.

This book would best interest those with seminary degrees or laypersons with a very keen interest in Biblical scholarship. Much of the research by the authors is rather mind-blowing and might be a bit much for the average churchgoer.