FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 4, 2002 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 BIBLICAL SCHOLAR TO GIVE ANNUAL DRAKE LECTURE Phyllis Trible, a nationally renowned Biblical scholar and a pioneer of the feminist interpretation of the Bible, will give the annual Drake University religion lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 12. The Harriet Drake Kirkham Hay Memorial Lecture, titled “Take Back the Bible,” will start at 7:30 p.m. in St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Student Center, 1150 28th St. A reception will follow. Both events are free and open to the public. Trible is professor of Biblical studies at the Divinity School of Wake Forest University. Before joining Wake Forest, she was the Baldwin professor of sacred literature at Union Theological Seminary for two decades. She also served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1993-94 and was a participant in Bill Moyers’ television series, “Genesis: A Living Conversation,” in 1997. Before Trible began her feminist interpretation of the Bible, the standard treatment of the subject was a type of book that retold the edifying stories of the women of the Bible. Trible set out to reread the Bible with a critical eye on dominant male interpretations of Biblical texts and to raise questions about the representations of women in the literature of the scriptures. In 1984 she published “Texts of Terror,” a book that recounts the harrowing stories of four women in the male-dominated world of the Old Testament. The title of her lecture, “Take Back the Bible,” echoes the “Take Back the Night” marches that occur annually in many cities, said Dale Patrick, professor of religion at Drake University. “‘Take Back the Bible’ is a call for those who love the Lord to lay claim to the Bible with honesty and realism,” he added. “The Bible is an icon in our culture, and various religious parties contend over who is the most faithful to it. Are those who claim to be more Biblical really the truest to this sacred text?” For more information about Trible’s lecture, call (515) 271-3170.