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White Knights and Reviling Wives
Though it is unfashionable to speak of wives who act wickedly, the Scriptures have much to say.
The “reviling wife” is the woman who weaponizes words to bitterly control. She refuses even the simplest forms of submission to her husband. She is rebellious, recalcitrant, cruel, unforgiving, and unrepentant. Her husband, to the contrary, is often kind, gentle, humble—and loves not only his children but his wife as well.
To make matters worse, the couple’s pastors and counselors, even from the most conservative theological backgrounds, act as “white knights”—rushing to defend the wife in her obvious sin. Discipled by the default programming of feminism in our day, these men are too afraid to either confront the wife or hold her accountable. The consequences are tragic. Not only is the marriage destroyed, but the children are decimated. The wife turns them against their father, permanently severing relationships in the process. The husband often never hears from his children ever again, enduring a grief worse than death.
In this thoroughly biblical examination, Dr. Edgington surgically addresses this marital epidemic that has plagued not only our society but even the church. In White Knights & Reviling Wives, you won’t find empty platitudes. Instead, you’ll find practical solutions grounded in the Word of God that chart a path from manipulation and bitterness to repentance and restoration.
The “reviling wife” is the woman who weaponizes words to bitterly control. She refuses even the simplest forms of submission to her husband. She is rebellious, recalcitrant, cruel, unforgiving, and unrepentant. Her husband, to the contrary, is often kind, gentle, humble—and loves not only his children but his wife as well.
To make matters worse, the couple’s pastors and counselors, even from the most conservative theological backgrounds, act as “white knights”—rushing to defend the wife in her obvious sin. Discipled by the default programming of feminism in our day, these men are too afraid to either confront the wife or hold her accountable. The consequences are tragic. Not only is the marriage destroyed, but the children are decimated. The wife turns them against their father, permanently severing relationships in the process. The husband often never hears from his children ever again, enduring a grief worse than death.
In this thoroughly biblical examination, Dr. Edgington surgically addresses this marital epidemic that has plagued not only our society but even the church. In White Knights & Reviling Wives, you won’t find empty platitudes. Instead, you’ll find practical solutions grounded in the Word of God that chart a path from manipulation and bitterness to repentance and restoration.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2025
30 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 13, 2026
I agree with the main premise of this book— the reviling wife is a reality per the proverbs. I also agree that the feminist culture we live in has elevated women to god status, making them sinless, always right.
Women sin and in certain ways. Men sin and in certain ways. They both need to be held accountable for their sins. In a typical marriage counseling session, the temptation is the only believe the women, every single time, no matter what. This has created a great many tragedies for both marriages and children.
The authors view on joint counseling, and holding to a biblical view of the household was solid.
Some things I didn’t appreciate were his comments that complementarianism is “feminism lite” when the main source he used was Piper and Grudems book in the subject. He argues for patriarchy, which is fine, except that biblical complementarianism and biblical patriarchy are the same thing. As Colin Smothers calls it “patriarchal complementarianism.”
Also, the material is scattered and often disjointed. He is very repetitive and could have shortened the book. Some of his examples were pretty weak. Sometimes it seemed like he was arguing for an unbiblical divorce, which was probably due to being unclear.
The last chapter was very good and encouraging.
Women sin and in certain ways. Men sin and in certain ways. They both need to be held accountable for their sins. In a typical marriage counseling session, the temptation is the only believe the women, every single time, no matter what. This has created a great many tragedies for both marriages and children.
The authors view on joint counseling, and holding to a biblical view of the household was solid.
Some things I didn’t appreciate were his comments that complementarianism is “feminism lite” when the main source he used was Piper and Grudems book in the subject. He argues for patriarchy, which is fine, except that biblical complementarianism and biblical patriarchy are the same thing. As Colin Smothers calls it “patriarchal complementarianism.”
Also, the material is scattered and often disjointed. He is very repetitive and could have shortened the book. Some of his examples were pretty weak. Sometimes it seemed like he was arguing for an unbiblical divorce, which was probably due to being unclear.
The last chapter was very good and encouraging.
February 23, 2026
This was so good, so prudent, so timely, so necessary.
Edgington writes about something that is going on right in front of our very faces and we just ignore it, or even worse, we applaud it.
Husbands are to be the head of the house. Wives are to submit. Full stop.
It's scary to read this book and see how far these problems can (and have gone). Men and women, husbands and wives, pastors and laypeople need to be reading this and thinking about this.
He is incredibly blunt and brutal. I can completely understand how someone would give up after the first chapter because of his tone. He is no-nonsense, straightforward, in your face about the problems he sees in wives. Don't just hand this to anybody to read because it will offend most people.
It did lack a good editor, as seen in typos and excess footnotes, but the topic is important and engaging enough to ignore those.
