Nobody's Mother: a book review

the ancient insights you didn't know you needed

Dr. Sandra Glahn’s new book is named Nobody’s Mother which I will insist is a genius title until I’m unable to insist on things anymore. If you’ve not followed her work, you probably have no idea what the book is about. Her own struggle with infertility? Maybe actually yes. The single woman in our churches? Nope. Go read this book instead. An ancient goddess who was an archer (not from the T Swift song- though her enemies may have started out friends)? That’s the one. 

The subtitle of the book is “Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament” and Artemis is a really big deal even if you’re not aware of it. She’s brought up in Acts and hangs over the letter to the Ephesians and the letters to Timothy, who was left at Ephesus by Paul, because her temple dominated life in Ephesus. A lot has been said about Artemis and what influence her worship may have had on the controversial and confounding 1 Timothy 2 passage. But even the work on Artemis has been controversial. In the introduction Glahn writes, 

In the quest to open doors for women in public ministry, some scholars in the past had said Paul’s reference to childbirth was due to the influence of Artemis, an Ephesian goddess who they associated with motherhood and fertility. But the view of Artemis as mother/fertility goddess had flaws. So, many scholars eliminated the “Artemis explanation” as an option.  

Glahn’s work is a fresh look at the research on Artemis and how it might have impacted Paul’s writing to Christians in the city of Ephesus. If you’re yawning already, I understand. If we were together, I could read the room and I do actually know when people aren’t interested in my favorite topics. I promise I won’t review an academic book in the next post. 

In chapter 1, Glahn answers the question “Why take a fresh look at Artemis?” What difference does it make? Why should a reader wade through an academic work cataloguing references to Artemis to literature, epigraphic sources, and architecture and art? Glahn’s first reason is that many people who believe that women should be restricted in the church and/or the home do so on the basis of “tradition.” But as I’ve pointed out before, the modern complementarian view is not the traditional view. She quotes William Witt in Icons of Christ¹ who summarizes the traditional view of women: “women were characterized as less intelligent, more sinful, more susceptible to temptation, emotionally unstable, incapable of exercising leadership.” Few complementarian leaders would agree with this statement today so every current view on women is actually new.² Glahn then contrasts some influential voices and their opinions on women with what women actually did. 

I did this thing where I shared the book cover in November’s book post, so instead of a favorite book you get my favorite scones and favorite hiking boots and favorite DOG.

Chapter two looks at the story of Ephesus using historical sources, the account in Acts 19, and different views of Artemis that have been advocated for in the past. See how quickly I covered a whole chapter? That was just for you. 

Chapter three is a survey of the literature on Artemis. What’s said about her and what can we learn from it? She summarizes literary sources in antiquity and sources from the first centuries. I’ll briefly recap these. 

1. Artemis is not associated with prostitution. 
2. Though, anti-sex, Artemis is not anti-male. 
3. Artemis not associated with mothering.  Or fertility. 

Oops, those were the “frequently said but aren’t true statements.” On to the things that the research does reveal. 

1. Artemis is associated with chastity and virginity. 
2. Artemis is a midwife. 
3. Artemis has connection with the Amazons. 
4. Artemis was born first in the Ephesian version of her birth story. 

Chapter four looks at epigraphic sources or inscriptions. If we were in person, you would need to let me know before now that you wanted to talk about something else. By the time I’m explaining what “epigraphic” means, buckle up. There’s no stopping me at this point. Glahn explains why these are important. “Inscriptions provide much more social-history information from all classes, men and women alike, because they include tombstones, lists of names, curses, love messages, advertisements, and other forms of everyday information.” She goes on to say “plenty of evidence exists far beyond Ephesus itself to demonstrate that the epigraphic evidence complements the literary sources’ emphases on Artemis’ role as the city’s preeminent deity and her ability to protect.” In modern words, Artemis wasn’t just in the research or the academic papers, she was on the internet and social media. Or the ancient equivalent: epigraphy. That’s a better name that X, don’t you think? 

Chapter five talks about Artemis in architecture and art. What did statues of Artemis look like and why does that even matter? I’ve thought about Artemis before and never once considered her statutes. Silly me. She ends the chapter saying, “Artemis was worshipped as the protector, lord, preeminent god, and savior of the city of Ephesus. Cult statues communicated her power over both the natural and supernatural worlds in which humans could entreat her to work magic.”

Chapter six wraps up Glahn’s why. She wanted to “provide a context for exploring the influence of the Artemis cult on Paul’s first letter to the Timothy—with particular focus on Paul’s phrase ‘saved through childbearing.’” She takes the time to walk through the entire passage in 1 Timothy 2, which is no easy thing to do, tying her research on Artemis to the instructions that are given in Paul’s letter. The Artemis cult might explain this whole confusing passage.

Glahn considered some points that I had never thought about. Artemis was portrayed as a midwife but was also associated with killing. “But in a sense, her killing can be seen as a part of saving. This killing/saving connection makes more sense in view of the mortality rate in a world lacking analgesics, anesthetics and C-sections.” Childbirth was scary enough in 2017 when I was in a hospital with plenty of backup plans. I can’t imagine giving birth in 61 AD.

Glahn also brings up the idea that perhaps Paul did actually mean that Ephesian women who turned from worshipping Artemis to worshipping Christ would be saved alive through bearing children. Women were promised protection by Artemis and staying faithful to Christ while expecting a baby would have been difficult. In the ancient world, the ability of your god to protect you, to do what they promised, to outdo other gods showed the validity of your beliefs. If a woman died in childbirth after turning to Christ from Artemis, people would assume that it was because she had stopped worshipping Artemis. People, especially women, would have been hindered from coming to Christ. Maybe it’s not universal, but perhaps it means exactly what it says. 

Glahn also writes, “Male-female differences in levels of deception are not due to ontology or biology but rather to differences in age, education, experience, and opportunity. If women as a class were more easily deceived than men, Paul would not have women instructing children, the most vulnerable of all humans.” This I actually just loved so I thought I’d share it with you. 

If this topic isn’t of great interest to you, the middle chapters on the research may be hard to wade through. The first two chapters and the final chapter truly are a fresh look at 1 Timothy. How did context and culture shape Paul’s instruction to Timothy and how should we read it today? Knowing the impact of Artemis on Ephesus helps us answer those questions.

On the last page of the book, she writes, “Seeing Paul’s exhortation to Timothy as a local issue with theological ramifications for the universal church about how to handle false teaching reconciles a tension between prohibiting women from teaching the Scriptures in public and the many times God called women to prophesy in every era in which God also has raised up male prophets…We know too that women will publicly prophesy in the last days in mixed public audiences—not as a sign of the failure of manhood but as a sign of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.

Nobody’s Mother. It’s going to be on my list of favorite books of 2023.³ 

1. An excellent book, but very academic. Also, it costs $50.

2. Doug Wilson? Don’t know. Scared to dig too deep there.

3. Which I will write. Just not yet.