Book Review--Beth Moore, All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir

Time for full confession. Until I read All My Knotted-Up Life, I had never read anything by Beth Moore. To the best of my knowledge, I have never heard her speak. Of course, I knew who she was. I understood that she was Lifeway Resources’ (formerly the Baptist Sunday School Board) most popular and profitable author. I also knew that she had a significant reputation as a Bible teacher and speaker. It also was clear to me that she had finally decided she could no longer remain silent in a denomination that refused to address sexual abuse and the submission of women.

As a result, I came to this book with few preconceptions. To be honest, I found it both painful and insightful. Painful because I can identify with the structures that failed women like Moore (I was even part of them). Insightful because of her willingness to be honest about her own complicity in these structures.

This is not an autobiography; it is a memoir. A memoir is, by its nature, an interpretive account of one’s life. It is basically factual, but it is selective in what it discloses and is usually rather subjective. Even so, the events that Moore has chosen to share will bring tears, compassion, and understanding to the reader.

In some ways, Beth Moore is like Joan of Arc. As long as she was successful and “knew her place,” she was supported. When she no longer toed the party line, she was cast aside.

I appreciate that she is candid about the role she played in her own victimhood. She writes about her choice to “work within the system”:

Women like me played by the rules or we were off the court. I couldn’t afford to think in any other way, even if I was tempted to. I’d be finished as a teacher in my denomination.

In retrospect, she observes:

I’ve done significant soul-searching and self-examination about how much of this bondage to male approval and acceptance I brought on myself and how much of it was imposed on me.

The truth is that Moore was more spiritual, more empathetic, and smarter than the men who “provided a covering” (of male authority) for her. She gave them respect and received ridicule. Her own gifts showed that she was more than capable of approaching God on her own and perceiving God’s call on her life.

Eventually, she could no longer accept a two-tiered approach to being Christian and the hypocrisy of the system in which she found herself because of her own personal integrity.

Moore is always sensitive to the issue of abuse and recognizes how it has shaped her own life and ministry. Unfortunately, the denomination she served well for some many years is not willing to do so.

I do wish that she had been a bit more explicit about what therapy and counseling means for a person of faith. She infers the value of such care in her own life but fails to amplify upon it.

Beth Moore is a gifted and charismatic teacher and writer who has blessed many over the years, but her own life has been touched by tragedy and struggle. I appreciate her sharing a bit of that in this memoir.

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