The Feminist Biblical Interpretation and Theology of Phyllis Trible

Phyllis Trible is a renowned American feminist biblical scholar and theologian. Her method of biblical interpretation is based on literary analysis and rhetorical criticism of the biblical texts. She is the author of two ground-breaking books: God and Rhetoric of Sexuality and Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. The former focuses on Genesis 2-3, Song of Songs and the neglected women in the book of Ruth. It emphasizes the female image of God and depatriarchalizes the biblical texts. The latter uses the tragic stories of four women as a clue to present the suffering experience of women and the silence and absence of God. From her works, we see the change of Trible from optimistic to critical in feminist interpretation. However, as a faithful theologian in Christian tradition, her commitment to faith and her belief in Sola scriptura restricts her interpretive approach to the framework of faith, which never deviates from the dominant tradition and thought of Christian redemption. Trible constructs her feminist biblical interpretation from the perspective of rhetorical criticism and has a significant impact on theology, politics and social reform in the 1970s.