Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them [Paperback]

Liz Curtis Higgs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1999

Women everywhere marvel at those “good girls” in Scripture–Sarah, Mary, Esther–but on most days, that’s not who they see when they look in the mirror. Most women (if they’re honest) see the selfishness of Sapphira or the deception of Delilah. They catch of glimpse of Jezebel’s take-charge pride or Eve’s disastrous disobedience. Like Bathsheba, Herodias, and the rest, today’s modern woman is surrounded by temptations, exhausted by the demands of daily living, and burdened by her own desires.

So what’s a good girl to do? Learn from their lives, says beloved humor writer Liz Curtis Higgs, and by God’s grace, choose a better path. In Bad Girls of the Bible, Higgs offers a unique and clear-sighted approach to understanding those “other women” in Scripture, combining a contemporary retelling of their stories with a solid, verse-by-verse study of their mistakes and what lessons women today can learn from them.

Whether they were “Bad to the Bone,” “Bad for a Season, but Not Forever” or only “Bad for a Moment,” these infamous sisters show women how not to handle the challenges of life. With her trademark humor and encouragement, Liz Curtis Higgs teaches us how to avoid their tragic mistakes and joyfully embrace grace.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jezebel and Delilah have plenty to teach contemporary Christian women, according to Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them. In this self-help book, Liz Curtis Higgs tells fictionalized, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical characters including Eve, Potiphar's Wife, and the Woman at the Well. In verse-by-verse commentary, Higgs summarizes each life's lessons and provides a list of questions for personal consideration or group discussion. The overall message of each chapter is the same: "Good Girls and Bad Girls both need a Savior. The goodness of your present life can't open the doors of heaven for you. The badness of your past life can't keep you out either." In its effort to turn readers' minds heavenward, Bad Girls draws a distinction between fun and joy. Associated with "fleshly pleasures," fun "is temporary at best; it's risky, even dangerous, at worst." Joy, on the other hand, is found in God's "gift of grace." Perhaps the book's greatest weakness is its inability to see that "fun," in many lives, is a holy and necessary means of attaining "joy." --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

Humorist and popular storyteller Higgs (Help! I'm Laughing and I Can't Get Up) takes a look at the vamps and tramps of the Bible, searching for the lessons these wicked women have to teach. She acknowledges that as much as she admires Sarah's faithfulness and Mary's innocence, she finds that her own life contains many of the shortcomings of women such as Rahab, Delilah and Lot's wife. When Higgs begins her study of Jezebel, she notes, "I understood her pushy personality, I empathized with her need for control, I tuned into her angry outbursts...but boy did she teach me what not to do in my marriage." She places the ten women in her study into four categories. Eve, she says, was the "First Bad Girl," for badness has to begin somewhere. Potiphar's wife (who tried to seduce Joseph), Delilah and Jezebel, Higgs says, were "Bad to the Bone": these women "sinned with gusto from bad beginning to bitter end." Women who were "Bad for a Moment," and who have forever been characterized by their "life-changing" mistakes, include Saphhira, Michal and Lot's wife (who was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back on her homeland against God's commands). Higgs says that Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelites conquer Jericho, the Woman at the Well and the Sinful Woman were "Bad for a Season, but Not Forever": these women "had plenty of sin in their past, but they were also willing to change and be changed." Higgs opens each chapter with a fictional retelling of the biblical story and then proceeds to a verse-by-verse exegesis and commentary on the biblical text. Each chapter closes with four lessons to be learned from the life of the bad girl and eight "thoughts worth considering." Higgs retells these biblical stories with rollicking humor and deep insight as she teaches about the nature of sin and goodness. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1st edition (August 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578561256
• ISBN-13: 978-1578561254
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Theology
  • #44 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Reference
  • #96 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts

More About the Author

Liz Curtis Higgs has been telling tales since she attempted her first novel--handwritten in a marble notebook--at the tender age of ten. Award-winning careers in radio broadcasting, public speaking, nonfiction writing, and children's books honed Liz's storytelling talents, bringing her back to her first love, storytelling.

She is the author of 28 books, with more than 3 million copies in print, including two contemporary novels, one novella, and six historical novels, among them her latest Scottish saga, Here Burns My Candle and Mine Is the Night, a New York Times bestseller.

Her popular nonfiction books include the Bad Girls of the Bible series of books, workbooks, and DVDs, with more than one million copies in print.

And she has written five books for young children, including perennial favorite, The Pumpkin Patch Parable.

Her children's Parable Series received an ECPA Gold Medallion for Excellence, her nonfiction book Embrace Grace won a Retailers Choice Award, and her novel Whence Came a Prince received a Christy Award for Best Historical Novel. Liz was an award-winning columnist for Today's Christian Woman for a decade. Her articles have also appeared in Faith&Friends (Canada), WomanAlive (Great Britian), and Enhance (Australia). More than 4,500 churches nationwide are using her video Bible study series, Loved by God.

A gifted professional speaker, Liz has presented more than 1,600 inspirational programs for audiences in all fifty United States and fourteen foreign countries. When the National Speakers Association honored her with the Council of Peers Award for Excellence, Liz became one of only 32 women in the world named to their CPAE-Speaker Hall of Fame.

Feature articles about Liz have appeared in more than 250 major newspapers and magazines, as well as on Salon.com, Beliefnet.com, and Spirituality.com. She has been interviewed on more than 600 radio and television stations, including guest appearances on PBS, A&E, MSNBC, NPR, TBN, CBC Canada, BBC Radio Scotland, Rhema Broadcasting New Zealand, Radio Pulpit South Africa, Focus on the Family, Life Today, 100 Huntley Street, Midday Connection, and Janet Parshall's America.

