DYNAMIC WOMEN OF THE BIBLE by Ruth A. Tucker

Dynamic Women of the Bible shares accounts of familiar women and women with little notoriety with significant roles in the history of Christianity before and during the life Christ Jesus. The women Ruth Tucker shares that are commonly referred to in Sunday sermons are Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary and Martha of Bethany, Mary Magdalene while Lot’s Wife Miriam, Deborah, Abigail, Sapphira, Dorcas, and Rhoda are not the main subjects or topics of discussion. The book recounts the personal trials and tribulations of the majority these women and more women who remained nameless whose lives were not always the upstanding citizen in their ancient times but their faith and belief in God made them worth the mention.

After each chapter, there is a ‘concluding observation’ and ‘questions to think about’ lending further debate or analysis to the role-play of each woman’s importance to Christian history and how their individual situations possibly impact women of today’s culture. In the ‘Concluding Observation’ of chapter eight, Rahab, and the Five Daughters of Zelopjejad, Tucker refers to Rahab, “She is essentially a nobody, but she realizes that she has power over their lives. Simply saving herself and her family would be reason enough to include her story in the biblical text--and reason enough to cite hers as a singularly liberating account in ancient history. But that she was singled out by God to be rescued by the Israelite army, per an oath made by nameless spies, is the greatest wonder of all.” In response to this observation of Rahab, not believing or following God, she realized after her encounter with the spies sent by Joshua to spy on the city of Jericho, she chose to acknowledge the existence of God through sheer faith that he would protect her and her family if she helped the spies escape to complete the mission.

One of the ‘Questions to Think About’ section in this chapter asks, “Do we too easily look down on individuals because of their immorality or scandalous reputation?” is a question some or maybe even most people would answer yes which leads to judging and condemning someone without full knowledge of the situation in which it came about. For the most part, this book takes an in-depth perspective on the situations women of the Bible confront and the speculative viewpoint of what might have been their underlying principle or reasoning for their action. I recommend reading this interpretive analysis of Bible stories along with your personal Bible and answer a few of the ending chapter questions to sharpen your knowledge of these great women and compare the situations to the culture of today.

I received this book free from the Net Galley Reviewer Program in exchange for an unbiased opinion in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines.