Why are so many well-intentioned women falling for poor—even false—theology? The Devil has been effectively targeting women from the beginning, so why are they often left to fend for themselves in so-called women’s ministries?

Strengthening women in the church strengthens the whole church. Cultivating resolved, competent women equips them to fulfill their calling as Christ’s disciples and men’s essential allies. Writing to concerned women and church officers, Aimee Byrd pinpoints the problem, especially the commodification of women’s ministry. Aimee answers the hot-button issues—How can women grow in discernment? How should pastors preach to women? What are our roles within the church?—and points us in the direction of a multifaceted solution.

An interesting book on an interesting subject. Women have been deceived from the beginning of time. This book will help address why women are falling for false theology.

I did not agree with all of the author's criticisms of women's ministry resources. Sometimes she was a little to quick to call foul just because she had a different perspective than certain authors. I agree that there are problems with a lot of the theology in "women's ministry" circles but I found Aimee too abrasive.

I have been waiting for someone to write a book on the topic of women engaging with theology and I am so glad Aimee Byrd has written this so well. She delights to see women study scripture and good theology and is greatly dismayed to see that this isn't encouraged in church nearly as much as it should be. Aimee challenges the theology fluff that comes with the best sellers shelf in Christian book stores and encourages women to engage with these books rather then just simply absorbing what they say. She also has a brilliant guide on how to read well, which I found really helpful.

No Little Women is an engaging read for men and women. In the book, Byrd argues that men in the church (pastors, elders, etc.) need to be more aware of books being marketed to the women in their congregations, more discerning of what books are being read by women in their study groups or book clubs. Byrd also argues that women--whether in position of leadership or not--need to be more discerning of what they read. All books are not of equal quality. Bad theology, she warns, is entering our homes, our churches, our very minds because we lack discernment.

This book isn't just about bad books, however. It's about men and women doing church together, learning or not learning from one another. The segregation that exists--for better or worse--when churches insist on having separate "women's ministries."

This book addresses women's roles a good bit. Byrd argues that women are necessary allies for men.

Byrd is very honest and straightforward. She calls us to stop being nice, to stop being tolerant, and to take a stand for the truth. We are to be men and women of the Word. And we are to know the Word. We are to judge by the Word. What we read--outside the Bible--should be informed by the Bible. We should insist that truths line up. That the "Christian" books we read--whether self-help, christian living, theology, or devotional--be biblical.

Byrd assumes that her readers attend churches where only men are pastors and hold leadership positions, and that there are no women pastors. For better or worse, she makes this assumption.

Favorite quotes:
"We are responsible for our own maturity in the Word and for discernment in reading and listening (see Acts 17:11). It’s not okay for anyone to learn bad theology, no matter what our gender or the gender of our teacher may be. No one should be winking at any of this. We shouldn’t accept bad theology just for the sake of encouraging women to teach. All teachers should have the same standards for content and methods."
"We need to read authors whose writings are over our heads, and to engage in the process of learning from them, so that we can then connect that knowledge to other ideas for new discoveries. "

For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burned with sins and lead astray by various passions. 2 Timothy 3:6 As women with influence with our families, church, and community, are we coming to the knowledge of the truth.

Sobering words and they should be for each woman whom calls themselves a Christian. A solid book that will challenge you (and we need to be challenged) and also encourage you (we need hope to carry on) to not grow weary in doing good. Each chapter challenges women and pastors to the importance of theology and how it produces good and true works. It takes the sacred cow of Women's ministry (I love women's ministry by the way) and helps look deeper in our purpose. This is so important because if it does not align with the general purpose of the church, than its another club where false teaching can creep in. The general purpose and the general purpose of this text is how live in the presence of God. The pastors are challenged as well in caring for the women of the church and validating their important role in families and the body. How well does your pastor know what is being taught and how it is being received.

One of the key points is how we recruit women leaders. Do we serve them first or do we call them to serve first? This is key because we can only serve if we have been served. Jesus was an example of this important point.

As with all ministries, do we make Jesus about who He is. Our ministries cannot be just about self-help but they must point to who Jesus is. Our need for salvation and they way and work of Christ.

Do we operate as women as men's opponent or men's ally? Do we compete or compliment? Not only does this apply to our households but also in the household of God.

The text also encourages discernment among teachers and well-known authors. Here are a few quotes. See if this rings true or not and why.

I don't punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It's not my purpose to punish it. It's my joy to cure it.

She takes well known excerpts and shows you exactly what is lacking in theology which is truth. You may have a favorite author or book that sheds some light to the damage it does. What is that damage? We can forget the gospel and make it about something else. When we make it about something else, it becomes an idol. I am always wary of the woman author who has a large following. Why? Byrd challenges you to think critically about the implications of false teaching. Do not be offended it is your favorite author but ask is truth important? With a resounding Yes it is and we must always pursue it. We must repent when we take lies as truth and rejoice in the truth. It is there. The truth always leads to Christ and his work. It is not a popularity contest on the way it sounds poetic or how funny, or witty someone is. Or even all the good works they do. Because to be honest, many who do not follow Christ do good works. It does not lead to our self-improvement or comfort. If anything, truth can be the most uncomfortable of all.

I appreciate the journey that Aimee gives her readers for the truth and the joy that is found.

A Special Thank you to P & R and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This book was sent to me to review from Netgalley, so I don't have specific page numbers, but have given the location number ( LOC ####) from my Kindle to highlight quotes. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to review this book.



