BAD GIRLS OF THE BIBLE: And What We Can Learn from Them, by Liz Curtis Higgs. Waterbrook Press,1999. 246 pp. (BS575.H54 1999).

This new acquisition was written by a gifted and award-winning speaker and author, Liz Curtis Higgs. BAD GIRLS OF THE BIBLE is about people who did bad things, and yet were not beyond the reach of God's grace.

Higgs classifies the biblical women in her book as "Bad to the Bone," "Bad for a Moment," and "Bad for a Season but Not Forever."

Each chapter begins with a fictional story of a contemporary woman, aretelling of the biblical story which follows. Higgs invites the reader to find out "what a twenty-first century woman who loves God can learn from an ancient Egyptian temptress who did not..." (p. 7).

The author has a deep faith in God, but she is very human. She confesses to having been "Bad for a Season but not Bad Forever." (p. 8). She felt some ambiguity when reading about the "good" women of the Bible. "Sarah was so faithful. Esther was so courageous. Mary was so innocent. I was so none-of-the-above. Then, I happened upon Jezebel, and something inside me clicked. I identified with her pushy personality, I understood her need for control..." (p. 5).

This book of biography and fiction is unlike any other title in St. Philip's Library. And, guess what Higgs is up to next. She has written a companion book, REALLY BAD GIRLS OF THE BIBLE, in which she "reveals the power of God's sovereignty in the lives of even more shady ladies in Scripture." (Jacket)