Writing the Wrongs Women of the Old Testament among Biblical Commentators from Philo through the Reformation

Phyllis Trible's Texts of Terror is a landmark among those studying women of the Bible. Focusing on stories of the maltreatment of women, Trible paved the way for subsequent feminist exegetes who have been very critical of such stories in the Bible, and who see Christianity as an unredeemably patriarchal religion. It is commonly said that these Old Testament stories of rape, murder, torture, and abandonment passed without comment until recent times. Here, Thompson traces and analyzes various Christian interpretations of these bible stories of women. In drawing attention to views other than Texts of Terror , Thompson speaks to Christians who are battling over how the Bible ought to be read today.

John L. Thompson is Professor of Historical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.