The Book of Judith and Feminism in the Bible

Challenges for Theology

Abstract

This article presents a literary analysis of the Book of Judith by comparing the description of Judith (female focus) with the description of Holofernes (male focus). This analysis is motivated by questioning the common idea that the Bible is a set of sexist books. Because the Book of Judith was written by Jews at the time of early Hellenism, the role of women in Jewish agrarian society is analyzed in comparison with the role of women in Hellenistic imperialist society by comparing the myths about the creation of women in Jewish culture (Eve) and Greek culture (Pandora). It is pointed out that the Greek myth demeans women more than the Jewish myth and this is reflected in the Church from the inculturation to the Hellenistic Greek culture at the beginning of Christianity. Based on these analyses, this article proposes how Theology should act in the face of Feminism. The proposal is that Feminism should be a subject and be incorporated into Theology not as a separate discipline, but as part of its methodological function.