Gender, Power, and Promise: The Subject of the Bible's First Story

by David M. Gunn, Danna Nolan Fewell

Reading Scripture anew, the authors contend, is each time an exercise of power.  It is always invested in ideology, whether spoken or unspoken.  By adopting the viewpoints of marginalized women, and by examining the motivations of the male characters as they deploy power, Fewell and Gunn seek an approach to biblical interpretation that promises to liberate women and men from, rather than reinforce, religious ideologies of male dominance.

Genres: Gender

212 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

Reviews

[Katie Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written from a critical and engaged perspective, this book asks questions of the text that have not been asked for far too long. Fewell takes you on a journey through the history of the Bible's first stories from the angle of the oppressed. This book is bound to make you uncomfortable if you come from a tradition that highly values certain readings of the text, but is an eye opening experience. The book is well-written, scholarly, and I think an important contribution to the discussions around gender and patriarchy.

[Kayla Ogle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It proposed pretty interesting ideas about the Old Testament and different stories throughout, but it was difficult to get through and was semi-boring.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly look at how gender and power intersect in the Hebrew Scriptures.