Women in Religion

There are many notable women in religion especially in the Bible and other Judeo Christian books. Some are heroines, others are portrayed as villains and a few are enigmatic.

Was Mary a virgin her entire life, or did she have a normal marriage and sex life after Jesus? Was her conception of Jesus immaculate and what does that mean? Was her egg fertilized by the holy spirit and what does that mean? Could her egg have been fertilized by aliens? Could she have been raped or seduced by Panthera or someone else as Origin said? A tombstone of a Roman centurion named Panthera has been found in Germany, where the Romans once were. It says he was a Sidonian archer who had been stationed in Palestine... this proves nothing, but it is interesting to some.

Lilith (לילית‎) is a demonic character who may have first appeared in the ancient Babylonian Talmud. She later appears in other extra-Biblical writings such as the "Alphabet of Ben Sira" (circa 900 AD Jewish folklore), as Adam's first wife who God made along with Adam from the earth. In various accounts, Lilith refused to be Adam's subservient help mate, saying "Why must I lie beneath you? I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal." In the story, Lilith leaves Adam, mating with the archangel Samael and never returns to the Garden of Eden.

There are a number of ancient stories relating to Lilith, which can be interpreted as espousing feminine strength and independence, or alternatively as the dark side of the female sex. In modern western culture, she is seen as a feminist icon lending her name to such events as the all female "Lilith Fair" concert series.

Dante Rossetti's "Lady Lilith" 1866-68 (altered 1872-73)

Inscriptions from two locations in southern Palestine seem to indicate that she was also worshiped as the consort of Yahweh.

The Book of Jeremiah written circa 628 BC possibly refers to Asherah when it uses the title "queen of heaven" (Hebrew: לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם‎) in Jer 7:18 and Jer 44:17–19, 25.[1] (For a discussion of "queen of heaven" in the Hebrew Bible, see Queen of heaven.)The word asherah in the Old Testament was used not only in reference to the goddess herself but also to a wooden cult object associated with her worship.

Stavrakopoulou bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess.

Asherah's connection to Yahweh, according to Stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in both the Bible and an 8th century B.C. inscription on pottery found in the Sinai desert at a site called Kuntillet Ajrud.

"The inscription is a petition for a blessing," she shares. "Crucially, the inscription asks for a blessing from 'Yahweh and his Asherah.' Here was evidence that presented Yahweh and Asherah as a divine pair. And now a handful of similar inscriptions have since been found, all of which help to strengthen the case that the God of the Bible once had a wife."

Also significant, Stavrakopoulou believes, "is the Bible's admission that the goddess Asherah was worshiped in Yahweh's Temple in Jerusalem. In the Book of Kings, we're told that a statue of Asherah was housed in the temple and that female temple personnel wove ritual textiles for her."

J. Edward Wright, president of both The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies and The Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, told Discovery News that he agrees several Hebrew inscriptions mention "Yahweh and his Asherah."

"Asherah was not entirely edited out of the Bible by its male editors," he added. "Traces of her remain, and based on those traces, archaeological evidence and references to her in texts from nations bordering Israel and Judah, we can reconstruct her role in the religions of the Southern Levant."

09/11/12