In the hundred years since The Women's Bible, giant strides have been made in feminist interpretation of the Bible. Now comes the first comprehensive overview of the whole field. The authors systematically recount those efforts to describe the story of women in both testaments, to uncover tendencies not supportive of women, and to describe biblical traditions that empower women. The book unfolds in three parts: -- Historical, Hermeneutical, and Methodological Foundations-- Toward a Feminist Reconstruction of the History of Israel-- Toward a Feminist Reconstruction of Early Christianity

Essays discuss women's role in the church, the interpretation of Scripture, the use of Biblical materials, women in the Bible, female sexuality, battered women, and Biblical authority

Early Americans have long been considered "A People of the Book" Because the nickname was coined primarily to invoke close associations between Americans and the Bible, it is easy to overlook the central fact that it was a book-not a geographic location, a monarch, or even a shared language-that has served as a cornerstone in countless investigations into the formation and fragmentation of early American culture. Few books can lay claim to such powers of civilization-altering influence. Among those which can are sacred books, and for Americans principal among such books stands the Bible. This Handbook is designed to address a noticeable void in resources focused on analyzing the Bible in America in various historical moments and in relationship to specific institutions and cultural expressions. It takes seriously the fact that the Bible is both a physical object that has exercised considerable totemic power, as well as a text with a powerful intellectual design that has inspired everything from national religious and educational practices to a wide spectrum of artistic endeavors to our nation's politics and foreign policy. This Handbook brings together a number of established scholars, as well as younger scholars on the rise, to provide a scholarly overview--rich with bibliographic resources--to those interested in the Bible's role in American cultural formation.

Noting that the ways of interpreting the Bible now practiced in the West are patriarchal and oppressive of those in other parts of the world, Dube offers an alternative interpretation that attends to and respects needs of women in the two-thirds world. In a provocative and insightful reading of the book of Matthew, she shows us how to read the Bible as decolonizing rather than imperialist literature.

In highly accessible essays, the book covers the history, achievements, and cutting-edge questions in the area of gender and biblical scholarship, including violence and the Bible, female biblical God imagery, and sexuality."--Jacket.

How can recent advances in biblical studies empower feminist struggles and inspire all Christians to articulate a vision that promotes human dignity, justice, inclusivity and well-being for all? In this book, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza develops her insights into the study of the Bible. She reclaims the work of nineteenth and early twentieth-century feminist biblical interpreters. And she analyses several intriguing biblical passages to show how the Bible can contribute to the spiritual struggle for a more just world. Praise for Sharing Her Word: "A fresh yet seasoned stock taking of feminist Biblical hermeneutics by one of the leading figures in this field." - Old Testament Essays, 2000>