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Reader Submitted Photo: 5 Sins of Christian Women

148 Comments

And alert reader spotted this book in a relative’s house and sent me a quick photo.

And the BIG FIVE are(drum roll please):

Oh, look and there’s an unspecified 6th sin. I wonder if that’s “shamelessly tempting the managawd into having an affair with you that is totally not his fault you brazen hussy.”

148 thoughts on “Reader Submitted Photo: 5 Sins of Christian Women”

    1. Great find by whomever! I’m shocked they can only come up with 5 ways to guilt women about idiotic stuff they shouldn’t be sweating about.

        1. That was supposed to be “Chuck Norris doesn’t…”. Turns out not sleeping kills the commenting.

    3. Rob, I saw that you were on facebook chat this morning. Tsk, tsk. Skipping church, are we?

    3. Typing anything more than “first” will only get you…second!

  6. So the question I have is did Dr. Marlene Evans earn her doctorate or did a fundy school give her one? Fundy schools don’t give honorary doctors to women do they?

    1. Isn’t Marlene Evans a HACer?

      And, who allowed her to have a doctorate, anyway? 😉

      1. Marlene Evans is indeed a HACer. Her husband has been chancelor of the college since I went there 35 years ago. I am sure her doctorate is honorary and she was the absolute WORST teacher I ever had to endure in my life. Don’t get me started on her groupies who went around trying to look like her and waited on her hand and foot. One was my “Dorm Mom” and made my life there more of a living hell than it already was.

        1. She died a few years ago and Wendell went out and got remarried post haste. She was big, loud, arrogant and appeared to love Jack Hyles more than she loved her husband. There were plenty of rumors all over campus when I was there about her special “relationship” with her “project” girls whom she would tell “to give themselves to her”. Many of them were either tiny, neurotic types or larger, butch types. Either way, it was creepy.

        2. The one in my life was a large, butchy type. And I never knew why she hated me so much. Except that I refused to wear the ridiculous hairstyle, shoes and clothing that was so strongly suggested that Godly women wore. You could always tell a TRUE follower by if they wore their hair ratted and sprayed (the style of about 10 years previous to that time) and T-strap shoes (because once Mrs. Evans stated that T-strap shoes made your feet look long and slender) They were all working with sausage feet anyway, so any help they could get was probably welcomed.) Anyway, TOTAL POWER TRIP. I doubt ANY of them ever got married unless it was to each other!

  7. #6- Having the nerve to see the Bible and Jesus as her authority, not husband or MOG?

  8. They forgot eating, apparently.

    Okay, depression and nerves aren’t sins. They’re symptoms of living the fundy lifestyle.

  9. Googled “Dr. Marlene Evans” and got 3 hits on the first page. First and foremost is Dr. Marlena Evans Black of Days of Our Lives, second is Dr. Marlene Evans, a research scientist with Environment Canada, and third, a Amazon.com link to our girl’s book, which you can buy used for $20.

    1. She told a story on one of her tapes about being on an airplane and her assistant had told the stewardess that it was her birthday and the stewardess got her confused with the Marlena Evans on the TV show and made a big announcement on the plane.

    2. $20 for that??
      If you paid me $20, I’d haul it to the paper recycling center for you.

  10. So is it surprising that she was the wife of Hyles-Anderson College president, Dr. Wendell Evans? (She died in 2001.)

    1. Why does the cover of her biography have a picture of Robin Williams playing Mrs. Doubtfire?

      1. Nearly peed myself. TMI, I know, but I swear… I will be laughing at this when I am trying to fall asleep tonight…. 😆 😆 😆

  12. OH – Here’s a link to another book she wrote. Note the great resources on this site – they sell CULOTTES PATTERNS! 👿

    1. “Customers who bought this also bought: The Hooker Family”

      The gift that keeps on giving…. Stuff Fundies Should Like: changing the family name to avoid the appearance of evil.

  14. That’s so cute! My mother went years with her depression undiagnosed by a REAL doctor because morons like this led her to believe she was somehow sinning.

    And I’m highly suspicious of the moral fortitude of any fundy institution of higher learning that would allow a woman to get one of their esteemed fake PhDs.

  17. I’m surprised they could narrow it down to only six.

    I really want to know what the six one is and why the mystery about it.

    1. unfortunately the 6th sin wasn’t very exciting – it was jealousy. But I’m sure in the chapter it’s manipulated to mean something other than what the Bible teaches.

      1. Jealousy? Really? That was important enough to add a whole separate section by itself? My guess is that the author wanted to add it but didn’t want to go to all the trouble of changing the title and the format of the rest of the book.

