Written by artist and art history professor Merlin Stone, it makes the claim that the ancient Israelites were mysogynistic, and hated goddess worship. The book charges that the Israelites attempted to murder all Canannites and created a new religion, Judaism, solely to demonize goddess worship. The book assumes that all Canannites were peaceful goddess worshippers before the Israelites arrived. These premises and conclusions are not accepted as factual by most critical Bible scholars or historians.

Stone claims that Judaism, and therefore Christianity, arose as a reaction to the religion practiced in Canaan when the Hebrews arrived, which she dates to 1300 to 1250 B.C.

Archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scholars of ancient cultures have been less enthusiastic about the book. They have taken issue with the conclusions Stone has drawn about the societies that produced them.

External link to Sunshine for Women page: When God Was a Woman