When I saw this book in a catalog at work, I was more tickled at the idea. I've discovered over the last few years that I am fascinated by religion and religious culture - not just of my own faith, but of many others. I love learning how others interpret scripture, and how traditions are made and kept. I ordered this book for my library, and checked it out as soon as I saw it on the New Releases shelf. I found that the author is a liberal-leaning evangelical Christian, and was then REALLY intrig...

Where to start with this one? I hereby resolve to finish the year 2013 without having read any more books by stunt-bloggers. Put this one on the pile with "Julie and Julia," "The Happiness Project" parts 1 and 2, "365 Nights," and the rest of this growing genre, and you'll have a pile tall enough for a nice coffee table.I'll just put this out here: I'm a Unitarian Universalist, so I don't have a theological dog in this fight. Had I been Evangelical Christian, Jewish, Quaker, or Catholic, I would...

There are a lot of people who will love this book.There are a lot of people who will hate this book.And there are a lot of people who will never know which crowd they belong in because they are afraid to pick up this book. The premise is simple: Rachel goes on a year-long quest to find out what true "Biblical Womanhood" really is. You know, to separate the fact from the fiction, and the rumors from the what the Bible really says. During her year, Rachel took the Bible completely literally. She g...

I can see why this offends conservative Christian sensibilities. But it is hardly extreme. She sets out to point out that conservative Christians cherry pick verses and interpretations as much as they accuse those of us who have more moderate viewpoints. And she succeeds admirably, all the while, also learning to understand various standards of womanhood with less judgment.Her chapter on parenting was the most refreshing for me. Most women without children don't have any reason to notice, let al...

Rachel Held Evans describes herself in this book as “curious, skeptical, and strong-willed.” Well, what a coincidence. . . those are almost exactly the same words I'd use to describe myself (I might replace “skeptical” with “sassy.”)So, we have that in common, but what is different is our backgrounds. While she was being raised in a Southern, evangelical Christian environment, I was being raised in a multi-cultural community in a non-religious household. I had a father who favored lively debates...

Christian women's ethics are a hot topic no matter what your background is. And this book was written by a Christian claiming to be a fresh thinker bringing some much-needed Endust and a rag to some dusty topics. But truth be told, give me Gloria Steinem any day over Rachel Held-Evans. I'm no feminist. But frankly, neither is RHE. Rachel Held-Evans' "godly" woman is as lame as they come. She ignores the entire catalog of crazy God-fearing women and only defines herself by some random verses from...

This is the kind of work that gets produced when exegesis and hermeneutics are thrown out and others' opinions are thrown in. I didn't know we were still living as if the cross had not yet happened in salvation history.A very good treatment of this work done better than I can do, by Kathy Keller, found at:http://thegospelcoalition.org/book-re...Two fantastic reviews from Trillia Newbell at: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts...http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts...

Yes, it's a controversial book. People seem to have lined up to love it or hate it based simply on their opinions of Rachel. Here's the bottom line: if you can't read one person's story of approaching Scriptures literally, but with a sense of humor intact, avoid this book. Rachel, like many 20- or 30-something people in the U.S., mixes humor in with deeper or more thoughtful insights. That she does this in relation to the Bible and her view of Christianity seems to be objectionable to her critic...

I just finished re-reading this book, and this part nearly took my breath away. At the end of the book, Rachel listed several resolutions, things she wanted to do as she went forward after this project. This was number 7:"Champion women leaders in the Church. Whatever small influence I may have over the Christian community, I will use to advocate on behalf of my talented sisters who long to use their gifts to benefit the Church and the world. I will share my platform with women writers. I will l...

In response to the “contemporary biblical womanhood movement” - largely organized around the proposition that “the only sphere in which a woman can truly bring glory to God is the home” - feminist and Evangelical Christian Rachel Held Evans set aside a year to explore and write about “biblical womanhood.” I wish she’d taken more time and done it right.Rather than adopting the practices of any one group of women claiming to live biblically, Held Evans pulled bits and pieces of several faiths - in...

2.5/3 StarsI somewhat liked this book, even though I don't agree with all of Evans thoughts or many of her views on theology, but I did love her humor, her very relate to you struggles with the Bible and some of the thought provoking ways she made me see culture and how rigid religion can place women in boxes. While I didn't love how she treated branches of the religion, I did like her book personality.For the most part I found her views interesting and even at times refreshing when it came to b...

Despite being a Christian myself, whenever someone or a book about someone talks about "living and interpreting the Bible literally", a ginormous red flag comes up. Talking about Biblical womanhood is somehow a million times worst. It seems like most Christians who claim to be fundamentalist and/or come from a traditional/patriarchal culture (the Southern US, Korea, etc.) pretty much hate women or are addicted to this unattainable mirage of the Madonna/whore dichotomy. Women should submit to men...

This sounds ridiculous in the best way and I hope it's as tongue in cheek as it sounds

Biblical womanhood is a concept that any religious woman inwardly cringes at. It's this ephemeral picture of the ideal woman that seems to change depending on whom you are talking to. From my experience, it usually consists of the following:+ Proverbs 31 woman (of course)+ Submitting to your husband+ Not taking a position of leadership in the church (elders, pastor, etc.)+ BABIES! FAMILIES! WIFEHOOD!+ Don't show too much skin! Don't want the boys to slip and fall into the abyss of their lusts!+

I wish I could give it 3.5 stars, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Let me say off the bat that her hermeneutical methods are shaky (how we apply the Old Testament after Christ and through the lens of Peter's vision regarding clean/unclean, etc.) so I am going to choose to stick with my complementarian worldview. For a good explanation of why I have trouble with her background assumptions, see Kathy Keller's review of the book (see blogosphere for that one.) However, the book itself is

Interesting read! I didn’t agree with all of Evans’ conclusions, but she made me think many times. I especially loved her interactions with Ahava, her time in the monastery, and her trip to Bolivia. Evans is a witty writer. Her turns of phrase are great, & she made me smile often.

RHE died on May 4, 2019.Kathy Keller to RHE: "Throughout your book, you have ignored or even hidden from readers the fundamental principles of scriptural interpretation—including the difference between narrative and didactic, as well as the importance of placing commands in their context within redemptive history."Trillia Newbell: "As I read the book, it became increasingly clear to me of one theme: God’s word was on trial. It was the court of Rachel Held Evans. She was the prosecution, judge, a...

Who would’ve thought that the next book to blow up the Christian publishing industry would be Rachel Held Evans’ attempt to live for a year following all the Bible’s rules for women? But gender is the most divisive issue in the Evangelical church these days, with some questioning whether a person can even truly be Christian if they don’t hold to traditionalist/complementarian gender roles!As a woman who’s grown up in the Evangelical Church, Rachel was captivated by A. J. Jacob’s Year of Living B...

I have a close female friend who was strongly brainwashed into believing in Christian mythology. At some level she knows it is all just old myths and made up by sexist men but when the brainwashing goes on during childhood, there are fears that worm their way in.This is why I think proselytizing to children ought to be a crime punishable by prison time for child abuse. No one should mess with a child's mind in such a manner. I love this friend like a sister and offer her lovely Atheist books t

The amount of controversy kicked up by Rachel Held Evans never fails to amaze me. She says stuff I disagree with, stuff I agree with, and a lot of points in between that are just .... ideas. Not brilliant or heretical or life-altering. Occasionally perceptive, deep, and moving.So it was with this book. After noticing how the mere mention of RHE turns many of my (otherwise nice, kind, normal) male Christian friends into raging assholes who feel the need to stomp all over my Facebook feed, I start...