        And is the Antidote for Sins #1-5 not sufficient for Sin #6? Is there a Part V that offers an antidote to jealousy? I have one: don’t marry a preacher boy from HAC.

        1. That was how she rolled. She would just speak, or write or whatever her stream of consciousness and probably she just started the topic (to her “assistants” and got tired when she got to number five. Then maybe ran into someone who was jealous of her so she had to add that one in. My thought was also, she just thought of it as a post script and didn’t want to change the format of the book. She was pretty easy to see through for being so big.

        2. Fundies have been promoting their own science for some years now, so it’s only logical that we’d also get Fundy Math.
          First Axiom: 5 = 6.

        3. Sims I am DYING here. “stream of consciousness” and “pretty easy to see through for being so big”… Gasping for breath… Gales of laughter… 😆

    2. AFAIC, Fundies can narrow down the sins of women to only one: being alive. Every blasted thing a woman does is wrong AFA that bunch is concerned. 🙄

  20. Ah yes, the sixth sin…the most wicked sin for a fundy woman to commit….
    Independent Thought.
    Actually, make that *any* thought not placed in her head by fundy “authority”. 👿

  21. Nerves, Worry and Depression..

    The worst Sin, by far is for the ManoGawd to believe that because he took a one semester (elective) course on pastoral counseling, he is qualified to pontificate to patients, rather than to listen.

    I do know well trained and very good Pastoral Counselors. Who shudder at the thought of the Phelpses out there trying to prescribe bible verses to treat clinical depression.

    Most of these pastors have no idea what DSM-IV stands for.

  22. As an English teacher, I dislike the use of the word “the” in the title: it indicates that the five listed encompass the totality of sins women are prone to (which is of course ridiculous). And then, in underhanded fashion, a sixth is thrown in there. Why not write an appendix to the book and add in sins 7-10, because as all of us who grew up in fundyland know, there is an ever growing list of things to feel guilty about.

    1. There is really only one Sin, from which all the other “sins” are derived. That is the Sin of idolatry: Trusting in things other than God for one’s salvation.

      The commandments to love the Lord God and to love my neighbor as myself trump all rules and regulations.

  23. The antidote for #3, I’m sure, is to give your husband a standing ovation when he gets home from work.

      1. I’m assuming the standing O for arriving home from work would be in lieu of the big O…

  24. Maybe if the focus on fundyland was on the Savior and his grace instead of lists of rules, the first sin might not be “nerves, worry, and depression.” After all, “the JOY of the Lord is my strength”, not “the ever-growing burden of expectations for personal holiness encourages me.”

  25. Actually — because she lumped them together, I count 11 sins, not five (plus one). Depression is not equal to worry, etc…

    Also, that sixth sin should have been “being a loud obnoxious woman with a fake honorary doctorate from the school where your husband is president who writes a piece of crap and makes the girls in their class buy it as a textbook so that they can make the money.”

    1. Going by its prevalence in the Fundy world, maybe this should be the first or the second sin.

    2. I think she had a bit of an OPRAH complex. My husband had the same reaction to her classes. He said he never understood a word she said and hers was the only class he HATED going to and didn’t get perfect grades in. She would ramble while her groupies would take notes, then she would make the tests off those notes, so if you didn’t write down the same things the sycophants wrote down you wouldn’t have the right material to study. I usually just daydreamed and guessed and did ok. (but I was happy with a C-.

      1. In General Psych, I made up all my anecdotal records. They were all lies. We all knew it was the groupies’ assignment to read them and see what was going on in the dorms.. I made mine all pious and sweet. They were such Gestapo turds.

        1. I did the same thing. One of the things I used to really feel guilty about when I was there was how many lies I told. I felt as though I had to to survive. One boy (you would remember him if I said his name) went and told the dean of demerits (the guy who lived in the dungeon) that he had accidently not correctly filled out his soul-winning report and wanted to fix it (he could have just left it and been fine) but they told him he had “lied” on it and gave him the automatic 50 demerits. That taught me to NEVER fess up to ANY lies I ever told (and they were many)

  28. It looks to me like an author doesn’t know the difference between problems and sins, as regards the first three on the list.
    The fourth one is an imaginary sin, and the fifth one isn’t a sin, and may even be a virtue.

  29. #6 – gaining extra weight in spite of the fact that your husband’s waistline necessitates the use of suspenders in lieu of a belt.

    1. This is why I said eating should be on the list. We women, apparently, can’t eat, talk, look, or move in any way shape or form without causing some sin in the world.

  33. Funny that she doesn’t list “agreeing to sell off your daughter’s honor and dignity to buy your husband a college presidency.”