I also take issue with some of his theology, but again, this doesn't detract from the point of his book and how he got to the point. It's easy to spot his incorrect theology and move past it without losing any of the truth in this book.
Edgington writes about something that is going on right in front of our very faces and we just ignore it, or even worse, we applaud it.
Husbands are to be the head of the house. Wives are to submit. Full stop.
It's scary to read this book and see how far these problems can (and have gone). Men and women, husbands and wives, pastors and laypeople need to be reading this and thinking about this.
He is incredibly blunt and brutal. I can completely understand how someone would give up after the first chapter because of his tone. He is no-nonsense, straightforward, in your face about the problems he sees in wives. Don't just hand this to anybody to read because it will offend most people.
It did lack a good editor, as seen in typos and excess footnotes, but the topic is important and engaging enough to ignore those.
I also take issue with some of his theology, but again, this doesn't detract from the point of his book and how he got to the point. It's easy to spot his incorrect theology and move past it without losing any of the truth in this book.
February 2, 2026
If this book could be summed up in one exhortation, it might be this: Wives, submit your feelings to the Word of God, and husbands, lead your families according to the Word of God and not the emotions of your wife. Such a reminder all would do well to heed.
Modern evangelicalism, chasing headlong after the world, has convinced many women that they are functional goddesses. That is, many women believe that they do not sin in their marriages and other relationships, and all simply because their pastors have never told them otherwise. But women are not immune to sin, and today it is the particularly "feminine sins" (gossip, slander, duplicitousness, holding grudges, emotional manipulation and weaponizing weakness) that are ruining more marriages and families than perhaps anything else. This book is a clarion call to name the phenomenon-which-must-not-be-named in the Church, that of the Reviling Wife, and it is virtually the only book on the subject... for now. May God use this work to begin the conversation that could save countless marriages, if men but had the courage to speak it.
Modern evangelicalism, chasing headlong after the world, has convinced many women that they are functional goddesses. That is, many women believe that they do not sin in their marriages and other relationships, and all simply because their pastors have never told them otherwise. But women are not immune to sin, and today it is the particularly "feminine sins" (gossip, slander, duplicitousness, holding grudges, emotional manipulation and weaponizing weakness) that are ruining more marriages and families than perhaps anything else. This book is a clarion call to name the phenomenon-which-must-not-be-named in the Church, that of the Reviling Wife, and it is virtually the only book on the subject... for now. May God use this work to begin the conversation that could save countless marriages, if men but had the courage to speak it.
February 18, 2026
I really did appreciate what Edgington discussed in this book. in many places I was reminded of previous family experiences and my views of them, especially growing up.
As someone from a different theological tradition, I disagreed with some of his phrasing, but ultimately, it just took getting past that. What lost me in many places was the clear need for more editing. Simple things bothered me. Not every mention of something brought up in previous chapters needs a parenthetical citation. nor does there need to be a parenthetical citation for everything coming up. Early in chapter six he encouraged readers to read the subtitle of the book. he either meant chapter or made a mistake about the book not having a subtle.
I'm not just trying to nitpick, but these mistakes made it harder to take the work seriously. perhaps this is because NCP is a new publishing house, or perhaps this is because of the author. When handling such a subject, I would have hoped better attention would be paid.
Finally, I'd say the book is worth a read for reflection and good conversation. it's clearly not meant to be handed to someone you might consider a "reviling wife", but perhaps it could be.
As someone from a different theological tradition, I disagreed with some of his phrasing, but ultimately, it just took getting past that. What lost me in many places was the clear need for more editing. Simple things bothered me. Not every mention of something brought up in previous chapters needs a parenthetical citation. nor does there need to be a parenthetical citation for everything coming up. Early in chapter six he encouraged readers to read the subtitle of the book. he either meant chapter or made a mistake about the book not having a subtle.
I'm not just trying to nitpick, but these mistakes made it harder to take the work seriously. perhaps this is because NCP is a new publishing house, or perhaps this is because of the author. When handling such a subject, I would have hoped better attention would be paid.
Finally, I'd say the book is worth a read for reflection and good conversation. it's clearly not meant to be handed to someone you might consider a "reviling wife", but perhaps it could be.
March 13, 2026
Anytime I have conversations with people about marital roles: husband leading and wife submitting, so often I hear people emphasize how the husband should be careful not to abuse his wife physically or emotionally. There are always guard rails on the man’s side, but David Edgington was the first person I have heard that has ever talked about the reality of the reviling wife. I am newly married (to a non-reviling woman) and this book has been very helpful to identify potential seeds of sin in my wife, and practical ways I, as a husband, can instruct her to be the wife who truly is a crown on my head.
