Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.
– Hugh Prather
I approach this topic with fear and trepidation. In preparation for this post, I read a goodly number of articles, viewed some talks, and reviewed some blogs. Beth Moore has a veritable army of defenders and they are quite vocal in taking on any perceived (real or not) criticism of her and her ministry. One poor blog writer who had the temerity of question Moore’s theology posted some comments in which a fair number of words had to be bleeped out. Another had this to say. “I have been warned, no, actually I have been threatened; DO NOT write anything negative about Beth Moore”.
TWW experienced a few of those unprintable tongue-lashings when we discussed Mark Driscoll. Do these folks actually think this is a Christian response?!! So, with a deep breath, here I go.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a fan of traditional women’s Bible studies. I couldn’t abide by the rules of BSF, I flunked pencils in Precepts, and I despise women’s conferences in which breakout sessions feature table decorating and scrapbooking. I once joined a church book discussion group, hoping we could discuss books by Tozier, Lewis, etc. Instead they decided to read Jan Karon’s The Mitford Series, which I enjoyed. When I suggested that we look at some of the theology presented in the books, I was told, in no uncertain terms, that the women would not be interested in discussing such things. So, I quit. I just don’t do fill in the blanks very well.
I want to state a few things up front. I have no doubt that Moore loves the Lord and is following what she believes to be good and true. In other words, I have no intention on judging her motivation.
Secondly, I agree with every article written that says she is an attractive woman. Why articles written about Christian women always mentions their appearance( in Moore’s case: big hair, French tipped fingernails and lovely clothes) is beyond me. I guess plain women need not apply to be great speakers. But, have no fear; your blog queens will continue to do their part in bringing glamour to the evangelical church!
A number of blogs written by women, sadly, criticize Moore for allowing men to be present for her conferences because this means she is a woman who might teach a man. Great Scott! Head for the hills! What is she supposed to do? Have guards who forcibly remove anyone who has a “Y” chromosome? Can’t these big, strong, manly men police themselves? I believe that Scripture does allow women to teach men so I find this criticism to be unimportant.
I am also glad that Moore emphasizes the Bible in her teachings even though I do not always fall lockstep with her conclusions.
Beth Moore is big business and she, by virtue of her teaching, has set herself up as a role model. She has inserted herself into the public eye as a Christian role model and teacher. As such, she must be willing to open herself up to being analyzed by the public.
I am taking most of my information from the August 2010 Christianity Today which did a bang up job looking at Moore’s ministry. The two articles were entitled,” Why Women Want Moore” and “First Came the Bible”. I commend Halle Gray Scott and Sarah Pulliam Bailey for their frank review of Moore’s life and theology. Frankly, I was startled with some things that I learned and I am not sure many Christians are aware of these issues.
Mark Galli, the Senior Managing Editor of CT, made some interesting comments in his "Inside CT" column (p. 7). He said that, a few years ago, he was impressed with Moore and decided to assign reporters to do a story on her. However, years went on and no one seemed to be able to pull an article together. He goes on to say. “ We assigned the story to one writer, than another but for different reasons, the story was never completed. Finally, our inimitable online editor, Sarah Pulliam Bailey, managed to pull it off.” I found this an odd comment but, upon reading the article, I have a hunch as to why the others could not write an article. Read the following and decide for yourself.
Read the rest of this entry »
