Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #746286 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Synopsis
In this best-selling book, now revised and updated, Alice Ogden Bellis shares the work of feminist and womanist biblical scholars. Examining women's stories in the "Old Testament", Bellis shows how different feminist and womanist scholars have interpreted these texts - texts that have profoundly affected how women understand themselves - in the last thirty-five years. The book includes study questions and a thorough bibliography.

From the Author
This book grew out of a course at Howard Divinity School
in Washington, D.C., where I am Associate Professor of Old Testament. When I began teaching the course on women in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, as Christians usually call it, I soon discovered that many articles and books had been written over the last quarter of a century by feminists and more recently by womanists (black feminists) and mujeristas (Hispanic/Latina feminists), but that there was nothing available that brought all of these amazingly fascinating, new, different, creative interpretations together in one place.

I decided someone needed to provide a resource that dealt with all the wonderful new feminist interpretations of women's stories in the Bible and I might as well be that person. (By the way I include a few male writers because I believe that feminism is the conviction that all of us are equally human and men can hold that opinion as well as women!) I figured that someone else would beat me to it, but as it turned out they didn't, and there's still nothing else that's been published that is as comprehensive as my book.

My students first used the book in draft form (I handed out computer disks). The original title was "Helpmates, Handmaids, Harlots, and Heroes," but the publisher rightly decided that four H's was too many. Because of that original title, though, it was long known at Howard as the 4-H book!

It took me about five years to complete HHH. I learned a tremendous amount writing it and have enjoyed speaking to many groups about the women of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament as a result of writing the book. It even introduced me to a very good Jewish friend, an interfaith friendship that I value highly.

The book does not really have a central idea, other than to show the diversity of feminist interpretations. Some people think that all women think alike. Anyone who reads this book will see that's not true.

I hope you enjoy the book and share it with your friends. It's gotten a lot of great reviews in academic journals and religious magazines, but the most gratifying responses have been from complete strangers who have come up to me and thanked me for this book.

Customer Reviews

exciting and refreshing writing
This book offers the reader an exciting and refreshing analysis of many of the women whose stories are found in the hebrew bible. They are brought to life in an exciting and challenging way and many of the stereotypical views of such women are challenged. This is an academic book but it is accessible to all readers - well worth reading and a great resource for preachers who want to explore different ways of looking at traditional concepts of women in the bible.

Fresh interpretations of familiar stories in the Bible
This book offers a comprehensive look at various modern interpretations of familiar biblical stories about women in the Old Testament. The distinguished author provides a helpful orientation to the diverstiy of methods of feminist interpretations applied to each biblical story. These interpretations directly oppose many of the standard explanation of these stories, so the insights gained by the reader are many and fresh. The book is excellent for lay readers wanting a feminist approach to the biblical stories of the Old Testament and for college and seminary students who need scholarly details. The book uses a balanced mix of a conversational style and scholarly methods to make it equally accessible to students, teachers, and general readers. I highly recommend it.