Lies Women Believe

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Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets them Free, more appropriately entitled "Catechism for the Submissive Christian Skivvy", is a lovely little book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (the female version of James Dobson) that, according to the rather un-Christian boast on the front cover of the latest edition, has sold over 333,333 copies to Christian women the world over.

It identifies forty lies and deceptions that have been told to women, such as the absurd idea that they have any rights, and refutes them in short order, so that a wife can finish the book in time to discharge her uxorial^{[note 1]} duties: cooking her husband's supper and getting his bath ready.

The lies

Taking a Biblical approach to the question, the book addresses all the lies as similar to the lie told to Eve by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Whether that happened exactly 6,000 years ago is apparently not addressed.

Here is an exhaustive list of the statements classified in the book as lies.^{[note 2]}

Lies about God

1. God is not really good.
2. God doesn't love me.
3. God is just like my father.
4. God is not really enough.
5. God's ways are too restrictive.
6. God should fix my problems.

Lies about themselves

7. I'm not worth anything.
8. I need to learn to love myself.
9. I can't help the way I am.
10. I have my rights.
11. Physical beauty matters more than inner beauty.
12. I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings.

Lies about sin

13. I can sin and get away with it.
14. My sin isn't really that bad.
15. God can't forgive what I've done.
16. I am not fully responsible for my actions and reactions.
17. I cannot walk in consistent victory over sin.

Lies about priorities

18. I don't have time to do everything I'm supposed to do.
19. I can make it without consistent time in the Word and prayer.
20. A career outside the home is more valuable and fitting than being a wife and mother.

Lies about marriage

21. I have to have a husband to be happy.
22. It is my responsibility to change my mate.
23. My husband is supposed to serve me.
24. If I submit to my husband, I'll be miserable.
25. If my husband is passive, I've got to take the initiative, or nothing will get done.
26. Sometimes divorce is a better option than staying in a bad marriage.

Lies about children

27. It's up to us to determine the size of our family.
28. Children need to get exposed to the "real world" so that they can learn to function in it.
29. All children will go through a rebellious stage.
30. I know my child is a Christian because he prayed to receive Christ at an early age.
31. We are not responsible for how our children turn out.

Lies about emotions

32. If I feel something, it must be true.
33. I can't control my emotions.
34. I can't help how I respond when my hormones are out of whack; or, It's understandable to act like a shrew at certain times.
35. The answer to depression must first be sought in medication and/or psychotherapy.

Lies about circumstances

36. If my circumstances were different, I would be different.
37. I shouldn't have to suffer.
38. My circumstances will never change — this will go on forever.
39. I just can't take any more.
40. It's all about me.

External links

Lies Women Believe at Christianbook.com

Notes

↑ wifely
↑ No, seriously. These are the chapter and section titles. (Google Books)

[1] wifely

[2] No, seriously. These are the chapter and section titles. (Google Books)

[note 1]

[note 2]