Evangelical Christians are not generally expected to be critical thinkers. LOC1254

Very true. And so it is with a heavy heart that I must write about this book. The overwhelming feeling of this book is that Byrd is so wrapped up in rules and regulations that she misses out on the joy of discovery and understanding our Creator God.

Several times Byrd makes it clear that she doesn’t accept the ordination of women to the “capital M ministry.” There are many roles for women in the church but Scripture makes it clear that the offices of elder and pastor are not among them. (see 1 Timothy 2:12) But this interpretation of Scripture is just that, an interpretation which is the action of explaining the meaning or way of explaining. Another way of seeing this verse is to look at the whole context of the letter. The church in Ephesus was having troubles with people teaching and preaching false doctrine. Paul was teaching the church in Ephesus that people were to sit quietly and hear the truth of the gospel as Paul had taught his chosen leaders to teach it. It becomes clearer in 1 Timothy that a number of women were teaching these misleading philosophies. This is the reason he wrote that women were to sit quietly and not have authority over a man. But if this is really the rules that Paul wanted every church to follow, why didn’t he write about it in his other epistles? Why does Paul write to nine different churches but only restrict women in three? He didn’t write it because it wasn’t an issue in the other churches. Paul wrote to Timothy about the issue because it was plaguing the Ephesus church. Paul wanted to correct unbiblical teaching being given by the women. Some of these rebellious women were disrupting the meetings, attempting to teach their false doctrine; Paul put an end to it by telling the women to shut up! But he never meant that a woman couldn’t be a pastor or a leader of the church. Paul wrote to specific churches about specific problems.


The phase they are not allowed to speak does not clarify the issue. The verb lalein (to speak) is too general to refer to any particular kind of speaking. It is used of tongues (27) and also prophecy (29) and refers equally to the questions with which women might interrupt a discourse. So general is the word that the suggestion that Paul is merely referring her to irregular talking, be it chattering, calling to children, soothing or more often rebuking babies, or interjecting a remark or query, cannot be ruled out.
New International Bible Commentary. Based on the NIV
F.F.Bruce, General Editor 1979



The churches didn’t have what we call the New Testament; at best they had a letter or two from Paul to read out aloud at meetings. Out of 44 writers of the Bibles 66 books, only Paul restricted women and only in a couple of locations. We are not to take this verse and misconstrue its meaning. Women are often gifted and called to be exceptional elders and pastors.

I strongly dislike Byrd’s way of blackening the names of women who have had a huge impact on the Christian world. She claims that Aimee Semple McPherson had herself claimed new revelation from God, as if she wanted to add to the canon of the Bible. But that is misrepresenting Aimee Semple McPherson’s words. Now undoubtedly Byrd has an issue with Semple McPherson who had no problem with women being ordained because of her history with the Salvation Army and their stance that women can and should be in leadership. But to say that she claimed special revelation from God when it is blatantly obvious that she meant she felt led by God’s Word to lead people to Jesus is just outrageous.

And to attack Sarah Young for a writing method meant to encourage readers to imagine Jesus talking to them directly is ridiculous. Sarah Young writes truth from Scripture in a first person style. She has never claimed that she was being given new Scriptural revelation. One might wonder at what Mrs. Byrd’s view on Eugene Peterson’s interpretation of the Bible called The Message might be.

So if all Christians agree that it is normative for God to speak, the disagreement is merely over method, says Seth Barnes, founder of Adventures in Missions. The Bible promises that God speaks through the closed canon of Scripture. But that doesn’t confine God to speaking only through the written word. “God is going to speak however he chooses,” Barnes says. “At the same time we know that God is personal and is very clear in Scripture that ‘my sheep hear my voice.’”
Christianity Today, 10 /1 / 2013



Beth Moore, of Living Proof Ministries has a pretty rock solid statement of faith clearly set out on their webpage www.lproof.org . It seems petty to complain about her story telling style as teaching wrong theology, when all she is striving to do is to make the truth of the Bible more easily applicable to a modern ear.

It is important for us to learn what God has communicated about himself; that he is one being, one Godhead, in three ‘persons’ – namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord God is one. The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. They are not three separate beings. LOC 2558



In Christian theology, a hypostasis or person is one of the three persons of the Trinity. The three persons are distinct, yet one in “substance, essence or nature” ( homoousios). There is only one God in three persons, distinct from each other – Father who generates, the Son who is begotten and the Holy Spirit who proceeds, co-equal and co-eternal. Each is God, whole and entire.

If an author is not in line with what God says about himself, then you should have serious doubts about what she is teaching you. LOC 2572



I think that many of the differences I have with Mrs. Byrd’s statements comes down to points of view. She claims people are saying one thing, and I interpret what they say through a very different lens. I think that she is right about us taking theology much more seriously; we should wrestle with everything we are taught. But my opinion is that Byrd is taking things other people say and express way out of context to stir up controversy for controversy’s sake. I did agree with her exhorting preachers and pastors to take ministries focusing on women more seriously. I appreciated that each section of the book finished with questions to further provoke thought and understanding. I just don’t agree with a lot of what she teaches, but I think that should be seen as a victory for this book. It made me search my Bible and explore histories and look for meaning rather than just gullibly accepting what she has written, which was her underlying goal.

Read and do your own research of this book, don’t blindly accept everything that is taught to you.


For further reading:

10 Lies the Church Tells Women J. Lee Grady 2000, 2006
Published by Charisma House

Fashioned to Reign - Kris Vallotton 2013
Published by Chosen Books