Phyllis Trible examines rhetorical criticism as a discipline within biblical studies. In Part One she surveys the historical antecedents of the method from ancient times to the postmodern era: classical rhetoric, literary critical theory, literary study of the Bible, and form criticism. Trible then presents samples of rhetorical analysis as the art of composition and as the art of persuasion. In Part Two, formulated guidelines are applied to a detailed study of the book of Jonah. A close reading with respect to structure, syntax, style, and substance elicits a host of meanings embedded in text, enabling the relationship between artistry and theology to emerge with clarity. Rhetorical Criticism has many distinctive features. It is the first comprehensive treatment of biblical rhetorical criticism as it has emerged within the latter half of the twentieth century. a didactic treatise that combines theoretical discussion, practical guidelines, and detailed exegesis interdisciplinary in approach, engaging the rhetorical study of the Bible with expanding developments in secular literary criticism (structuralism, poetics, reader-response criticism, and deconstruction, for example) and in the similarly burgeoning field of contemporary rhetoric itself a model of the rhetorical analysis that it describes accessible both to the novice and to the scholar

Focusing on texts in the Hebrew Bible, and using feminist hermeneutics, Phyllis Trible brings out what she considers to be neglected themes and counter literature. After outlining her method in more detail, she begins by highlighting the feminist imagery used for God; then she moves on to traditions embodying male and female within the context of the goodness of creation. If Genesis 2-3 is a love story gone awry, the Song of Songs is about sexuality redeemed in joy. In between lies the book of Ruth, with its picture of the struggles of everyday life.

In different ways, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all trace their beginnings to Abraham. His wives, Hagar and Sarah, though also pivotal in the story, have received far less attention. In this book, however, noted Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars focus on Hagar, Sarah, and their children, from Ishmael and Isaac to their many descendents through the centuries.

Moving from ancient and medieval sources to contemporary appropriations of the Sarah and Hagar story, the authors begin with an overview of the three religions--from their scriptural beginnings to their contemporary questions. They then explore how the story was developed after its canonization, in rabbinic interpretations, in the stories of Islam, and in the teachings of the early church fathers. They also present contemporary womanist and feminist perspectives. Timely, relevant, and provocative, this book provides an entree into interreligious discussion and understanding.

"Faith and Feminism" brings together leading voices in biblical studies, inter-religious encounters, theology and ethics. Originally delivered as part of the Phyllis Trible Lecture Series at Wake Forest University School of Divinity (2003-2013), these essays demonstrate the breadth of feminist interpretation on compelling topics: interpretation of sacred texts; Judeo-Christian and Islamic perspectives; gender and sexuality; race and cultural identity; and ecology and religion. An international group of writers, both established scholars and new voices, contribute. Readers can explore the impact of feminisms on faiths and faiths on feminisms.