On the personal side, Liz is married to Bill Higgs, Ph.D., who serves as Director of Operations for her speaking and writing office. Liz and Bill enjoy their old Kentucky home, a nineteenth-century farmhouse in Louisville, and are the proud (and relieved) parents of two college grads, Matt and Lilly. Visit Liz's Web site: http://www.LizCurtisHiggs.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Christian book I've ever read!, August 13, 2002

By 

Sara (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them (Paperback)

Just by reading the title and looking at the great cover photograph of Liz Curtis Higgs peering out from behind a black veil, I knew immediately this wasn't your average "Christian book." And you know what, I was right. But in my opinion, this book is more "Christian" than most other Christian books out there today. Why? Because it teaches forgiveness and redemption, no matter WHAT your background or experiences in life. After all, wasn't that Jesus' core message?

Liz Curtis Higgs isn't your average Christian author--she freely admits her sordid past filled with promiscuity, drug use, and abusive relationships. She frequently uses her own stories to illustrate the points made in her book. She used to be a radio jockey whose show was so racy it made Howard Stern tell her to "clean up her act." But then Liz found the healing and redemptive powers of God's love, and it's this message which drives "Bad Girls of the Bible." Her non-judgmental and forgiving attitude will make any "bad girl" feel welcome. Most Christian authors today often come off as "holier-than-thou" with no clue about anything outside their own Christian sphere of influence. No matter what you've done, Liz has probably been there and done that, too.

Liz uses examples of "bad girls" from the Old and New Testaments to show how bad actions can affect our lives, and how we can be healed and forgiven by God. The stories are told with Liz's trademark wit and humor, which makes the book a rather entertaining read. She breaks down the stories verse-by-verse and makes amusing and insightful commentary on each. You don't have to be a Bible scholar to enjoy the book--Liz breaks everything down into bit-sized, easy-to-swallow pieces for your reading enjoyment!

I would recommend this book to any woman out there, whether you're a "lapsed Christian" or just need a change of pace from the usual conservative Christian fodder that's out there. Liz calls herself an "encourager", and she really is.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS A LIFE CHANGING BOOK, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them (Audio Cassette)

I HAVE TAUGHT BIBLE STUDIES FOR 20 YEARS. RECENTLY WE HAVE BEGUN TO READ CERTAIN BIBLE BOOKS (SUCH AS AUTHOR ALICE MATTHEWS ON WOMEN OF THE BIBLE)..I JUST FINISHED READING "BAD GIRLS". I FOUND IT TO BE THE MOST CONVICTING AND ENJOYABLE BOOK I HAVE EVER READ ON THIS SUBJECT. HER WAY OF GIVING US A MODERN SITUATION..THEN GOING INTO THE BIBLE WOMAN IS SIMPLY OVERWHELMING..OVERWHELMING BECAUSE WE ARE SO LIKE THOSE WOMEN IN SOME WAYS..IN MY LIFE I REALATED TO LOTS WIFE..LOOKING BACK AT HER "STUFF" AND WITH DELILAH WHEN SHE TOOK AWAY SAMPSONS STRENGTH WHEN SHE CUT OFF HIS HAIR...YET TODAY WE CUT AWAY OUR MANS STRENGTH WITH OUR CUTTING WORDS...I LOVED THIS BOOK AND WILL BEGIN TEACHING IT SOON. I ANNOUNCED THIS TO MY CLASS RECENTLY AND SAID I HOPE THEY LET ME ADVETISE THIS IN THE BULLETIN..AND THEY LAUGHED..ONE WOMAN SAID "PUT IT IN THE CLASS SIZE WILL TRIPLE!". I WOULD LOVE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE..REVEREND LOIS MCKOON, HUNTINGTON BEACH CALIFORNIA

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most relevant book I've ever read, April 27, 2006

By 

Aly-oops! (NM, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them (Paperback)

I bought this book more than a year before I read it. It sat on my shelf gathering dust until I finally found the courage to actually read it. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I read it for two days straight, grabbing it every chance I could.

Liz has a wonderful, down-to-earth writing style which made the book very easy to read. She shares with her readers details of her own bad girl past without mincing words, as well as confessing how she still errs in her post-bad girl life. I personally enjoyed the way she opens each chapter with a modern-day tale based upon the Biblical bad girl she is about to dissect. Liz provides some excellent insight into these women, addressing many of the questions & issues I've had since I was young. She discusses the lives of these bad girls verse by verse, providing both fact & speculation (clearly defining which is which). No workbook is necessary (though one is available), as Liz includes activities & questions to consider at the end of each chapter. Don't worry about giving the "wrong" answer, b/c she includes verses in the back of the book to help with some of those questions (such as, "Find at least five verses that assure you His gifts of grace & forgiveness are the real thing").

The bad girls addressed in this book are: Eve, Potiphar's Wife, Lot's Wife, the Woman at the Well, Delilah, Sapphira, Rahab, Jezebel, Michal, & the Sinful Woman (who annointed Jesus' feet with perfume). I appreciated how she places each woman in one of three categories: Bad to the Bone, Bad for a Moment, & Bad for a Season but Not Forever (except Eve, who was the First Bad Girl).

Through it all, I was forced to re-evalute the excuses I've used so many times as a former bad girl & acknowledge the reality that, regardless of how others' choices impact me, I remain responsible for the decisions I make. This was the first of Liz's books that I've read, & it will not be the last. I have since purchased the workbook, as well as the follow-up book & workbook. As a former bad girl, with some traces still remaining, I found this book to be exactly what I was looking for. Convictions, insights, compassion, & encouragement abound. Don't miss this.