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Summary: For those who don't have a bad concept of Biblical authority
Review: You may not like this book if you're a woman who secretly, perhaps even subconsciously, has a personal axe to grind against men in general, or if you're a woman who struggles with issues of authority or "control" (meaning you secretly rebel against "authority" if you are not the one "in control").
But if that's not you, then you will really enjoy this book. I'm even buying another copy to give to a friend of mine as a gift.
And, concerning some of the previous negative book reviews posted, Nancy DeMoss has ALWAYS been a single woman, so it's ridiculous & misleading to say that DeMoss thinks that "[Women] need male guidance and are unfit to control their own lives, determine truth, etc," when Nancy DeMoss (who is a woman herself) has obviously seen herself fit enough to "control her own life" and "determine truth" living as a single women for almost 50 years. She has also been a "Bible teacher" for almost as long.
At some point in the past, I believe it was this reviewer who even went so far as to recommended a book called "How the Church Uses the Bible to Keep Women In Bondage and Slavery" or something along those lines... just to give you an idea of how emotionally "unbiased" her book reviews may be.
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Summary: The Shepherding Movement has influenced this author
Review: Does anyone remember the Shepherding Movement in the 60's - 70's with Mumford, D. Prince and some others? Pretty much ALL the Scripture interpretive eisigesis in this book and her video is straight from the Shepherding Movement which destroyed marriages and left wounded individuals that some today are still healing from these teachings.
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<br />The thing I've noticed about DeMoss is that she starts outside the Scripture from a premise. I've been teaching how to study the Bible for years emphasizing contextual reading and gleaning FROM the Scriptures, thus when someone does what she does it is glaringly obvious to me. One should not START from any approach, but should seek to extract the points from the Scriptures without adding into Scripture.
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<br />For instance take the words "Adam was not deceived, Eve was deceived and thus fell (versus knowingly walked) into transgression. Because DeMoss is coming from a preconceived set of patriarchal beliefs (as many have done throughout history actually) she changes this to meaning that women are easily deceived and more prone to deception. In order to do that she has to change words and add words: Eve becomes "women", and easily and more prone are added in. The actual verse does not address women in general being deceived, yet this is what she uses and patriarchal teaching uses to tell women they need male guidance and are unfit to control their own lives, determine truth... Etc. etc. get the picture. And this view of woman is the primary foundation for all her views of woman.
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<br />And curiously she does not conclude her own approach by applying the same method to the first part and say that men are more prone to deliberately choose wickedness. This then reveals her (and the patriarchal) agenda is not seeking the truth but proving a biased premise by reading it into Scripture rather than gleaning truth from Scripture.
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<br />The redeeming portions of DeMoss's book if you can ignore her incorrect eisigesis of Scripture is the outline of how one falls into deception and how to avoid deception. She also does an excellent work dealing with priorities and how to trust God to heal from childhood lies.
Rating:
Summary: DeMoss is Deceitful
Review: Don't fall for DeMoss's disingenousness. She claims she does not want women to be deceived, but interprets scripture to fit her own agenda. She imports her own biases into scripture and pulls out interpretations that are not supported by the text at all. For a much more accurate view of the subject matter, I recommend J. Lee Grady's "Ten Lies the Church Tells Women: How the Bible Has Been Used to Keep Women in Spiritual Bondage."
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Summary: Men believe these lies too -- Here is an antidote!
Review: How do we really gauge who we are, our importance, our value? Whose yardstick do we measure ourselves by? Why do we sin, when we know it is wrong, when we know what the consequences are? What happens when we have misguided ideas about the nature of God? This scripture-based book will gently guide you back to the truth. It brought me to my knees in recognition of how I can so easily sin when I truly believe. Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes, "When we are not honest with each other, we actually do Satan's work for him, acting as his agents, deceiving and destroying each other." She then gives suggestions for overcoming our selfish and sinful tendencies and growing in our love for God and others. DeMoss has written a powerful, thought-provoking book!
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Summary: this book is one of the top 10 that have changed my life..