January 29, 2026
This book was in many ways not what I expected when I picked it up, but it was a very beneficial read for me. As a young woman hoping to become a wife and mother in the near future, Dr. Edgington’s caution to women and to men and straight forward, unashamed language was helpful to me in understanding more fully the harm that any woman is capable of doing to her husband. I must be on my guard, even now, to avoid at all costs any reviling tendencies and to cultivate a submissive heart in myself.
February 5, 2026
The elephant in the counseling room has finally been acknowledged. I urge pastors, counselors, and Christian couples to consider what David Edgington has to say.
February 9, 2026
Excellent book!
Read
January 28, 2026An absolutely necessary read for this age of rampant feminism, where women's sins get blamed on men or ignored altogether.
January 22, 2026
Incredibly thankful for Pastor Edgington. 4.5 stars as I found his first book on the topic even more helpful. The first book laid more of the groundwork of what the issue is and how to begin counseling such situations. The basics of faithful counseling was great in and of itself. This newer volume is still very well done, and the clarifications on biblical patriarchy and the cowardice of pastors and counselors was a helpful warning.
February 19, 2026
This is an excellent resource for pastors, and an even better guide for husbands in a marriage with a reviling wife, which is an unfortunate pandemic in our churches these days that goes pointedly unaddressed (because it is a culturally taboo subject). The old saying holds true, "If you want to find out who rules over you, just observe who you are not allowed to criticize," and many pastors are terrified of what the women in their church would do to both them and the church if they taught any of what Edgington presents here.
Thus, most churches are not holding women (well over half the congregation in most churches!) accountable for their sins in either preaching or pastoral counseling, and these unchecked sins are metastasizing into a terminal hardness of heart that destroys their husbands, their children, their families, and their lives (they are burning their homes down with their own hands), all while their pastors are trained to either not see it or lay the blame on their husbands for it. Men who are often humbly trying to lead biblically in a culture that says male leadership itself is oppression.
Edgington does a wonderful job of addressing the disease and the assumptions of the underlying worldview. He then gives solid, practical counsel with many real-life examples from his own decades of experience for both training pastors and encouraging husbands stuck in this mess.
One star off due to the theological groundwork chapter at the beginning which was a bit half-baked by my reckoning (and I fully agree with all his conclusions!). Someone who is not already either convinced of Biblical patriarchy (or just needing a little push) will certainly find it both lacking in substance and high on assertions.
He does reference books in the footnotes that make the case better than he does ("Masculine Christianity" by Zachary Garris for scholarly exegetical/expositional theology; "It's Good to Be a Man" by Tennant and Foster for a more layman's approach), and I find myself wishing that he would have just stated his theological convictions in the introduction, pointed people in the direction of these wonderful resources, and then began with describing the near ubiquitous plague of the reviling wife in society and the church today, instead of doing an insubstantial one-chapter fly-by.
Despite this shortcoming, the importance of books like this can hardly be overstated. Not going to sugarcoat it, the danger of marrying a future reviling wife today is rather high, and her being a "good Christian girl"(tm) sadly offers little to no protection from this blight, the Christian world being saturated as it is with Critical Gender Theory, feminism, egalitarianism, (genderless) gnosticism, and spineless pastors.
Thus, most churches are not holding women (well over half the congregation in most churches!) accountable for their sins in either preaching or pastoral counseling, and these unchecked sins are metastasizing into a terminal hardness of heart that destroys their husbands, their children, their families, and their lives (they are burning their homes down with their own hands), all while their pastors are trained to either not see it or lay the blame on their husbands for it. Men who are often humbly trying to lead biblically in a culture that says male leadership itself is oppression.
Edgington does a wonderful job of addressing the disease and the assumptions of the underlying worldview. He then gives solid, practical counsel with many real-life examples from his own decades of experience for both training pastors and encouraging husbands stuck in this mess.
One star off due to the theological groundwork chapter at the beginning which was a bit half-baked by my reckoning (and I fully agree with all his conclusions!). Someone who is not already either convinced of Biblical patriarchy (or just needing a little push) will certainly find it both lacking in substance and high on assertions.
He does reference books in the footnotes that make the case better than he does ("Masculine Christianity" by Zachary Garris for scholarly exegetical/expositional theology; "It's Good to Be a Man" by Tennant and Foster for a more layman's approach), and I find myself wishing that he would have just stated his theological convictions in the introduction, pointed people in the direction of these wonderful resources, and then began with describing the near ubiquitous plague of the reviling wife in society and the church today, instead of doing an insubstantial one-chapter fly-by.
Despite this shortcoming, the importance of books like this can hardly be overstated. Not going to sugarcoat it, the danger of marrying a future reviling wife today is rather high, and her being a "good Christian girl"(tm) sadly offers little to no protection from this blight, the Christian world being saturated as it is with Critical Gender Theory, feminism, egalitarianism, (genderless) gnosticism, and spineless pastors.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews