Feminist Criticism and Biblical Studies on the Verge of the Twenty-First Century *

The year 1995 marks a hundred years since the publication of The Woman's Bible, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Although one can by no means draw a direct line from Cady Stanton's efforts to the shape of feminist biblical criticism in the present, ¹ this anniversary provides an appropriate occasion for an assessment of the current relationship between feminist criticism and biblical studies, as well as an attempt to foresee its future course. I approached this task with the intention of providing a reasoned analysis, cataloguing achievements and challenges, and outlining a vision of the shape of the field in the twenty-first century. These intentions came to naught, however, when I discovered, to my horror, that my capacity for reasoned analysis has been damaged by my lifestyle. I refer specifically to my near-total immersion in narrative. From Judges, Judith and campus intrigue during the day, A. A. Milne, E. B. White and complicated schoolyard anecdotes in the evening, to Toni Morrison, Tony Hillerman and/ or the evening news at night, my days and my thoughts are bounded by stories. For this reason, every effort to approach my present task was thwarted by a still, or rather, shrill small voice, demanding, 'read me a story'. But what story, or stories could I read into, or read out of, the relationship between feminist criticism and biblical studies?