Writer, broadcaster and historian Bettany Hughes has written books on the Ancient world and presents documentaries for television including Helen of Troy and The Spartans for Channel 4.
She investigated the women of the Bible and discovered that far from being a 'sexist' book, it is packed full of brave, heroic and ruthless women who still have a lot to say to the women of today. Here she talks about the importance of The Bible to her today.
For me to investigate the women in the Bible was to re-assess many of the accusations about its treatment of women.
It's easy to dismiss the Bible as sexist and anti-female. In fact, of all the statements about women in the Bible, only 8% are negative. The majority are neutral and 34% are positive about women. It's not the misogynist's manual some people assume.
These days there is much more Biblical scholarship about the women in the Bible. In the British Museum there are 120,000 artefacts from the Middle East from when the events in the Bible were taking place. There have been many studies into whether there really was a flood or how to identify the stone used for the 10 commandments. Now these objects are being studied to discover more about the daily lives and the women who were integral to the geopolitics of the day.
I think there will be a big sea change in how women are perceived in the church. It will take a long time but I think things are changing.
My favourite woman from the Bible was Bathsheba. Not a queen or a high-born, she a soldier's wife. When you read the lines given to her, you see how she bided her time to become immensely powerful.
She was summonsed to the king after he saw her bathing. He sleeps with her and manipulates a battle so that her husband is cut down. Her life is turned upside down. But she quietly gets on with it and gets her own way in a peaceful and diplomatic way. She’s an excellent example of a positive woman in the Bible.
The filter of time
These texts remain relevant as they debate all of life's issues through a filter of time.
There are the enduring issues of duty versus desire, living life for the common good or to enhance your own, what and where are the limits of faith?
By analysing these ancient texts, the issues are less raw and partisan. If you start a conversation about Afghanistan today it would probably turn into an argument, rather than a debate.
Through the filter of time, these deep-rooted texts allow you to investigate moral issues with a more rounded, thoughtful perspective and in a less emotional way.
A Spiritual Life
My best childhood friend was Ben - the son of the local vicar. My family were not religious but I was.
I was glad the experience was open to me. I loved listening to the fantastic, enriching sermons, the beautiful music and meditating on the moral issues.
I also cherished being part of a mixed community and still do. I go to church still and sit next to a high court judge and a four year old Ethiopian. Where else would you be able to do that?
Even so, I'm still wrestling theologically and would call myself a cultural Christian. Had I been born in India, I would probably have been a Buddhist, Hindu or a Sikh. I think it is important to be part of a spiritual community.
I believe like Socrates 'an unexamined life is not worth living' and I continue to examine everything about the Bible and the ancient texts. I enjoy the theological issues of religion and certainly have not come down on one side or another yet.
