April D. DeConick

April D. DeConick studies early Christianity as the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University. Her scholarship examines New Testament and pre-Nicene literature, noncanonical gospels, Gnostic movements, mysticism, and the ways ancient religious ideas are reconstructed. Holy Misogyny brings that expertise to the history of women and gender in Christian thought. First issued by Continuum in 2011 and later published by Orbis Books, the study traces how interpretations of scripture and theology made male authority sacred while diminishing women's religious roles and bodies. DeConick moves between Hebrew scripture, early Christian writings, church structures, and modern consequences, treating the subject as a historical argument rather than a devotional survey. She also co-founded and serves as executive editor of Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies. Holy Misogyny belongs to her wider project of recovering marginalized voices and testing inherited accounts of early Christianity against the broader surviving record.