Mary E. DeMuth - The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible: What Their Stories Teach Us About Thriving

The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible

What Their Stories Teach Us About Thriving

Mary DeMuth

In The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible, Mary DeMuth combines storytelling skills, love of Scripture, care for women, and her own personal experiences to create this riveting and intensely personal book. Using lovely imagery, Mary leads the reader into the biblical narrative in a way that allows these historically misunderstood ones to become flesh and blood womenyour sister, your mother, your friend you. Each chapter brought me to a place of reflection and meditation, offering rich insight, wisdom, and ultimately, hope.

Kay Warren, co-founder, Saddleback Church

Integrating creative storytelling with Bible commentary, Mary DeMuth invites readers to peer into the wounded hearts of women of Scripture who felt misunderstood and dismissed in their circumstances, and then skillfully guides readers through an exploration of their own experiences that parallel their biblical counterparts in pursuit of healing and a life of compassion and grace.

Missy Buchanan, author of From Dry Bones to Living Hope: Embracing Gods Faithfulness in Late Life

Church tradition has often hidden the dramatic grace and restoration given freely to the women of Scripture. As Mary DeMuth lovingly shows, the God of the Bible relentlessly rewrites the legacies of those often considered failures, freely dispensing second glances and second chances to people whom those in power have pushed to the margins. Mary has done us a favor in recasting the story of these timeless women, pulling them from the shadows of judgment and into the sunlight of gracereminding us of the same grace offered to each of us. Thanks for allowing me to be an early reader.

Steve Bezner, pastor of Houston Northwest Church

Filling these pages are a plaintive grief and a mournful empathy for the numerous women in the Bible who have been misunderstood, silenced, stereotyped, degraded, and mocked. Women who, like Hagar and Tamar and Bathsheba and Phoebe, have been brushed over in our Bible reading and preached as tropes of sin and shame. But Mary DeMuth, like a good old-fashioned Protestant, asks us to look againat the text itself and the texture of the story, and she reveals to us women who deserve better because each was someone other than the trope taught us. I tried to pick my favorite revelation in The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible, but I couldntI loved them all. Read this book with a renewal of empathy for stereotyped women.

Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary and author of The Blue Parakeet, A Church called Tov (with Laura Barringer)

Ive been misunderstood and its a terrible feeling. Being misunderstood isnt lost on Jesus. He, too, was misunderstood, as were many women whose stories are shared in the Bible. If youve been wrongly accused or misunderstood, youre not alone. Mary DeMuth understands, and on the pages of this book she shows us how to learn from those who have gone before us so we can continue walking with our head held high. If youre human, you need this book.

Jill Savage, author of Real Moms Real Jesus and host of the No More Perfect Podcast

In The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible, Mary writes in a compelling, creative, Christ-exalting way that causes you to reimagine stories in the Bible. You will be drawn deeper into the heart of God. Her skills as a world-class author and Bible teacher shine brightly. Men and women, buy this book for yourself and some friends. Study it. Marinate in it. Grow as a follower of Jesus.

Dr. Derwin L. Gray, co-founder and lead pastor of Transformation Church and author of How to Heal The Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, about Racial Reconciliation

This is a sacred work. Mary DeMuth tenderly integrates heart and mind, scholarship and story, as she dignifies the narratives of women in the Bible whose reputations have long been misrepresented and relegated to the status of taboo. Where others have picked up stones, DeMuth has covered these women with careful study, compelling imagination, and the compassion of God. Women will see both their pain and their hope in these pages. It is a compelling, artistic work of worship and faith.

Sharifa Stevens, contributing author to Vindicating the Vixens and Rally

There are few people I trust more than Mary DeMuth to handle womens stories with compassion, conviction, and great care. She has written a book that combines striking prose, beautifully distilled truths, and poignant questions into one valuable resource for the church. These womens stories are a gift to the whole church, and uncovering them from under layers of misunderstanding and misogyny is a gift Mary has given us.

Kaitlyn Schiess, author of The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor

Copyright 2022 by Mary DeMuth

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Unless otherwise marked, all Scriptures are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION. Copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

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Scriptures marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation (Todays English Version, Second Edition). Copyright 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-68451-225-6

eISBN: 978-1-68451-289-8