      1. Dave Hyles arranged to meet her daughter at a motel. Wendell Evans got word of it and intercepted them there (though some say he was too late to prevent the deed from having been done previously by Dave and said daughter). He gave Jack an ultimatum. Dave had to go. Shortly thereafter, Wendell became president of Hyles-Anderson college and Dave got shipped off to Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland Texas, to have his way with at least 14 married women there.

        1. Actually, Wendell was already president, but you got the rest of the story correct. I was there during the time. Joy Evans — the daughter — eventually recovered from the predatory behavior of Dave and the toxic, cultic atmosphere of HAC and was (may still be) a faithful missionary and wife in Papau New Guinea for many years.

        2. Dan, someone (here, I think) said she was the pastor’s wife of the church they go to. If you were at HAC when Joy was, then we were probably there around the same time. (Maybe) I was there shortly after the college was started and I believe Joy was a senior in High School at that time. I heard all about the stuff with her and Dave Hyles after we left and had been out for a while. I wonder if we have ever met.

  35. What a depressing table of contents! So much positive thinking in IFB land. 😕 I believe that I actually hate the HAC movement. I mean the “murder in my heart” kind of hate. I long for the day when I will be able to laugh at it!

    The funny thing is that this is nothing new. I think the same books have been rewritten by different women. I remember having to read these books and take a HAC “how to worship all men charm” class in high school in the ’80s.

  36. Any mention of the Seven Deadly Sins in that “book”?

    You know, ‘cuz no Christian before her even thought about sin at all.

  37. But the Seven Deadly Sins are (gasp!) Catholic! Good Fundies don’t have anything to do with stuff like that!

    Let’s see: Pride, Wrath, Sloth, Lust, Greed, Envy, and Gluttony. Nope, nothing to do with that stuff at all.

    1. Okay, I’ll take the bait.

      Does this mean that since the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon, then fundies must take the opposite view of what the Seven Deadly Sins are?

      So Humility, Gentleness, Industry, Chastity, Generosity, Good Will, and Temperance are the Fundy Seven Deadly Sins?

      Goodness, that is far truer than my snark suggests.

      2. By the same logic, Pride, Wrath, Sloth, Lust, Greed, Envy, and Gluttony would be the Fundy Cardinal Virtues.
        Hmmm …

  38. So does the antidote for the 5 sins also apply to the sixth? And what about the self -righteousness produced from mastering her little list or is that kind of piety allowed? If you can just conquer this list ladies you’ll be certifiably godly or go insane trying. I’d rather count on Jesus perfection instead of trying to master their lists anymore. Please let the antidote be a reality check that you haven’t even begun to live up to the standard and need a perfect Savior? But in that case you wouldn’t have to follow their tactics anymore and they *must* lead you to believe it’s gonna work. Sorry, got an axe to grind about the ridiculousness of most books addressed to women. Maybe I should just join the forum. 💡

      1. Gotta say been struck by your comments and see a kindred spirit. I will use that forum some time soon. In Christ, -K

  39. LOL – I’ve read that book when I attended Hyles-Anderson College. I recall several Christian Womanhood Seminars with Marlene Evans – heck, my mom was good friends with Marlene’s missionary daughter.

  40. Alternative title:

    You Will Regret The Day That You Were Born With Our Simple System Of Self Debasement!

  41. Seeing “Dr.” before the author’s name is an automatic turn-off. It guarantees that the contents are bunk.

    See, you _can_ judge a book by its cover . . .

  42. I was SO intrigued, I googled the title of this book and found a blog from one woman who felt compelled to write commentary on the 5 sins. The unrevealed 6th sin is (drum roll please):

    “Jealousy – We tend to get jealous of what other people have that we don’t have. At one time or another, every person gets jealous. We need to fight this sin of jealousy. We need to be satisfied with what the good Lord has given us.”

    You know what I didn’t find? Any kind of credentials or information on “Dr.” Marlene Evans. 😛

      1. From the blog:

        “We must love and obey our husband and try to please him all the time.” Perhaps trying to live up to THIS expectation is what has “nerves, worry, and depression” listed as sin #1!

        “A woman’s dress can provoke a man to commit the unthinkable crime of rape.” So tired of hearing this. So, so tired. Jesus told people that if looking on a woman caused you to lust (much less rape) to POKE YOUR EYE OUT!!! Rape like other sins comes from the heart. Blaming sin on someone else is unbiblical.

        2. I think I’ve said this here before, but if my wife ever treats me the way the fundies advocate, I will run away screaming and cut myself with a pair of hedge shears. I am not god and have no desire to be worshiped. Being treated this way would feed all my darker instincts and turn me into a monster.

