In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth
This book, by a professor of Near Eastern religion, begins with the world of goddesses of Mesopotamia. Frymer-Kensky then traces their marginalization and explains how biblical monotheism developed there. Her careful scholarship arrives at some surprising conclusions, especially that gender/role divisions in polytheism kept women in subordinate positions. She also reports that although monotheism removed the theoretical male-female dualism and asserted the essential sameness of humanity, women were nevertheless considered socially unequal. Hellenistic misogyny, she further asserts, contributed to the lowering of women in Jewish and Christian tradition because the Bible does not deal adequately with gender and sexual expression. Highly recommended for academic, seminary, and large public libraries.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.