Merlin Stone

Merlin Stone is a sculptor and professor of art and art history who became interested, in adulthood, in archaeology and ancient religions from her study of ancient art. She spent a decade on research before writing the book published in the U.K. as The Paradise Papers and then in the U.S. as When God Was a Woman (©1976). Based on archaeological evidence, it describes how the Hebrews suppressed the goddess religions practiced in Canaan when they invaded it, as recounted in the Bible, and how their reaction to what they considered abominable idolatry shaped Judaism and, thus, Christianity.