God had a wife called Asherah?


Unsuprisingly, there is yet more anti-Christian programming from the tax-funded BBC. When you watch this latest bit of garbage, remember that YOU are paying for it.

BBC’s latest religious “expert” is a self-proclaimed atheist who claims God had a wife and Eve suffered from sexism. Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou makes a number of staggering statements in forthcoming BBC2 series “The Bible’s Buried Secrets.”

The presenter, who has a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford, argues that Eve was not the first woman in the Bible, as the story of the Garden of Eden does not belong in the first Book of the Old Testament.

She said: ‘Eve has been unfairly maligned as the troublesome wife who brought about the fall. Don’t forget that the biblical writers were male and it’s a very male-dominated world. Women were second-class citizens.’

And Dr Stavrakopoulou, a senior lecturer in the department of theology and religion at Exeter University, does not believe in God. She said: ‘I’m an atheist with a huge respect for religion’. [however, not with enough respect to get the facts right.]

Dr Stavrakopoulou’s claims that God had a wife appeared to be backed up by her own research speculation into the subject. In a recent article she wrote: ‘Archaeological evidence including inscriptions, figurines and ancient texts as well as details in the Bible, indicate not just that he was one of several worshipped in ancient Israel, but that he was also coupled with a goddess. She was worshipped alongside him in his temple in Jerusalem.

‘…Yahweh… had to see off a number of competitors to achieve his position as the one and only god of the ancient Israelites. The biblical texts name many of them: El, Baal, Molek, Asherah. ‘

‘Far more significant is the Bible’s admission that the goddess Asherah was worshipped in Yahweh’s temple in Jerusalem. In the Book Of Kings, we’re told that a statue of Asherah was housed in the temple…  goddess worship was a thriving feature of high-status religion in Jerusalem. ‘

”But perhaps most significant of all, Asherah was also the wife of El, the high god at Ugarit  –  a god who shares much in common with Yahweh. Given the evidence within the Bible that she was worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem, might she have played the role of a divine wife in ancient Israel too?’

Errrr – NO!!! Read the bible, dummy!

It’s no mystery that these days a liberal feminist atheist can get a degree in theology, in fact you’d probably struggle to get one if you were a genuine Christian. And it’s no surprise that it’s open season on Christians and the Bible again just in time for Easter. We expect nothing more from the BBC.

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By Hannah Roberts 8th March 2011