I’ve never been so happy to finish a book or so close to DNFing. But I felt like I needed to read this from top to bottom so I could provide an accurate review.
CHRISTIANS BE CAREFUL taking “temple truths” from humans. The only place we should be getting temple truths from is the BIBLE. There is no better Bible teacher than the Holy Spirit. If you read this book I implore you to pray for wisdom and discernment.
While I did find a few glimmers of useful tidbits and I think overall, the author means well and is mostly on track and aligned with the Bible… there are some things she presented as “temple truths” that were VERY CLEARLY her own interpretations.
For this review I won’t even get into the editing errors or lack of consistency, I will just stick to the content…
The author presents the section Temple Truths as a place where “..we’ll examine what God’s Word has to say about a topic discussed in each chapter” she says “I back my opinions with scriptural truths and offer this as a guide for a biblical body image movement”
Page 65- in the section Temple Truths: “the Bible doesn’t say what Eve believed about herself after the fall, but I imagine she gave herself a mental beating.. she must have felt alone, afraid, and unworthy”
This is not biblical fact and is HIGHLY speculative.
Page 117- the author says “let me be clear: your body is not a project” … then why is the ENTIRE book themed after her home building project??
Page 118- “if someone is addicted to sugar, instructing her to stop eating will only work for so long”
The current scientific research doesn’t support sugar addiction as a “thing.” Perpetuating this false statement is so irresponsible for people who struggle with disordered eating. I’ve never been on the streets trying to score a hit of sugar nor have I ever been found in my pantry late at night hiding while eating spoonfuls of sugar… this whole “sugar addiction” is a buzz word and low hanging fruit. DO BETTER.
Page 158- in the section Temple Truths: “it is ironic to consider Eve came from a rib and now we live in a culture that glorifies being able to see a woman’s ribs. I spy the enemy twisting something else God intended for good”
She then goes on to describe women being formed from a rib as a symbolic representation of our primary function as protectors????? Like what??????? Where does the Bible say that???? It doesn’t! This is not a “temple truth” but a personal interpretation!!
Page 194- now im getting nitpicky… again in the temple truths section.. while she’s talking about how we were made in God’s image and how we were knit together in our mothers womb she shares a self deprecating story about her failing at cross stitching but fails to full show how any of that had to do with anything other than just wanting to talk about herself some more.
This is how she connected it:
“That’s when it hit me. Numbers 23:19 says “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” When God knit us together in our mother’s womb, he did not have the perspective our world has regarding what we should look like. His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours…”
What does that have to do with you failing at cross stitch?
Overall, I can’t wait to throw this in the garbage and would never ever recommend this book to anyone I know. Sorry, not sorry.