ABSTRACT

Beliefs about the connections between demons, Satan, and women in the Christian tradition, all central to Christian belief, have historically facilitated the oppression of women in a number of ways. Tertullian, a 2nd Century ‘father’ of the early Christian church, even went so far as to call women “the Devil’s gateway.” In this chapter, I identify a number of the central connections between Christian demonology and patriarchal oppression. First, I explain how (1) Eve’s attributed susceptibility and relation to Satan (ultimately interpreted as ‘the snake in the garden’) implicates women as the source of the spiritual fall of humanity. I further argue that the tradition of blaming women for bringing Satan, demons, and evil into the Christian community (and its corresponding attribution of a weaker nature to women) further culminates in the association of women with being more susceptible to (2) demonic possession (as a consequence of their ‘weaker natures’), and (3) witchcraft (and thus with the worship of Satan, and the invocation of demons and possession in others). Furthermore, (4) women were also historically taken to be temptresses, threatening men’s spiritual strength and rendering them (and their communities) further vulnerable to demonic influence and power. Finally, (5) the longstanding Judeo-Christian identification of more gender egalitarian (sometimes matriarchal) pagan systems of belief with the worship of Satan legitimates suppression of gender-egalitarian and matriarchal religions. In short, this chapter shows that the historical development of Christian demonology contributes to the oppression of women within and without the Christian tradition in a number of ways, and consequently upholds the patriarchal tendencies of traditional Christian belief.