Until last week, I’d never read anything by Beth Moore, nor have I heard her speak. I know that some object to hear teaching for theological reasons, for being a woman, for teaching women, for speaking out on controversial issues, for, well, for lots of reasons. I’ve not really followed the nuts and bolts of the controversy, and just had it in mind that Moore was a vaguely orthodox writer for women who wasn’t quite checking the right boxes for the right folks, but was generally okay. All that might still be true, but at least her memoir All My Knotted-Up Life is excellent and is absolutely worth your time.
Overall, Moore is an excellent writer who tells her story well. There are a few moments that can be frustrating for the reader–such as when she talks about how her parents’ marriage continued to be rocky, and got worse, but then doesn’t give any details. Granted, that’s none of our business and not her story anyway (though she does the same thing at times with bits that are her story), but then why bring it up in the first place? Still, aside from these moments (and note that my criticism there is basically that I’d have liked to have read more Moore), this memoir is really, really, solid.
On a Southern Baptist note, obviously a lot has happened in our world in the past few years. One of the saddest is losing Beth Moore (and Russell Moore, for that matter). [Spoiler alert, if this counts] I’m glad she found a home in the Anglican world–I certainly understand the appeal. As she puts it, even though the controversy was framed around her view of preaching:
“I can’t imagine that a solitary pastor, seminary president, or leader in the SBC really believed I had an inkling of interest in taking over a pulpit, nor leading the charge for female takeover of the denomination. They had four decades of history as proof to the contrary. All that time I’d obsessed over having a male covering, a mind-boggling number of male leaders were providing a covering, all-right. They were covering up sexual abuse. But because I’d been so outspoken and had already annoyed them, a horde of Southern Baptist brethren came for me like I’d burned down churches.” (247)
Again, this is a great book and everyone should read it.
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In