"Eve Isn't Evil" (Julie Faith Parker)

TITLE: Eve Isn't Evil: Feminist Readings of the Bible to Upend Our Assumptions
AUTHOR: Julie Faith Parker
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023, (224 pages).
 

Throughout the ages, biblical interpretations are often influenced by their respective cultural changes. Such changes involve situations like new archeological discoveries, philosophical inclinations, political alignments, social norms, and religious affiliations, just to name a few. Christians too have to constantly grapple between biblical faithfulness and cultural relevance. In this day and age, several movements have taken over mainstream cultural perceptions. Movements like Black Lives Matter, Feminism, #MeToo, etc. are becoming commonplace. As far as the Bible is concerned, there has been pushback against the patriarchal culture that was so predominant in the ancient texts.  Some modern interpreters are taking the bold step to fight against any form of interpretation that leads to modern justifications for male superiority. This book is written as a way to promote an alternative interpretation to conventional patriarchal ones. Author-Professor Julie Faith Parker offers this alternative to the "traditional (read: male-centered) eurocentric" approaches we can find in many libraries. Parker is aware of the negative connotations behind the word "feminist,"  so she carefully qualifies her use right from the beginning. Her intent is to help readers understand that there are broader alternatives to the traditional views of the patriarchal nature of the Bible. She does so on the basis of helping us increase our knowledge of the Bible, appreciating "cutting-edge scholarship," and forming a less judgmental spirit in interpretation. She demonstrates this by dealing with seven Old Testament texts and one New Testament passage. 

The first OT text is Genesis where popular interpretations tend to paint Eve as the evil (or relatively more evil) partner. Such interpretations could lead to erroneous modern applications such as misogyny or absolute male superiority. She retells it by showing us how men too are complicit in the evil occurring in the world. Plus, Eve's desire for wisdom should not be interpreted as an absolute negative as well. Yet, she has a big role to play in the downfall of humankind, but that should not be completely on her. The second text compares the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) with the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel) to show us that they all fumble. Families then are also messed up, so we should not paint the guys as heroes nor label the ladies as the villains. The third text warns us about stereotypes. by dealing with unsavory female characters like Rahab the prostitute, two sex workers quarreling before Solomon over a baby, and ancient perceptions of gods and goddesses. The fourth text is about female prophets and relatively lesser heralded leaders like Deborah, Miriam, and Huldah. The fifth text looks at Job where the author helps us appreciate Job's predicament from the standpoint of Job. She uses this to show us that we, especially male readers ought to learn to see biblical passages from the standpoint of women from time to time. The sixth text looks at psalms which sometimes give us a sense of "binary gender constructs," which are often not the main point. Often, these gender constructs are means God uses to show us the meaning of core issues that are not related to gender. The seventh text covers the Song of Songs and the poetry genre to show us that God created everyone equal. Finally, Parker covers the NT text with a description of NT women in the gospels. 

My Thoughts
What happened in the past is one thing. Biblical interpretation is another thing. The application can also be different altogether. Reading Scripture well means we learn to do three things. Like the first step of the Inductive Bible Study format, it begins with good observation of the texts. This is what Parker has helped us to do. For example, anyone who claims that Eve should be blamed more for the eating of the forbidden fruit should take note that Adam was also present with her in the temptation episode. All the characters are punished for their unique offenses. Is it right to assign blame on any of them? Probably. Did their actions lead others to error? Definitely. Should we then judge Eve more than we judge Adam? Not really, because both Adam and Eve are complicit in the sin. Parker helps us read the text better. That is learning to see the texts from the texts.

The second step in understanding the Bible is Interpretation, which is about what the text means. We need to be careful not to turn this interpretation into "What does it mean to me?" The difference is primarily between asking the questions objectively or subjectively. Doing so helps us avoid the danger of bias. What helps is how Parker compares and contrasts the different interpretations of the text, past and present. For example, in the chapter about gods and goddesses, Parker reminds us about how pre-judgment can blur our understanding of ancient contexts and cultural needs. Instead of straitjacking our understanding of the way ancient people worship, we ought to read the texts as they are based on ancient challenges such as lack of modern medicine, low survival rate, high infant mortality, etc. By reading with understanding, we are less prone to judging the biblical characters with a self-proclaimed sense of righteousness, and to let any judging be God's alone. 

Finally, this book shows us the important role of non-judgmental and non-biased forms of application. In opening our eyes to a broader appreciation of the biblical characters and contexts, we become better readers first, careful interpreters second, and wiser applicants third. Parker also provides a nice set of appendices to help us understand fundamental bible basics and other bible resources. We learn to see the texts from the perspectives of the characters and ultimately, on what God is trying to tell us. The danger for modern Bible readers is that rush to apply things based on our preconceived ideas. Parker helps us be more patient to consider the texts before attempting any such leap. 

One more thing. If there is any one reason to buy this book, it would be equipping us with an additional perspective on biblical interpretation. Feminism is not something totally negative in the first place. It came up due to the unfair abuses and historical mistreatment that need to be addressed. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Once we learn of the reasons behind any movement, we will better appreciate the reason why certain things happened. More importantly, we get to the point in which we grow as humans learning to live with one another based on a "I may not agree but I can understand" position.

Julie Faith Parker (PhD, Yale University) lives in New York City where she is a visiting scholar at Union Theological Seminary and biblical scholar in residence at Marble Collegiate Church. She has taught biblical studies at General Theological Seminary, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Colby College, and also at New York Theological Seminary, where her students were incarcerated in Sing Sing Prison. She is the author of Valuable and Vulnerable: Children in the Hebrew Bible, Especially the Elisha Cycle, editor of My So-Called Biblical Life: Imagined Stories from the World's Best-Selling Book, and coeditor (with Sharon Betsworth) of the T&T Clark Handbook of Children in the Bible and the Biblical World. Visit her website at juliefaithparker.com.

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.