Review: i really enjoyed this book. i am a single woman (age 20), and i have been searching for a book to address many of the issues that women are having today, including her role in society. this deals with the HEART of many of today's problems and has been helpful in immeasurable ways. i tried books like "let me be a woman" and others addressing the biblical roles of women, but they all ignore the real issues behind everything and only focus on married women. this book is so hard to review because there's so much to it and it has changed me in so many ways. it may not be as powerful to everyone, and you may not agree with exactly everything, but the author did a wonderful job applying things to both married and single women. let's face it: God doesn't have every woman married by the age of 17 like some would like to believe! but here i have spent too much of the review talking about marriage and singleness. the book is not about that. it does relate it when appropriate but the book is really about YOU as a woman and GOD in all his glory. this also opens up possibilities for change/growth between YOU and EVERYONE else, including other women, men, and children (that seems to cover everyone i can think of... hah). ok just read the book. it's far better than this review turned out to be. ;) also check out "authentic beauty" by leslie ludy and "till we have faces" by c.s. lewis.
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Summary: There are much better books
Review: Nancy is a single woman who has never been married, who tries to write on subjects outside of her experience and expertise. She uses a lot of Scripture references but sometimes when I read the Scripture and then her application or interpretation, I could not see a valid relationship. Perhaps that is because on some points there was no valid Scriptural basis for her to refer to. She seems to see women as more easily mislead and only suited for certain roles. I think most Christians will disagree with her stand on birth control. I am very concerned young women could take seriously her narrow views of women's roles and her dislike for family planning. These young women are the ones who would have to live with the results for the rest of their lives, not Nancy who is financially secure due to her family legacy and also a working woman. Nancy does seem sincere and some parts of the book are good, but the weaknesses far outweigh any strengths. If she had stuck to discussing the areas of her experience and not tried to give marriage and family advice the book would have been almost tolerable but would still have some problems with certain underlying assumptions. On the subject of marriage and a women's role, one of the best books I have read is "Heirs Together" by Patricia Gundry. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Both profoundly helpful, and profoundly dangerous
Review: There were several powerful and liberating points in this book that all sisters in Christ need to hear. For example, that there is always enough time in a day to do the things God wants you to do. That makes sense, and it challenges us to seek God a little harder for our daily to-do's, especially when feeling frazzled. For the four or so new powerful truths I gleaned from this book, I also encountered the same number of dangerously enslaving thoughts. For example, the concept that family planning is the mother of abortion. This idea was backed up by quoting the psalmist, King David (you know - "the blessed man has a quiver full of kids" king). Think it through: King David not only had servants to help with his children, but he also had multiple wives. I doubt seriously that any one of his wives bore him a quiver full all by herself. There's serious imbalance to DeMoss's argument. Preventative birth control and advance family planning is not a sin the same as abortion is sin (murder). In final analysis I would remind prospective readers that "there is safety in a multitude of counselors" (Pr 24:6). DeMoss's book is very valuable FOR GLEANING. Just don't go at it willing to swallow every idea hook, line and sinker.
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Summary: perfect for a small group study!
Review: This book is an incredible conversation starter for a small group. While my group did not necessarily agree with everything Ms. DeMoss wrote, we did have great discussions following each chapter. Many of us had never thought about the issues she brought up. And even though several chapters deal with marriage and child-rearing, it is appropriate for single women as well. If this thought-provoking, Scripture-based book doesn't get you talking, I don't know what will!
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Summary: Lies exposed!
Review: This book was wonderful! I immediately started to practice countering Satan's lies with God's Truth, and the results are amazing and supernatural. Nancy is a great writer - as a Christian, I find some Christian authors a little boring...not Nancy. She kept me interested the whole time, and I wanted more. Thank you, Nancy, for revealing the deception. I, for one, am transformed.
Rating:
Summary: Lies exposed!
Review: This book was wonderful! I immediately started to practice countering Satan's lies with God's Truth, and the results are amazing and supernatural. Nancy is a great writer - as a Christian, I find some Christian authors a little boring...not Nancy. She kept me interested the whole time, and I wanted more. Thank you, Nancy, for revealing the deception. I, for one, am transformed.
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