        3. A dress doesn’t make anyone do ANYTHING! A dress is an inanimate object, with no power of its own.

          These people seem to claim that they have no moral agency at all. If it isn’t clothes making them do something, it’s music with a syncopated beat, or Satan.

          How about owning up to our own choices, folks?

  43. I hate that Mental Illness is considered a sin. When my mom was little, her parents (Baptist pastor and wife) left her “sleeping” in the car while they went to see the doctor. (I know now we would be calling DCFS). When they got back in the car my mom heard my Grandma say “if you tell anyone he said I was mentally ill – I will kill you”. Nothing was said (nice thing for my mother to carry). Apparently God gives you a new mind when you are sssaavveed!

    1. Stories like that are so sad. No one should have to suffer like that because of stigma.

      1. Maybe Russell & Andrea Yates viewed depression as a sin, and that turned out well. 😐

  44. The Five Sins Committed Against Women in Fundamentalism

    1. Binding Unbearable Burdens
    2. Enforcing Silent Suffering
    3. Demanding Self-Destruction in Service
    4. Blaming Women for Rape Culture
    5. Deforming and Denying the Gospel of Love

    The Sixth Sin: Defining Longing for Freedom in Christ as Sin

    1. you should email this to the author, along with some recent news clippings….

  45. I had my husband read the table of contents. After he read the first “sin”, he said, “That’s a sin?!!! I’m not reading anymore!” As he was walking down the hall he said, “Well they just make their own !@#$%* rules.” I really appreciated that response!

  46. I haven’t read the comments so please forgive me if this has already been pointed out but only one part of this list is actually woman specific. Men can just as easily have these “sins” in their lives.
    Lack of loving your husband seems to be the only one that is specific to women.

    #6 is jealousy? Men can have that too! For that matter so can animals.

    I do not think depression is a sin. For the most part, none of this list is a sin as defined by the Bible. I am willing to concede that gossip and a critical spirit are wrong. I probably would have a difficult time agreeing with their interpretation of a critical spirit since I have been accused of that myself.

    1. Critical spirit becomes holy separation when talking about beats in music and opened toed shoes. Funny that.

      1. critical spirit happens when you point out that the deacon’s kids get to go on shore vacations and watch cable TV while you sweat your *ss off all summer long and dive into a clinical depression from shear lack of stimulation and boredom.

        1. I had a critical spirit because I thought the mog shouldn’t use the church’s funds as his own private slush fund.
          I don’t think it is good to have a critical spirit but I do not agree with how the fundies define it. They define it as disagreeing with their mismanagement.

  47. So, I can’t believe there’s been no mention of her evil cohort – CAROL FRYE! Talk about psychotic!!! I believe she finally married some “lucky” guy who has probably spent his life rubbing her feet, making her dinner and paying for her super-sized, expensive clothing. She once told all of us girls that we had to wear band-aids on our breasts.(Am I allowed to say that?) Really??? Rumors were rampant about her and her entourage, too. Those were some WEIRD girl students with lots of power to get us rebels in trouble. Sheesh –

    1. OH MY GOSH!!! CAROL FRYE WAS MY “DORM MOM” !!! I don’t know why I am so shocked, but for some reason I didn’t know other people found her as foul as I did! OH! The stories I could tell. Being one of her *unfavored* ones made my life so miserable. All I had to do to get along was kiss her butt, but I just absolutely couldn’t do it. I was SURE she was a lesbian. (Pretty sure anyway) and didn’t even know what lesbians were back then.

        1. I’m not sure where to begin, or if this is really the place for it. Maybe I will try to find a good place for story time over in the forum.

    2. A whole generation of Fundy boys must have grown up thinking that women were constantly getting cuts on their nipples for some reason.

      1. haha! Bandaids!!!
        This whole comment thread is just TOO close to home..I’ve been avoiding it like the plague but I just cannot let a bandaid joke slide!

  48. Poor women who read this book indulge in self loathing and this makes them worse. So very sad.

  49. Thanks for this book recommendation! I am always on the lookout for books that can help me be a better wife and mother (in my future, of course). I know that Satan is always striving to get a foothold in the lives of godly men by using women to provide a stumblingblock. I definitely do not want to be a “Delilah” or a “Tamar”!

  50. I have to think this endorsement was insincere.
    “”Mrs. Evans really knew women and how they ‘ticked’. She had a God-given burden to help us to see, through a mirror of her wisdom, how we need to change, and thereby, how we can go a long way in changing the dangerous trend our country is taking.”-Beverly Hyles”

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