The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible - by Mary E Demuth (Paperback)

I believe after reading the first chapter on Eve, you won’t want to stop reading. The woman highlighted in the book are Eve, Hagar, Leah, Rehab, Naomi, Bathsheba, Tamar, The Proverbs 31 woman, Mary Magdala, and Phoebe. You will find yourself in one or all ten of these women.

Mary DeMuth shares Biblical truth along with lyrical prose--inviting the reader into a narrative about the past that speaks to today's woman. Whether she feels misunderstood or has been maligned, ladies will relate to the characters the author introduces in each chapter. Beautifully written, you'll develop a heart of compassion for each woman included in this book. I highly recommend sharing with a friend, youth group, book club, or a teen-age daughter. Favorite quote: You are the recipient of a thousand loves, graced to you by a benevolent, seeing God, who will make all things right on the other side of eternity.

If you feel misunderstood, or are letting others opinions of you stop you from stepping into God's call on your life: this book is for you! Mary does a superb job combining fiction and non-fiction to tell the beautiful stories of women of the Bible and challenge us all to learn from them. Misunderstood is an understatement when it comes to the ways in which the women in scripture have been portrayed. Mary takes each story and writes it in depth, with care, and with research and then pulls out what we need to learn from it. Well-written and engaging: I would highly recommend to anyone!

This book has so much biblical truth built with some fiction around what we can get within the words that are not written. The way Mary is able to bring each woman to life is amazing. I am a person that fills in the untold stories with what I can piece together and Mary did that for me and gave me different views on each lady. Mary is an amazing author that has brought some light to some subjects that we need. Highly recommend several of her books. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I have been on her launch team after taking 2 of her writing course"s at "She Speaks 2018" and I anxiously await her next book knowing that I will grow closer to the Lord, work through something in my life, and glean from her amazing way to bring theology and current life struggles together. Thank you Mary!

As a student of the Bible for many decades, I was familiar with the stories of these MOST MISUNDERSTOOD WOMEN of the Bible. However, Mary DeMuth made them come alive to me in new ways, making me able to relate to each of them like the woman next door. Her insights into the culture at the time and her easy-to-read style has changed my thinking about each woman in this book. I was surprised that I was able to relate to each woman in a different way, seeing myself in some and seeing some of my friends in others. This book will be one I reach for again and again as I counsel and encourage the woman around me. The questions included are very thought provoking and are still changing me as I work through them again. Thank you, Mary DeMuth for using God's gifting to make these stories live!

Mary DeMuth's latest offering belongs on every woman's bookshelf! Mary has an amazing gift of bringing these ten misunderstood women to life, or rather of helping us modern-day readers see and know those women clearly in the lives they lived. It's easy for us to become familiar with Bible stories and think we have a good grasp on the people in them and the messages we're supposed to have learned. Mary very eloquently helps us open our eyes and see that we've likely misjudged these women. Perhaps we need to view them in a different light, and maybe their experiences can help us overcome the misjudgments others place on us. Mary begins, of course, with the first woman, the woman who had no name until after she sinned, Eve, the Blamed One. In Eve's story, Mary addresses the misunderstanding of blame. She paints us a picture of the Garden of Eden, and the act is lived out on the page before us. Mary then refers us to the biblical narrative, supporting Eve's message with Scripture and wisdom. She leaves us pondering if and how we ourselves have been misunderstood in similar ways, and she encourages us with God's Word, leading us into a closer walk with our Savior and Redeemer. Each chapter is laid out in a similar fashion guiding us into the misunderstood lives of Hagar, the Forgotten One; Leah, the Unlovely One; Rahab, the Prostituted One; Naomi, the Grieved One; Bathsheba, the Harmed One; Tamar, the Violated One; The Proverbs 31 Woman, the Perfect One; Mary of Mandala, the Demonized One; and finally Phoebe, the Unknown One. Some, like Eve and Rahab, I found I had pretty accurate understandings of, but I still gleaned wisdom from Mary's insights. With others, like Leah and Phoebe, I gained entirely new understandings! I saw them from perspectives I'd never considered, and I found that I developed new respect for these women of old. Each of these tales, however, has not only real-life, but also real modern life applications for us today. As we go through our lives, we often find ourselves misunderstood. Sometimes those misunderstandings label us errantly, sometimes they confine us to a particular manner of living, and sometimes they stifle our potential. Sometimes we apply faulty judgements to ourselves! With this new book from Mary DeMuth, we learn that our God, our Redeemer, knows us and loves us. He sees us and hears us. He does not misunderstand us; He loves us! As Mary says, "His is the final word, the only Word that carries eternal weight." Order this book today, and put it at the top of your to-read list!

I learned a lot walking through the lives of 10 women in the Bible. There are many nuggets of wisdom in this book. I liked how much Scripture was used to give context. It's definitely good to savor the truths that resonate. Sometimes it's hard to read about what these women experienced, but it's key that our misunderstandings about them are revealed. The lens that we've seen these women through is often harsh. The book sheds an honest but kind light on what they went through. The application portion shows how we can process being misunderstood. For example, in the chapter on Eve, the blamed one, "we are not called to micromanage our reputations when we're maligned. We speak the truth, yes, but we need not entangle ourselves in the unfair narratives of another." There is lots of encouragement to move forward despite being labeled. The chapter on how to lament and grieve toward healing is especially helpful. We also misunderstand ourselves. For example, Tamar "did not need to live under the adjective desolate". "What if we have positioned ourselves to believe lies because society cements them as truth?" This is a strong and much needed chapter. I liked the emphasis on meditating on truths about ourselves at the end of each chapter. There are some great questions to ponder and would be excellent for a small group study.

Who hasn't felt misunderstood at some point in their lives? Reading this book couldn't have come at a better time for me as I was going through personal experiences and feeling very misunderstood myself. Sometimes this leads us to wallow in self pity and feel very alone. Reading this book changed my whole perspective and brought me great comfort. The way Mary used storytelling to bring these women to life while remaining true to scripture is such a gift. The first woman's story is Eve and the way she wove the story had me re-reading the scriptures in the Bible about the fall in the garden and seeing the interaction between God, Adam and Eve, in a whole new light. The Proverbs 31 woman is another one that surprised me and was encouraging. How many women have read Proverbs 31 and felt the pressure to live up to these seemingly impossible standards? Mary explains the misunderstanding in how we view ourselves through this lens. The Misunderstood Women of The Bible by Mary DeMuth is a must read for anyone that has been misunderstood and discouraged or just wants a better understanding of these women in the Bible. With the discussion questions at the end of each chapter, it is good for self reflection if reading alone, or for group discussions in a women's Bible study group.