The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs

"As David once wrote, 'The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng.' Amen to that!  Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna are among that mighty throng who've heard God's truth and gladly given him the glory."

-excerpt, Chapter 8, Women of Christmas

I love Christmas.  Each year it seems like I want to start celebrating earlier and earlier.  Reading Christmas literature is something I like to do to deepen the meaning of the season for me.  This year I started with The Women of Christmas by author Liz Curtis Higgs.

The Women of Christmas is a a detailed commentary of the story of Christmas as pertaining to three women, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and Anna, the prophetess who worshiped God day and night in the temple.  The book contains 8 chapters with a devotional/study guide at the back of the book for each chapter.

One of the first things I noticed about this book was the incredible amount of research the author has done.  It was amazing!  There are a lot of footnotes in this book, which I like.  I like to read a book and take away information about the Bible that I didn't know before.  In The Women of Christmas, Liz discusses things like the age of Elizabeth when she became pregnant with John the Baptist, the theory behind the possibility that Zechariah was also deaf along with being mute, and the very important encounter of Mary with the angel Gabriel. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I loved the research that was put into this.  That was the biggest thing for me.  I like it when an author does their homework.  I was a little disappointed with the book cover.  The dust jacket which serves as the cover is beautiful, but the book itself is plain and did not include the beauty you see on the dust jacket.  Also, I was a little confused about why the author chose to include information about Simeon in the book, other than to segue into her information about Anna. 

I recommend this book to anyone who would like to delve deeper into the Christmas story.  This book is a great one for study.  It would also be a great book for a Women's Bible study around Christmastime.

Many blessings to you as we make our way toward the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.,

Beth

Disclosure:  I received this book free as part of a free books for bloggers program at Waterbrook Multnomah.  I was not required to give a positive review.  The thoughts and opinions here are entirely my own.