Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

I was looking up books for the children’s liturgy that I teach each Sunday, and discovered this interesting title by Liz Curtis Higgs. I’ve read her children’s Christian books, but had not read any of her adult novels so I decided now was a good time to try one out!

In Bad Girls of the Bible, Curtis Higgs makes the case that often the “bad girls” of the bible are easier to relate too than the good girls (such as Mary). She then presents different bad girls from both the Old and New Testaments. Each story is first told as a modern day story, then a discussion of the Biblical context, and then lessons that can be learned from each story. While the modern story sometimes allowed one to really understand the story in terms of today (such as Lot’s Wife and the Sinful Woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her hair), others fell flat (Eve and Saphhira). My favorite part was actually the discussion of the Biblical context. I thought each story had a very interesting discussion in biblical terms and made me think about some of these Bible stories in a new way.

I did have problems with the characterization of some of these bad girls, especially Micah. Micah had a rough life as a pawn of King Saul and King David. I don’t know why she would be characterized as a “bad girl” for telling King David that she thought he shouldn’t be dancing in the streets and showing his jiggly bits. If I were her, I would probably have more words than that for him, especially a heart to heart about his treatment of women in general. The discussion for this part was that she should have honored her husband and not said anything. I think this is a bit of a stretch. You should honor your husband, but I think you should also have honest discussions and be able to tell him when you think he is being foolish. I would fully expect Ben to tell me I looked like a fool if I were dancing about town with my jiggly bits exposed!

I think my favorite and most enlightening reading of the book was about Lot’s wife. I had always really thought before about it being a story of someone who did not follow God’s directions and was therefore turned into a pillar of salt. In this book, it talks more about the fact that perhaps Lot’s wife couldn’t let go her possessions and that we shouldn’t become so attached to things. It was a good discussion and gave me a lot to think about.

Overall, it was a very interesting book. I think it would have been even more interesting to read it with a church group of ladies. It would be a great book to use for a women’s bible study and discussion.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library